Page 63 of Magic Forsaken

“And?” Callum’s expression remained maddeningly unreadable. “Your complaint is?”

“You didn’t hire me as a bodyguard at all, did you?” I accused. “You let me believe that you needed me, needed my power to scare Talia and the others, but that’s not it. That was never it.”

His head tilted, and his brows rose fractionally. “If you’re not a bodyguard, then what are you?”

“A distraction.”

I saw his surprise. Saw the light of wary respect bloom behind that piercing gaze.

“And if I said that you’re correct? Does that frighten you?”

Yes. He’d claimed he wanted to protect me, but he was making me a target, and he was doing it on purpose. I needed to know why, but I wasn’t willing to betray that much vulnerability with him just yet. Not until I reassessed just how much I could trust him.

“It disappoints me,” I said bluntly. “You made me think we were on the same side. We can’t be allies if you’re just planning to use me to get something you want.”

“You act like these things are mutually exclusive,” Callum pointed out. “They aren’t. Yes, I hired you to be my bodyguard. I wasn’t lying about needing someone to watch my back. But as a part of that job, I’ve also chosen to deploy you as a distraction for those with ulterior motives.”

“You’ve painted a target on my back! All but declared open season for them to figure out who and what I am!”

“A bodyguard is already a target,” he reminded me. “But often that’s all they are. Someone to be eliminated along the path to the real goal. But because we haven’t explicitly identified you as such, now they’re curious about you. You’ve become more than a suit, more than a weapon. Someone they have to account for and add into their calculations. Someone who cannot simply disappear without consequences.”

He was trying to make it sound altruistic. “You’re going to pretend you did this to protect me?” I couldn’t even begin to hide my skepticism.

Suddenly his expression softened, and the shapeshifter king subsided, leaving only Callum. Somehow, I was learning to tell the difference.

“I was born into this world,” he reminded me. “Whether I like it or not, it’s shaped my entire life. True, I avoid the political games as much as I can, but not because I don’t know how to survive them.” He held my gaze and refused to flinch. “I promised I wouldn’t let them hurt you, and it’s a promise I intend to keep, even if you don’t always like my methods. Can you grant me some degree of trust for these next few days—trust that I know what I’m doing and that I keep my word?”

At least he was asking, rather than trying to intimidate me into cooperating. And as I searched his face, looking for answers, a part of me wanted very much to say yes.Yes, I can trust you. Yes, I will choose to believe in you.

I’d seen the way he cared for his sister. The way that he cared about protecting the powerless. Even the way he’d chosen to care for a helpless kitten instead of leaving it to its fate. I knew that his heart was so much bigger than he allowed most people around him to see.

But the larger part of me was still unsure. Unwilling to risk trusting too easily, too soon. How could I allow myself to forget not only who he was, but what he represented? Much asI wanted to, it might never be safe for me to trust Callum-ro-Deverin.

“I’ll try,” I said, and if it wasn’t the whole truth, it was as close as I could get without revealing too much. “I do believe in your promise not to intentionally hurt me or those that I love. But any more than that… You’re asking me to surrender control of my future and my safety, and that’s something I may never be able to do again.”

“Understood.” Callum’s jaw clenched and his lips pressed together. “But know that it changes nothing for me.”

A rather awkward silence descended, until he pulled out his phone and texted a brief message. A few moments later, the SUV changed lanes and took a right turn, heading away from his headquarters and The Portal.

“Where are we going next?”

“I think we need to pay a visit to one more delegate today.”

Anticipation warred with nerves as I realized who he meant.

“Leith.”

Callum nodded. “I should warn you…”

The SUV lurched to a sudden stop with a sound of crunching, grinding metal, lifting momentarily off its rear wheels before slamming to the ground. I’d been turned to look at Callum, so I was thrown sideways, wrenching my neck painfully. I slammed back into my seat, just as a cloud of steam—probably from a cracked radiator—billowed past the windows.

For one brief, panicky instant, I smelled gasoline.

Then, before I could even cry out a warning, the car lurched again, and a moment later was completely engulfed in flames.

FOURTEEN

Heat blossomed so quicklythat I let out a cry and covered my head with my arms. Scalding air boiled against my skin and singed my lungs, and I heard cursing from Callum. More from the driver’s seat, followed by a series of impacts that rocked the vehicle.

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