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Cain snapped his mouth shut. “If Azazel hadaskedif your life-force was tied to the hex, would you have answered him truthfully?”
“No, because he would have asked how it was otherwise possible for a mere witch to afflict protected land with such a curse.”
“I’d already sensed that you aren’t a mere witch.” If she was surprised that he’d already reached that conclusion, she didn’t show it. “What exactly are you?”
“What exactly are you?”
“I asked first.”
“I’ll answer if you will.”
He sighed, having already expected that would be her response. Nothing could be easy with this woman. “I don’t like that I had to find out the truth about this fromLailah.I don’t like that there’s so much about you I don’t know.”
Her expression went blank. “Does this mean you’re done? That you want to end it?”
Cain frowned. “Fuck, no.” He caught her face with his hands. “It will take time for you to trust me with all you hold inside—I know that. The same applies to me. But we’ll get there eventually. Until then, well, I suspect neither of us are going to like the gaps in our knowledge of the other. I can complain about it even as I accept it.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “All right. Did Lailah say anything else?”
Sliding his hands from Wynter’s face to her neck, he replied, “She’s finally worked out that you’re not an everyday witch. She seems to feel that I should find you a ‘concern.’ A danger to Devil’s Cradle. A ‘dark power’ that I can’t afford to trust.”
“And do you see me that way?”
He hiked up a brow. “Do you truly think I do?”
“No, but … I don’t know, you’re just looking at me differently right now. I’ve had people turn on me before because I don’t fit the mold.”
Same here, baby. “The Aeons don’t like that they don’t fully understand you. Nor do they like that they can’t explain why you can do the things you do. For them, that’s reason enough to want you dead. They have no real tolerance for things that are ‘different.’” He settled his hands on her shoulders and gave them a little squeeze. “I’m not them, Wynter.”
She gave a slow nod, a long breath slipping out of her.
“You warned Lailah that there would be consequences when she exiled you?”
“Yes.”
“She said there was a foreign disturbance in the air that day.”
“So she merely wanted to chat with you?”
Cain lowered his face to hers. “She wanted me to hand you over. I refused. So she then offered me something in exchange for you. I essentially told her to go fuck herself. Which means there’ll be war.”
“And that pleases you, doesn’t it?”
“It does.” He cocked his head. “Just how many things are you hiding from me?”
She licked her lower lip. “Probably not as many as you’re hiding from me.”
Probably not.
“When the Aeons come, I want to be part of the battle.”
Cain almost barked a humorless laugh. “That isn’t going to happen.”
Her spine straightened. “Excuse me?”
“Wynter, I know you’re powerful. I know you can fight with both sword and magick. But you wouldn’t stand a chance against an Aeon.”
“I’m not saying I’d go challenge one. But they won’t come alone. They’ll bring a massive force. I can be part of handling said force.”
