Page 80 of Hawke

His eyebrows raised, and his eyes blinked with amusement.

“Looks like the bond is already growing, if you know my human name. I’d like to hear more about it.”

I bore my fangs, my body thrumming with adrenaline. My body had become stronger in just the one night of staying close to my mate, but I damn well knew it wasn’t enough to overpower this warlock. I lowered the warlock until he could touch the ground. He rubbed his turkey neck and stepped away, pulling out the same box I saw him with during our first encounter.

“I know you’re angry with me–”

“That’s an understatement,” I muttered.

Bram chuckled and opened the wooden box. He pulled out a small glass vile filled with tiny pink dust. “What I gave your female is strengthening her. Unfortunately, the side effects is heightened arousal. She is going to feel like she is in the early stages of heat. It’s supposed to bring you both together. That is what you want, is it not?”

I scratched my claws on the wooden bar, watching the ribbons of wood curl beneath them. “Yes, but of her own accord. Not because her body is betraying her. I want her heart.”

The warlock tutted. “And you don’t think you have it?”

I tightened my jaw, feeling the grinding of teeth against my cheek. I knew she loved me, but I wanted her to say it. I wanted to earn what I had lost. The trust, the devotion, the fucking spark she always had.

I ran my hand over my sweaty forehead. “I fucked up. I’m trying to make things right.”

Bram studied me, rummaged through his box again, and pulled out a small parchment of paper. It was rolled up like a tiny scroll, and he pulled it lower until he reached for a blank segment.

“Are there more like you and Delilah, then? More of these human mates?” He pulled out a quill that was too large for the box. It was appearing longer and longer right as he pulled it out. I looked at it in question. It was a magical device I had never seen before.

He pulled it closer to him so I couldn’t look inside. He eyed me carefully in warning. “Well, is there?” He raised his quill and black ink flowed through the feathers until it landed on the tip of the sharpened quill.

“Why do I need to tell you anything?” I snapped. “I still don’t know your intentions. I don’t know who the hell you are. Warlocks don’t just do shit out of the kindness of their heart. You either want something or you are working for someone.”

Bram’s face twisted into a frown as he shut the box securely.

“I have given you a safe haven, a place to put your nest. I have brought down my walls for you to see my true intentions. You can tell if I am lying, your wolf can read any ill will, and yet you still question my loyalty?”

My wolf didn’t stir. He sat patiently, waiting for an order. He wagged his tail like an idiot, sniffing closer to the window of my mind where he could see.

“How do I know you do not have another spell covering anything up?” I asked. Because it was possible, some deep magic I wasn’t aware of. Magic was endless, and I knew very little about it.

Bram stood still, his brow furrowing. “Because I am just like you. I’ve been rejected, and we both know what comes with rejection. Weakness. I am not strong like I once was. But that is no longer something that holds any importance to me.”

Bram laid his quill down on the parchment. It rolled back into one piece so I could not see what he’d written. He hurried over and flipped the open sign toclosedand shut off the front of the shop’s lights.

“The reason I know your name is for two reasons.” He turned to face me after pulling down the shades of the front windows. “One, I knew your father. I could sense his presence in you.”

I swallowed heavily. He knew my father? My father never told me he knew any warlocks. How would I know if this was true?

“I was also there when they approved your status to become a Royal Council guard.”

I narrowed my eyes as he walked back to the counter. “I had a premonition of what was to become of you after you left. You left so quickly, I didn’t have time to stop you without looking suspicious.”

I stood my ground, giving no hint of any agitation. My curiosity was piqued, but so was my wariness of his truths. My wolf could taste no lies on his tongue, but when in the presence of a warlock, and a powerful one at that, I still had to be careful.

“I cloaked my appearance, changing myself into a raven, and flew to the highest bedchamber, watching the miserable event unfold,” he said with disgust.

My breathing stopped, and my heartbeat slowed. I could hear the thundering of its beats in my head.

“Once she rejected you, I was angry for you, Gunnar. Angry that this misfortune continued throughout Elysian. And know that it was happening to my rescuers’ lineage, I knew I had to step in.”

Bram’s eyes darkened, a black cloak appearing over his body. It rained down like smoke, his mustache disappearing and leaving a pepper colored short beard. I didn’t recognize him, didn’t know his scent, and that put the fear into me.

He was a powerful warlock. A shifter at full strength could not fight this male. He was certainly older, wiser, and even with his broken soul, still stronger than any other broken-souled male I’d ever felt.

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