Page 66 of Magic Betrayed

Somehow, he seemed to understand anyway.

“When we found Kira after all those years, we didn’t want to let her out of our sight, either.” He grinned at the memory. “A little harder with a nineteen-year-old who was raised to hate us and too stubborn to be bossed around.”

“At least she couldn’t teleport,” I muttered, blinking slowly and wondering why my head was so heavy.

Before I could say anything else, Callum shifted towards me, scooting across the floor until his shoulder was touching mine.

Sleepy as I was, the motion quickened my heart and yanked my eyes to his face. What was he doing?

“Pillow,” he explained, and nudged me with his elbow. “It’s okay if you want to fall asleep right here. I’ll catch you.”

I’ll catch you.

The king of the shapeshifters had just casually invited me to fall asleep on his shoulder.

I heard the pause in conversation, and could tell everyone around us was watching and listening with a fascinated sort of shock. Kira was probably cackling under her breath, and Faris… Well, who even knew what my boss might think.

I was too sleepy to care. Too tired to think very hard about whether everyone would make fun of me when I woke up. And the real trouble was, I wanted this. So desperately. Wanted this man I knew I couldn’t keep. Wanted the feelings of closeness and belonging and caring. Someone who saw me, saw my burdens, and came alongside me so we could carry them together.

So, for just that moment, I decided to let go. To stop worrying about who was watching or what anyone would think or what the future might be. I closed my eyes, rested my head on his arm, and let myself drift off to sleep.

* * *

I woketo the sounds of cheering and clapping—muffled, but somewhere nearby. I was lying down on something relatively soft. My eyes flashed open. I was in Faris’s office, on his couch, and when I turned my head, I saw I was not alone.

Callum was sitting on the floor beside the couch, head leaned back, arms crossed, staring contemplatively at the ceiling. His hair was ruffled, his jaw tense, his lips slightly quirked, and I suddenly wished I had the right to reach out and touch him. To run my hands through his hair, feel the roughness of his jaw beneath my palm, and brush my fingers across his lips.

I saw when his breath caught. He turned to look at me—every muscle poised and eyes aflame. Focused solely on me.

Oh no. I’d forgotten. The man could practicallyhear my thoughts.

“I…” Crap. “Callum, I’m so sorry if you heard that. I didn’t mean…”

“Too late,” he murmured, shifting suddenly closer, making no move to touch me, but leaning in with a hint of a smile on those perfect lips. “It’s far too late for that, Raine.”

“What do you mean?” My voice was a strangled whisper.

“You already told me that you can hear my dragon.”

“So?” I could hear my voice shaking, but I wasn’t scared. I was… I had no idea what to call this feeling. Heart pounding, breath coming too fast, every nerve in my body crackling, every muscle tense and trembling.

“So there’s two things you should know.” Callum sounded entirely matter-of-fact, but my magic insisted he wasn’t nearly as calm as he looked.

“First of all, I talked to Faris and Morghaine.” He hesitated, as if what he was about to say next was something I might not want to hear.

I felt a little too vulnerable laying down, so I sat up, rolled my neck, and tucked my legs under me. “Just say it, Callum. Whatever it is, I promise I won’t freak out.”

His lips quirked wryly. “You may want to rescind that. They said that the fact we can hear each other means that we’re probably…” He glanced up at me, almost hesitantly. “Well, it seems likely that we’ve formed a…”

“Just tell me,” I insisted.

“…a mate bond,” he finished in a bit of a rush.

The world seemed to stop for one eternal moment as I broke my promise and completely freaked out. Eyes wide. Mouth open. Heart hammering in my chest. Terrified, elated, confused, panicky. There was a weird buzzing in my ears and I felt lightheaded.

“Raine.” Callum shifted closer, reached out, and gripped my hand. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

“It’s fine,” I said, uttering the lie in a slightly strangled tone. “I’m fine. Totally fine. A what, now?” Surely I’d heard wrong. He couldnothave said what I thought he did.

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