Page 19 of Forbidden Magic
“This isn’t safe?” I croak.
One corner of his mouth quirks up. “Not as safe as a classroom full of people.”
The dude not only looks like a block of marble, but he feels like one. His body pins me in place, and I hold up my hands to push him away but only manage to flatten my palms against his upper chest.
A gruff, masculine chuckle falls off his lips. “If you wanted to cop a feel, all you had to do was ask.”
I jerk my hands off him. “Why did you help me?”
“If he caught you up here, he would have seen me. I have no desire to waste my time doing chores all month.”
“But you lured me here.” I say the words without thinking and wonder where they came from. What the hell?
The arch of Cole’s brow is asking the same question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sabrina. You found me all on your own.” He leans against the wall at his back. “Now, let’s just wait here for another ten minutes.”
I bite the insides of my cheeks until I draw blood, counting seconds in my head. 1. 2. 3. 4—
“I’m going to have to find a new hideout,” Cole says.
“Been using this a lot, have you?”
“It’s useless now. We’ll both be seekers next time, and unless we both squeeze in here every time we have to hide, I know you’re going to rat me out as soon as you’re found.”
The prospect of beingsqueezedagainst the cocky Fae prince on a bi-monthly basis doesn’t sound as alarming as it should to my delirious, adrenaline-filled ears. “I won’t be found next time. Won’t have that damn pixie dust all over me. And I couldn’t care less if you are found or not.”
“Playing it tough, I see.”
“You’re the only player here.”
He chuckles again, but this time it’s an honest sound. The least sarcastic sound that came out of him since we’ve met. “You’re funny, Sabrina.”
“Jules.”
“I know.”
“Then use it,” I clip, heat licking my ribs.
Cole looks fascinated by the fire magic gleaming beneath my skin. “Not so hot, Fire Girl. You’ll lead them right to us.”
He picks a small piece of lint off my jacket, and I shudder.
Fire Girl. It’s better than Sabrina, and I feel a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.
“I see you, Cole. What are you doing with that witch?” Flynn’s melodic but hollow voice slices through the air.
Cole’s jaw twitches, and he throws his friend a dispassionate look over the edge of our hideout.
“We’re at number 19. Be a man about it and do what needs to be done,” Flynn says. An unspoken menace simmers at the edges of his congenial tone. “Or is something else going on up there?”
Cole grazes my hair with his knuckles. “Sorry, Sabrina. Like you said earlier, it’s every man for himself.” He shoves me out of the alcove, and I plummet 20 feet down to the bottom of the cave. The moss barely absorbs the impact, and the whiplash knocks the wind out of me, my head screaming in pain.
Flynn grins ear-to-ear and pokes my forehead. “Lucky number 20.” He turns to his friend. “You can come out, now.”
Blood runs down my fingers when I pat down my injured head.
Cole falls to his feet with the grace and aloofness of a house cat and dusts off his pants. “Tough break.” He offers me his hand.
I glower, still too dizzy to move but too proud to show it. “I don’t need your help.”
