Page 84 of Dragon Unleashed
He hesitates, and somehow, I know, whatever this is, it’s not a small thing. “Aries, you can tell me. I can handle it.”
“Constantine dug that tunnel to your apartment for a reason.”
“I’ve been wondering about that.” I watch him carefully.
“Constantine said he used your magic to extract those creatures from their books and put them in that cavern.”
I stare at him, completely speechless. The language makes sense, but the words... what they imply... it can’t be. “That’s impossible,” I manage.
“He used the tunnel to siphon your magic while you slept,” Aries says quietly.
I don’t answer, too caught up in the memory of opening that Vetus book. Something about it keeps me from arguing.
Aries watches me, but he’s not stopping. He’s not treating me like I’m breakable. Somehow, that steadies me. I suck in a breath and blink, assembling my thoughts.
“This can’t be right,” I say. “Maybe he lied to you. If I had magic, I’d know.”
He gives me a strange look.
“What?” I demand.
“Paige, your magic was evident the moment I met you.”
My eyes narrow, and my heart thuds wildly. “What do you mean?”
“It feels different than anything else I’ve ever encountered, but my dragon senses magic, and yours was unmistakable. I didn’t even realize what it was, at first. It’s as though it’s muted somehow.”
I crawl off the bed and stand, my chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as my heart thuds louder. Heat rises to my neck and face. I don’t know why. Or what I feel. Just that this is utterly impossible.
“What kind of magic do you sense?” I hear myself ask.
He shakes his head slowly like he wishes he had a better answer. “I don’t know. It’s not like anything I’ve felt before.”
“I have magic.” I say the words quietly, mostly testing them on my tongue. It sounds strange, but not untrue, and that shocks me more than anything.
Aries waits, watching me.
“If it’s true, Hoc will know,” I say, starting for the door.
“If it’s true, why didn’t he already tell you?”
Aries’s questions stop me, and all that heat I felt a second ago leaks out, leaving me cold. I turn back to him and see the glint in his eyes—and finally understand what he’s waiting on me to figure out.
“This is why you didn’t say anything earlier,” I realize. “You think Hoc lied to me—all this time?”
“I think you deserve to know the truth,” he says carefully.
For some reason, I can’t help but defend Hoc. “Hoc has never been anything but good to me. He took me in when my parents died, treated me like his own daughter. He wants me to become head librarian and run this place someday.”
“I’m not saying he wasn’t there for you,” Aries says quietly. “But if this is true, he’s holding back for a reason. And since we don’t know what that reason is... You’re my concern, Paige. Not him. You come first for me. Always.”
My heart softens, and his words take some of the panic out of me. I drift back to the bed and sit, covering my hand in his. “You come first for me, too,” I say. “Always.”
“I understand if you need to stay here for a while longer,” he begins.
“What?”
“Returning to my home with me would take you away from the one person who might have answers. I understand that.”
