I walked over to the bed, dropping down onto the edge and letting my knees give out. I breathed in deep, pulling air all the way to the base of my lungs. I held it there for long moments before letting the air rush out. My voice was shaky when I spoke. “Are you going to turn me in?”
“Turn you in? Why the fuck would I do that?”
My gaze caught his. “You’re not going to get me thrown in the dungeon?”
He stared at me blankly, a “what the fuck” expression on his face. “Pardon?”
“I drugged everyone! I druggedyou! I took away your free will! I—I took advantage of you!”
He dropped onto the bed next to me. He gently gathered my hands into his, squeezing them firmly. The warmth was more comforting than I had expected.
“You didn’t drug me, Kizzi.”
I sighed in exasperation. I thought he had figured it out, but apparently, he was still missing some important details. “I did. I drugged everyone.”
He squeezed my fingers. “Not me,” he said gently.
“At the potluck?”
“No.”
“Yes. Yes, I did?—”
He winced, looking abashed. “I didn’t eat your chili.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in. First, I felt a brief flash of outrage. Howdarehe? And then the shock was washed away by a heavy, overwhelming wave of relief. “You didn’t eat my chili?” I was repeating his words, I knew it, but my mind was whirling too fast to care.
“I—I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.” He pulled my hands to his chest. “But I didn’t want to offend you! I knew how proud you were of your dish. I just… I have a weak stomach. And I… saw a feather in it.”
I stared at him for a moment, slack jawed. His pulse thundered against the backs of my fingers where they were pressed to his heart. “You didn’t eat the chili.”
“I didn’t eat the chili.”
“You’re not enchanted with the love potion.”
“I’m not. No love potions. Just…” His sentence trailed off.
His eyes burned into mine hot enough to bring my blood to a simmer. The reality of what he’d confessed sank in. My stomach flipped a somersault. “You’ve had free will this whole time.”
He scooted closer, keeping my hands cradled to his chest like a treasure. “I have. I was never under any magical thrall. Only yours, little witch.”
I pulled my hands from his grasp and ran them through my hair, tugging on the strands. “If you would have told me you didn’t eat the chili, we could’ve avoided this entire misunderstanding!”
“If you would’ve told me what you were looking for andwhyyou were looking for it, I could’ve let you know! We were on completely different pages.” He hesitated for a moment, tiltinghis head. “What eggs are you looking for, by the way? I heard you mention eggs back in Tidegrove, but I never figured that part out.”
I brushed the comment off. “Oh, just some dragon eggs.”
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Dragon eggs! You can’t just say that like it’s something casual.”
I shrugged. I slid my hands up over his shoulders, letting them rest there. “They’re just eggs.”
“The rare, mythical, extinct creatures?” He looked like he wanted to continue arguing but was having a hard time keeping his concentration.
“Mhm. They have some.”
“They have dragon eggs?”
“Mhm.”
