Page 69 of Lost Touch

Footsteps retreated down the hall, and silence fell. I dared to lift my head and peek through my fingers.

Slowly, Drew turned around, and even more slowly, his claws retracted. “Is that one of the people you trusted with your life last night?”

“Both of our lives, and yes,” I said, trying not to sound defensive. “Anyway, it worked, didn’t it?”

Drew sighed, shook his head, and crossed back to the bed, giving me an even better view than he had going the other way.

Instead of getting right back on top of me like I’d expected, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled my hands away from my face, holding them tight in both of his.

“Yeah,” he said finally. “It did. I woke up feeling clearer than I have for fucking ever. Since before…before. I didn’t realize how screwed-up and foggy everything had gotten until this morning. And yeah, I know you told me,” he added apologetically. “But it didn’t sink in. I can’t believe what I did to you. I can’t believe you didn’t run.”

You would’ve caught me, and then it would’ve been worse.

But that didn’t need to be said out loud, and anyway, it only accounted for a small percentage of my reasons for staying.

“You’d probably have died. And I’m fine. Really.” The smile that took over my lips had to be so soppy. “So much better than fine. I think I’ll be able to taste breakfast.”

Drew frowned. “Because they cast some kind of spell to fake a mate bond? I mean, real bonds allow some sharing of senses, sometimes. But a fake one? I’m not trying to rain on your parade,” he said as I started to argue. “I’m so fucking happy—Ash, seeing you happy is all I want, and making you happy when I touch you? That’s like nothing else.”

My heart thumped ridiculously, followed by a little wave of queasiness. We’d been fake mates for a while now, and the magical enhancement didn’t make it any less fake. Drew wouldn’t feel that way as soon as Arik removed his spell. First the warlocks’ magic that drove him to claim me, and now Arik’s magic that made his instincts believe he already had.

It didn’t seem fair that it felt so real.

“But it makes me nervous when people do magic on me when I’m unconscious,” Drew went on, startling me out of my own thoughts. “And it makes me doubly fucking nervous when they do magic onyouwhen I’m unconscious. It makes me sick that I completely lost it and couldn’t take care of you.”

I squeezed his hands. “It was my turn to take care of you, Drew. And anyway, I think I racked up quite a bill for us. And since I don’t have any money, I told them you’d pay.”

Drew stared at me for a second and then burst out laughing. “That’s fair. I’m surprised you didn’t just pick my pockets.”

Against my will, I started to laugh too. “Honestly, I’m kind of surprised Nate didn’t pick your pockets. I think it’s only because we know Calder and Jared that he didn’t.”

“That’s a hell of a coincidence,” Drew said with a frown. “They never called or told us where they were going. And we somehow ended up here anyway? Are you sure they’re on the level?”

Well, shit. I didn’t know why, exactly, but I’d been putting off mentioning the whole “Ash might have magic” thing. Maybe because I had no idea how Drew would react. In large part because of our experiences, and also partly because I’d gotten the impression that werewolves weren’t all that fond of magical humans in general—which kind of pissed me off, I mean, what, we weren’t allowed to even the playing field a little?—he didn’t have the best attitude toward warlocks.

And what else could you call a male human with the same kind of magic Nate had? I’d be the weakest, most untrained warlock in the world, but…the word might actually describe me.

I hadn’t even had time to come to terms with that reality-shaking information, let alone figure out how to present it to Drew.

But I’d have to, because I couldn’t let him start questioning our hosts’ motives. This many hair-trigger alphas under one roof had to be trouble even without adding suspicion into the mix.

I couldn’t quite meet his eyes, staring down at our still-joined hands and hoping whatever raging hormones were responsible for the way he currently felt about me would soften the blow a bit.

“There’s something I haven’t told you yet,” I said, having to force the words out of my very tight throat. “Nate and Arik think I probably have some magic. When Nate did magic, I saw it in a way they said a non-magical person wouldn’t have. And they think that’s why we ended up here. Why I chose them out of all the other options. Like…divining, or something, I guess, only unconscious.”

A long silence fell. The air in the room felt compressed, my lungs not able to suck in enough oxygen.

“Magic,” he said at last. And then in a tone of unflattering skepticism, “Magic? You?”

I yanked my hands out of his before he could feel them shaking, shock and hurt coursing through me.

“Yeah, me, and I know I’m about as unspecial as a person can get, but do you really need to sound that surprised?”

Drew blinked, mouth open. “What? Unspec—the fuck does that even mean? I only, come on, Ash. Werewolves can smell magic. I’ve never noticed that scent on you. And besides, everyone I’ve ever known with magic has been a total asshole. You’re the opposite of that.”

The only people I could remember knowing with magic were the warlocks who’d tortured us and also Nate and Arik, so…okay, I could see his point.

And the bit about werewolves being able to smell a mage mollified me a little, too, even though it probably meant my magic was so weak he couldn’t even detect it.

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