Page 16 of Magic Betrayed

Callum nodded. “He spent some time in the dungeon at her personal estate, with no magic and no way to fight back. So I think it’s fair to say that he takes kidnapping very personally.”

There was a lot there to explore, but only after Kes and the kids were safe. “I still can’t ask him to dedicate time and attention to this when he has so much else going on.”

“Then don’t ask Faris.” He looked at me calmly, almost challengingly. As if nudging me towards an inevitable conclusion. “Ask someone else. Someone who isn’t busy with a wedding and isn’t responsible for any Shadow Court business.”

Was he suggesting…

“I willnot!” Horror at the idea drove me a step back. “Callum, don’t be ridiculous.”

“How is it ridiculous?” He didn’t look even remotely scandalized. “I’m right here. I have literally years of experience with looking for missing persons. And most importantly, I don’t have any wedding-related tasks for you to worry that I’m going to miss.”

“No.” I shook my head firmly. “You can’t be involved in this and you know it.”

“Idon’tknow it,” he retorted. “So you’re going to have to explain to me why you won’t let me help when you clearly need it.”

I wanted to growl at him for being so obtuse.

“Look, it would never work,” I insisted. “I know how much you value rules. Doing things by the book. It’s why you’re so good at your job. So I can’t let you run over that part of yourself just because you think I need help. You’re the king of the shapeshifters, and you need to be able to say that you’ve upheld your own laws, not trampled on them for the sake of someone you barely know.”

His mouth opened slightly, as if I’d actually surprised him with my argument. “You… That’s…”

“Yes, I know I’m right. Thank you for noticing.”

His side-eye held copious amounts of sarcasm. “Not what I was going to say,” he responded dryly. “I can admit that you aren’t entirely wrong—it’s true that I value laws, rules, and order. But not for their own sake.” His amber gaze burned fiercely, refusing to allow me to misunderstand him again. “What I value more is keeping my promises, and I promised you that your family would come to no harm because of your connection to the Symposium, or to me.”

Except he’d made that promise to a liar and a fraud, and I would never ask him to keep it. Not anymore.

“This has nothing to do with you or the Symposium,” I protested.

He tilted an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Let’s review. Even if your family is safe, whoever broke into your apartment clearly either believes you have something they want, or they’re out for revenge. Which means they know your secrets, and the only reason you revealed your secrets is because of the Symposium. Because you needed to distract Blake and explain his goals. You made yourself vulnerable in order to protect me and all the other delegates, and saved us from a far worse outcome. In the process, you and your family became targets—for greed, for revenge, for research, and for hatred. All very possible reasons for whatever happened last night.”

Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that he would see it this way. And I was still fairly certain none of the other delegates would share his views.

“And what if your fellow sovereigns learn that you’re here? That you’re personally helping me, in defiance of the laws you pushed so hard to create. Won’t that drive a wedge between you? Make it even harder to gain their cooperation in the future?”

Callum scrubbed a weary hand over his face and offered me a rather grim smile. “I’m not sure our ‘cooperation’ can get any worse, to be honest. I’ve spent the last few months trying to field their complaints and deal with the damages. I’m only here because…” He fell silent, as if unwilling to tell me the rest.

“They didn’t fire you, did they?” I murmured in horror.

“No,” he admitted wryly, “but sometimes I wish they had. I just… It was a lot, and I needed some time away from it all. So I guess you might say I’m on administrative leave.”

Whatever they’d done to him, it was so bad that the dragon who hated cities had come here to recover. Here to the scene of what he probably saw as his worst failure.

“So basically,” he added, his face softening, “if you let me help, you’re actually doing me a favor.”

Now he was just babbling nonsense.

Also, if I accepted his help, there was no way he wouldn’t find out the truth about Kes. No way that he wouldn’t eventually learn about the contract and start asking awkward questions.

But… how could I say no? I had no money, no phone, and we’d given the stolen SUV back to the Fae Court, so I didn’t have a car either. Ari, Logan, and Kes were counting on me, and I refused to let them down, which meant Ididneed the help. So even if finding them meant being in debt to a dragon?

That was a price I was willing to pay.

And if it eventually meant revealing the truth about Kes? I would have to hope my new friends trusted me enough to accept her in spite of her past.

“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “But there have to be rules. You like those, right?”

Callum’s head tilted as he looked down at me. “Let me be very clear about this, Raine. I do like rules. I like to know what to expect, and I like to be in control. And for a long time, I pursued those things for their own sake. But when we found Kira again?” He shook his head. “I realized that I like those things because theykeep my people safe. That’s all. So if I have to throw them aside for the sake of those I’ve promised to protect?” His smile was all dragon—toothy, predatory, and filled with the promise of vengeance. “I will set the rules on fire myself.”

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