Page 38 of Entranced By the Basilisks

The serpents almost go slack down my back. I tilt my head up, and still, the creatures remain mellow and relaxed.

They respond to your emotions.

Huh, I guess we’re all fans of hot showers.

17

ARI

“Come.I promised you something to sleep in,” I say as I enter my room. I move quickly to the closet because tonight isn’t for seduction. Jasper is tired and out of his element, far from what he’s allowed himself to have.

I pluck some clothing, more contemporary selections than the linen trouser and shirt combinations I enjoy, and when I exit the closet, Jasper is exactly where I expect him to be. Standing in the doorway, body on edge as if ready to run.

“Relax, you’re safe from my machinations tonight,” I say.

“Ari, what are you planning?” There’s so much emotion in his voice. Jasper stopped hoping for good things a long time ago, stopped wanting things for himself. I think our relationship is the only thing he let himself indulge in and I pushed him too hard on it.

“Something that we both want,” I say.

“Ari.” His voice is laced with frustration and weariness.

“Jasper,” I say, letting the way I caress his name reveal more about my feelings than I usually do. “This situation is a gift. Something that can solve many of the things you’re worried about. But you have to trust me.”

He wants to. It’s on his face. He always wants to follow my direction. He wants to believe that my plans for him and Emilia can work.

But good things don’t happen for Jasper, so he goes without. Is used to going without.

I’m familiar with that mental process and have climbed out of my own hole of despair after thinking that I’d never feel happiness again. A different situation at a different time.

He just needs to trust me. This precarious balancing act won’t work if I explain everything to him tonight. All three of us need time if there is any chance for the ideal future I know we can have to crystallize into reality.

Jasper shakes his head and opens his mouth, but I cut him off.

“Emilia needs us,” I say.

And just like that, Jasper yields. His shoulders ease and the expression on his face shifts.

Oh, my sweet viper, you’re showing your hand. It’s a good thing you’ve never had to navigate the politics of the Serpent Circle.

All the years we’ve spent together, and I’ve never picked up on this craving of his to be needed. How tempted he is by Emilia because she needs him.

Doesn’t he know thatIneed him too?

18

JASPER

“Okay,”I say. I don’t know where the word comes from. I shouldn’t trust Ari; he’s the master of ulterior motives. But the same instinct that warned me of his intentions last night is back again and wants whatever he’s hinting at.

“Don’t look so torn about this,” Ari teases. “When have I ever misled you?”

I snort. “I can think of a time or two.”

Or five. If it’s something that Ari thinks will make me hesitate, he gives information strategically. In hindsight, that he’s wanted a mating all these years and hid it makes sense.

“You didn’t seem to mind how we started our relationship.” Ari’s words are sly, and he closes the distance between us.

I should step back, but I’m caught in the memory of our first time and the way I’d enjoyed his machinations then.

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