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“Good morning, Verrin,” she coos softly, rounding the corner with a cup of tea.
She hands it to me and sits on the bed, rubbing my thigh. She looks at me with admiration, and I feel a sudden discomfort. I can’t be doing this, sleeping with a human, worrying about her.
“Good morning,” I play along, sipping the tea.
I try not to gag as the taste of licorice and honey flows down my throat. Instead, I crack a smile and look at her. I’ve lied a million times. How hard could this be?
“It’s great,” I exclaim.
She looks at me with doubt and suspicion. “You hate it,” she laughs.
“Shit,”I think, sipping the tea once more.
I try to convince myself I like it. Sometimes if I believe my lies, my convincing skills magnify.
“No, really,” I insist.
She cuddles up against me and places her head on my chest. I wrap my arm around her, and my nerves begin to tingle.“You need to run,”my mind warns me. My heart fights back, begging me to embrace her fully into my soul.
“You’re such a liar,” she jokes, running her fingertips over my chest.
Her touch makes my muscles relax. I close my eyes and enjoy the sensation before the panic strikes again.
“Just something I’m not used to,” I say calmly.
She looked into my eyes and smiled. I gaze at her and realize I have made a grave mistake. She is more invested in this than I thought she would be from a one-night stand.
I think of what I told myself last time this happened when a demon woman became entranced with me after a night of lovemaking. The walls around my heart remained strong, and my mind repeated the same phrase: The person with the most power in the relationship is the one who cares less.
I sighed in relief as I felt the walls build. I pat her arm, motioning for her to get up.
“We should get going. Malaki will be on his way soon.”
She looked at me with disappointment before she got off the bed and walked to the dresser. I sat up and watched her put on her tunic and pants before standing and dressing.
The sooner we find this wizard, the better. This turmoil in my chest is draining me.
“He’ll probably be southbound out of the village,” she informed me, tying her pants with a rope belt.
“All right,” I say, looking at the cup of tea.
She walks to the door and opens it, calling out to me.
“Ready?” she asks.
I look at this place regretfully. “Ready,” I respond confidently. We walk along the path in the woods to the road on which Malaki will be traveling.
“So, when you get back to this court, what will you do?” she asked.
I shrug and debate how much information to give her. “Return to my daily life.”
“Which is?” she prods. I stop myself from rolling my eyes. She’s devilishly persistent.
“Attend the court balls, return to my chambers, and converse with Yeelus.”
“Yeelus?” she interrupts me.
“My familiar, an obnoxious thing, really,” I pause, sighing. “He has some good advice from time to time, but most days, I wonder why I bought him.”
