Page 28 of Hexual Healing
“Oh, thank the goddess,” I breathed.“That was horrible.”
“That was hilarious,” Gary corrected.
“That was informative,” Baz said pensively.
We both turned to look at him.
“Your magic seems to automatically respond to emotional extremes,” Baz said, still holding me against him.“When you're angry, you might hex things into chaos.When you're frightened, you might create defenders.And when you're frustrated…”
“I turn into Doctor Seuss's revenge,” I finished miserably.
“The point is, it's predictable in its unpredictability.We can use that.”
“How is turning into a bad walking limerick useful against a dragon?”
“Because,” he said as he leaned down.His breath was warm against my ear when he finished in a very sexy whisper, “She won't expect it.Dragons prepare for fire and fury.They don't prepare for…whatever that was.”
“Aggressive poetry?”
“Vulnerability.Honesty.”
I pulled back to look at him.“That's not a thing.”
“It is now.”He tucked a strand of my color-changing hair behind my ear.It was currently a mortified purple, along with those telltale sparks.“Your magic doesn't follow rules, Tansy.It makes its own.And Illanya can't fight what she can't predict.”
“She predicted I'd come back to her.”
“Did she?”Baz asked.“Or is she hoping?That ultimatum wasn't confidence.It was desperation.”
I wanted to argue, but he had a point.The Illanya I'd known for all those years didn't give ultimatums.She took what she wanted.The fact that she was giving me time to choose meant something had changed.
“She's scared,” I said slowly, as it dawned on me.
“Of what?”Gary asked, finally done laughing at my expense.
“Of me choosing someone else.”I looked at Baz.“Of me choosing you.”
The curse flared again, but this time, I was ready for it.I let the pain wash through me without fighting it, and something interesting happened.Instead of exploding outward, my magic settled down a bit instead of flaring up uncontrollably.
“Did you just…” Baz started.
“Accept it,” I finished.“Yeah.Hurts like hell, but at least I'm not rhyming.”
The house rumbled in approval.
“We have less than twenty-four hours,” Gary said, bringing us back to reality.“What's the plan?”
“We could run,” I suggested half-heartedly.
“She'd follow and burn the town anyway out of spite,” Baz said.
“We could fight.”
“We barely survived round one.”
“You could actually mate,” Gary suggested innocently.“Complete the bond for real.Dragon curses get weird around true mate bonds.”
The temperature in the room dropped about twenty degrees.