Page 109 of Bitten By the Fae
I studied the sharp gold tip and noted the letters inscribed at the top. “This wand used to belong to someone else. Are you sure it’s hers?”
“It’s definitely her wand,” he said, catching and following my focus to the word. “Lahaz.That sounds like a spell.”
“Or a name.”
“I’ll ask her if she knows what it means when I confirm this belongs to her.” He tilted the wand again, his brow furrowing. “How have I never noticed the cerulean lines before?”
“Maybe the wand changed formation,” I suggested. Magical conduits were known to grow with their masters. “It could be maturing, just like Aflora’s connection to the dark arts.”
His jaw clenched, his gaze finding mine once more. “She’s going to be a handful.”
“She already is.”
He snorted. “True.” With a soft curse, he shifted focus to the clearing again. “Right. You talk to your guy. I’m going to find Shade and give the asshole a piece of my mind. Then I’ll make sure we’re on the same page.”
“And if we’re not?”
“Then I really will have a duel to report.” He turned on his heel, frustration and irritation pouring off his essence.
All because of a girl.
One neither of us wanted to be tied to.
Yet I didn’t really regret claiming her, even though I knew I should.
That nagging little realization followed me as I made my way to the portal and all the way to Ching’s place. By the time I arrived, I still had no answers, only a resolute opinion that we’d done what we needed to do and that there was no real alternative.
Which couldn’t be true at all.
We’d shattered our futures all for a girl who didn’t belong here.
An abomination.
A wrongness.
So why did it feel so right?
Several Minutes Earlier
Silk sheets.
Violet undertones.
Obsidian furniture.
It all matched Shade’s usual furnishings when he visited my dreams, the notes of his preferences in every minute detail.
I sat on his mattress, too exhausted to fight him or demand he take me to my room. What did it matter anyway? I wouldn’t be alive much longer. Might as well go out in style.
My head fell to my hands, my body shaking from the power exchange in the field. I felt all three of them inside me, their presence somehow grounding me. The question became, was it permanent or temporary?
Not that it would change my fate.
I was absolutely an abomination, my power surge proving it. “I’m a danger to everyone,” I whispered, my shoulders caving inward.
“You are,” Shade agreed, as helpful as ever. “But we can help you manage it.”
I nearly laughed. Except it came out as some sort of half-sob, half-crazed snort. “Fae, I’m hopeless,” I mused, broken. “When did I become this weak shell of nothing?”
