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“My parents...” She told him what happened, doing her best to keep her voice void of emotion. If she heard herself break down just the tiniest bit, she didn’t think she’d be able to stop crying.

Alexandru carefully considered her words. If her parents had indeed drowned, then his men should have found their bodies. They had scoured the woods far and wide several times to make sure that none of the slave masters had escaped.

But if they had not drowned, where were they? Why had they not come to claim their daughter? The information he had been given about Zari’s parents were unclear. No one could say if they were her biological parents and thus full-blooded soul seers as well. But if they were, surely they should have sensed the danger hunting them down?

“Do you think there’s a way to find out...wherethey are?” She couldn’t make herself question whether they were alive or not. She just...couldn’t.

“I will do my best.” Alexandru expected her to ask for more reassurance, but Zari only nodded, surprising him. He cupped her chin, and when their gazes met, he felt a strange pang in his chest when he saw her blurry gray eyes.

His tone gentle, he said, “I mean it, you know. I will do my best to find out what’s happened to your parents.”

She managed a smile. “I know. You told me you don’t lie, remember?”

Ah.

The way she trusted him so even though they had just met?Cute.

The way she was doing her best to maintain a strong façade even if it was obvious she was worried about her missing parents?Cute.

Everything she did was too damn cute, and right now, it wasn’t just his cock affected by it. His whole damn world was impacted by her every word and smile.

And that wasnotgood.

Not good at all.

“Alexandru?”

He blinked, realizing that she had been calling his name several times now. Looking around, he also realized that his men were nearly finished with cleaning up, ensuring that there was not a speck of evidence that might allow humans to discover their existence.

This particular mission was already complete in other words, so what was he still doing here? He had never lingered around this long and had certainly not spent this much time with any of the targets he had rescued.

“Alexandru?”

Damn.He had lost himself in his thoughts again. Looking down on Zari, he said gruffly, “I apologize, pet. What is it?”

Zari bit her lip, suddenly finding herself self-conscious and awkward. She had rehearsed what she intended to say over and over in her mind before calling for Alexandru. But now that she had his attention, his gorgeous green eyes focused on her completely?

A sliver of memory drifted in her mind, of Alexandru tweaking her nipple—-

Fires burst on her cheeks. Oh my God, why did she have to rememberthatnow?

Alexandru’s brow lifted when he noticed Zari blushing madly.Interesting.“What are you thinking?” She didn’t answer and was unable to meet his eyes, either. He put two and two together and from there, it was easy to deduce what was suddenly embarrassing her.

His lips curved, and he murmured wickedly, “Have you just remembered that I’ve seen your body naked, touched your breast, and played with your nip—-”

Gasping, she reached out to cover his mouth, forgetting that if she did, it would mean opening her cloak and revealing her nakedness.

But Alexandru hadn’t, and he reacted swiftly, pulling her close.

She gasped again as her body slammed against his.

“Idiota. Have you forgotten you haven’t a stich of clothing under my cloak?”

She had.

But because she hated feeling like an idiot and hated even more that he had pointed out her idiocy, Zari just glared at him in response. “It’s all your fault!”

He laughed at her stubbornness, which he found ridiculously cute as well. Dammit. What was wrong with him? Why was it that every little thing this slip of a girl did was so interesting?