Page 26 of A Witch and Her Dragon
But it’s not working. The edges of my vision are starting to go dark in an effort to help me home in on the one thing—theonlything—that matters.
Alina. Always Alina.
And before I can stop myself, before I even realize what I’m doing, my feet start to move, carrying me through the throngs of students, across the candlelit dining hall, and right up to Alina’s table.
Everyone stops talking to focus on me.
“R-Raelan?” Alina says when I stop behind the male student.
He turns and has to look up at me. And I barely resist the urge to snarl.
“What is it?” Alina asks.
Still looking at him, wondering how far I could throw him across this dining hall without killing him, I say, “Urgent matter, Your Highness. Please come with me.”
The male takes a step back, though not as quickly as I’d like. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow, Alina,” he says.
And hearing her name on his lips makes me bristle, sends a wave of angry heat from my head to my toes. He has no right to say her name so casually.
Alina’s sky-blue brows crinkle as the male student steps away, and she stands slowly, still looking at me. “What’s happening?”
“We’re leaving,” I say in way of answer. “Now.”
Alina’s roommates all stare as I take her by the arm andgentlyescort her from the dining hall. She doesn’t resist, but she keeps asking, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
I should stop. I should tell her I made a mistake and apologize for interrupting her dinner.
But I can’t. All I can do is stalk down the candlelit corridor while rain hits the windows and slides down the glass in never-ending rivulets.
I don’t even know where I’m going. All I know is that I needed to get Alina away from that boy—though I haven’t yet determined if it’s because I felt he’s a threat or because my dragon can’t stand the sight of another maleso close to her, so casually comfortable with her, like those two I chased away from her in the astronomy tower. Right now, it doesn’t matter. Because my hand is wrapped around Alina’s upper arm, and she’s stumbling alongside me, her hair falling around her shoulders and tickling my wrist where my long-sleeved tunic is pushed up.
A few students give her confused or troubled looks, and a silver-haired professor asks, “Miss Ravenscroft, is everything all right?”
“Just fine, Professor Silvermoon!” she says, waving the woman off.
We turn down another hallway. This one is quieter. And once we’re alone, Alina plants her feet and rips her arm from my grasp with surprising strength.
“That’s quite enough,” she says, refusing to take another step. “Tell me what’s going on.Now.”
I turn slowly to look at her.
We’re standing in a narrow corridor, the din from the dining hall having faded into the distance. Overhead, stained glass windows run with rainwater, casting dim colors down across Alina’s hair and face. Her eyes are wide, her lips parted as she breathes heavily.
“Well?” she snaps. “Is it Grandfather? Has something happened? Tell me!”
But I can’t. I can’t tell her what I am, and I certainly can’t tell her she’s my mate. I’d lose this position in the guard in a heartbeat, and my mother and sisters would lose their home.
No. I can’t. So I just clench my teeth and hiss, “I felt a threat from that student. I wanted you away from him.”
The worry in Alina’s wide eyes slowly shifts, turning to the blue fire that sets my veins alight, that makes me yearn for her in the darkness when I’m alone with my hand and my thoughts.
“A threat?” Alina bites out, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. “Tristan is myfriend, Raelan. He was just speaking with me about an assignment in divination class.”
“How do you know?” I growl. “How do you know he’s not just trying to get close to you so he can use you? You’re the princess—you have to be more careful.”
It sounds ridiculous, even to my ears. I’m grasping, trying to come up with some explanation for my erratic behavior. But there’s only one explanation that makes sense, and it’s the one I’ll never speak aloud.
I expect Alina to yell at me, tell me I’m being a fool, threaten to tell her grandfather that I’ve failed in my duties and need to be replaced. So she surprises me when she crosses her arms and narrows her eyes, head tipping just far enough to one side that it makes her look catlike, perhaps even dangerous.
