Page 56 of Sugar & Sorcery
“I doubt we’ll be welcome back in this market anytime soon.”
He was joking? After I almostdied?And beneath us, the market was nothing but scorched ruin!
“Arawn!” I screamed, struggling in his grip. “You broke your promise! Look at this disaster!”
“They came after you,” he said, his steel gaze locking onto mine, his voice so sharp it sent a shiver down my spine. “I’d do it again without hesitation.”
My anger faltered for the briefest second, replaced by something far more unsettling. He… cared about me?
“And besides, it took you forever to get that broom off the ground,” he added.
My fury had wavered for a heartbeat, only to blaze up again. “Wait, you were in the alley?”
He nodded, expressionless. “From the moment you started shaking that poor broom like a hysteric. I wanted to see how you’d manage, but honestly, it wasn’t looking good.”
“And you didn’t step in sooner?! You wanted them to kill me?”
He sighed, exasperated. “Don’t be so dramatic. I would’ve torn their hearts out before they laid a deformed finger on you.”
My heart skipped. “I…”
“I searched the entire market for you,” he cut me off, unsmiling.
His grip tightened, his arms becoming a cage, drawing me closer. I was trapped by more than his embrace.
“And when I couldn’t find you… I was furious,” he added, his lips pressed tight. “And when I’m angry… let’s say I wanted to hear you call for me before I interrupted the catastrophe you’d gotten yourself into.”
Furious? Him, who seemed detached from everything? I crossed my arms and turned away, too proud to admit how wildly my heart was pounding. I didn’t know how to process it. He was stealing my feelings.Iwas the angry one.Iwas the abandoned one.Iwas the one who thought he wasn’t coming back.
“As you can see, I didn’t need you. So don’t bother coming back next time.”
The sorcerer let out a low chuckle. “You did remarkably well. If only your heart weren’t so pure, you’d have made an excellent witch.”
“Now having a pure heart is a flaw?!” I shot back as he began his descent.
We skimmed the jagged crest of the red mountain. Below, the once-market was chaos—ruins and hungry shifting sands. Splintered stalls lay half-buried, while scattered figures scavenged through the wreckage.
“Don’t you ever leave me alone like that again. Understood?” I muttered as my feet hit the ground.
As if to emphasize my words, a slab of rock split from the mountainside and thundered down into the ruined market, raising a choking cloud of dust and scattering looters like rats from a trap.
Arawn blinked. His wings folded back into a cloak, his bone antlers withdrew, and his silk hood draped smoothly over him once more. “You just said the opposite a moment ago.”
He rememberseverything,the insufferable?—
“Well, I’M ANGRY, ALL RIGHT? I’m trying to be strong, I really am, but I’m not a witch! Just… don’t abandon me ever again!” My voice cracked on the last words, as if something inside me had snapped.
My breath came in short, uneven bursts. Bits of sugar broke away from me. Arawn watched me for a moment, lips parted, his gaze narrowed.
“All right. Sorry.”
I glared at him, searching for irony, a smirk, some crack in his mask. Nothing. He was dead serious. “Good. And I’m never getting on a broom again!”
Arawn raised a brow, covering a brief, muffled laugh with his hand. “Unfortunately, that’s not an option. It was either save you, or fetch our tower.”
I opened my mouth… then shut it. My shoulders sagged. A weight lifted from my chest. He had still chosen to save me.
“Fine. Then let’s go fetch it,” I grumbled, folding my arms as if it might help me find my composure again.
