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Carnon stood, shoving his hands angrily in his pockets. “Of course not,” he replied acerbically, moving toward the balcony and looking away from me across the city. “I told you I wanted you. That it wasn’t about the necklace. That was absolutely true.” He turned, his gaze pinning me in place. “I would have healed Akela myself if you hadn’t done it. Can you imagine my surprise upon finding another being, a witch, no less, with a power that has made me reviled and judged and feared for the last decade? Gods, I was so…”
He broke off, turning away from me again. The heat in my chest simmered, and I blew out a breath to steady myself.
“Angry?” I asked. “Confused?”
“Relieved,” he said, still looking out over the dark city. “To know that I wasn’t alone. That someone else was fucking gods-blessed. That I might have an equal.”
I frowned as he turned and strode purposefully toward me. He stopped a few inches away, flinching as he restrained himself from touching me. He let out a growl of frustration and ran a hand through his dark hair.
“Gods, Red, don’t you see what this means for us?” he asked. “There’s a reason we found each other. A reason we share this power. A reason I’m so fucking drawn to you that I can barely think around you.”
I shook my head, stepping back until I was against the wall, that bright magic in me aching to escape for reasons I couldn’t understand, and didn’t have the capacity to dwell on in my fury. Carnon prowled forward, caging me in with his arms while still carefully not touching me.
“To think I would find…,” he said. He paused, seeming to wrestle with something, and shook his head taking a step back. He was breathing heavily, as if he was physically fighting to get something out.
“What?” I asked, anger clouding my judgment as I snapped at him. “You would find what?”
Carnon shook his head again, looking grim. Defeated, even. “Nevermind,” he said darkly, gritting the words out between clamped jaws. He prowled toward the bedroom, looking livid. He paused when he reached the entrance to the room, not even turning toward me when he said, “You take the bed. Tomorrow you begin learning to control your magic, and you need to be rested.” He disappeared into the dark without another word.
I stood for long moments, still pressed against the wall. I had no idea what had upset him so badly, but it was clear that there was a lot he still wasn’t telling me, and I was determined to find out all of it.
Akela whined, butting my hand with his wet nose to remind me he was there. Or maybe to encourage me to go after his master.
“So many lies,” I said, crouching to stroke his soft ears. “How will I ever know what was true and what wasn’t between us?”
Akela whined again, tilting his head to study me as I crouched before him. I got the strangest sense of understanding and wistfulness from the wolf, and I shook my head with a sigh. I wished he had the answers, and that he could tell me what to think of his master, but I reminded myself as I fell asleep that he was just a wolf.
Chapter 6
I woke up to the smell of bacon and coffee and something sweet wafting through Carnon’s bedroom.
I had stayed on the balcony for a long time the night before, not wanting to confront him by entering the room when he was still awake. I needn’t have worried, as he wasn’t even there when I finally crawled into his bed.
Now he was lounging in his usual armchair, fully dressed in kingly attire and looking at me over the rim of his coffee cup.
“Good morning,” he said in a playful tone. “Sleep well, Red?”
“Don’t call me Red,” I grumbled, swinging out of the bed. I looked down to double check that I was decent, but Cerridwen’s borrowed things had included a long night shirt, so I was mostly covered. “Are you still angry with me?”
“I believeyou’rethe one who is angry withme,” Carnon pointed out, raising a questioning eyebrow. “For the lies.”
“I am,” I agreed, padding over to the sofa across from him and taking a piece of bacon from a silver platter on the chalky coffee table. “But you weren’t exactly a ray of sunshine last night.”
“No, I wasn’t,” he agreed, watching me eat the bacon thoughtfully while swirling his mug gently. “I owe you an apology. For many, many things, but primarily for losing my cool.”
I paused, looking up from the bacon. He was gazing at me seriously, his serpentine eyes intent on my face.
“You’ll have to do better than that to make up for all the lying,” I said, pouring cream into a cup of coffee and hoping it would cut the bitterness.
“I’m aware,” he said darkly. “Which is why today I begin teaching you how to control your magic.”
“Since I really don’twantto control the magic,” I replied, crunching on another strip of crispy bacon, “I’m not sure how you think that will improve our relationship.”
Despite this jab, I felt the tension that had developed between us last night begin to ebb as his lips curved into a smile.
“I can beverypersuasive,” he replied, a wicked gleam in his eye. “If you’d prefer, there are severalotherways I could try to make it up to you that would be much more enjoyable for both of us.”
His suggestion flooded me with heat, and the shadow stone pulsed faintly. He flicked his forked tongue over the rim of his mug, and I scowled.
