Page 17 of Magic Betrayed

Our eyes caught, and I shivered involuntarily at the intensity in his gaze. He meant every word.

“Understood. But I still want them. And once you agree to them, you can’t just break them because you feel like it.”

He nodded. “Go ahead.”

“The most important thing to me is my family’s safety. So rule number one is, no one else gets involved in this search without my approval. Rule number two… I won’t let you do anything that endangers your position. That means if we find out this investigation takes us outside the Shadow Court? You’re out. Also, we share information equally and don’t try to hide things from each other. And”—this might be the most important one of all—“anything you learn in the course of helping me cannot be used against me or my family at a later time.”

Did that cover it?

“I agree to rules one, three, and four,” he said promptly. “Rule two is open to negotiation.”

“Callum…”

His phone buzzed urgently, and with a bit of a wince, he fished it out of his pocket. Glanced at the number and answered.

“What is it?”

I heard muttering on the other end that sounded like it contained more than a few expletives.

“Understood. We’ll be there as soon as it’s safe.”

He hung up.

“We?” I demanded. “Was that Faris?”

He looked at me thoughtfully. “It was. But if I agree to take you with me, you have to promise to take it easy and not go charging off before you can even stand up straight. You lost a fair amount of blood from that head wound, and I don’t think you want to wind up back in bed.”

I scowled in annoyance, but Callum had the advantage here. I wanted desperately to know what Faris had discovered, but I wasn’t recovered enough to walk that far and had no way to drive. For now, I was dependent on the dragon, and I was pretty sure he knew it.

“Okay,” I muttered. “I promise. Now, where are my clothes?”

FIVE

I endedup needing more than just clothes.

My own were soaked in blood, so Kira had left me a spare set she kept at The Portal, along with a toothbrush and a comb. But when I went into the bathroom to change, I took one look in the mirror and let out a horrified squeak that was apparently audible even through the closed door.

“Raine?” The dragon had clearly been hovering just outside. Probably in case I collapsed. “Are you okay?”

Okay or not, I wasn’t about to let him in.

“I’m fine,” I lied through clenched teeth. “Why didn’t you tell me I looked like an extra in a slasher horror flick?”

Blood from my head injury had dried on my face, my neck, and presumably halfway down my torso. My hair was matted in gruesome chunks, providing a startling contrast with the white strands.

“Because I have a mother and a sister and I didn’t want to die,” was the honest answer that came through the door. “Also, after last night, I was just relieved to find out that you’re going to be okay.”

After last night…

When I’d shown up on his doorstep covered in blood and collapsed.Right into his arms.

Well, there was yet another embarrassing thought.

“There’s shampoo in the shower and you can use any of the towels,” Callum told me. “If you’re feeling up to it. Just try not to get the bandage wet. You have eight stitches under there.”

Ouch. Last night must have been worse than I realized if I’d somehow gotten eight stitches without waking up.

I heard Callum’s footsteps fading away, and only once he was gone did I allow my humiliation to fuel a swift cleanup. I managed to wash most of the blood out of my hair in the sink and removed the gore from my skin with a washcloth. Kira’s leggings were short on me, but the t-shirt was soft and the hoodie was loose and comfortable.

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