Page 13 of Hexual Healing

He looked at me then, really looked at me.Not at the disaster I was, but at something else.Something he recognized.

“You're not undefended,” he said quietly.“You have a familiar who'd fight gods for you.You have a curse that's made you into a magical bomb.And you have me.”

“Why?”The question came out raw.“Why are you doing this?”

He was quiet for so long, I thought he wouldn't answer, but eventually, he did, “Because I know what it's like to lose everything to dragon fire.And because I think you're worth saving.Even if you don't.”

The curse absolutely lost its everlovin’ mind at that.Every piece of metal in the kitchen suddenly magnetized, flying toward me like I was the world's most pathetic magnet.Spoons, forks, the toaster, three pans, and a cheese grater all tried to stick to my skin.

Baz raised one hand, and everything froze midair.

“Breathe,” he commanded.

“I can't?—”

“You can.The curse wants you to panic.Don't give it what it wants.”

“Easy for you to say!”I said while facing down a butter knife that hovered an inch from my eye.

“Actually, it's not.”He stepped closer, inside the orbit of floating kitchen supplies.“The dragon who killed me?She was my mate.”

Everything crashed to the floor.The curse went silent.Even Gary stopped breathing.

“Your own mate killed you?”

“Dragons don't handle rejection well.”His smile was sharp and sad.“She decided if she couldn't have me, no one could.Sound familiar?”

It did sound familiar.Kind of how the beginning of the end of our relationship went.One day, we were fine, the next day, I was second-guessing our future together and said I needed a break.It all went downhill from there.

My knees gave out.I would have hit the floor if Baz hadn't caught me, his hands steady on my arms.The curse shrieked at the contact, sending sparks racing over my skin, but he didn't let go.

“There were other…extenuating circumstances at play.I highly doubt your dragon wants to kill you,” he said firmly.“But I know how she thinks.How she'll attack.What she wants.”

“How can you know what she wants?”

“Because these types of dragon curses all ultimately want the same thing.”His hands tightened slightly.“To bring you back.It isn't meant to kill you, Tansy.It's meant to break you.To make you so miserable, so desperate, that you'll beg her to take you back just to make it all stop.”

“I won't.”

“No,” he agreed.“You won't.Because we're going to break it first.”

“That's impossible.Dragon curses can only be broken by the caster or by…” I stopped, the words catching in my throat.

“Or by killing the dragon,” Baz finished.“I know.”

The way he said it, calm and certain, made it clear which option he was voting for.

“I don't want to kill her.”

Despite all the bad, there were good memories too.Illanya hadn’t always been a psychotic, raving lunatic.Things were almost storybook perfect until they got bad.

Very, very bad.

“Then we'll have to get creative.”He helped me stand, keeping one hand on my elbow until he was sure I was stable.“But first, we need to survive her arrival.Can you fight?”

“Sometimes I can explode things.”

“Good enough.Gary, I need you to?—”