Page 34 of Mantle

In the next second, I was out of the shower, storming to him and looming over him. “Swear to fuckwhat?Huh?” I grasped the belt of his pants and used it for leverage as I ground my bare cock along his through them, his noticeably hard cock. “What are you gonna do? Andwhywould you do it when you’re clearly into this right here and now with me?”

He grasped my biceps, and I felt a flare of heat—no,power—a second before he used his magic as might to spin us and slam me down over the counter beside the sink.

His hand came down over my throat, pinning my head and half my upper body to it as he leaned over me, his eyes boring into mine. “Why?Because you’re trying to use the primality of sex to drown out your pain. To shove down what needs to be addressed, what you need to process from a personal and emotional standpoint,andwhat needs to be addressed also from a tactical and strategic standpoint given the waves we made against your parents.”

“Ihaveto,” I rasped.

“What?”

“I have to… drown it out.”

He loosened his grip, but still kept a firm hold, not trusting it. “Why? You’re capable of dealing with this. We can all helpyou. Not to mention, Nyx has some deep experience of being disowned by his parents so he can guide you better than anyone.”

“We’re at war. I can’t see to this in the midst of that. To deal with it… I have to unravel first. And I can’t allow that. Ariana needs me, you all need me, we all need each other.”

“V—”

I wrenched his hand off me and knocked him back with a burst of dragon strength. “No!” I thundered.“No!”

I braced myself for the expected retaliation, watching his magic still there on his palm and flickering away.

But then he sighed and snuffed it out, dropping his hand.

He moved to speak, but I cut in, “If you want to help, find a way to get rid of this fucking thing for me.” With a flick of my red magic, I conjured my dragon’s head necklace onto my palm—a gift from my parents as their heir and a way for us to communicate across realms.

It had been a big deal when they’d gifted it to me.

Now, though, it wasnothingto me.

I flicked it over to Kai and he took it, staring at it forlornly. “V, I—”

“Dragon fire wouldn’t work. I already tried. Twice. I want it destroyed as soon as fucking possible. I don’t ever want to see it again.”

He went to say more, but a knock at the door pulled us both up short.

“Yeah?” I called out, my voice coming out a little unsteady.

No answer came.

I cursed. I’d put anauditory reductionspell over the space when I’d stepped in here earlier. I’d had a couple of flashes of what I’d been subjected to by my parents, and it had left me on edge, so I’d worried that I might lose control and start yelling orbeating on the tile or something while I was in the shower alone with my own thoughts. So I’d taken precautions.

A towel flew into my hand from Kai. I gave him a chin lift, secured it around my hips, then opened the door.

I started as I found Jaxon standing there.

He was in gray shorts and a white tank, dressed for a workout, it seemed.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Something you need?”

“Let’s go for a run before breakfast.”

“A… what? Like last night?”

He nodded. “We shift. You soar, I run.”

“Uh… isn’t breakfast just conjured by all the magical beings in this household, meaning there isn’t even time to—”

“Mia and Lucian are cooking. They’re both very particular, so believe me, we have time.”

---