Page 46 of Burn of Obsidian

The words were surrounded in flowers, each one with a cock amongst the centre petals, so subtle you had to really study the flowers to see them.

A sound escaped him, a puff of air that could have been perceived as laughter if his mate wasn’t smiling, as if her entire soul glowed with delight.

He nodded his thanks, placing the pillow gently on his knees. It didn’t matter if she’d bought it as a joke. It was a gift from her, which meant he’d cherish it.

“Your reaction is disappointing.” Ruhne jumped into the air and hovered. “So, what’s the plan for tonight? Are we going to take over a kingdom? Plan a great heist? Are you stealing a diamond from an angry dragon?”

“There are no dragons,” Jax commented.

Ruhne lifted a single finger. “Correction. There are no dragons here.”

Thea cleaned up the glitter that had collected on the table. “You can do anything you want, Ruhne. I’ve told you, you’re free to go.”

“Wait, so you saved me, just to abandon me?” He dropped until his feet hit the table. “That’s cold. And here I was thinking we’d be best friends.”

Jax watched the pixie dramatically slump his shoulders.

“Come on,” Ruhne whined. “Let me help with that fence guy. I’m good at persuasion, trust me. You don’t want to come into contact with my itching powder. I can make any man, woman or child piss their frilly knickers in under thirty seconds.”

“No,” Jax said just as Thea said, “Why would they piss themselves?”

Jax looked up to find her pouting.

“What?” She shrugged. “I’m interested in why they would piss themselves.”

“He’s an inconvenience,” Jax grunted.

Ruhne poked out his tongue. “You’re an inconvenience.”

Thea nibbled her bottom lip, as if contemplating it.

“Thea,” he warned, but she’d already placed Ruhne back on her shoulder.

She blinked at him innocently with her large eyes, wild magic teasing his chi. “So, I’ll text you that address. See ya later, stalker.” Blowing him a kiss, they disappeared with a pop, and Jax hit the table hard enough both mugs toppled over with a crack.

He ignored the looks from the other patrons, too pissed off to clean up the hot chocolate that had spilled. His beast roared inside his mind, an ache that overwhelmed every logical thought. He was used to being numb, unfeeling. Having a mate was such a fucking inconvenience, because all he could think about was tracking her down and taking out his frustrations on her skin. To have her undying attention. To hear her moan, only for him.

Fuck’s sake.

She would be what finally takes him over the edge, and he wasn’t sure whether he should be running toward it, or away.

Chapter 18

Thea

Thea frowned at the drawing, deciding her chalk pentagram looked nothing like the one in the diagram. Which was frustrating because she’d done the same charm hundreds of times.

“You need to drink some more water,” Molly said, shaking her head. “You’re still super pale.”

“I’m always pale.” Thea rubbed out a corner of the chalk with the tip of her finger. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

She wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to admit that to her overprotective sister. Drifting with Ruhne on her shoulder had been a stupid decision, the extra weight too much for her magic to handle. She’d passed out for a few minutes as soon as she’d landed in her childhood bedroom, which was lucky because it could have been worse, like landing in front of her mother.

Molly sighed, flopping down on the bed hard enough Ruhne was launched into the air.

“Watch it!” he cried, tugging down his shirt before flying up to the bookshelf.

“Sorry.” Molly grabbed one of the purple pillows, crushing it against her stomach. “Aren’t you a proper adult now?”

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