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“I fucking hate dark magic,” I snarled.
Rory glanced at me. “I can imagine. Losing someone you love is awful, and for it to happen that way…”
Her voice fell away.
“I told myself I would never let something like that happen again,” I said. “When Colter decided to create an alliance with the vampires, I was sure that it would end in the same way. He seemed to have come to his senses before that happened.”
“We learned our lesson,” Rory said somberly. “The dark magic that I felt today, though, felt different. It bothers me. I know what vampires feel like, but that… it wasn’t a vampire.”
The thought made my ears perk up, and I struggled to think straight. Dark magic was the bane of my existence.
“You should stay away from it,” I said. “Don’t do any more digging.”
“I’m going to figure out what’s going on,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, you’re not. You’re going to stay the fuck out of it.”
Rory frowned. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m here because of Turk, and I’m going to see this through.”
“You’re not,” I said firmly. “This is my territory, and I’m giving you a direct order.”
Rory glared at me and put her food down on the coffee table. Apparently, she’d lost her appetite, too.
“If you’re going to tell me what to do, this was a mistake,” Rory said, standing. “I’m leaving.”
“You can’t just walk away,” I said.
“I can do whatever I want,” she replied and walked past me.
I grabbed her arm, pulling her back, but she yanked her hand out of my grip and glared at me. I stood, and we were toe-to-toe.
“If you touch me again, you’re going to be in deep shit,” she said.
“What are you doing to do?”
She pushed her magic at me like a flood of water so that it wrapped itself around me, threatening to drown me. It couldn’t be seen, but holy shit, it could befeltwhen a shifter did that, and it was a challenge. My magic rose to meet it in a flash.
“You don’t own me,” she said hotly. “You won’t control me. I heard all these terrible things about you being merciless and controlling and a downright pain in the ass. I’m starting to see that it’s true.”
“I’m just doing what’s right for the pack.”
“Right for the pack? Or right for you after everything you lost?”
“It’s the same fucking thing!” I snapped.
Rory shook her head. “I’m done with this.”
She walked away again, and I hated seeing her leave, but if that was what she wanted…
“I just can’t lose you, okay?”
The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
Rory stopped and stared at me. “What?”
“I lost someone to dark magic already. I’m falling for you, and if something happens to you because of that son of a bitch kid and the dark magic that’s suddenly in my city again, I’ll never forgive myself.”
There, I’d said it. I’d never told anyone about my fears outright. Damn it, I was the big, invincible Bishop, the shifter who didn’t take shit, who ruled with an iron fist. They feared me, and that was how I liked it. No one knew any of this, but I’d said it all to Rory now, confessing that underneath this bravado, I was terrified of being hurt again.
