Page 100 of Magic Betrayed

It was my fault Callum was in trouble with his court. My fault they’d falsely accused and rejected him.

There was silence from the other side of the door and then…

“She’s here, isn’t she?”

“We’re on Shadow Court territory,” Callum replied in a dangerously soft tone. “No one gets to tell me who I’m allowed to spend my time with.”

Whatever the blonde gryphon said next, I missed, because the time for eavesdropping was over. I threw back the blankets, leaped out of bed and was through the door before I could think better of charging into what was probably supposed to be a private conversation.

Angelica shifted her gaze to me, and while her expression didn’t change, there was something troubled in her icy blue eyes.

“If you’re going to be talkingaboutme, you might as well do it to my face,” I said coolly. “What’s going on?”

I honestly wasn’t sure whether either of them would answer me, but Callum didn’t even hesitate.

“About a month ago, the court asked me to summon you for questioning. They wanted to investigate your potential collusion with Blake and Heather and decide on an appropriate response to your claim of possessing stolen magic. I refused.”

“Oh, is that what you’re calling it?” Angelica arched one brow in undisguised sarcasm. “More like came unhinged.” She glanced at me a bit wryly. “He went on a rant even his mother would have been proud of. I think three of the councilors wet themselves, and the others didn’t come out from under the table for an hour.”

I looked at Callum.

He shrugged, a little uncomfortably. “I might have taken exception to their request.”

Maybe I should have been scandalized, but instead my cheeks went hot, and I felt an absurd temptation to grin like an idiot.

Never mind flowers. Apparently, all it took to make me feel special was a dragon-sized temper tantrum.

“So you refused, and then they made all those ridiculous claims and told you to take a time out?”

“Yes, but that’s over now,” Angelica said briskly. “With the violence and unrest at the Fae Court, they’ve realized that they may have been too hasty, and that all of the reasons they originally asked Callum to take the throne still apply.”

Because he was the only one for the job. Powerful, and yet also flexible. Able to hold a diverse court together and convince them to play nice with each other. Talented and wise enough in politics to hold his own with the other courts, and yet strong enough to command the respect of his own people.

And all of this was now in jeopardy because…

It was all of my worst fears, bottled up and served cold. All of the reasons I’d told myself I shouldn’t allow myself to like Callum-ro-Deverin.

He was needed.

And his people would never accept me.

“Callum, you know what you need to do.” To her credit, Angelica had the decency to sound sorry.

“Do I?” he responded harshly.

“The reasons you took the job haven’t changed.”

No, because Callum hadn’t changed. He was still deeply stubborn and deeply caring—a black dragon who took protecting those under his care as the most sacred of his responsibilities. He’d chosen to become king because he could do it well. Because it gave him the power to see justice done. To provide safety for those who needed it. And the need for those things hadn’t changed either—if anything, it was greater.

And if he chose me—if he chose to ignore the laws he’d helped to write—it might mean the end of his ability to protect his people.

“Laws or no laws,” he said flatly. “What they’re asking me to do would be unjust, and I won’t have any part in it.”

Angelica threw up her hands and turned to me, wearing a complex expression that I interpreted far too easily.

She was too proud to ask for my help to persuade him, but I knew what she expected. Knew exactly what she wanted me to do.

She wanted me to make the sacrifice that Callum couldn’t or wouldn’t make. Wanted me to say that I was willing to give him up for the greater good. That the naysayers were right, and that I wasn’t good enough for him. That it would never work between us, and he should find a proper shapeshifter to be his mate.

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