Page 132 of Anchor

“I don’t know,” I said without hesitation.

“Hmm,” said Radock, standing up slowly, and he began to pace in front of me.

Where is Taland?I thought, but the words didn’t want to leave my mouth just yet.

“Were you really with Taland at the safe house near Dackston? And?—”

“Yes,” I cut him off.

“Let me finish,” he ordered. “And did he give you that charm himself?”

“I…” The need to sayyeswas strong, simply because I didn’t think through what he asked exactly, but I couldn’t. Strange enough, though, the magic that held me back this time was…less. Less intense. Less powerful. “He left it on the bedside table. I found it when I woke up.”

“Did you sleep in the same bed?”

Goddess…“Yes.” I felt my cheeks heating up even in this situation.

“What did you do before you slept?”

This one came from someone else—another voice. Kaid, maybe Seth? I had no clue. Just a couple of minutes ago, I hadn’t understood them at all, but now I did. Even though I couldn’t see them, I did understand the question, and the magic didn’t persuade me to answer.

No, whoever asked me that wasn’t Radock, and Radock had put that spell on me. So. I kept my eyes on him and my mouth shut.

He smiled because he knew. They all knew exactly what we had been doing.Please, please, please…

“Well? Answer my brother—what did you do before you slept?”

I swallowed but the lump in my throat remained. And I wanted to resist the magic, not to answer this question becausefuck you, asshole, you know exactly what!I did resist it for like three seconds, but in the end I had to answer because it started toburnunder my skin.

“Showered,” I choked.

“And before that?” He was flat out grinning, eyes sparkling, and he was enjoying this so much. All of them were. “Answer me—what did you do before showering?”

It was easier to resist that magic now, and the heat didn’t become unbearable until the sixth second. “We had sex.”There.That’s what he wanted to hear.

Tears in my eyes, angry tears, because I was being forced to share something so intimate. It wasn’t right and he knew it.

Then Seth said. “How?In which position?”

Him I wouldn’t answer, but if Radock insisted, I’d have no choice. The magic was already fading, true, but within seconds it would get the best of me.

Except Radock must have known that he was wasting time here. He must have known exactly how long his spell lasted because he raised a hand to his brothers.

“Enough,” he said, and I could have sighed in relief. Instead, a tear slipped from my eye before I could blink it away. “What exactly do you…feelfor Taland?”

This wasn’t hard at all. “I love him.”

Seth and Kaid laughed and booed or did both—I wasn’t sure.

Radock’s smile vanished. “You love him, but you put him in prison. You hit him in the head, knocked him out cold.Why?”

“Because they were going to kill him if he went into the Strongroom.”

This made him pause. “Explain.”

It wasn’t a question, and his magic didn’t really press onto me hard—maybe because it had faded, or maybe because he needed to ask direct questions for it to work, but I answered anyway.

“The agents who were following him with me got the order to shoot him as soon as he stepped through the Strongroom doors. I knocked him out before he did because there was no time to explain. He didn’t die.” And to this day, and no matter how many times I regretted that night, those six months,thiswould always make everything worth it. Every ounce of pain, and every tear shed—worth it.

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