Her answering smile was hesitant. “Thank you?”
“Don’t mind him,” Odessa quickly jumped to her rescue as she elbowed Jax in the side. “He’s always this ridiculous.”
He held a hand up to his ear. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I believe you mispronounced the word ‘charming.’”
She lifted her brows in challenge. “Katrin isn’t a dragon.”
“I think it should be clear by now that dragons aren’t all that I can charm.” He winked at her.
She shrugged. “Mmmm, not very clear over here. It’s still kind of murky where your charm is concerned.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her, the expression on his face clearly communicating that he didn’t believe her, but let the matter drop. “Back to more concerning matters, how many more poor, cursed souls is Boris keeping here?” He cracked his knuckles. “If I’m going to go around breaking more curses before I break Boris’s nose, I would like an accurate head count.”
Katrin breathed out a huff of laughter. “It’s just the three of us.” Her voice, though soft, was clearer now, a soothing, musical alto that fit her calm presence entirely.
“Why?” Jax propped a hand on his hip and shoved the other through his hair. “Did you somehow do something to make him angry? And how did he get away with it? Sonya’s achild; surely someone had to have noticed her sudden absence.”
Because no one was aware that she had a presence in the first place.
Odessa opened her mouth to answer but was thwarted once again by her father’s magic. She pressed her lips together. “Because Boris has a perverted sense of justice,” was all she could manage to say. She looked at Katrin. “I don’t think it’s fully broken.”
Katrin shook her head sadly.
Jax’s eyes bounced back and forth between them. “What do you mean? They’re people again.”
“Can you use your magic? Like you did with me?”
He frowned, and his eyes went slightly out of focus, as if he were lost somewhere in his own mind. After a moment he blinked and shook his head. “The magic sounds like yours now, with two different melodies competing.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “But obviouslysomethinghappened; before I couldn’t hear anything amiss.”
Odessa nodded slowly as she tried to piece together what she knew. “Their curse is the same one that Boris tried to cast on me.”
“But you’re human again once the sun sets. Katrin and Sonya weren’t.”
“The curse didn’t fully take for me because I’m his daughter, which means we share blood. That protection is one of the few good things he left me with.” She laughed bitterly. “Katrin and Sonya didn’t have that advantage.”
“So what does that mean if it’s not fully broken? They’ll go back to being animals once the sun comes up?” Jax’s eyes drifted to Bean, who had curled up under a tree with a now-sleeping Sonya cuddled against his side. “How do we get rid of it completely? Sonya is a little young to receive pledges of devotion.” He faced her again. “That’s what triggered the change this time, right? When I said I was her loyal servant?”
“Yes,” Odessa said slowly, frustrated when she couldn’t give him the full answer. Her father’s magic, when not hampered by his own blood, was frustratingly potent.
“Why didn’t it work completely?”
“Perhaps because you’re not Kovskian?” Katrin suggested, quietly joining the conversation.
Odessa nodded.
Jax blew out a frustrated breath. “Well, that’s?—”
“Dessa!” His complaint was interrupted by Dmitri’s call, followed shortly by the appearance of the prince himself. Katrin squeaked and grabbed Odessa’s arm as she ducked behind her.
“There you are.” Dmitri hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “You left the gate open.”
Odessa glared at Jax, who had the decency to look sheepish. “That would be the doing of my assistant.”
He brightened. “I don’t think you’ve actually called me that before.”
She rolled her eyes. “A slip of the tongue I’m already regretting. Anyway, Dimi.” She squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry for making you hunt me down. I lost track of time.”
“It’s not a problem,” he answered easily. “It’s a nice evening for a walk.” His eyes widened as they suddenly registered Katrin’s presence behind her. “Forgive me; I didn’t realize you had visitors.”
