Page 44 of Magic Claimed
There was nothing wrong with my natural magic, but now it was going to be harder to hide. I clenched my fingers in my lap so hard the bones creaked.
“And what if it’s bad news, Anise? What if it is the worst thing to do?” Eike said.
The last thing I wanted to remember was how I came to be in Esoti’s tender loving care, but judging by the wolves’ interest, I wouldn’t have a choice. I could either go along with it, or it was clear they would make me.
Desperation drove people to do desperate things, and I might be the most desperate of us all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“You will eat first, Little Mate,” Alerick said.
“I can’t.” I clutched my hand over my twisting stomach. I’d lived for so many years without eating, my stomach rebelled against the food they constantly pushed at me.
“You need to. You’ll need your strength,” Jarom said. I glared at his unyielding expression, remembering I was only a means to an end for him.
“So you can use this magic inside me. You don’t know what it is. It could be dangerous if what Anise suspects is correct,” I said. Although the magical ball inside me was beautiful, we didn’t know much about it. I’d blown the bathwater out of the tub. I could blow the wolf Territory off the face of the Earth. I wouldn’t complete the bond to get it out of me.
“Yes, we would like you to use the magic against Esoti, but that isn’t the only reason we would like you to eat. What Jarom means is that you are skin and bone and you haven’t eaten a bite all day,” Eike said.
“I think Jarom is big enough to say what he means. At least he’s being up front with me,” I said.
“Enough.” Alerick pinched the bridge of his nose, looking pained for a moment. “I understand your first reaction is to distrust, because you’ve been mistreated. I only ask that you eat to give your body nourishment.”
So, they thought of me as a lame dog. Treat the animal so you can use it. “It doesn’t matter if I eat or not. I’ll only live again if I die of starvation. Actually, I think I already have.”
There was a time when I had starved myself to death. I thought if my body was too weak to survive, it would be too weak to regenerate. I was wrong.
Eike made a strangled sound. “You’ll never starve again, Serafine. Please, eat something now.”
Guilt slid through my heart as I looked into his shocked face. I hadn’t meant to upset him. His soft heart would be his undoing. I scowled at him and huffed. If it would ease my guilt, I’d shove something down my throat to get that look off his face. “Fine. I’ll eat.”
Eike strode to the door and called for Sedric. I ignored his boyish charm. He might be exuberant on the outside, but I knew he was all man under that facade.
“What do I have to do?” I asked Anise to take my mind off to where it had drifted.
“We’ll have to go to my rooms. I have the equipment there,” she said.
My blood ran cold. “This doesn’t mean you’ll drain my blood and have them drink it, will it?”
Anise laughed. She was beautiful. We were about the same age, but my life had molded me. She looked youthful and carefree, something I could never manage. “Nothing like that. I have to draw a spell on the floor and Alerick is partial to his glossy wooden flooring in his office.”
“Yeah, we’re not really allowed to Change in here either. Alerick doesn’t want claw marks on the wood,” Eike said.
Jarom snorted. “That only happens whenyouChange, Eike. Everyone else manages to keep their claws in.”
I stared in shock at Jarom. Did he…make a joke? His gaze flicked to me before he moved to the desk and pretended to be busy. I didn’t know what to make of that.
“The last time it took a week for Andrei to sand and re lacquer the floors and it stunk the entire building out. I’d prefer to avoid that again so soon,” Alerick said.
Sedric entered with a tray piled with food. One thing about these wolves. They ate well.
“I ordered soup for you, Serafine. I thought it would be easier on your stomach,” Eike said, handing me the bowl.
“Oh. Thank you.” I ducked my head, embarrassed that he’d been so thoughtful. I didn’t think I could digest anything other than soup. The stew was delicious, but it was far too heavy for the fluttering that had started in my stomach, and I really didn’t want a repeat of what had happened with the scone.
I tasted it and my mouth watered. It was delicious. A whole bowl of chicken soup for me. It was decadent. Before I knew it, I was scraping the last of the soup from the bottom of the bowl.
“Do we need the bucket, Little Mate?”
