Page 150

“Good. I was not sure if I would be happy with what I discovered at the end of your trail.”

He has always been jealous and possessive.She’d always known it would bother Geryon that she hired the Caddel brothers, but she’d needed their assistance.

“You used a truth speaking spell.”

She bashed on his back.How dare he.

She could have fought against his weaker magic if she still had access to her own to chant a counter-spell. This was one of the reasons Valerie hated having her magic locked away – she couldn’t defend herself properly. She couldn’t stop herself from being a victim of another magic wielder’s spells.

He pressed his lips against her throat again, and that warmth radiated down her side. “Were you harmed?”

“Y-Yes.” The answer was stolen from her, no matter how hard she fought against it.

She and the Caddel brothers were attacked by other bandits, who were running low on supplies. Although it was a minor wound she could heal even without witchcraft, she was slashed against her lower back.

She’d been snuck up on and managed to lunge forward quick enough to only receive the tip of the sword.

Geryon held her tighter, his growl returning. “What was the point in hiring men if you were injured anyway?”

Whenever he moved his lips away from her throat, the warmth faded, and the spell wouldn’t push for her to answer.

Valerie couldn’t handle the affectionate embrace, the way it made her stomach flutter. She fought to free herself. When she struggled hard enough, he finally pulled back.

“You are too clever for your own good! For an entire month, I have been searching for you.” His lips thinned while his eyes narrowed again. “I am not pleased.”

“I did not ask for you to come after me.” She shoved at his chest, and his eyes squinted further when he stumbled back. “Why will you not leave me alone?”

Ever logical, Valerie was refusing to listen to the deep pound of her pulse, the way it quickened at his touches, at merely the sight of him. She always listened to her head over her heart.

She was at the end of her patience with this, with him, with everything.

“Why are you here embracing me rather than killing me? Is it because you think it is entertaining, because you discovered I foolishly garnered tenderness for you?” She turned her head away, her fists clenched. “I do not want the empty future you have offered me, and I will not let you take me by force. Just leave me alone.”

Rather than be angry, Geryon laughed. “You seriously have not figured it out yet, have you?”

“What is there to figure out? You are obviously deranged.”

He had to be. He was a crazed beast who couldn’t think rationally.

“That very well could be true,” he pouted. From the corner of her eye, she saw him run his hand through his hair, rubbing the back of his head. It appeared awkward, as though he was shy and embarrassed. Even his cheeks pinkened slightly. “Do I have to be direct with you then? Is that what I must do?”

There was a small pause.

“Valerie...” Her head quickly shot to him at the beseeching way he said her name, only ever hearing him say it one other time. “You silly Witch! I care for you.”

Her brows slowly drew together tightly.He cares for me?

“Why do you think it is I have been chasing you? Why do you think it is I want to touch you, regardless of what you are?” He stepped closer, and she was too shocked to stop him. “I have been fond of you since the palace.”

He pressed his fingertips against the skin of her chest, right over the left side of it. “You are not alone in this burning sensation you feel, and I would prefer not to be wounded by what I hold any longer.”

“But I am a Witch, and you are a Dragon.”

“And before I thought you were a human, and I was a Dragon. It still did not matter to me. I had planned to court you and spend whatever little human years you had with you.”

This is wrong.Valerie stepped back, feeling like someone was trying to tug on the tendons holding her heart firmly in place. It wasn’t the muscles she felt it against, but the hard layer of stone she had placed around it.It is still not possible.

“This mark does not erase what I am. I still cannot–”