Page 16 of Spells of Shadow and Blood

I could take care of myself, I knew that. But why hadn’t he respected when I had pulled away? Shaken my head? Pulled against him, begging him with my body language to stop? Had I somehow… given him the wrong idea?

“Malec, what is wrong with you?” I asked, pulling my shadows back toward myself. They released his arm at once and he wrung it out, rubbing the red and blistered skin on his wrist where they had grasped him.

“Wrong withme?” he asked, his voice hiking up a notch. My brow furrowed in confusion. “Why did you stop me?”

“Why did I stop you? When you wouldn’t let me pull away, I had toforceyou to stop. I’m…I’m not ready for that yet.”

He shook his head, running a hand through his midnight hair. “This is what I get for dating a lovesick thirteen-year-old. I should have listened to them, found a girl my own age.”

I stepped back, confusion swimming in my gaze. I had wanted to be pressed close to him only moments ago. But now, all I wanted was to put distance between us.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“What am I talking about?” he asked, anger rising in his voice. He stalked toward me angrily.

I backed away from him further.

“I’m talking about you being a total tease. I only showed you alickof attention because of how powerful you are. The army’s little pet. The general’s favorite.” The words were mocking, bordering on cruel.

I took another step backward, and he took another step forward.

“I thought…I thought you liked me.” The words were a croak out of my mouth.

He laughed.Reallylaughed.

He threw his head back and I could see the dimple in his cheek, the line of perfect white teeth beneath the moon.

“Likeyou? No. I don’tlikeyou. Iwantedyou. There’s a difference.”

Wanted. Past tense.

“I’m dating Evelyn. You thought we were trulydating? Didn’t you wonder why I never hung out with you back at the academy? Why we always had to sneak out to see each other?”

Dating Evelyn.Not me.

I could sense my magic rising within me without my bidding, pressing against my skin, begging to be released. I pressed my eyes closed and when I opened them again, my shadows were slinking across the cold ground toward Malec. I watched as if they weren’t a part of me at all, but rather their own entity. Sentient.

Before they could reach him, I saw his eyes darken. His expression changed into something…different. Something unrecognizable. He moved forward quickly. I barely registered what he was doing before he wound back his hand and I saw more than felt his palm as he slapped me across the cheek.

I reeled back in surprise, my own hand reaching for my now stinging cheek.

As I stood there cradling the pink smarted skin, my emotions turned from hurt, scared, and shocked…to reeling. Who the hell did he think he was, forcing his hand up my shirt, and when I didn’t comply, striking me?

I was ten times more powerful than him.

Twenty.

“Tenebrae consumunt te.”The incantation was leaving my lips before I had even truly given it any thought.

Almost as if on instinct.

This time, he did not step forward, mirroring my movements. He did not close the distance between us.

This time…it was Malec who took a step back.

I took another step forward.

“Tenebrae consumunt te.”

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