And even if he didn’t realize I was his mate yet, I doubted the sincerity, confusion, and hope in his eyes were faked. He must have been conflicted, too, and recognized something was between us.
At least I hoped he had, because if my mate was the type of man who could deliver a victim back to their abuser without any guilt, then Hecara must have really hated me to saddle me with two goddess-awful alphas.
But no, bounty hunters went after criminals, right? Victor must have concocted some lie about me. Was I a failed assassin, perhaps?
Actually, I kind of was, if Victor would die due to my absence.
So my options were to run, and then both Victor and Ronan would die. Or I go back, and Victor and Ronan would live.
My freedom, my independence, my well-being on the line because two alphas made stupid decisions and gambled their lives on my imprisonment.
How was this all on me? It wasn’t fair. All I’d ever wanted was to live a quiet life back in Cindralis, running my silly little app and filling my days with video games and friends.
I tried to distract myself from the longing building inside me to see Ronan again by going on my phone and checking the admin dashboard forKaldrin. Daily active users was in the thousands now, thanks to word of mouth and some viral marketing by Morgana, and the app’s MagikGraph account was getting new followers and tags from happy customers and witches every day.
My lips began to quiver. No matter what happened, at least I had a legacy. I’d done something that might make a difference for Magiks, so even if Victor handcuffed me to a bed for the rest of my life, someone out there would be glad I’d existed.
* * *
I barely got any sleep, my mind continually running back to Ronan and wondering how he’d even found me in the first place.
Morgana had said she had someone in her basement—that must have been him. And he obviously had gotten out. Perhaps he had forced the information out of her…
Wait, no, he couldn’t have. Even if he’d possessed her, she’d spelled herself so she couldn’t tell him anything.
But he must have at least incapacitated her and Vesper, since she hadn’t called to warn us he was out and on his way.
I hoped they were okay.
When I realized I was just going to be awake now, I got up, took a quick shower, and changed back into my clothes from last night. I only had a few clean outfits, and I wasn’t sure how long I would be here until I either received an all-clear or needed to run again.
I paced around the room, chewing on my nails, trying to ignore the need growing in my belly. Being in Ronan’s proximity had awakened something inside me, and while it was too early to think he had jump started my heat, I couldn’t deny that it was a possibility, either.
He was my mate, and he was an alpha.
A very good-looking alpha, with horns made for grabbing onto while I rode—
Focus!
I fanned my face, my cheeks flushing at the thought. A part of me was glad that Victor hadn’t completely ruined me for the possibility of intimacy, but not if the man I wanted to be intimate with had to choose between betraying me or death.
My hands twitched to just doom scroll on my phone to distract my mind, but I couldn’t waste my battery, either.
I had books, at least, and I pulled a thriller off the shelf. It took a while for me to focus enough to actually read the words on the page instead of skimming over them while I worried about being caught, but I finally relaxed and got into the story.
Just as I had almost gotten to the reveal of the criminal, the perimeter warning sounded.
Intruder.
Adrenaline shot through my veins, the walls temporarily becoming invisible from the inside so I could watch their approach, nullifying any cloaking magic from whoever was outside.
It wouldn’t be Morgana or Selene, because they would know the magic word,Zathen, or “friend,” which wouldn’t have triggered the silent alarm.
Twirling around, my ears straining for sound, I finally saw him.
Ronan.
My whole body rebelled against the need to run, taking a few tentative steps towards him, like a magnet unable to fight the attraction any longer. But my mind wrestled back control, and I watched as he crept along the side of the small cabin, sniffing the air and heading towards the door.
