Page 129 of A Dusk Of Stars

He moves to take me by the arm.

Shaking my head, I take a step back. “I don’t think so. But thanks anyway.”

I turn on my heel only to find him blocking my way. Hereallydoesn’t want me to go.

Interesting.

“What is it that you’re planning, Miss Novak?” he demands with a frown. “Need I remind you you still can’t even shift?”

I dive deeper into his eyes, my smile growing wider. “You know what, Professor MacArthur?” I say in a sweet voice, “I think it was just today that I told you to mind your own business.”

I turn my back to him and start leisurely walking straight for the entrance into the forest. It doesn’t matter how indifferent I feel to his appearance here. He’s acting even more suspicious than usual and it would be stupid of me to do anything to blow this.

There’s a moment of tense silence before he speaks. “Whatever it is you’re about to do,” he calls after me through gritted teeth, “you won’t be able to do it without your mate.”

I stop midstep, my muscles frozen in place, my unseeing eyes fixed ahead.

It’s like a silent explosion in my head. The eyes, the scent, the glow.

“What did you say to me?” I hear myself whisper as I slowly turn to look at him, my chest starting to heave.

Lorcan keeps observing me for a moment. “As the Aurora, Miss Novak,” he tells me with this weird look on his face, “you always have a mate.”

My mind is buzzing and blank at the same time. Gritting my teeth, I keep staring him down, an urge to murder him in cold blood starting to boil underneath my skin.

“It took me years to find a way to identify him,” he just continues, despite his eyes narrowing at me even more, “and I had to use less than admirable means to get him to come here and set things in motion, but there’s not a shred of doubt that you and—”

I get in his face, making him shut his mouth, his eyes rounding. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” I hiss in a low, hoarse voice.

There’s a moment of silence before I take a step back and he clears his throat, his jaw clenching. “Fine,” he spits out, “have it your way, but there are greater forces at work here, Miss Novak, and until you complete your bond with him—”

“You lying son of a bitch,” I cut him off with such poison in my voice. Mates are people you trust most in the entire world, notlying, manipulative bastards. I let out a bitter laugh as I shift my focus back onto Lorcan. “Don’t think for a second you can fool me into believing you again, let alone buying into somethingas pitifully absurd asthat.” My face twists in disgust and anger. “So get the hell out of my way, or I swear to all the gods—”

“You’ll what?” he grits out just before I see his marks glow beneath his robe.

Before I can react, he’s slamming his fists into each other and I’m rapidly losing balance.

Shit.

The ground beneath me caves into itself and the next thing I know, I’m on all fours at the bottom of a hole deeper than my height.

I’m fucking fuming even before I hear him grit out, “You’re making me do things I don’t want to do, Miss Novak.”

It seems he knows exactly what I’m about to do and he’s hell bent on stopping me, but yeah… That’s not how we’re going to play.

It’s with such ease that I jump to my feet, swing my arm back and summon a crackling swirl of bolts. Gritting my teeth, I direct them straight into the ground below me and let go.

The force shoots me up into the air, I do a backflip and land softly on the ground between the hole and the man who put me there.

It gives me such satisfaction, when I see the surprise in his eyes.

My lips curl into a smile, but he quickly collects himself, his teeth gritting as he stares me down.

I feel all my muscles clench when I see him tense up and disappear, a huge bear coming to land in his place.

The bear doesn’t hesitate, it kicks itself off the ground and lunges over the hole, straight at me.

Stumbling back, I summon a whip and manage to snap it at him even before I regain my footing again.

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