“Right, well, thanks for that. You can leave. I have assignments and all that,” she said, fumbling over her words.
“The year hasn’t even started yet,” her sister pointed out.
“Yeah…I know that. Just catching up is all.”
Painful. This was absolutely painful to listen to.
“Right. Well. You won’t have anything to catch up to if you don’t summon a familiar by tomorrow morning.”
“I know that, tell Mother—I mean,High Councilor,that I send my regards.” She seethed at her sister.
“I’m not doing that,” her sister said.
He sighed quietly. Her mother was the High Councilor? Eleri fucking Alarch? As if it couldn’t get any worse. Was her dad going to be the Chancellor or something? If he were caught by anyone, it would have the same outcome—his head on a spike. But this made it infinitely harder to slip around unnoticed.
The door shut, and footsteps trailed back over to the bathroom. By the sounds of it, she slid her back down the door, her butt landing on the floor with a thump.
“What do you want in exchange for being my familiar?” she said, her voice quieter as if she was truly coming to terms with how helpless she was.
“The bond broken, and to get off this godforsaken island,withouthaving to play your pet,” he stated simply. He didn’t want to be anywhere near this witch or this place any longer.
The little witch interrupted his train of thought. “I don’t know how to break the bond.”
“If there is a will, there is a way.”
“There’s definitely a fucking will, trust me.” She sighed. “If we both just sit here with our asses in our hands, then we’re both dead.”
“Seems like a you problem.” He was being slightly childish now; it was most definitely his problem as well. But some small part of him enjoyed taunting her. He imagined her cheeks heating and flushing with frustration.
He couldn’t see her face, but he felt the way she was throwing daggers through the door. A smile tugged at his lips.
“It’s also ayouproblem if you want to live,” she shot back. He liked the feisty side of her. He wanted more. The monster in himstirred, sending a pleasing hum through him. Felix wondered if it traveled down the bond. The little witch squirmed against the door.So it did.
“I’d rather die than pretend to be a familiar.” It was mostly true. He would play a familiar if it served him. Begrudgingly.
She scoffed. “Seems dramatic.”
“It really isn’t.”
“You don’t have anything else to live for? A wife? Living to see another sunset?Anything?”
He thought about it for a second. Other than his brothers back at the den, he didn’t really have much. Women came and went; the only consistent ones in his life were his mother and his sister Eimi. Eimi called him a slut, but he preferred the termCatanova.But he always made sure the women he slept with were taken care of. They always came first, and hopefully multiple times, and walked away satisfied. If he had an Uber rating for being a good ride, it would be five stars.
He cleared his throat. “Nothing of the sort, kitten.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Don’t call you what?”
“That.”
“I won’t call youthat.”
“You’re impossible!” She let out a frustrated groan that only widened the smile on his face.
“Thank you.”
“Wasn’t a compliment,” she grumbled.
