I nodded and gripped her hand. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Promise me you’ll take care of him?”
“I promise.”
“Don’t c-c-cry.”The soft, masculine voice caused my eyes to fly open from the memory, and my head snapped in his direction.
A man stood near the wall, next to my armoire. He was tall with brown hair and brown eyes, and he was dressed simply in pants and a shirt that matched the stone of thecastle walls. His hands were balled at his sides, and he was looking at the floor, not at me.
He wasn’t a threat, but with my position on the floor and my emotions making me vulnerable, my brain had different ideas in the seconds it took to process that a strange man was in my room.
I screamed.
He held up his hands in front of him and tried to speak, but his words were coming out in single sounds.
My door burst open. “What’s going on?” Amari scanned the room, searching for what had caused me to scream.
I lifted my arm to point to where the man had been, but he was gone. I’d literally looked away for an instant when Amari had come in. It was as if he had vanished into thin air or maybe gone through the wall.
“There was a man in here.” It sounded crazy hearing it since the man definitely wasn’t in the room any longer.
Amari walked around the room, sniffing. He must have been standing guard in the hall to get to the room so fast. Had he heard me and Nico’s fight and watched him leave?
“It’s a house mage.” He seemed confused by the idea.
“A house mage? But I thought they no longer existed?” Another casualty of demons not being accepting.
“Just because we haven’t seen them for a while doesn’t mean they don’t exist anymore. Kind of like the witches. I’m sure there are still plenty out there.” Amari squatted down in front of me, lifting my chin up with a finger. “Why are you crying?”
“Nico left.” I sniffled, and he wiped his thumb across my cheek, getting rid of the tears.
Amari sat down on the ground next to me, and before I knew what was happening, he pulled me into his lap. It was a surprising move from the gruff feline.
“He loves you.” He wrapped his arms around me and puthis chin on my head. It was such an odd sensation coming from him after everything that had happened between us.
“If he did, he wouldn’t have left.” I melted against him, unable to resist his comfort. “Why are you being nice to me? Was my pussy that good?”
He made a sound in his throat that almost sounded like a purr, but maybe I was imagining things. Amari wasn’t the type to purr.
“I’m drawn to you.” His fingers began playing with my hair. “Being inside you only made it worse.”
How long had it been since I had been held like this? New tears fell, and he made comforting noises but didn’t say another word.
I didn’t like to cry, but there was something about being back in the castle when my family was gone. My mother, my father, Taylor. All gone. Reve was at least still alive, but he wasn’t here, which was worse.
“Why are you drawn to me?” I bit my lip, knowing the answer already. It had to be the magic swirling around inside me. It did something unexplainable to him and took his curse away, at least for a short time.
“You’re pretty feisty. I like that.” He kissed the top of my head and then shifted me on his lap so he could look at me. “It’s probably a little bit of the magic too. I guess we’ll find out if a horde of demons comes knocking at your door.”
“Let’s hope not.” I could hardly handle the three demons surrounding me as it was.
Amari stood with me in his arms and set me on the bed against my pillows. “You should get some sleep. It’s been a long few days, and tomorrow you have to deal with those council assholes.”
I laughed and snuggled down into the pillows, needing a shower and food, but I was too exhausted to move. “Thank you.”
Amari leaned over me and kissed me gently on the forehead. “Goodnight, Samara.”
He walked to the door and opened it. The light from the hall showed his broad shoulders and narrow waist. He turned and looked at me, his green gaze glowing in the dim light. Panther shifters had amazing eyes.
