Page 82 of Magic Claimed

The mugs weren’t in the cupboard above the dishwasher. Maybe the one next to the refrigerator?

“I don’t need magic to hear you being worried.”

I turned abruptly and smacked the back of my head into the cupboard door.

“Ow.” I rubbed my head and winced before offering Callum a bright, sunshiny smile. “I’m not worried.”

“Worst liar ever.”

“Whatever. I’m a super good liar.”

One of his eyebrows quirked. “Tell me a lie.”

“You look terrible in a suit.”

“That’s not a lie,” he protested. “Suits make me look stuffy.”

It was the biggest of lies. My dragon was undeniably devastating in a suit. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over the way he’d looked the night of the Symposium, when I found him on the roof and he’d blown my world apart. The night I’d first seen attraction in his eyes, just before he’d unintentionally betrayed me.

“You just went somewhere else,” he said quietly. “What are you thinking about?”

I could keep lying, but I didn’t want to. “The Symposium,” Iconfessed. “That night on the roof. You were…” Utterly, heart-stoppingly gorgeous.

“An ass?” he supplied helpfully, a crooked smile playing across his lips.

“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know.” No one could have known what I was. No one could have guessed that the laws he’d helped make would prove damning to victims like me, Logan, Ari, and Ethan.

“I’m going to fix it.” He moved towards me until he was close enough to pull me into a hug. And I let him, because I needed all the comfort I could get right now. “I hope you can believe that. I won’t let them hurt any of you.”

“Of course I believe you.”

I heard exaggerated gagging sounds from the couch and tried to ignore them as I leaned into his warmth. Also tried to ignore the terrified voice in my head wondering whether this would be the last time. Wondering when the poison would burrow deep enough, do enough damage, that I would lose him for good.

A buzz under my elbow signaled that Callum had just received a text, so I pulled away and went back to rummaging around for mugs.

“It’s Kira.” His eyes were worried as they met mine. “She asked if we could go see Mom. Said she’s acting weird.”

“You sure you want me to go with you?” I still wasn’t certain Tairen was all that happy about my existence.

“I’m sure.”

Never mind the tea then. “Logan, let us know as soon as you find anything. We’re going to visitCallum’s mom.”

He perked up. “Can’t I come? I’ve always wanted to see inside a jail.”

I shot him a quelling look. “No, and it’s not jail. Besides, the game is more important.”

“Fine.” He flopped back down. “Don’t get arrested or anything. I’ll text you.”

“Are all teenagers like that?” I grumbled as we stepped out into the hall and locked the door behind us. At thirteen, Logan was probably old enough to be alone, but it still made me feel better to know that Angelica was just across the hall.

“Oh, some of us are a lot worse,” Callum assured me.

“Maybe I’ll ask your mom what it was like raising teenage dragons.”

He went silent for a few moments. “She might not be able to answer that,” he admitted. “We didn’t spend a lot of time with her when we were growing up. She was too busy being queen. Trying to establish our people here in a new world.”

“So who raised you?” It occurred to me I’d never asked much about his childhood. Not surprising given that I’d never really had one. “Your dad?”