Thea Harrison - Dragon Bound

“Depending upon the strength of the user, yes.”

Anything hidden. There were things in the world that should never be found, dangerous things, or fragile, and precious creatures whose lives depended upon secrecy. A finding charm as strong as the one Pia had used could slice like a knife through someone’s every defense. She shivered and huddled into herself. Despite her fears and preoccupation for her own safety, this had never been about her.

Dragos frowned as he considered the minefield she had maneuvered in order to get to his hoard, the unknown charm acting in opposition to his spells. The conflict of opposing magics might have killed another person. That elegant citadel inside her mind was probably what had saved her life. Despite her obvious upset, he didn’t think she realized how much danger she had been in.

He wondered if it was her conscience that made her so upset. He was fascinated by the concept of a conscience. He dropped a heavy hand onto her shoulder, gripping the slender bone and sinew. Her body shifted in subtle ways as she leaned into his bracing hold.

He shifted the conversation back to an earlier point. “Hollins might have given you up anyway, before they killed him.”

“No,” she sighed. “He didn’t, which may actually be why they killed him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“After he blackmailed me, I blackmailed him,” she told him. She squinted at him with one eye. Was that approval gleaming in his gaze? “I wouldn’t give him what I stole unless he read the binding spell I bought yesterday. He would have lost the ability to speak if he tried to talk about me.”

Her stomach twisted as she imagined what must have been done to Keith. It had been a bad death, Dragos said, and Dragos wasn’t exactly known for being squeamish. Was Keith’s death on her conscience if he had been the one to start the whole damn thing? Or did she start the whole damn thing by opening up her big mouth? The morality of it all was getting too convoluted for her to figure out.

“How did you get past my locks and the wards?”

She closed her eyes and put her hands over her face. What did it matter anymore? “I’m a half-breed. I don’t have much Wyr blood or many abilities. I can’t change into a Wyr form, and I don’t have a lot of Power. I don’t have anything interesting about me.” She pulled her hands away and looked at him. He was staring at her. “What, have I grown two heads?”

“You believe you don’t have anything interesting about you,” he said. “Or that you don’t have much Power.”

She gave him a blank look and a shrug. “Except, I guess, for one stupid parlor trick I was too fucking stupid to keep to myself,” she said. “I showed Keith when we were both drunk and goofing around.”

“What was it?”

“It’s easier to show than tell.” She walked over to the sliding glass door, unlocked it, stepped onto the deck and shut the door again. Outside, the evening had darkened to dusk. Still staring at her, he stalked over and put a fist against the glass as if to break through it. She told him, “Go ahead and lock it again.”

His dark brows lowered in a scowl.

She just looked at him. “Oh, go on. You know you could catch me again if I tried to run.” His gold dragon’s gaze holding hers, he did as she told him.

She opened up the door and stepped back inside. “See?”

He looked at the door and back at her again. “Do it again.” She stepped outside. She walked back in after he locked the door. He said, “I didn’t feel you cast a spell.”

“That’s because I didn’t. It’s just a part of me.” Locks, wards—you name it, and she could walk through it. Nothing could cage her. Nothing, that is, unless it plummeted out of a clear blue sky and sat on her. She dug the heel of her hand into one temple where a headache was starting to throb and sighed. “That’s all I know. That, and again, I’m sorry. I suppose you’ll want to do the rending now.”

He hadn’t moved back when she stepped inside. She was so close she could feel his body heat on her skin. He had a kind of strength and vitality that was a constant shock to the system. She felt small and cold and pale by comparison. Despite the colossal danger this creature represented, she had quite an irrational desire to curl up in his warmth.

He cupped her head. The broad palms and long fingers cradled her skull. Oddly, she didn’t feel afraid and she didn’t resist when he tilted her face up.

The predator bent over her. “You committed a crime,” he said. “And you owe me. Say it.”

What was this? She could gain no hint by searching his face. Her shoulders sagged and her mouth drooped. “What if I don’t want to say it?”

“You will make recompense,” said the Lord of the Wyr. “You will serve me until I deem the debt is paid. Is that clear?”

“No rending?” she asked. Her gaze clung to his. Could she believe him this time, or was this another cruel joke?

He shook his head and smoothed back her hair. “No rending. You told me the truth,” he said. “I could sense it as you talked. You committed a crime, but you were also a victim. This is justice.” He bent his head until his nose just touched the top of hers, inhaling. His voice was much softer as he continued, “But when I go after who orchestrated this? That will be vengeance.”

She shuddered, going limp with relief. Her hands smoothed over the heavy muscles in his chest. She felt encompassed by him, and against all good sense or sanity, she felt safe. Her spine lost its starch. She leaned against him. Just a little. She did it sneakily so he wouldn’t notice. “I don’t like that word ‘serve.’ What would you want me to do?”

“I’ll make use of you somehow,” he said.

“What if I don’t want to do it?” Her head started to lower, a drooping flower on a stalk. His hands guided her to rest on his chest. “I’m not stealing again,” she warned. “So if that’s what you want, we might as well get back to the rending right now.”

Listen to her. Big tough girl.

“There is nothing you could steal that I couldn’t get in any number of other ways. I will not put you in harm’s way.” He kept her head cradled in one hand and put an arm around her. He murmured, “I do not endanger my treasures.”

What did he mean by that? She was mesmerized by his hold in a way that had nothing to do with beguilement. She tried to focus. “I’m not agreeing, mind you,” she grumbled. “I’ll have to think about it.”

But it didn’t sound so bad. It was much better than rending. And she did steal from him, along with telling him too much about herself. She bit her lip. What if he decided to blackmail her too?

“I wasn’t aware that I gave you a choice,” he said. Was that amusement in his voice? “Crime and judgment, remember, not negotiation. You lived in my demesne, you lived by my law. But you go ahead and think about it all the way back to New York.”

A car horn sounded from the street side of the house. She jumped and yanked herself away. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

“Oh God,” she said, “that’s the . . . that’s the delivery. I’ll go get it. Be right back.”

She charged for the door to be brought up short by his hand circling her wrist. “I’ll get it,” he said.

“Don’t be silly,” she told him. A wild horse galloped in her chest. “I said I would buy you supper, and I will. It’s the least I can do.”

“No.” He brushed past her, long legs eating up the distance to the front door.

Oh damn. She caught him by the arm just before he opened it and tried one last time. “Please, Dragos. Let me do it.”

He put his hands to her shoulders and nudged her back into the living room. “Something is not right. I can feel it. You are not going out there,” he said. He had turned into a stone-cold killer. His Power revved like fighter plane powering up. “It’s not safe.”