Page 45 of Magic Forsaken

“You’re bleeding,” she pointed out grimly. “A lot. And they tried to blow up this building with you in it. Of course I’m worried.”

“Now you know howwefelt,” he murmured, and she scowled at him.

“Just… be careful. And Raine?” She turned to me with a fierce stare. “Don’t let him do anything stupid.”

With that, she turned on her heel and marched out, followed by Draven. He shot me a shrug and a smirk as he left, as if to say,good luck with that.

That left only me, standing next to a visibly amused dragon.

He glanced at me. I looked back.

“I think,” he said, “given the events of the evening, you should have the rest of the night off.”

“Okay.” My voice sounded mechanical, even to me, but I had a lot to process. I had walked in here only a few short hours ago,almost entirely certain that I was about to turn down his job offer and walk away.

Now I had a new job, a new boss, and a strange new relationship with the magic that coursed and twisted through my body. I’d thrown myself headlong into peril and uncertainty for the sake of a man I barely knew, and now that my adrenaline was ebbing, I found time to wonder whether it had been a mistake.

But it was too late to second guess. I was going to have to walk this tightrope—embracing the opportunity to do something good and lasting, while still continuing to hide the truth—all while confronting a very real and present enemy. Someone had brazenly attacked the building I was in, and may well pose a threat to the safety of every Idrian in the city.

In conclusion? I was in over my head, so deep I couldn’t even find the surface.

“Are you going to run?” Callum asked the question quietly, as if granting me the illusion of privacy—of choice. But that’s all it was—an illusion. Like it or not, I was tied to this dragon now, by my own unspoken promises, and by his.

He’d claimed that this Symposium would protect all those others out there like me, Logan, Ari, and Kes. And whatever his faults, dishonesty didn’t seem to be one of them. I believed that he meant it. That this was the first step towards ensuring that there would never be another Elayara, whose crimes had gone on for years without intervention.

So even if it put me in danger, I would see this through.

“I should have,” I admitted. “I should have told you where to stick this job and walked away. But apparently I’m too stupid.”

“I won’t let them hurt anyone else,” he said, his voice low and intense. “And that includes you.”

I looked the dragon in the eye. “You can’t promise that.”

It wasn’t that I thought he was lying. He meant it. And he would try everything in his power to keep that promise.

But someday, he would break it. I could only hope that before that day came, I would have done enough to keep my people safe from his vengeance.

ELEVEN

I wasa bit shocked to realize it was still not even nine o’clock when I arrived back at the hostel. It seemed as if the past few hours had lasted a week at least. Or maybe my perspective had changed so much within those hours that I was no longer the same person.

I felt exhausted. Disoriented. Unsettled. And also strangely filled with nervous energy.

Kes and the kids were just about to sneak outside, so I impulsively suggested that we all make the trek to Myriad Gardens for a bit more exercise. The kids had been cooped up for far too long, and everyone needed a change of scenery.

And also… I wanted to believe that Draven was right. That our captors and tormentors were dead, and we no longer needed to fear them finding us.

It wasn’t that we hadnothingto fear… There was still a danger that someone would realize what the kids were. But it was a Saturday night, and the park would be filled with people. Hopefully, we would be able to simply blend in.

On the walk over, I gave the kids some rules.

“We have to pretend to be normal humans, okay?”

Logan didn’t respond, and Ari pouted.

“No magic,” I said sternly. “We need everyone to think we’re just like them. We’re going to enjoy the park. Look at the fountains and the lights. Maybe see some ducks. But if the humans catch us, we’ll have to go home early.”

That was mostly for Ari’s benefit. Logan was old enough to understand the dangers.

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