Page 36 of A Witch and Her Dragon
Without looking at me, he says, “It’s meant to keep everyone around me safe. In exchange, I have to give up some of my freedom—the freedom to transform at will, to give in to my animal instincts.” He swallows hard, and his eyes finally find mine. “Only a Ravenscroft can remove it. One of the Shadowfall witches imbued it with a powerful charm. Once it’s clasped about my neck, I have no power to take it off. Had you not removed it today, you would not have learned the truth.”
The truth: That he’s a shifter. Adragonshifter. The rarest kind there is.
“And Grandfather has known this whole time?”
Raelan softens into his armchair and takes his first sip of tea. “Yes. He’s known since I was a boy. I met him when I was eleven. And we have an agreement: He ensures my motherand sisters have a comfortable place to live, and in exchange, I serve him. The chain is the only way I can do that. Without it, I could hurt anyone at any time. Your grandfather—His Majesty—gave me my life back. He gave me the freedom to exist in this world without fearing I could lose control at any moment. And I’ll be forever grateful to him for that. He’s a good king. A good man. But if he finds out about this...” Raelan clenches his jaw.
If Grandfather finds out about this, he may very well replace Raelan as my personal guard. He might send someone else to watch over me, knowing the danger Raelan poses to me if I’m to remove his chain.
Like I did earlier this evening.
He may even remove Raelan from the guard entirely, which would put his family at risk.
No wonder Raelan has kept his distance from me. Because the moment I got close to him, this is what happened. And it could’ve been so much worse.
My heart twists at the idea of Raelan being gone. And the realization—that Iwanthim here despite previously asking Grandfather to send some other knight to watch over me—hits me hard.
“Alina,” he says, the word soft and warm in the semidarkness, sending butterflies through my stomach, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
I think of lying, of telling him I wasn’t afraid, but it would do no good. He must’ve seen my face, must’ve known how absolutely terrified I was as he towered over me, his eyes black as onyx and slitted like those of a snake. And his size—I’ve never seen something soenormous before, something rippling with so much power that it made my body freeze on sight.
Clenching the chain in my fist, I whisper, “You need not apologize. This is my fault. I saw the chain burning you, and I...” I swallow. “I didn’t like seeing you in pain.”
“Pain?” Raelan makes a small sound, like a laugh, and when I glance up at him, his mouth is pulled into a sideways smile. Such an expression is so rare for him that the image nestles itself into my mind for safekeeping. “You’ve no idea,” he whispers, but he offers no further elaboration.
I set my teacup on the side table, careful not to slosh any onto Raelan’s book, then stand and take a hesitant step toward him. His eyes flick up to meet mine as I hold the chain in my hands.
“You may have frightened me,” I say softly, “but you...” I have to catch my breath before continuing. Goose bumps dance across my skin. “You’re magnificent, Raelan. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen something so beautiful.”
“Beautiful?” His eyes narrow slightly, and he pushes to his feet, setting his teacup beside mine. With him standing over me like this, I have to tip my head back to hold his stare. He’s got that tiny smile on his lips again. “If you say so.”
His minty breath makes the thin strands of hair around my face flutter. A delicate shiver goes down my spine at his proximity.
“Do you mind...?” He gestures to the chain still held in my hands, then lowers his head a bit so I can reach him.
With fingers trembling, I ease the chain back onto his neck, fumbling a bit with the heavy clasp and the nervous beating of my heart from being so close to him. Raelan’s skin is scabbed, burned from the magic earliertoday, but he doesn’t so much as flinch as the metal settles into place. The links glow with a dim blue light, then go dark once again, the charm having activated.
Raelan lets out a long breath, then straightens up and rolls his shoulders, like he’s acclimating himself to the sudden added weight of heavy armor. “Thank you.”
I nod once. My eyes trace his firm jaw, the shadow of stubble he’ll most certainly shave off come morning. And without deciding to, I lift my hand, hold it toward him.
For a moment, my hand hangs there in the space between us. The fire flickers and crackles, the scent of woodsmoke and peppermint drifting around the warm room.
Raelan holds my stare, as if taking this moment to decide what he wants to do. Then he shifts just a bit, allowing me to place my fingers along his face, brush them across the ridge of his sharp cheekbone. My skin tingles at the gentle contact.
“Why were you in so much pain?” I whisper. “Why did it burn you like that?”
His eyes meet mine, dark and glittering in the firelight. “I think you know why.”
The kiss. The touch. The heat burning between us in the dark.
It’s the same heat building inside me now, swirling through my veins as I touch Raelan’s hot skin.
“Will it hurt you again?” I ask. “If we . . . ?”
I want so badly to kiss him, but I don’t want to hurt him. The desire and fear war inside me.
“I can withstand pain,” he says, his voice low and heavy in the darkness.
