Page 49
I frown. “That’s too long.”
“Correction. It’s too short, but I know asking for more would be setting myself up for endless irritation. So do try to work with me if you wish to get past Alasdair next time. I’d rather not have to break both you and Tori free by myself.”
I smirk. “You’d free me, too? Aw, V. I’m touched.”
“Don’t get too excited. I’d rather not deal with Astoria’s rage if I left her favorite pet entombed in stone. Though, I’ve seen lapdogs with more common sense than you.”
“Jealous? Would she even care if you were entombed after you chose the Order over her?”
A muscle flickers in Valen’s jaw, and he reaches for me. I flinch back, sitting up straighter and snatching his wrist tightly. Valen rolls his eyes but doesn’t rip out of my hold. “Spare me your theatrics, magician. I’m removing your chest bandage.”
I blink and look down at my chest where the bandage is stained green from the water. Heat floods my face. “Oh.” I drop his wrist. My chest seizes at the red mark left behind on his pale skin. “Sorry. You okay?”
Valen’s gaze trails over my face to my neck, and he rolls his wrist where the flushed outline of my grip fades. “Try to stay still.”
My heart pangs sharply as the echoes of plates smashing and a woman screaming fill my memories. A wave of sickness at my own small act of violence clenches my insides, and a voice that I wish I could silence whispers, You’re just like him.
I suck a breath into my too-tight chest and squeeze my eyes shut. I shove that thought viciously away. I may look like my father, I may have his rings, but I am not him.
Valen huffs. “I do not have the time or patience to give you basic obedience training.”
I smile to chase off any remnants of guilt and lure Valen into an exchange that will give me his special brand of distraction I find myself craving today. “But I’m already so good at the basics. Sit. Stay. Speak.”
Valen’s lips twitch, his shoulders loosening when he leans forward again. His low, rumbly voice washes over me. “Roll over and beg?”
“Only if you give me a treat.”
His eyes flash to mine. The bath is suddenly too hot, and some of the numbness fades away to leave behind a humming awareness. I shouldn’t have said it, but the words slipped from me before I could stop myself. I’m being reckless. I glance down at the bath water. At least the herbs have stained the water dark enough that only shadows of my body are visible. I don’t need Valen to know how pent up I am today.
His long fingers rest on my chest, and my muscles twitch. I’m too naked for all this bickering and flirting. It makes it too hard to resist watching him while he focuses on his task. His thumbnail picks at the edge of my chest bandage, his brows furrowed. It’s an oddly endearing expression, but there’s something under it that I missed before. Dark circles are visible on his smooth skin, and there are new lines around his eyes. My chest tightens, and I swallow.
The water sloshes as I lift my hand to touch his. Before I can ask again if he’s okay, he pulls free, taking my chest wrappings with him. He sighs harshly and tosses the bandage towards the trash bin. “I knew it, but it’s still so goddamn disappointing.”
My brows rise. “Excuse me?”
He nods towards my chest. “Alasdair is not easily dissuaded from his new food source.”
I look down and suck in breath through clenched teeth. Tori’s illusion is gone. Stitches hold my scar from shoulder to the end of my sternum closed, but they’re raised and bright red. I touch my stomach. The scar there to my hip is still closed. It’s so odd to see it after all these years of being hidden. Tori, who had been Aster to me back then, sat next to me on her worktable when I came to. I barely remember dragging myself to her shop after escaping Dimitar, but I had nowhere else to go.
Her cool hands touched my stomach, and her magic whispered over me in a wave of shivery electricity that crackled through my heart. Her eyes were wise beyond her years, and she whispered, “A fresh start so you don’t ever have to look back again.” Then her own illusion dropped, and waves of her long hair cascaded around her. We’d sat there in silence, Tori looking upon me like she saw me in a way no one else in my life ever had. All I wanted to do with my new life was be by her side. However she needed me. From that moment on, I was utterly and completely hers.
I clear my throat and say, “Do you think his curse is incomplete? I did rip out of his hold while he was distracted.”
Valen hums. “Perhaps. But he did enough damage.”
I touch the edge of the stitching. It’s hot, like an infection roars beneath. At least the potion I’m soaking in takes the pain from it. I click my rings together underwater as I follow the raised wound. I could crack this curse. I just need to penetrate it with my threads to map the web to solve it.
Lips brush my ear and goosebumps erupt down my neck. “Don’t even think about it.”
My breath catches, and I try to cover my reaction to his mouth being so close to my skin with a scoff. “It would be just a small bit of magic. I’ll even keep them under the water.”
Valen’s fingertips tilt my chin back, and suddenly all I can see are his glowing blue eyes. His fingers are soft as they brush my neck where the bruises are fading. “You are not to use any magic until tomorrow at the earliest, if you want to keep your fingers. This is your last warning. Do not make me repeat myself again, magician. I will tie you down if I must.”
A shiver ripples down me and the words slip free unbidden. “Promise?”
Those hands circle my neck and I swallow, my throat pressing against his palm when I do. He lowers his face and my eyes close. His lips touch my ear again. “For someone who doesn’t want to fuck, you seem to be begging for it.”
Shame sparks, but it’s overshadowed by this aching want that pulses through my veins. I am so hard that I’m scared to glance down in case the bath isn’t deep enough to hide it. Valen’s fingers shift and I shiver when he strokes the tip of my tattoo. Then he lets go, and my eyes snap open. I track his retreat to the cabinets and take advantage of his back to me to enjoy the sight of him.
