Page 17 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

Perian smiled, well satisfied.

Brannal shot him another look, the amusement still dancing in his dark eyes. “But don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’ve not answered my question.”

Perian sighed. “Truly, I haven’t kept track. At the risk of sounding terribly self-aggrandizing, a lot of people seem to find me very appealing.”

Brannal raised an eyebrow, but conceded, “You most certainly are.”

Perian felt a curl of warmth in his belly in response to those words and that look. Alotof people had told Perian how pretty they found him, but Perian didn’t remember ever feeling quite so good about it as he did with this man.

Eying him, Perian said carefully, “So… I get a lot of invitations.”

“Also not a surprise,” Brannal said, not seeming bothered by this, to Perian’s relief.

Perian could control his response, but he couldn’t control what other people wanted.

“Most people behave appropriately. A few try a little too hard, but not in a creepy way. I mean, it’s a little embarrassing sometimes, but it’s also flattering that they’re so interested, you know? I’ve gotten good when I’m here in town telling people what I want.”

“That’s good,” Brannal told him.

Perian offered something that was half nod, half shrug. “I think so. It’s taken me a little while to figure out what I like or don’t like best, but I don’t do things just because other people want them.”

Maybe there’d been a period after his father died when he had let himself drown a little in other people’s feelings, but he couldn’t blame them for that. He genuinely hadn’t known what he wanted, except not to be alone.

“Good.”

This was even firmer than the last time. After a moment, Brannal continued. “Not everyone treats this as sensibly as you do, so I’m sure there are some people who will continue to make assumptions about why you’re here.”

Perian laughed. “I have no doubt.”

“I just want to make clear that you don’t have to put up with any inappropriate behavior. If there’s a problem that you can’t or don’t want to fix on your own, you tell me, and I’ll resolve it.”

“Thank you,” Perian said, genuinely grateful.

This felt like a reasonable compromise that still recognized that he was capable but ensured he knew there was support should he need it.

They were silent for a few moments, as though they were both digesting this serious topic.

Then Brannal said, “Now stop distracting me so that I can actually tell you something useful during this tour.”

Perian obediently pressed his lips firmly together, which made Brannal snort with laughter. And then they both laughed as he realized that he’d just been guiding Perian through corridor after corridor without actually giving any directions at all.

“You have no idea where we are, do you?”

“Not a clue.”

Laughing even more, they retraced their steps to his door, which was when they were interrupted. A woman in staff livery ran up, inclining her head to Brannal.

“Secundus needs you. There’s been a report of a wraith nest.”

“Fire and water,” Brannal swore. He looked at Perian.

“Go,” Perian urged him. “I’ll wait here.”

“I’ll return when I can.”

Brannal leaned in to press a quick kiss to Perian’s lips, and then he was gone, striding off with the staff member at his heels.

Letting himself back into Brannal’s rooms, Perian sank into one of the chairs by the fire. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been aware of what Mage Warriors did, but actual in-person mention of a wraith nest that Brannal had to deal with felt very different. Wraiths were generally considered the most dangerous of the demons. (Some people argued it was carnalions, which could be considered much trickier, but there were far fewer of them, and wraiths killed a lot more people.) Like nightmares and lesser demons, they seemed to have no higher intelligence and were driven only by the desire to feed—and unfortunately, it was human life energy that sustained them.

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