AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“By the devil, you are naïve.” He scoffed, pushing his fingers through his dark hair, rearranging it over his forehead, and shot me an incredulous look.
“Or, she’s the first to notice I’m not as weak as everyone thinks and decided, like a good business person, just to do business instead of trying to kill me first and ask questions after?”
“You know what she’s called around the factions?”
“Bitch?”
The word startled a laugh out of him, followed by a sigh and a long look. “The wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“People say all that? She certainly looked more sheep-like tonight. When I used a bit of my power, she looked afraid for a moment.”
“That definitely worries me. I’m almost afraid to ask. What did she ask in return?”
“I think that’s between me and her.”
He grabbed my shoulders and peered into my eyes, digging his fingers into my arm as if I would slip away.
I tried to shrug him off. “Ouch,” I complained.
He loosened his grip and stroked his hands down my arms.
“Elena. What did you give her for the token? Tell me, and we’ll fix it together.”
“I owe her a free finding. That’s all. Just a favor.”
He pressed his forehead against mine, his hands still on my arms, holding me. “Are you certain? Were you careful with your words?”
“As careful as I knew how to be. It’s one task, and I expect it to be awful and probably dangerous. But around here? What isn’t?”
We’re so close that if I tilt my head an inch, I could kiss him, and I haven’t kissed him since the night after the gala. For a moment, all I felt was need, and I couldn’t tell if he could sense my volcanic desire or my racing pulse. His scent was intoxicating, his hands warm through my clothes, then hot on my neck as he slid his fingers up to my jaw and tilted my head back.
“At this rate, I’ll have to keep you marked forever to keep you safe.” His eyes swirled red, and he turned away with a growl. “You did the best you could. Get some sleep, I’ll get you instructions in the morning.”
With that terse order, he left, and all the lights turned off as the door closed. Still, I stood in the little parlor for a long time in the dark, the last stone in my hand, wondering what the hell had just happened.
22
I can’t sleep in this little house.
The moon isn’t full, and no wolves prowl nearby, but an amorphous energy from the night called to me. The stones, separated and hidden, still hummed with energy and demanded to be brought together.
Tossing and turning didn't help, so I started a hot shower to relax. Naked in front of the mirror, the mark on my chest glowed at me from my reflection. It's changed since I last looked. Vein-like tendrils branched out from the center in all directions.
I can’t be rid of it soon enough.
But even though the spreading terrified me, I wondered how it would feel to increase my power, as Moira suggested.
It felt so good to reach out and touch every knothole in the wooden paneling, the unevenness of the grout between the bathroom tiles, and smell the Spanish moss outside the kitchen window in the back.
It was better than being a wolf.
I could run the night streets and track any human or preternatural I wished, and without a doubt, I knew I could hunt them without being caught.
Oh, this was not right.
I looked myself over again, and the darkly glowing veins of power pulsed hypnotically.
What would it be like if I had another stone? Thorn’s removing one. Would it be so bad to remove two? How would the power feel then?
