Page 69 of Baneful Magick

I searched his expression, puzzled by the comment about my face, while he laid there quietly.

“Echo… Do you not remember what happened?”

“Parts.” He licked his lips and curled up tighter. “I remember us together and the feel of you. The taste of you and the way you cried out my name. It’s only vignettes of time that stand out. The rest is just bottomless hunger and darkness.”

“That’s all you recall?” I pushed.

“I remember you saying you were done and me hitting you, then chasing you down and fucking you again.” He bit his lip, worry shining bright in his gaze.

“Aizel warned me not to fight you,” I tried to explain, rushing to reassure him about what had happened. “You said that you’d killed previous partners during a rut, fucking them until theywere dead in the attempt to fill yourself up. You kept saying I wasn’t letting you in, that you couldn’t feed.”

“What happened?”

“I pushed you.” I laughed ruefully. “And it worked. You hunted me down because I told you to. Challenged you, even. You’re a predator. I figured some passive person who was afraid you’d tear their throat out wasn’t going to satisfy your urges.”

Echo blinked slowly, probably trying to follow my logic, then he swallowed hard. There was a wobbly set to his mouth that had me thinking he was trying to gather the courage to say something else. I laid there patiently, waiting until he was ready to keep talking.

“And hitting you?”

“Well,” I hedged, hoping I’d come up with a way to explain that, “I don’t really have the best way of pushing people sometimes.”

‘Sometimes?’Cassius drawled.

“So I slapped you?”

“I told you I was done. You kept telling me that you couldn’t feed, so I brushed you off and said to find someone else to feed off of.” I chewed my bottom lip as I broke eye contact and stared up at the ceiling. “You weren’t a fan of that idea.”

Echo didn’t react. Hell, I didn’t even think I heard him breathe for a bit. Finally, he exhaled with a long, shaky breath, and a trembling hand brushed against mine. I turned my hand and threaded my fingers through his, looking for comfort.

We let silence fill the space between us until I shifted around, trying to get comfortable.

“What day is it?”

Echo cleared his throat. “Thursday.”

“There’s no way it’sonlybeen a week. My vagina disagrees immensely.”

“It’s been technically just over a week.” Echo cleared his throat, trying to keep his laughter in check until I looked over to grin at him. “I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think you’d be like this afterward.”

“Meaning alive?” I couldn’t help but quip.

‘Really?’Cassius asked incredulously.

“Yes.” The light in his eyes dimmed a bit. “You’re actually talking to me, not just hitting me or running away. Ruts bring out the worst in us.”

“I don’t know enough about ruts to make a comment on that,” I replied and squeezed his hand tightly. “But I’m sorry, my comment wasn’t the best.”

He shrugged. “Still true though, but thanks.”

“What now?” I asked cautiously, putting the ball firmly in his court. Just because I was the focus of his rut didn’t mean that he had feelings for me. I refused to read into everything and assume emotions that might not be there.

“We have to get back to classes. Figure out what we missed—” he started.

“That’s not what I meant.” I sighed and pulled my hand away from his so I could sit up. He couldn’t be serious, not after everything we’d just done together. There was no way that Echo thought I was talking about classes.

“Isla…” He tried to reach for me, but I was already almost to the door.

Pain made my chest tight. The only thing I could think was that I was a fucking idiot. I couldn’t do this again. I wasn’t going to pry feelings out of someone or put in work for people who wouldn’t do the bare minimum.

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