The eighty-pound pupper was far from a baby, but he might as well have been with those big, soulful eyes. I caught another glimpse of him when I turned the corner. He sat on his haunches, tail wagging, and tongue rolled out to the side as he panted. Obviously not injured like I thought, but he still shouldn’t be this far out here.
I crouched a few feet away, hand held out, and called to him.
“Do you want to come home with me, buddy? Would you like that?” I inched forward, my calves screaming at the position I held, and reached for my well of power. “I just want to be your friend.”
My magick unfurled within me, warm and welcoming. The pit bull growled, his lips receding to show sharp teeth.Thatwas odd. Animals loved me. Had my magick scared him? I hadn’t even touched him with it yet. Risking another step, I pulled a single strand.
The dog lunged this time with a ferocious growl that jolted me, and I fell back on my ass. Thick goops of saliva dribbled from his jaws as I sat there in absolute shock. I’d never been threatened by an animal. Ever. Even the big ones at the zoo just wanted a good cuddle.
The pit bull took another step, yelped, and scrambled back with his tail tucked between his legs. From my right, Kaiden stalked from the thick brush and lashed at the dog with another shadow. It missed but succeeded in scaring the poor animal further away.
“Don’t hurt him!” I shouted, anger flaring. What sick person hurt adog?
Kaiden was close enough for me to hear his mumbled, ‘are you fucking kidding me?’ and I got to my feet just in time for another shadow to snap like a whip toward the defenseless pup. A cry left my lips as this one made contact…and went right through the pit bull’s head.Throughhis head. Like the dog was nothing but smoke and mirrors. Or an illusion.
“Oh,” I whispered, still in shock.
A few more strikes were enough to scare off the fake dog, and then Kaiden turned his fury onto me.
“Why do you keep running headfirst after things without thinking?”
He was in my face, blocking out the sun and the rest of the path where the illusion just was. His nostrils flared as he glared down at me, shadows not in check and swirling around us like angry serpents. My pulse raced as the might of his anger poked at my fight-or-flight response. There was no true danger, so my body picked fight.
“How was I supposed to know it was an illusion?” I shouted back, not caving a single step. My lack of remorse set him off.
“Did your parents teach you nothing?” His deep voice was edged with venom. “The djinn create and control illusions, princess. Supernatural 101. These fuckers have tried to kill you multiple times these past months,andthey make up a majority of the tribunal’s hunters.” His glare almost burned where it touched me, and he took a step closer. “How the fuck.” Another step. “Do you not know how to recognize their magick?”
It was a good question. Spotting illusions wasn’t really a problem for me before, but they’d never been concealed within the image of my biggest weakness. I’d also never been as distracted as I was here, with thoughts of Kaiden blurring my usually over-cautious nature. Not that I was going to tell him all that.
“It was an honest mistake,” I argued, arms crossed againsthis dominant presence. “You’re just pissed that you had to save me again.” Which, actually, why wouldn’t he be upset about that? I could hardly keep myself alive lately. “Thank you, by the way,” I grumbled.
Some of his shadows eased, but my apology didn’t erase his temper.
“I have no problem saving you, princess. It’s having to do it because you refuse to use your intelligence that I find irritating.”
“Asshole,” I snarled. “Who’s to say I wouldn’t have figured it out on my own?”
“Before or after getting stabbed again?”
Heat flared in my chest. Anger and insults were practically foreplay for us, but I’d be damned if I gave in to it now.
“I got away.” I lifted my chin. Kaiden hadn’t saved me that time, I did it myself.
His fingers flexed like they wanted to wrap around my throat and throttle his frustration away. “Afterputting us all in an unnecessarily dangerous situation. And you got consolation stitches.”
“Gods,” I growled, my own irritation rising to clash with his. He had a comeback for everything.
We faced off, there in the woods, with nature containing our battle of wills. My entire body locked into a defiant, rigid stance; hands balled into fists at my sides and heels sinking into the dirt. Kaiden watched me in that annoying, silent way of his, giving nothing away with the little half smirk twisting the corner of his mouth.
“So bossy,” I muttered.
Somehow, he pressed even closer. “You like my bossy.”
“Overconfident,” I fired off.
“Irresponsible,” he replied in kind.
It was a stalemate. Neither one of us was willing to back down, and I didn’t like the satisfied glint in his eye. Like somehow,he won anyway. Twenty minutes later, back at the apartment as I sulked and locked myself in the bedroom, I realized he might have. He had the last word, after all. I threw myself on the bed and smothered a scream with my pillow.
