"Only desire."
"Then maybe her magic is as seductive to you as yours is to her," Liv said, tapping the end of her borrowed pen on the table.I didn't think that was accurate, but I wasn't going to disagree. "What else?"
Everyone considered it, but no one came up with anything.
"Well, there’s got to be something we can do with this." Liv turned the napkin toward us, so we could read what she’d written.
1. Obsession
2. Magic difference
"Have you ever been obsessed with anyone?" Kat asked Darius.
"Nah. My magic makes feeling things toward people pretty rare. I’m usually not interested in people at all."
"Even the ones you’re fucking?" she asked, surprised.
"Even them. Unhinged, right?"
Kat rolled her eyes. “Yes.”
"You’re interested in the Wraith, though," Liv pointed out.
I blinked. He'd mentioned being interested in Rae in one of the texts he'd sent Merrily, but I'd been focused on what he was saying about knotting.
"I was curious," Darius clarified, glancing at me.
"You wanted her," Liv countered.
"Lies," Dare grumbled.
"She’s right," Mer admitted, looking at me over her shoulder apologetically before turning back to Darius. "Raeisthe firstperson you’ve been interested in for a really long time. It could mean something."
"Or it could mean nothing," Dare pointed out. "Unless she’s willing to make a bargain, there’s no point in trying to figure it out. I can’t force her into it. I asked, and she turned me down."
"I’m going to need someone to explain this situation to me like I’m a fucking moron," I said.
"Your Wraith—Rae?" Liv looked at Mer, who nodded. "Raescheduled a meeting with Mer to warn her that you were going to abduct her. Me and Dare were there when she showed up. Dare was interested as soon as he met her."
"She also helped me plan the fight with Grayson, and they hung out for a while before it happened," Merrily added.
"Is that who he was sitting next to at the fight? Your assassin?" Callum looked at me, his gaze narrowing.
"She’s basically his sister," Mer said sharply. "There’s nothing between them."
"How did you adopt the Wraith as your sister?" Liv asked me.
“It’s a long story that isn’t mine to tell," I said carefully.
"What would she bargain for?" Callum spoke up again. "Money? A house? Power?"
Dare interrupted them. "We don’t have anything Rae wants. Even if we did, no one is meddling for me. The chance that she’s my fated mate is basically zero, and she’s Darke’s sister. We’re friends. If she wants something from me, she’ll ask."
A glance in Callum’s direction told me he wasn’t going to leave it.
"If you push Rae toward him, she’ll run the opposite direction," I warned. "She doesn't talk to anyone. If there’s something between them, it’ll happen because she wants it. Not for any other reason."
"She asked him about sex,"Merrily murmured into my mind."She was interested. At least a little."
