Page 29 of Laid Bare

I point my finger, ready to tell him to zip it, but before I can, the side of my finger burns and a flash of pink shoots from the tip, heading straight for Thaddeus. But he’s too busy laughing to see it. It smacks him square in the leg, and with a yell, his whole body jolts before his knees go out, dropping him to the floor.

He looks up at me wide-eyed, shock coating his features, but all I can do is stare at my finger, wondering what the fuck that was. My magic takes a detour straight to my eyes, my vision sharpening, enhancing, making everything so much clearer than I think it’s ever been. My eyes don’t stray from the once tiny dot on my finger. Now that I can actually see it, I know it’s a small lightning bolt type rune etched into the side of the digit and not a beauty mark like others would perceive.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, unable to look away from the small mark. “Lightning.”

“Lightning?” Thaddeus mutters, climbing to his feet. “But—” He stops, and a full body shiver shakes his lithe frame, a roll of static sliding over his skin. “Shit, that’s unpleasant.” I stifle a laugh at the grimace on his face. “Like I was saying, you don’t have lightning. I’ve gone over the runes you possess many times, and lightning wasn’t one of them.”

“Then what’s this?” I point to the rune on my finger.

Thaddeus slowly steps closer, eyeing my hand in contempt. It’s almost enough to make me laugh, but I swallow it down.

“There’s nothing there.”

“Yes, there is. Do you have a magnifying glass in that special hidey-hole of yours?”

“Hidey-hole?” His white brows scrunch together. “Oh, my pocket dimension? Maybe.”

Thaddeus’ hand disappears into the void, his pink tongue peeking between his blue lips while he rummages around his little dimension. Warmth stirs low in my belly at the sight, but I quash it as quickly as I can. I shouldnotbe having any type of thoughts for the winter fae. Not after the whispers. Not after being the cause of his relationship ending.

It’s like adding fuel to the already burning dumpster fire.

“Ah ha!” Thaddeus exclaims, pulling his hand back with a flourish, a magnifying glass clutched between his long blue digits. “Let’s see it.” He holds his other hand out expectantly, wiggling his fingers.

The second my palm rests in his, he pulls me closer, the lens perched in front of one his eyes with the other tightly closed. He twists my hand this way and that, closing the distance between his face and my flesh. His frosty breath wafts over my skin, sending a chill down my spine that I do my damnedest to suppress. But his quick intake of breath alerts me that I didn’t hide it well enough.

Shit.

As soon as Thaddeus pulls the magnifying glass from his face, I scuttle back, putting distance between us once again. He huffs and shakes his head but otherwise doesn’t comment on my skittish behavior. He must have an idea why I’m acting like this, though. Right?

If not, then I’ll seriously need to question if he actually heard a word anyone said today in his class and the hall.

The glass disappears with a flash, leaving Thaddeus empty-handed. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and backs up toward the wall where he was before.

“You definitely have a lightning rune.”No shit, Smurf-lock. “The size of it makes me wonder if there are more I missed when you first arrived. We could go another round of taking pictures of your runes, more closely this ti?—”

“We don’t have to,” I cut him off, shaking my head. “I already have homework to write out what runes I have for Cassian. I can go over the pictures you took the first time and compare them to the book he’s supposed to send over.”

“Bailey.” My name leaves his lips with a sigh. “I’m going to be honest. Some of these runes, like that one,” he nods toward my hand, “you should keep them to yourself.”

“But—”

“It’s so microscopic that he won’t know, and neither will the other council members. It’s one thing for the bigger ones we can see, but those hidden ones? Keep those between you and me. There’s something about the council that doesn’t sit right with me, and the fact that Cassian wants a full list…” he trails off, leaving the rest of his sentence open to interpretation.

I tilt my head, thinking about his words. Cassian requesting a written-out list as part of his protection decree threw me for a loop too. Why in the world would he want that? It really shouldn’t matter what runes I have; it’s not like I even know how to use most of them. Is there a certain one he or the council is looking for? Maybe the‘kill with one thought’one?

Will that be the rune that kills the curiomancer?I grimace.Not the right time for inside jokes, Bailey.

“Okay. I’ll keep ones like tha—” My words are interrupted by the containment room door opening and the brothers stepping inside. Hearing them approach, Thaddeus quickly shakes his head, imploring me not to finish my thought. I want to ask why, but then it hits me.

The brothers were hired by the council, and it’s obvious Thaddeus doesn’t trust them.

But I do.

Kind of.

For now.

Until they do something to break this tentative trust between us.

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