Unraveled

flipped on the light, chasing the shadows away, and she saw that his expression was etched in violence. His eyes were narrowed, lips pulled back, teeth bared. Didn’t help that blood poured from his nose.

“I’m sorry. You just, you scared me!”

The tardy bell rang, and she wanted to curse.

“Don’t be sorry,” he growled. “Be proud. And I’m sorry I scared you.”

He didn’t sound apologetic. He sounded just as violent as he looked. She glanced away, needing a moment to calm, and saw that they were in a supply closet. The scent of disinfectant saturated the air. Cleaning supplies lined the shelves.

Deep breath in, out. Finally, her trembling eased and her heartbeat slowed. “Why are you so upset?” she asked, keeping her eyes away from him.

“I’m not.”

She ran her tongue over her teeth. Someone needed a truth spell, and it wasn’t her. “So where were you this morning? I waited.” And waited. Oh, God. Did he hear the whine in her voice?

“After the vampire gig, I had to escort Aden home. As there was a wee bit of opposition from his new subjects, I was afraid someone would follow him and try to take him out, so I ended up camping outside his window all night and all morning.”

Her hand whipped up to her throat as her gaze once again clashed with his. “Did they? Try to take him out, I mean?”

“No.”

“So he’s well?”

“Well, but tired. He still sees the fairy ghost, and that ghost prevented him from sleeping.”

Tired and ghost-whispering were far better than mortally wounded. “Where is he now?”

“Here.”

“With Victoria,” she said with a nod. A statement of fact, not a question. Those two were always together.

“No. Victoria didn’t attend today.”

“Why? Was she hurt?” And why wasn’t Riley with her? Usually Riley glued himself to the vampire’s side, protecting her his first priority.

Tendrils of jealousy worked through Mary Ann, followed by tendrils of guilt. Their relationship shouldn’t bother her. They were princess and bodyguard. If Victoria were injured, Riley would be punished. Perhaps killed.

Or maybe things were different now, under Aden’s rule.

“Physically, she’s fine,” Riley said. “Our councilmen want her to stay away from Aden so that he can date other people.”

What? “And she’s okay with that?”

Riley’s lips twitched. “You’ll have to ask her.”

“If Aden’s king, how can the councilmen tell her what to do? He wouldn’t allow it.” Would he?

“Aden doesn’t live in our home. He’s new and no one knows what to make of him. Everyone is looking to the councilmen for answers, and right now, they support him. We don’t want that to change, so we’re catering to their desires. Besides, to deny them would cause unrest among the people. That unrest would be dangerous for Aden.”

Still. Having to watch your boyfriend date other girls? Absolute torture! The thought of Riley with someone else…her hands curled, her nails cutting past skin. “Well, you could have called me. Let me know you weren’t coming for me.”

He tangled a hand through his dark hair, all hint of amusement fading. The fury returned, darkening his expression. “No, I couldn’t have. I would have yelled.”

“You’re yelling now!” And for no good reason, that she could tell.

“Yeah,” he said, still with that fury, but now, it was tinged with something else. Something low and raspy. His eyelids dipped to half-mast as he traced a fingertip along the slope of her nose. “But now we get to kiss and make up.” Even his voice had dipped.

Yes, please. “First, why would you have yelled?” Clearly someone had told him what she’d done, but she wanted to hear him admit it before she spilled her guts. “Second, we can’t kiss.” She backed away from him, not stopping until she hit the door. The closer they were, the headier his wild scent became. The closer they were, the better she could feel the heat radiating off him. The closer they were, the closer she wanted to be. “I need to get to class.”

“Actually, you’ll have to miss it. We’re talking right now.”

Uh-oh. The words echoed around her, a threat. “I can’t keep putting off my studies, Riley. Yeah, I’m fine with missing Geometry right now, but anything after that? No. As you know, Spanish is my worse subject, and I need all the help I can get.”

“I’ll tutor you later. Si?”

Yeah, right. Like they’d really pay attention to their books if they were alone in her room. “No.” The only other Spanish she could recall at the moment was: No hay tenedor limpio, tenemos que lavar la. There is no clean fork. We have to wash some.

That wasn’t really applicable here.

“Well, you’re not going to class until we discuss a few things. Namely, you went into town last night,” he said, jaw clenched.

And there it was. The admission. She gulped. “Yes.”

“Alone.”

“Yes. How did you find out?”

“My brothers. They followed you.”

The two wolves who tailed Penny’s car. Of course. She should have guessed.

“They said you encountered a witch. Tell me, Mary Ann. Why would you endanger yourself like that?”

You are not the weak link. You are not the freaking weak link. “Did your brothers also tell you that I stayed in the car? Did they tell you Penny and I drove away before Marie could reach us?”

His nostrils flared in outrage. “You know her name now.”

Uh-oh.

“You’ve talked to her.” Again, not a question.

“Yes,” she admitted softly.

He slapped the wall beside her temples, caging her in. He’d done that yesterday, on the walk to school, and she’d loved it. He’d kissed her, after all. Now, he just looked like he wanted to choke her. The funny thing was, she still loved it. She had only to lift onto her tiptoes and she could kiss him.

“A witch doesn’t need to be close to you to bespell you, Mary Ann.” If he knew the direction her thoughts had taken, he gave no notice. “She needs only to see you. You were in danger the moment you left your house. Do you not recall what I told you about spells?”

“I do,” she said with a nod.

“Tell me.”

A tremor slid the length of her spine. “When a spell is uttered, that spell becomes alive, its sole existence to fulfill its purpose. There is no breaking it. Ever. Even by the witch who cast it.”

As she’d spoken, his gaze had lowered and remained on her lips. Tension had wafted from him before he’d snapped his attention back to her face. “That’s right,” he croaked. “And what would happen if a different type of death spell were cast over you?”

“I would die twice?” she asked dryly.

“Yes, smartie. That’s exactly what would happen, and neither time would be pleasant.”

She’d never seen Riley so fierce, so intense, but she planned to stand up to him exactly as she’d stood up to Marie. This was too important. “Guess what?” she said, flattening her palms on his chest. His heart thundered to the same erratic beat as hers. “That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I’m part of this team, and I will help in any way that I can. How is my being in danger any different from you being in danger?”

His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, even as he pressed deeper into her body. “I heal.”