Page 23 of Under the Dragon's Spell
"I have one," Bernard spoke up.
I looked at him in surprise. So far, he hadn't seemed the type to ask questions. Just the big burly guy who got along with everyone and wouldn't raise a fuss. "Did William leave because he wanted to or was he eliminated, as you call it?"
"He left of his own free will, I assure you. I received his resignation with regret." She looked around the room. "Any other questions? If not, I'd like to proceed."
We nodded for her to go ahead.
"Excellent." She looked at the butler. "Paul, dear, is the tea ready yet?"
"Of course, Madame."
Was she really going to pretend we were gathered here to enjoy afternoon tea together? Well, her house, her rules, I supposed. Paul brought tea for all of us while the lady of the house continued talking.
"We'll start the dates with Michael tonight." She looked at Michael. "Is that all right with you, dear?"
"Sure."
"Excellent. Tomorrow night, it would be Bernard's turn, and then Zane's."
Bernard and Zane nodded.
She smiled. "Adrian would be the last to go. I hope that's fine? Good, good," she continued on without waiting for a response from me, but what should I have said? What could I have said? I didn't make the rules here—she did. And she was giving me to understand that she was very well aware of that fact.
"In the meantime, I'd like for you all to meet with our family's physician to ensure your health and… fertility." She looked at me as she said the last word. Fuck. I didn't knowwhether I was being completely paranoid or she knew something about me and Rory and why we'd split. She could have done background checks. She could have talked to Rory.
I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath, feeling like the walls were closing in on me.
Calm down.
But she knows!
"Are you alright, dear?" she asked me.
I nodded. Then I grabbed one of the tea cups and pretended to take a sip even though it was too hot to drink still. She sipped at her tea as well, but nothing about what she did looked pretend. Maybe dragons couldn't get burned. I wondered about this for a moment until she looked at me again.
This time, her eyes glowed.
What… No!
"Are you quite sure, dear?"
Tell her what you're afraid of.
The thought shot through my head. Her magic felt similar to Tyrel's, but not quite the same. Whenever Tyrel put a thought into my head, it felt almost like my own. What he did was more subtle, but not less powerful.
"I'm afraid of doctors," I made myself say, because I had to give her something. Hopefully, she wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't the truth. Tyrel had said my power to resist was rare, she wouldn't suspect that I could do it, would she? In any case, I wasn't sure that I wanted her to know.
"I assure you our physician is a very nice man. There's no reason for you to be afraid."
I nodded again.
She dropped the topic and turned her attention away from me. I released a quiet breath of relief. From the corner of my eye, I looked at Tyrel, who'd watched our exchange passively. He must know what had just happened, but he showed no sign of it. He didn't even acknowledge my existence until we'd finished tea and I was on my way back to my room.
He caught up to me in the hallway.
"Adrian. A word?"
I stopped walking and let the others go on ahead. "Alright."
