Page 37 of Dragon Compelled
Paige looks up from the text spread out over her desk, her eyes wide.
“You startled me,” she says, exhaling as she relaxes again.
“We need to talk.”
Chapter10
Aries
“What’s wrong?” Paige is on her feet instantly, rounding the desk and rushing toward me. “Are you hurt? Did something happen in the book you were searching—”
“Nothing happened.”
I catch her wrist in my hand then thread my fingers through hers. Feeling her skin against mine calms the beast enough to gain control of the bloodlust.
“Aries?” Her worry is evident, and while I want to soothe it, I can’t.
“Oliver knows which book I’m from,” I say quietly. “Which means it wouldn’t be that difficult for him to figure out Hoc didn’t bring me here as an employee.”
She pulls away, paling, her worry turning to fear. “What? How?”
“I don’t know how, but he confronted me with some bullshit about having read a story about a dragon prince. He said I remind him of the character, but we both know what he means.”
“Aries.” Her demeanor changes, and her brow arches. “That’s hardly proof that he knows anything. Besides, he’s human, which means he could only read books accessible to the human realm. Yours is here.”
“It wasmystory, Paige. He’s masking his motives beneath this fake friendliness, but he’s playing us. There’s more to him than meets the eye.”
“Like what?”
“Like manipulation. Secrets. He’s not safe. I can feel it.”
“You can feel it,” she repeats, and her tone makes it clear she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying.
“Paige, listen to me—”
“No, you listen to yourself. Look, I know there’s a lot going on, and it’s overwhelming trying to keep it all going, but we can’t start looking for problems where there are none.”
I start to argue but she cuts me off.
“Oliver has already kept our secret from Tawny, the woman he’s supposed to be allied with, which I think proves he’s more than trustworthy. In fact, if he does know you didn’t come here as a new hire, why hasn’t he told Tawny about it yet?”
I scowl. “I don’t know. That’s what I’m worried about—”
Her gaze narrows. “He’s on our side, Aries.”
“He’s playing you.”
“He’s helping me.”
“He’s trying to get close to you,” I growl.
She blinks. When she speaks again, her voice is quiet. “Jealousy is one thing, but if you don’t trustme—”
“It’s not jealousy.” My growl explodes, sending my voice far louder than I intended.
Paige falls silent, and I huff a breath, knowing full well my plan of talking so quietly Oliver can’t listen in just went out the window. Right along with getting Paige to see that I’m right.
Fuck.
