Page 20 of Shifting Desire
My jaw tightens.“Is he making moves?”
“Not directly.But his people are sniffing around the East Side.Close enough to send a message.”
I swear viciously.“She’s not ready for that,” I grind out.“She’s barely grasping the truth about us.She can’t handle a war.”
“Then maybe it’s time you stop letting your guilt run the show and start protecting what’s yours.”
He’s not wrong.I know Ravik.I know how he plays.He’ll go for what’s vulnerable.What’s unclaimed.And until Ari accepts me, fully accepts me, he’ll see her as fair game.
And that I won’t allow.Ever.
“I need to go to her,” I mumble, trying to gather my senses.
“To do what, Mal?”he asks, pushing me to tell him everything.
“It’s time to tell Ari the truth.”
Tavian smirks.“And are you planning to do that before or after she throws something at your head?”
“Probably during.”
****
It takes me thirtyminutes to reach her apartment with the afternoon traffic.
I don’t knock but I don’t need to.I can feel her behind the door.
Her energy is sharper now.Brighter.Her magic hums with the same note mine does, like two chords finally being played in harmony.It’s not a storm anymore.It’s a song.Unfamiliar, raw, but entirely ours.
She opens the door before I raise my hand.
And gods help me ...she’s radiant.
Her hair is a wild mess of bright pink and lavender, half up in a lazy twist.She’s in one of those oversized sweaters that hang off one shoulder, baring just enough skin to make me hungry.But it’s her eyes that stop me cold.
One green.One blue.And both lit from within with magic and anger.She knows.
She says nothing at first and neither do I.
Then she whispers, “What the hell did you do to me?”
I step around her into the apartment and close the door.
“No lies,” I say quietly.“Not anymore.”
She crosses her arms.“Then start talking.”
I take a deep breath.“I felt the mate bond the moment I saw you.Three years ago.I didn’t even know your name, but my soul recognized you.My dragon recognized you.”
She flinches but doesn’t interrupt, she just listens.
I continue, my voice tight.“My father wouldn’t have allowed me to claim you.He would have seen you as impure.That your blood was tainted by your human side.He would have killed you.”
Her breath hitches, but still, she stays silent.I see understanding dawn and know she finally understands what I meant when I said my father wasn’t a good man.
“I made a choice.”I swallow hard.“I asked a friend, a witch, to suppress the bond.On your side.So you wouldn’t feel it.So you’d be safe.”
Ari goes still.I see the moment the weight of it hits her.
