Page 10 of Light Magic

Whoa, my thoughts went on and on …

The snake moved on the chair and I stilled.

I stared at the snake, afraid of moving.

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite,” Maggie said. “The tiger isn’t here at the moment, but when you see him, don’t let his size scare you. He’s a softie.”

I blinked.

There was a freaking tiger.

“Oh, you don’t know their names,” Gwen said. “The snake is Venom, the cat is Merlin, the raven is Bane, and the tiger is Rune. All males.”

I stared at her, sure I would forget their names in three seconds.

I shook my head once, trying to focus. Abbie had asked me a question. What I needed help with.

“I lost?—”

The words faded away as a man appeared from among two bookshelves, the opposite side from where Britt had gone, holding an open book in his hands. “I found it.”

He looked up from the book, his eyes met mine, he halted, and his shoulders tensed.

“Ariella … what are you doing here?”

3

I spun to Lacey, fuming. “You didn’t tell me your brother was here.”

She raised both her hands. “I didn’t know!”

It was too much of a coincidence.

“Take me back,” I demanded, irritation igniting in my chest. “I want to go back.”

“But what about your magic? You came here for your magic.”

As if my eyes had a life of their own, they shifted to Levi. He had walked forward and dropped the book on the table, right beside the witches, but his attention was still turned to us.

By the light, the demon looked dashing in a dark gray suit that hugged his big shoulders. His face was as sharply handsome as I remembered, with chiseled corners and bright blue eyes.

My gaze flicked to his full lips and I couldn’t help remembering what he had done with them. My body instantly heated up and I suppressed a hitched breath. My chest hurt with sudden want. Thankfully, the bond was broken and he couldn’t feel my burning desire.

What the hell? I shouldn’t feel anything other than contempt and anger toward him. He was an evil demon who had used me.

How many times would I have to repeat that for it to stick in my mind?

Thousands, it seemed.

His gaze moved to my neck, where the bandage peeked from under the collar of my sweater. I thought I saw his eyes darken, but it could have been my imagination.

Levi shifted his weight, turned to the witches, and pointed to the books.

I let out a long breath.

I could do this. We were adults. For whatever reason he was here, I didn’t care. Hopefully, he would be done soon and leave. Or the witches would be able to help me and I would walk out of here quickly.

It didn’t matter.

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