Page 47 of Magic & Secrets
Roque shook his head as his rage turned to frustration. “You know that wasn’t what I meant.”
“Your words felt more like a suggestion,” I replied before adding in a stubborn tone, “I feared for my mate’s safety.”
“No,” Roque insisted and cracked his neck. “Stop with that nonsense.”
“I feel when you’re in pain.”
“I was never in any danger.”
“Why did you take so long to kill the Witch?”
Roque backed away and prowled around the room, muttering to himself. He finally stopped near the table where we shared our dinner.
“I botched the earlier attack with the Sorcerer. Bane Shifters don’t fail. Even when Delta faced the Armgard and our packmates died, he persevered long enough to end the abominations. We always win.”
His words left me trembling. The way he viewed the Armgard stole my hope of him ever accepting me.
“Are you claiming you were toying with the Witch?”
“I was taking my time to ensure I didn’t fail.”
“She made you bleed,” I said, touching my face in the spot where his flesh had been sliced open. Only dried blood was left behind on his cheek now. “I felt your pain.”
“It was gravel.”
“I still felt when it tore open your flesh.”
Roque stared hard at me before looking around. “I should abandon you here. If I began running tonight, I could reach Elatalora by sunrise. Soon, I would be back at Mt. Elysium and you’d become nothing more than a foggy memory.”
“You should do that, but you won’t,” I said and walked to the bar where I poured water into a glass.
“And why is that?”
“Because we’re mates.”
Roque watched me with his arresting blue eyes. They shone like pools of ice. I felt different when his gaze fell upon me, both stronger and weaker.
“If we were mates, I would need to leave my pack. I could never bring you to the mountain. Neither human nor Elf can survive long at Mt. Elysium.”
Inhaling sharply, I muttered, “The world isn’t safe for you.”
Roque smiled in a wholly unappealing way. “You view me as weak.”
“I think the world has forgotten the power of the Bane Shifters. You’ve become no more than spooky stories told around the ingleside. Why else would that Sorcerer and thoseWolf Shifters challenge you? They knew what you were and still attacked. The Witch and the Ghouls didn’t even realize what you were.”
“It doesn’t matter if they remember. I’m still me.”
“You’ve never lived a life where enemies come at you, day and night, without end. You’ve always had your pack. You went out into the world and did your duty before returning to the isolated base. I’m not sure you could survive a world where you were endlessly hunted.”
“Well, then, it’s a good thing we aren’t mates, and I will never have to test your theory.”
His words stung, leaving me filled with a rising melancholy. Yet, I chose to reveal nothing to him. If Roque wanted to distrust me, my tears wouldn’t change his mind.
“I liked it when you smashed their heads together,” I said as I walked to the rifles lined up against the wall.
Roque didn’t react to my words. I pretended to ignore his gaze drilling a hole through me. Instead of revealing my unease, I stripped the rifles of their ammunition.
“If I’m ever forced to kill you,” Roque said with utter sincerity, “I’ll make your death as quick and painless as possible.”
