I drop my hand.
I’m not going to incapacitate him again. Probably. As long as he doesn’t do something idiotic like try to convince me the Goddess has fated us to be together.
“Don’t do anything stupid and you won’t have to find out.”
He smiles. “I’ll try not to.”
Even hisvoicehas a smile in it. A deep, wry humor and an even deeper rumble that has me taking a step back.
Damn this demon and his rumbly voice.
Damn thismagickcurling between us.
Callum’s brow furrows. “Will you not even give us a chance to talk?”
“About what?”
“About whatever you’d like, witch. The queen’s bounty. Why in the Goddess’ name you came to Faerie alone. Or perhaps the fact you refuse to acknowledge we’re m—”
“None of the above,” I cut in, taking another step. “And if that’s all you’re interested in talking about, then I should probably—”
“Work with me.”
I halt in my tracks. “What?”
“Work with me. To find the heart. If you’re so set on entering this cursed contest, then surely you can see the benefit in—”
“No thanks,” I say breezily. “I work best alone.”
I do everything best alone. At least since leaving the coven. It’s been me, myself, and I since the day those imperious doors swung shut behind me for the last time, and there’s no reason to change that now.
“Besides,” I continue, watching all those furrows deepen on his brow. Goddess. Why does even a scrunched-up forehead look sexy as hell on this demon Viking? “Couldn’t you say the same? I heard Pytri trying to recruit you, and you didn’t seem interested in working with a partner.”
Callum snorts. “Have you ever actually met Pytri?”
“No.”
“Well, then. If you had, you’d understand why he’s the last bastard in any of the thirteen realms I’d want to work with.”
“And youwouldwant to work with me? Why?”
He doesn’t answer right away, and something about his hesitation makes my hackles rise.
“Because I’ll have you know, I’m fully capable of finding that damned heart on my own. Probably more capable than most of the idiots who came here today, given what my magick can—”
I swallow the rest of that sentence.
I really didn’t need to go there.
Callum doesn’t need to know what kind of magick I wield.
“What does your magick do, witch? Can it keep you safe from a fae determined to put you under their thrall? Or from a troll with a club as big as you are and no compunction about using it to take you out of the hunt? Or—”
“Or from a demon who seems determined to chase me down across realms?”
Callum’s red eyes darken. He steps closer. I step back.
“I’m the least of your worries,” he says, low and serious. “These hunters? These mercenaries? I’ve run in their circles for years, and with a prize this big on the line, they’ll not hesitate to use violence to claim it.”
