Page 32 of The Warlock's Kiss

“You were somewhat…flusteredlast night, Adalynn. You had the candles lit when I entered.”

“But I hadn’t. I only lit two of them.”

“Perhaps you’re just misremembering?”

“I told you what was happening out there, Merrick, and I wasn’t lying or exaggerating about any of it. There’s…I don’t know,magicin the world. Itdoesn’tmake any sense, but it’s there. If you’re involved in that somehow, well…it doesn’t matter. I just…I need to know that Danny is safe.”

For the second time since she’d come downstairs, Merrick’s features softened. He reached forward and settled his hand over hers. His palm seemed to thrum with unseen energy, which zipped up her arm in a pleasurable thrill that nearly stole her breath. That faint, barely perceptible song entered her awareness again, a bit clearer than before but no less mysterious.

“Danny is safe here, Adalynn. As are you.” Just that quickly, Merrick withdrew his hand and stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, my routine has been disrupted. I’ve research to resume. Help yourself to more food.”

Before she could ask why his touch affected her like that—before she could respond at all—he strode out of the kitchen and vanished into the hallway, leaving her alone.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d somehow taken a part of her along with him.

Chapter Six

Adalynn grasped the patterned, velvety cloth in both hands and drew the curtains apart, allowing grayish light into the ballroom. She lowered her arms and stared through the tall window.

The rain hadn’t let up since it had begun yesterday. The puddles around the house were closer to ponds now; if the rain continued like this for much longer, it was possible the manor could be classified as a lakefront home. Thankfully, the building was on slightly higher ground, and the first story was raised about six feet from ground level.

The thunder and lightning had persisted, though their occurrences had become infrequent—and the lightning never seemed to strike near the house.

Adalynn found a certain beauty in the dreary weather; apart from the rumbling thunder, the storm was soothing. Despite that calming effect, she felt on edge—partly because she feltgood. She couldn’t recall a single day passing without some degree of a headache or at least a bit of discomfort over the last few months. She felt perfectly…healthy, which was bizarre.

The rest of her unease was because of Merrick.

She’d been unable to shake her suspicions regarding him. There was far more to the man than he let on. She knew that was true about everyone, but it felt truer regarding him. He had some kind of magic, but she didn’t know enough about it to draw any concrete conclusions.

Neither she nor Danny had seen him since he left her in the kitchen yesterday morning. True to Adalynn’s word, she and her brother had occupied themselves in their room and kept away from both his study and his bedroom. Though Merrick had told them to help themselves to his food, Adalynn had reined Danny in, ensuring he ate only what she deemed a reasonable amount.

Adalynn didn’t care how crazy the rest of the world was right now, there were thingsherethat didn’t add up. The front door window—which she’d checked for cracks again and found only smooth, unbroken glass—was only one of those things. The way he’d lit the candles was another. In fact,allthe candles here were suspect—she’d used a few last night, and this morning noticed that none of them seemed to have burned down at all.

But that wasn’t all; his home was completely devoid of dust and dirt even though she hadn’t seen him dust or cleananythingsince she’d arrived, andeverythinghere was in like-new condition despite its apparent age. And she hadn’t forgotten what she saw when she’d first looked in through the windows from outside—broken-down, dust-blanketed rooms, a far cry from the reality of the manor’s interior.

All that couldn’t be mere coincidence, couldn’t be the result of Adalynn losing her mind. And when she’d given him a chance to come clean, to tell the truth, he’d taken the escape route she’d left open—he’d avoided the matter entirely by saying she and Danny were safe.

How could shenottake that as some sort of admission that he had magic at his command?

How am I even standing hereconsideringall this rationally? Six months ago, this would’ve seen me committed to a psych ward for a mental evaluation.

Why wouldn’t she believe in magic after everything she’d seen?

And if Merrick wasother…wouldn’t it be best to grab Danny and run, to face the storm rather than let her guard down and trust this man?

Yet despite all she and Danny had been through, despite the supernaturalthingsthat now roamed the world, Adalynndidtrust that Merrick wouldn’t hurt them. She felt it down in her bones, in her verysoul. If Adalynn had to leave Danny with anyone, it would be Merrick. This late in the game, what more could she possibly do?

Nothing.

Her chest tightened, and she raised a hand to gently rub between her breasts as though it could erase the pain.

The world was big, and without modern technology, it felt impossibly larger. She slowed Danny down every time she suffered an episode. How long before she became a liability? How long before she slowed him down so much that she’d be placing him in danger rather than protecting him from it?

I’m already doing that. Every time I have a seizure, it forces him to choose whether to stay and protect me or to run and save himself—and Danny’s always going to stay.

This reprieve from the headaches, the dizziness, the seizures was just an unexpected lull in the storm—she was in the eye of the hurricane.

Sighing, Adalynn turned and stepped away from the window to look at the rest of the ballroom. Though the light provided by the open window wasn’t the best, it was enough to grant her a clearer view of many of the details that had been lost to her in the dark that first night.

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