Page 22 of Under the Dragon's Spell
I walked down the hallway shaking my head at myself when a familiar voice stopped me cold.
"What are you doing roaming the hallways at this hour?"
I turned to face my mother.
"Having a stroll."
"Is that so? Paul thought he might have seen you head into one of our applicants' room."
That stupid…My blood froze in my veins, but I didn't let that show on my face. I couldn't let my mother know that her words unsettled me—she might suspect something. I didn't know what she was going to do if she learned about Adrian, but nothing good. She didn't like to feel threatened in her power. And a human with the ability to throw off her magic would definitely make her feel threatened.
"You know how I am," I said. "Show me a hot piece of meat and I can't resist."
"I remember you being quite reluctant to mate with a humans."
My laughter sounded artificial to my ears, but I hoped Mother wouldn't pick up on it. "Mother, Mother…" I said. "Surely you know that sex can be had without the purpose of making a baby." I pulled a pack of condoms out of my hind pocket, glad that I'd stored it there earlier just in case.
She frowned at me, her displeasure obvious. "I thought we were clear about you keeping your hands off the applicants until we'd weeded them out. You never know when one of those things breaks."
"I remember my promise." I shrugged. "Sometimes the urge is stronger than me."
"I can believe that." She shot me a disdainful look. "You've never been good at controlling those. If only because you prefer controlling the people around you rather than yourself." The expression she regarded me with was accusatory. I tried to let it roll off my back, even though I knew exactly what incident she was referring to.
"You and me both," I said. She shared my guilt in equal measure.
She shook her head. "Be that as it may, you weren't in there long enough to have sex."
I snorted. "Believe what you will, Mother. I can make men come undone in far less time than that."
She started to turn away, looking like she really didn't want to continue this line of conversation, but then she halted. "Why him?" she asked. "I would have pegged Michael as more of your type. Maybe Zane."
Oh, those two were my type, she wasn't wrong there, but Adrian was leagues more intriguing. "To spite you," I said. "You don't seem to like him. I like that."
"One day you'll have to grow up, Tyrel."
"We'll see about that."
She shook her head once more, and then she left. I watched her go, hoping I'd convinced her.
10
ADRIAN
The next day, William left after breakfast. He announced that he was quitting shortly after the butler had served us bacon, and then he was gone within the hour. I had no idea what exactly had made him change his mind, but I had a suspicion that his conversation with Tyrel the day before had something to do with it.
"Do you know why he's leaving?" I asked Zane.
Zane shook his head. "Not really, no. He wasn't very talkative."
I should have been glad that the competition was shrinking, but I didn't like the idea that the poor guy could have been bullied out. Still, for now, there was nothing I could do about it.
Early that afternoon, Tyrel's mother summoned us into the living room for tea. We all took seat in around a small table in armchairs that appeared more comfortable than they were.
"Since there were some questions last night, I thought it'd be wise to impart you all with a little bit of information." She didn't look at me as she said it, but she didn't have to. Everyone knew who she was really talking to.
I sat quietly in my seat and listened. Information was good, no matter what had prompted her into giving it.
"Whoever of you is accepted for this job in the end will become part of my family. Of our family. They're not going to be an employee." She stressed the last word. I tried not towince. "The reason we're going through this whole process of elimination is so that we'll find someone who we'll be happy with, and who will in turn be happy with us. For this reason, my son is going to take each of you on a date this week. Any questions so far?"
