Page 94 of Bonds of Magic
“No,” I said more quietly. “My dad didn’t pass anything down to me.”
“I know you don’t like him. And I don’t blame you. But you can’t deny—”
“He didn’t do anything to me,” I said. “And I want nothing to do with him now that he’s gone. Do you get that?”
My chest heaved. I stared at Noah, daring him to contradict me.
“Alright,” he said finally. “Maybe he didn’t pass anything onto you. Maybe there’s some other way that you’re a witch. I’m not an expert in that area. But if you can do magic, that adds a new dimension to things. I’ll have to tell Isaac. But this should make your identity easier to mask.”
“I’m not sure I can do it again,” I said quickly. “Honestly, if Rekha hadn’t been there, I’m not sure I would believe my own memory. But she was, and she saw it.”
“If you did it once, you can do it again. It’s not the sort of thing you can keep bottled up. That much, I do know. If it’s manifested once, you can bet it’ll come back.”
I swallowed, unsettled. I’d been so thrilled that I could do magic, but if the power came from my dad? That soured it a bit. Soured it a lot, actually.
“Who are the wardkeepers?” I asked, changing the subject.
“This is what I meant about needing you to promise me you won’t do anything rash,” Noah said. “I can tell you. It might even make you safer. But you have to promise me you won’t go chasing after them yourself.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Maybe not. But it’s what you’re getting.”
Eventually I nodded. “Okay. I promise. I won’t try to go after them myself.”
“Good. The wardkeepers are Teresa Molina, Sheridan Alcock-Reeves, Hans Stahl, and Autumn Zhu. I’m doing my best to find out what they might be hiding. I think I’m getting closer to figuring out which of them could be behind these attacks. But until we have real evidence, Isaac wants to avoid a direct confrontation.”
I thought for a moment, then said, “Are these the people whose dreams you want me to spy on?”
“Yes. But not yet, okay? Not until you have more practice concealing yourself within someone’s dream.”
Noah sounded genuinely worried. About me. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay? That’s it? You’re not going to fight me on this?”
“You already made me promise I wouldn’t do anything rash. There’s not much else I can do.”
He nodded, then looked down at our hands. “Do you want me to go?”
“Now?”
He nodded again.
“I mean, no. Obviously not. But what I want isn’t what you want. So…”
“It’s not that I don’t want it—” Noah began.
“It’s just that you don’t want it enough,” I finished for him.
“Cory, I—” Something like pain flickered in his eyes.
I opened my mouth to tell him it was okay. That I was an adult. That I got it. But before I could say anything, Noah’s lips were on mine.
My hands went to his shoulders, pulling him tighter. His weight on top of me, his tongue against mine—it overwhelmed my senses. I could barely think, except to register surprise. And delight.
He caught my hand and pulled it down, stroking it against his cock, hard and wanting in his joggers. I smiled into the kiss.
