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“I think youwantthere to be something wrong with me.”
He scoffed. “Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because you don’t like that you’re attracted to a human.”
“If that’s what you are.” He wasn’t denying it!
“Again, what else would I be?”
He just stared at her for a moment, as if he might find a crack in her facade.
“Why are you really angry with me? Because I don’t act like a frightened damsel? Is that what you’re used to?”
His momentary silence said yes. “Sometimes there is a peculiar shimmer around you, like the air is charging with energy.” He shuddered at that. “And you doona move like any woman I know.”
“And how do I move?”
“Predatory.”
Oh.She thought she was being seductive. “I guess a predator would know.”
“I doona mean like that. You move as if by instinct, as an animal might. Like you are communing with nature in a way that is unnatural.”
Unnatural?Another way of sayingweird. She fisted her hands, old grudges rearing up. “Just because I don’t shy away from bugs and stuff doesn’t make me unnatural.”
He seemed to ignore that. “You know who else communes with nature as you do?Witches.”He sneered the word.
She gaped at him, then picked up her jaw. “You did not just call me a witch, you son of a—Oh, wait, you mean aliteralwitch.”
“What other kind is there?”
“The kind that starts with a B. And, by the way, if Iwerea witch, I wouldsoooturn you into a toad right now for ruining my rec time.”
His gaze narrowed dangerously. “Doona threaten me, lass. I know well how to make life miserable for one such as you.”
Such as me?What the hell did that mean? “And nowyou’rethreateningme. What would your queen say to that? We humans tend to stick together.”I hope. June wasn’texactlyhuman, though, was she? “Would she be okay with you making lifemiserablefor me?”
He sent her a dark look. “If I deem it so, the queen would no’ even need to know.”
Jessie gasped at the implication.Locked up and forgotten. Throw away the key. Would he really do such a thing? Could he be so unexpectedly cruel? She remembered they came from different species. Different worlds. Somehow she had allowed herself to grow comfortable around him, as though he were a new friend she was just getting to know. Why had it felt that way only moments ago when now it was as though they were enemies?
Finally she took a step back, a font of hurt cascading around.
He frowned at her expression, and for a fleeting second, she thought he looked contrite, but that hardness returned. “Rectime is over.”
Taking her by the arm, Orik marched her back through the garden, into the castle, and up the stairs to her room. The journey was heavy with silence. She offered no resistance. The only positive? He was too distracted by his anger to notice her once again nabbing her blade.
9
Orik paced in his office, unsure why his mood was so tumultuous. It had to be the mortal. Her defiance was irksome…and absorbing.
She’d stood toe-to-toe with him, not backing down, challenging him with a fierceness that lit sparks in her eyes, like she was the forge from which solid metal was cast. And he wanted to melt for her.
No one outside the royal family had behaved so insolently in his presence since he’d risen in the ranks. It had been…exhilarating.
But then, at the end, she had actually appeared hurt by his hollow threat. It had bothered him to such a degree that he’d nearly retracted his words.
He slammed down into the seat behind his desk. Why was this woman captivating his thoughts? He could still remember her riveting scent. In the moment, it had been an odd kind of distraction, making his mouth water for a taste of her. But there was also something in her fragrance that set his teeth on edge and made his hackles rise. He couldn’t put his finger on it.
