She gathered that, by enchanted, he meant some kind of mythical/magical creature. He must think she had a mythical creature in her bloodline that gave her magic, as well.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you more information. I’d help if I could,” Jess said as she got to her feet. It was time to put her theory to the test. Would Wrath let her leave? “I’ll call a cab.”
“You’re staying here,” Wrath said.
She tried to look surprised.
Chapter 10
“Why?” Jess asked, still standing in front of the sofa. She didn’t look as surprised as he expected, but it was hard to tell. Maybe she had a good poker face.
“Because you know our secret. You know Kurt’s secret, too. How do you think that will go over? That, and we still don’t know what you are. You have magic. Don’t you want to know where it comes from and the extent of it?” Wrath said.
There was a time when he’d have invoked enchanted law. She was an enchanted sent as a spy from an enemy. He could lock her in the dungeon. That wouldn’t accomplish anything, though. A lighter touch would be more effective. He could make her see that her staying would be mutually beneficial.
“I do want to know if I have magic but being held as a prisoner indefinitely dampens my enthusiasm,” Jess said getting comfortable on the sofa once again.
“There’s no question. You have magic. Look, if I know what you are, it’ll be easier for me to find out why you were sent. And you’ll better understand the necessity of keeping our existence secret. In the meantime, we can learn to trust each other. When we have trust and I know why you were sent, you’re free to go. For now, you’re my guest.”
“Prisoner,” she clarified while reaching for another cookie.
“Sure, if you’re into that kind of thing. I have handcuffs.”
Wrath was rewarded with a half-smile and barely detectable blush. It was adorable. Yeah, he had to get her into his bed and soon. His dick had been at full alert since he’d seen her lick a crumb off her full lips half an hour ago.
“Since heat doesn’t bother you and you’re good at grilling, maybe you have powers associated with fire and heat. Can you make the fire burn brighter?” Wrath asked.
“I don’t know,” she said with a quick look toward the back door.
The glance at the back door was a tell. She’d try to escape but she’d probably try to get his guard down first. It was a ploy that might work if he wasn’t an ancient dragon who had tried every ploy imaginable himself. He got out his phone and sent a text to Brad telling him that Jess knew about shifters so the guards could patrol in their shifted forms. She was not to be harmed if it could be avoided, but she was not to leave.
Basilisks were basically snakes. As such, the vibrations of a human trying to sneak around would register as sound traveling from their jawbones to their ears. Their vision sucked, but they could hear incredibly well. Between their sense of smell and their hearing, no human could get by them.
Not that she had much of a chance of getting by Wrath. His hearing wasn’t as good, but it was better than a human’s. He’d hear noises she didn’t know she was making. His vision and sense of smell were good as well. He couldn’t sniff things out as well as a bear, but he made up for that with intelligence.
Speaking of intelligence, it would be smart to take her phone away about now.
“I think a better test would be the grill,” Wrath said, getting to his feet.
Placing his hand on Jess’s lower back, he guided her toward the back door. When he moved to open it, he slid his hand down a little lower. There was a high risk of her thinking he was a creep, but he managed to get her phone out of her pocket and slide it up his sleeve. He’d find a place to hide it momentarily. He couldn’t just destroy it, Etel might send a message.
The phone was easily tracked, but that didn’t matter. Etel already knew where he was.
He caught the scent of her pheromones as they went out to the grill. She’d noticed the touch, but it turned her on instead of making her angry. That was encouraging. Even though he was keeping her against her will, she wanted him. That meant on some level she must want to stay. That pleased him far more than it should.
It would be nice to hear from his dragon on the subject, but it was still silent. He was flying blind with this woman and it was disconcerting. He relied on his dragon side to be his instincts, to give him gut feelings that would guide his decisions. Now all he had to rely on was his human side.
Wrath had already set up everything for the grill so all that needed to happen was for it to be lit.
“I don’t suppose you can light it with a thought,” he said.
“No, I don’t think I can.”
“Okay, think about how annoyed you are at me for keeping you here and then say the words izi sig. Imagine that I’m the coals.”
“What do the words mean?”
“Destroy by fire. It’s Sumerian. It’s a language of magic.”
She squeezed her eyes closed and then opened them and said the words. Nothing happened. Her shoulders fell.
“It was a long shot,” Wrath said.
He waved his hand over the coals and they started to burn.
For the first time in years, Wrath let someone else grill his steaks. Jess did a good job. He caught a whiff of magic as
