Page 7 of Minotaurs and other Magic

Rohan held out the cup, and Nate took a cautious drink, expecting the tea to burn his tongue, but it was the perfect temperature as if Rohan had added cold water to the cup.

“Thank you.” He’d be able to hold the cup if his hands weren’t tied. He picked up one of the…he didn’t know if it was a pasty or a folded pizza…and as he did, his hands trembled the way his grandfather’s had before his death. He almost dropped the palm-sized pastry thing.

It was only as he chewed that he realized neither of them had answered his question. “I can go home, right?”

His gaze flicked between the Rohan and the Strega. He didn’t even know what a Strega was.

“That depends on the magic that brought you here.”

“And there is the matter of the theft,” Rohan said.

“I stole to survive. I didn’t understand what the people were saying. And some of them…” He bit off the words. A minotaur prince had rescued him. Saying he wasn’t a person was the wrong thing. Rohan was a person. He read books and played the harp and held the teacup so Nate could drink. He was already nicer than his last ex, though that was a very low bar, and given that they’d only dated for three months, even calling him an ex was a little over the top.

“Weren’t human?” the Strega finished for him.

Nate’s cheeks burned, so he concentrated on stuffing the rest of the pastry thing into his mouth. It tasted amazing, full of mince and soft cheese and herbs.

“There are humans here, Nate. Their families came from your world a long time ago, so they will be as strange to you as I am. The Strega was human once.” Rohan held up the cup.

Nate took another drink. “What do you mean, once?”

“After I was chosen and passed the trials, I gave up my name and everything else to be one with the magic and my sisters. We are all Strega.” She stood. “Tomorrow, you will take us to where you arrived, and I will see if I can determine your fate lines. At the moment, they are too tangled to read, which is my fault for giving you language.” She paused. “Remember, Nate Lee, you are an untrusted guest of Prince Rohan.”

His mouth dropped open, not sure if she’d just threatened him.

“The palace guards and staff will not allow you to roam. You are either with me or the guard I assign to you.”

Nate nodded, not sure what else he could do. “I am a prisoner.”

“You are not familiar with our ways.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that if you did, you would not have stolen from the family of a city guard vampire. They wanted your blood to pay for your crimes. You cost me a lot of coin.”

“Then why buy me?”

“I didn’t buy you. I bought your crimes, so you repay me, not them. Unless you would rather service a vampire in all ways. After a year and a day of giving blood, there may not be much of you left.”

“So, I can’t go home until I repay you. How do I do that?” He had nothing.

Rohan sat back on his hooves. “We will see what the Strega says tomorrow.”

CHAPTER 5

While Rohan had warned Nate about walking through the palace unattended, he had no intention of untying him and trusting him yet. He could understand the human’s fear and confusion that had resulted in the thefts, but Nate had shown no remorse. Perhaps in the human world, they didn’t care about making reparation.

Or perhaps stealing for survival was allowable.

He was tempted to ask more questions, but Nate was exhausted, and the magic and food and tea were making him sleepy. Given the lateness of the hour, all Rohan wanted to do was claim his bed and whisper to his pillow.

But first, he had to solve the problem of where Nate was going to sleep. There was a holding cell on the palace grounds, though it was mostly used for people who had reveled too much and were a danger to themselves, and he didn’t think locking Nate away on his own for the night would do him any good.

He could assign him a guest room and guards, but he wasn’t ready for the gossip that would cause either. No, he had paid Nate’s debt, which made Nate his responsibility. Not only that, but if something happened tonight before the Strega could finish her questions, she would be furious with Rohan. And annoyingthe Strega was never on his to-do list. He did not want her knotting up his fate lines or turning him into an animal to track Nate all across Tariko.

That left only one option: take Nate to his chambers.

Nate said nothing as he used the privy, and he copied Rohan as he scrubbed his teeth, taking far longer than Rohan had and then running his tongue over his small teeth as if appreciating how smooth they were. It was only when Rohan slipped the knot off his wrist and stripped off his tunic that Nate flinched and found the wall very interesting.

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