Page 15 of Magic Hunted
I nodded. “I’m fine. I just want to get out of here.”
“There doesn’t look to be a way out, but at the very least we can rest here for now until we can formulate a plan,” Ashir said.
My hands shook so hard I clenched them into fists. Every second I was stuck here was a second I’d have to resist the pull of the bond.
“The bug might come back. It’s too open here to be safe.” I said, barely keeping my panic at bay. I wanted my small room. The safety of those four, close walls. The knowledge that nothing and no one knew or cared where I was. That there was nothing to tempt me.
I couldn’t tell them. It wouldn’t do any good because they would accept that our bond would lead to their deaths. They were good alphas. The best, but I would have to reject the best to keep them safe. All I had to do was recall the image of my fathers soaked in blood run through with their own swords to keep me on track and the grimoire safe.
Ashir pressed a bunch of leaves into my hands. I took them, too surprised not to accept them, and saw several had been attached in a chain by knotted stems. “For you. To cover up.”
“Because you’re worried about our naked cocks,” Dias snorted.
“Oh.” Part of me, the stupid part, was disappointed he’d gone to the trouble of making some leaf clothing for me, but when I saw a similar construction around his waist, I was grateful for it. The mud and dirt clinging to my skin was hardly substantial clothing. Dias was right. These leaves were the coverage I needed before their cocks lured me into doing something stupid.
Like give into the bond and join our souls together forever.
“Don’t listen to Dias. So you feel more comfortable around us.” Ashir put his hands on his lean hips after he handed a similar bundle to Savvas. Strung leaves hung low on his hips. Low enough to pronounce the deep V of muscle that pointed to the heavy shaft that lay underneath. It should look ridiculous on him, but it only framed that part of him my mouth watered for. If I hunched over, I was sure I’d see the mushroom head peeking out between his solid thighs. I closed my eyes before I could look for it.
“There’s no way we can get up that tunnel. We have food and water. The sand is soft enough to sleep on. We’re injured and exhausted. We can rest before we work out how we’re going to get out of here,” Ashir said.
Exhaustion pulled my limbs. It would be easy to give into it and let sleep drag me under, but I could use this to my advantage. When they fell asleep, I’d look for a way out on my own.
I wrapped a chain of leaves around my chest to collect my thoughts, thankful to be able to cover myself, even if it was with foliage. I had trouble securing the stem tie behind me. A sharp pain shot through me when I wrenched my shoulder and a soft gasp escaped my mouth.
“Here. Let me help.” Savvas moved behind me before I could object. I shivered when his fingers brushed my bare back. His touch feathered over my shoulder before he stilled. A finger swept across the topmost slave stud embedded in my collarbone and ice injected into my veins when he said, “What are those?”
Chapter Eight
The glamor that Titan spelled on them was gone. He didn’t like people to know I was his slave and wove a spell on them to render the studs invisible, but now the little black dots were targets on my skin. I covered the black studs dotted on my collarbone with my hand, my heart tripping and spluttering because I was laid bare.
I’d never be free. It had taken Titan an excruciating week to hone the magic to embed the slave collar into my bones. Fused, to be exact. He’d done that when he’d forced me to Change into a wolf, making sure the metal would Change with me. Insurance I would always return to him.
Nothing could undo what he’d done to me.
It would only be a matter of time before I was writhing in agony because he’d be Peder and Sinon’s first port of call when they returned to the stronghold. Titan would want me back and there would be no forgiveness. No probing tingle with a soft request. No, he’d embalm me with the pain because they had killed Kalos.
I had to be away from the alphas before that happened.
“N…None of your business.” My skin prickled with heat and shame fizzed with sourness in my stomach. I crossed my arms over my chest, spreading my fingers over the studs. My boobs hanging out I could handle, but this was worse than being stripped bare in front of them. Even nude I wouldn’t feel this vulnerable.
“Your reaction tells me it is our business. What exactly are they, magic?” Dias said, pinning me with an intense stare that slammed into me with a physical force. A muscle pinged at his temple. “Is that how Titan puts his magic in you? Was that the magic in the jungle?”
“They do have his magic in them.” Truth, because they wouldn’t accept anything but the truth. Just not in the way he’d suggested. My fingertips felt the familiar lumps, trying to ignore my churning stomach.
“I know what they are, brother,” Ashir said, his raspy voice low. He knelt before me. I kept my gaze over his shoulder, determined not to be drawn into eyes that saw too much. “They are black slave metal, aren’t they, little mate?”
I couldn’t hide my wince. My gaze dropped to the sand as I curled into my knees. I couldn’t stand to see the disgust that would be on his face.
“I’ve seen it around necks and wrists, but never infused into skin and bone,” Ashir said.
Savvas gasped. “Is this true, Haera? You’re a slave?”
“A slave Titan doesn’t want getting away.” Dias stepped so close his body heat washed across my bare skin and his sharp, jagged whiskey-and-cinnamon scent infused my being. His eyes spat fire as his gaze trailed over the studs lining my collarbone.
“I’ve seen Titan activate slave cuffs to keep people in line and these are the ultimate control.” Ashir knelt and reached to me as though to cup my cheek. “What has he done to you, little mate?”
I ignored the soft look in his eyes, the tender tone in his voice, because Ashir had the power to be my undoing.
