Rustling in the pocket of my trousers, I dig out the bag of coin I readied beforehand and position it beside her. In the bag is a note that saysfor your silence.
There’s enough coin to buy a small house. Hopefully, it’s enough to keep her quiet. Clutching the clothes and boots to my chest, I begin scouting back, searching for Pandora. Some part of me already knows, she’s not here. I track all the way back to the tree I’d marked, and as I suspected, there’s no sign of her. Fuck! I edge the clearing, peering out across the field where I’d left her. No signs of her there either. Where is she? I told her to follow me out. Did something happen to her? My heart quickens in my chest. I told her I wouldprotect her.
I haven’t felt any more pulses of fear from the mark. If something happened to her I would’ve felt that. My heart rate slows. I have the ability to track her now but unfortunately that spell requires parchment of which I have none. But no, I don’t need it at all, I realize. With the magic pulsing in me like a vital force I can easily find her without it.
But it’s trying to send me right back to the clearing and it's apparent she’s not in the clearing. Plus that’s the last place I want to go to be spotted by Valik already.
I creep deeper into the Woods before tugging my clothes and boots on in a hurry. My cock is still painfully rigid. I tuck it in the waistband of my pants, struck once again by the wonder of it all. It doesn’t make any sense. Pandora’s so innocent. I groan. She’ll be feeling this just as strongly as I am. All my plans are shattered because I can’t be sure…that she would want to do this without the henbane. I know I’m going to have to be the stronger person and resist. I might have toleave.
First, I need to find her. I stay to the Wood, making a perimeter around the clearing, evading the couples I stumble upon along the way. I know I’m headed in the right direction as that force is no longer trying to lure me back into the clearing. I can feel that pull growing stronger and more enthusiastic as I near, my body practically vibrating with anticipation. I clench and unclench my fists.Chill. The. Fuck. Out.
I run into another couple pressed up against a nearby tree. I’m about to quietly creep around them when the gleam of white catches my eye and I double-take.Pandora?
That’s fucking Pandora, my--with her lips pressed to another man. His arms are wrapped tightly around her. There are no signs of struggle. No pulse of fear from the mark. I can’t make sense of the image in front of me. My skin blazes, blood whirring in my ears. My magic coils of its own volition.
And then it erupts.
Something inside of mefissures as I watch their backs disappear behind the dense of trees. No…he told me…I continue searching the perimeter of the Wood but he doesn’t reappear. My blood thrums. I can no longer hear the drums or mewling around me. This is a mistake. Has to be.
That fissure in me cracks further, splitting me wide. I can hear it. The groaning crunch as I break, my heart bursting in bitter agony as I spill out.
No, that’s not me breaking. It’s the daemon unleashing itself at the ground. The cracking sound, the earth shredding under my feet.
I look around, panicked. No one is close enough to have spotted the splitting ground, but a few Magi have turned their heads in the direction of the sound. I step back, once, twice, bump right into a drink table. Glasses clink and wobble.
My body tremors right along with them. The daemon unfurling in a fresh wave of agony that threatens to send me to my knees. It shatters one of the glasses and more heads turn my way.
I bolt for the Wood in the opposite direction. A couple is embraced against a tree and I sprint past them as the daemon sears and slashes, shattering rocks and splintering branches. My lungs struggle to gulp in air as sobs tear up my throat. The daemon leaves a path of destruction in my wake.
Someone’s going to see me.I breathe heavily as I clamp my will down around it, grunting as I reign the tides back in. Once I’m confident I’m alone, I settle my back against a tree, the bark rough against my bare skin. I swipe back the tears that have sprouted free, sniffling quietly.
I saw him.
He was coming tome.
And then…
This proves it. This thing between us…it's simply how he is with women he’s attracted to. Heisattracted to me but that doesn’t appear to be an exceptional common-stance in the least.
Minutes pass, and my heartbreak gives way to anger. I peer around the dim Woods. What am I supposed to do now? My only option is to wait. Wait for him to be done. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to force that throbbing cavity to close, trying to will myself not to care. I knew how he was. He brought a woman back to his bed with me right there in the other room. I knew, I knew, I knew.
The worst part is I can still feel the henbane coaxing me to move. To find him. And do what? Watch him fuck some other woman? My vision hazes with the thought. The henbane affecting me hadn’t even been a possibility of the many disastrous scenarios I imagined would happen tonight. He said it had little to no effect. Thatidiot.
No, I’d only thought the henbane was calling us to each other. Now I realize how stupid I was to think that. The henbane calls based on magical compatibility. It wasn’t calling me to him at all. It’s simply an aphrodisiac like Sitri said. And I want him so badly I’d merely thought it felt like I was being pulled to him.
“Are you okay?”
I startle, peering around the clearing until I land on the Magi who’s posed the question. He strides forward, brows knitted over large, icy blue eyes. An expression of genuine concern. “Are you okay?” he repeats.
Every muscle in my body has gone tense with his closening proximity and I slowly unloosen them.“I…yes,” I say hoarsely.
His brows furrow even further. “It looked like you were crying.”
“Oh…I’m fine,” I mumble.
He’s doubtful, eyes assessing me. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Is it your first year here?”
I release a breath in relief. He doesn’t recognize me. “Yes, first year,” I repeat heavily. He continues to move closer. “I…should probably go,” I say, pointing. “Thank you, though.” I turn to walk away, pleading that he won’t follow.
