Page 34 of Magic & Secrets
“That’s why you’re confused.”
“I don’t need to know. The answer doesn’t matter. Let’s find a settlement where we can bunk. You shouldn’t be out after the sun goes down.”
“Why exactly can’t I be out in the dark?”
“It’s not safe.”
“I’m a warrior.”
“You’re a fledgling. It’s fortunate I’m here to protect you.”
I opened my mouth to complain. Roque was behaving like a brute. I wished I could claim this wasn’t his natural state, but I didn’t know him.
Rather than complain, I glanced down to find the mossy ground sucking at my boots. “You’re correct about our location. We’re within Pandorium Forest. Much of this land is parasitic.”
“Don’t care,” Roque insisted as he walked away.
“Why is it only you and me here?”
“Don’t care,” he called back stubbornly.
I wasn’t particularly surprised by Roque’s behavior. He barely showed any concern over his fellow Bane Shifters. I suspected the Murade trained their weapons to shirk attachments. The Bane Shifters’ quest for revenge was more out of habit than actual affection.
Or I could be completely wrong, and the Bane Shifters were simply experts at hiding their emotions. Well, except for Roque, who was very visibly distraught when he believed I had died.
Following Roque, I called out, “You care about me!”
“I care for no one.”
“Not even your pack?”
“We are weapons.”
My eyes rolled again. “You want me to be safe.”
Roque stopped in his tracks and returned to me. “You are too young to be in battle. Look at your unhinged emotions. No wonder you failed against the Sorcerer.”
“I wouldn’t throw around insults about my skills after the miserable showing you offered today.”’
“I had everything under control until the Sorcerer demonstrated his poor skills with that terrible spell.”
“I don’t smell like cinnamon,” I said, taking my time with the wet ground, unlike Roque, who shoved his way through every problem. “You know that, right? Strange magic has been circling us since we met. It’s why you and I are here together.”
Roque stopped again and walked back to me. “Spit out your meaning.”
Holding his gaze, I forced myself to say the words, “We might be mates.”
Roque threw his head back and laughed loudly. The sound echoed in the dense woods. Creatures scurried away from the rude creature before me.
“I feel something for you that I don’t feel for Koda and Delta,” I pointed out. “Do you think you would have been as upset if you believed Enya or Mina were dead?”
“I wasn’t upset. I hit my head when I dropped to the ground. I was reacting to my injury.”
I stepped away from him as he fed his denial with ridiculous lies.
“Well, I believe you’re my mate.”
Amused no longer, Roque tapped my nose. “No, no, no. The Bane Shifters don’t have mates. If we did, I certainly wouldn’t want you to be mine.”
