Page 95 of Magic Betrayed

“I was so scared,” I heard him whisper. “So scared I wouldn’t get to you in time.”

Maybe it was the exhaustion. And maybe it was some unnamed form of magic. But the moment his arms went around me, the moment I felt the steady rhythm of his heart, I knew I was safe. I felt his cheek come to rest on my hair, and then the tears began to fall freely as I wrapped my arms around his waist and let it all go—all the fear, all the pain, all the trauma of the past few hours—in a rush of emotion that terrified me with its strength.

I don’t know how long we stood there—me trembling and crying, and Callum just holding me. Steady and strong. Never flinching from my feelings or pulling away from my tears.

And even when my tears were finally gone, he didn’t seem ready to let me go. “It’s nice to have arms again,” he murmured into my hair.

“I like them too,” I confessed, and felt the rumble of his laugh beneath my ear.

“Callum.”

“Mmm?”

I pulled back a bit, and he let me. “We have to talk about what I did back there.”

“Okay.” His expression remained relaxed.

“About the secrets I’ve been keeping from you. And don’t try to pretend you aren’t angry. I can feel that you are, and I wanted to tell you… to try to explain why…”

None of my whys seemed sufficient right then, but he deserved the truth from me. Deserved to know why I’d kept something that important from him.

“First,” he said, still not looking all that angry, “how about I stop making you stand in an alley, in the freezing cold, on a broken ankle?”

“It’s not that bad,” I mumbled. I honestly didn’t feel that cold, and I needed absolution more than I needed to sit down. Besides, this alley was where he’d first told me that he trusted me. Where I’d first decided to trust him in return. And now all I wanted was to know whether I’d broken that trust forever or whether there was still hope.

“I didn’t tell you about the siren magic because I was afraid you would never trust me again if you knew,” I blurted out, keeping my gaze fixed straight ahead. At the too-tight sweatshirt and how it hugged his chest. Nope, that was a mistake, so I shut my eyes instead. “I saw how you were around Leith. And I never wanted you to look at me that way. I understand why you’re angry, and it’s justified. I should have been honest with you. Just… tell me if there’s anything I can do to make this right.”

I heard him sigh, and for an instant, his fingers tightened on my arms. “Raine, look at me.”

And because I was weak, I did. I looked up at his perfectly disheveled hair, his piercing amber eyes, his unshaven jaw and his lips…

“I’m not angry withyou,” those lips said, and for a moment, I was too busy gawking to really understand the words.

“But… wait, you’re not?”

He shook his head. “I’m angry with myself. I thought”—his mouth twisted with chagrin—“that I was dealing with my prejudices. That I’d broken free of at leastmostof the narrow-minded views we dragons have embraced for… oh, centuries, I imagine. But I still have blind spots, and this one hurt you. Made you feel as if you couldn’t trust me with the truth. So, I’m sorry. Sorry you didn’t feel safe with me. Can you forgive me?”

I didn’t want to cry anymore. But had hereallyjust said that?

“You’re not real,” I muttered, swiping at my eyes with my sleeve.

“That’s news to me,” he teased, releasing my arms, but only so he could cup my face and wipe my tears away with gentle thumbs.

Without his grip to hold me steady, I staggered a little and couldn’t hold back a whispered curse as my weight hit my left ankle.

Apparently, that was all it took for him to snatch me off my feet and raise a sarcastic eyebrow in my direction.

“Not that bad, huh?”

“It hurts,” I admitted, with a wobbly smile.

“That’s actually pretty normal when you break things.”

Oh great. The dragon had discovered sarcasm.

“Have you always been a smart-ass?” I grumbled half-heartedly.

“No.” I felt his chest begin to shake with laughter. “Not until you.”

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