Page 102 of Love Bites Extra Hard

My lips tilted upward. “It was a good plan.”

“It didn’t work, and it nearly got you killed. If that’s a good plan, I don’t even want to imagine how a bad plan would look.”

“It would’ve been a bad plan if Sylvester got out. We prepared for the worst. I just overestimated how strong my magic was.”

“It’s not your magic that’s the problem. It’s the fact that he’s fucking disturbed.”

“Right, but I’m thinking that if I keep wearing him down before trying again, we might?—“

“If you’re planning to try that again, I’m not letting you anywhere near that cell,” Talon said bluntly.

“It’s our best chance,” I argued.

“Then he’s going to stay in there for the rest of his life. You don’t get to risk yourself again, and it’s not just because you’re my mate. If you were any female dragon, including Stella, you wouldn’t be allowed inside again either. Because you’re mine,you’ll have an obnoxious, scaly guard any time you step through that door into the prison at all.”

I wanted to argue, but he did have a point. Stella had mentioned that he didn’t want her inside the cell, even if he couldn’t keep her out. And I had rarely even seen any female guards there.

Talon wanted the women safe.

Because I was his woman, even if we weren’t officially mates, he cared even more.

“Alright, fine. We’ll try another plan. He was seriously affected by my magic, though, so I don’t think stopping altogether is necessary.”

Talon rumbled again, but didn’t disagree.

His hand resumed its motion over my back, making me close my eyes and let out a soft breath.

“What did Stella say about his behavior that night?”

“He was acting erratic. It seemed like he had gotten used to feeling my magic, and without it, he was unsteady. Neither of us had ever seen him get shaken like that before, except when I hit him hard with my magic those first few days.”

“Did you try doing that again?”

“Of course. We didn’t go straight to the nuclear option. He was so out of it, I thought I could just hit him with a bunch of magic and force him to shift if I was in the same room. Seeing me should’ve pushed him to do what I wanted even more. I guess I should’ve woven the magic into my words like Clem always used to, but…” I trailed off.

Weaving magic into my words.

Why hadn’t I thought about trying that before?

Probably because I had no idea how to do it.

“But what?” Talon asked.

He still seemed calm, but my heart rate was picking up.

“But I never learned how. It’s more difficult than it sounds. You can’t just figure it out.”

“Weaving magic doesn’t sound easy.”

“I guess not.” I bit my lip. “I can ask Izzy to teach me. She won’t want to, but she would probably do it anyway. Clem’s in the fae realm right now, otherwise I could ask her. She’s the best at it, by far.”

“How hard is it to learn?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I’ll call Izzy and ask.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

I nodded against his chest. “We need to take him down so he can’t hurt anyone else.”

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