Page 24 of Awakened Ash and Alchemy

It was worse.

He’d been challenged.

Normally, he lived for challenges, and the chance to strike down an opponent—but not ones like this. And he wasn’t used to mortals talking to him like he was someone who could be dared.

“Did this mortal female ask what we are?” Martar asked.

“Not directly. She asked if you were good or bad.”

Zarek stopped pacing.

“And?” Martar prompted.

Pete’s lips twitched. “As part of my oath to protect the Paradox Accords, you know I couldn’t answer that. So, I asked her what she thought.”

Zarek’s eyes arrowed at the professor. “And her response?”

Pete looked down at his hands. “She said you were powerful. Controlled. Dangerous. And that she could feel when you were near. But she wasn’t happy with me either.”

Heat moved through Zarek’s chest, irrationally fast and entirely unwelcome.

Across the room, the fire crackled, a clock ticked, and for a brief second Zarek could taste the memory of her voice saying his name as if it belonged in her mouth.

He shoved the thought aside so hard his temples ached. Yet the echo of it lingered anyway.

“Why was she unhappy with you?” Zarek demanded. Anger was cleaner than this. Obedience was easier than her.

Pete nervously swallowed. “Well, Miss Duboise left before I could talk to her, but she accepted my apology. Before that I tried to… smooth things over with her aunt.”

“You attempted a glamour spell,” Zarek said flatly.

Pete flinched. “To make her forget I was there.”

“And it failed,” Martar said, delighted again.

“It didn’t fail,” Pete protested. “It just—”

“It failed,” Zarek repeated, colder now. “Because that apothecary is heavily protected with wards against all magic.”

Pete sighed heavily. “Yes. It seems so.”

Zarek turned toward the window, staring out into the darkness that wasn’t quite dark because of the light pollution. Yet he looked anyway as if distance could help him organize the problem.

A mortal who not only remembered him but could sense his presence. One with a missing paternal record, who worked in a protected environment where even he could not cross the threshold.

And then there was the worst detail of all: she’d told him to come himself. Her kind were never meant to know he existed.

Behind him, Pete cleared his throat. “May I ask, my Lord—”

“You can’t visit Paradox, Professor. It’s against the Accords, so stop asking.” Martar sighed as if bored.

Pete’s face fell. “I know it’s a folly, but one day I’d love to visit and study your realm. But that was not what I was going to say.”

Zarek kept his back to the room. “Go on.”

“I’d like to talk with Miss Duboise again. I-I believe I can help her. Not with answers that may breach my oath. But more to help her cope. You see, her aunt mentioned that Angela is having nightmares. I think it might be a result from her confrontation with the Black Cloaks.”

“I know.” Zarek didn’t mean to let it slip, like a sigh that made his head fall to his chest. He’d felt both the pain and fear in her too. It’s why he wanted her to forget, only to fail. And it had been a long time since he’d failed at anything.