Page 8 of Joined By Magic

“I’m an informant for the Monitors.” The words spilled out fast now, as if by giving up everything he knew, he could buy his safety. “There’s an officer I deal with. I swap info for cash. He got in touch, gave me the link-up. I don’t know his name. I’m sorry.”

I looked at the prince and saw my dismay reflected in his face. An officer. The king’s spies had infiltrated the Alarian Monitors. Bad news.

“Did you contact him before we caught up with you?” I asked. “Be honest with me, please, Olsen.” The control in my words surprised me. I pressed my hands to the ground to hide the trembling.

Olsen stared at me for a long moment. “No, miss. I was on my way to make the call.” The resignation in his voice almost broke my resolve, but I took in one more deep breath and stood to face the prince.

He had to die.

How could we leave him alive? The minute we were out of sight, he’d call his contact. Of course he would. Then the king would know for sure that we were at the train station together, and the net would tighten.

My palms sweated in the sticky heat as I clenched my hands. The prince watched me closely, his expression cold and unreadable. I stepped aside and forced myself to look at Olsen, to confront the reality of what was about to happen. His eyes widened in terror, and he began to babble incoherent streams of panicked sounds. The prince held out his hand, purple light flashed, and Olsen fell silent.

Blood dripped from his throat.

Too much.

I had to get away. I ran deeper into the bush, ignoring the scratching branches and batting vines from my face. I pushed on for a minute, heedless of direction, until I reached a wall of foliage too thick to get through. Breathing hard, I stopped. At least the body was out of sight.

The body. I’d killed before, but not like this. Dalziel had deserved it. This man hadn’t. He’d been a lowlife, scraping through his days trying to make ends meet. Following instructions from someone more powerful. Just like I did. Like all non-mages did. A wave of nausea rolled through me as everything hit me at once. Our near capture. The guilt. Was this how things would be from now on? Dodging through the world in terror? Hiding and killing?

The prince appeared. I watched him approach, wary, as if he were a stalking rock lion. I couldn’t predict him at the moment. Would he be furious?

He put his arms around me and pulled me close. Relief further weakened my limbs, and I collapsed against him, trembling.

“You did well. He wouldn’t have talked so easily for me.” His voice held a warmth I hadn’t heard since we fled the palace. “You always surprise me.”

Pride at his words came tinged with shame for feeling it. I clung to him until my shaking stopped.Get it together.I couldn’t turn into a fainting flower, shying away from what needed to be done. With a deep breath, I pulled back from the prince and stood firm.

I was on the run with the most-wanted man in the entire world. A dangerous man, but he was on my side, at least. Wild energy zinged through me, along with a brief shiver of unreality. How had I ended up here?

“What now?” I asked, my voice coming out stronger than I felt.

The prince stared back at me, and the intensity of his gaze heated my skin. His cheeks held color, and his chest rose with rapid breaths. The chase and near miss had affected him too.

In a swift, predatory movement, he stepped close to me and whipped his hand around, tangling it in my hair and forcing my chin up. I gasped and tried to pull away on instinct, but he shook his head and tightened his grip. “We’ve got two hours until the train leaves, and I’m going to make use of it.”

Chapter Five

Talia

Theprince’snailsgrazedmy scalp as he twisted his fingers in my hair. I drew in a breath at the feral desire in his eyes. After what we’d just done? It wasn’t right. “We can’t—”

His lip curled, and he stepped forward. My feet slipped on the leafy forest floor, but his arm around my back and his grip on my hair kept me upright. Pressed against his chest, I stumbled backward until I collided with one of the gnarled trees.

“Since when do you get a choice?” His voice was low and dangerous. He’d flipped again—from caring, almost tender, to something darker. His moods swung so wildly now. “I own you, Talia, even out here. You’re my little slut, and I’ll fuck you whenever I want. Don’t you dare forget it.”

As if I could. Even in Alaria, where my wristband meant nothing to anyone except me and the prince. But his words needled me. His ownership was supposed to come with perks. The prince’s personal whore at night, but respect and position in my daily life. Not running and hiding, fucking in the bushes. It wasn’t his fault, but still, it grated on me.

“But we shouldn’t . . .”

His hand slid over my stomach and up my body, forcing under my bra to pinch my nipple. I winced at the pain, and his lips parted, drinking in my reaction. He twisted harder, increasing the pressure until I cried out, my hands coming up to clutch his wrist. He released me, then stroked his thumb over the sore skin. The small motion sent electricity firing into my core, igniting a burning need. He had me so well trained. Pain mingled with pleasure so much, they were almost the same thing.

Guilt still lurked in the back of my mind, but the prince’s feral mood was infecting me too. Pretty soon, we might be dead.

“Strip. I don’t like those foreign clothes on you.” Something about his voice, the imperious tone of it, raised an urge to rebel a little.

Keeping my gaze fixed on him, I removed my clothes with deliberate slowness, drawing the moment out. We had plenty of time. He’d said so himself. As I held out my bra, dangling it between my fingers for an age before I let it drop, I couldn’t resist smirking in the prince’s direction.

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