Mara #2
“It’s clear my brother doesn’t know you’re here,” she mutters. “So why are you asking about the Glen?”
I take a deep breath. “Eric, your birth father. Is he a good person?”
Tiana starts laughing at that, the sound harsh and brittle. “He disowned us. Would a good man disown his children?”
“No,” I say quietly.
She groans. “So my brother is still talking to him. Right after I told him to be careful.”
“I didn’t say that,” I say quickly.
“Oh, please. Give me a fucking break. You wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t.”
She sips on her mug, then her leg starts tapping on the floor.
“You know what?” I snap, frustration finally breaking through my fear. “Seth is right. You are just like Angie. I’ll figure this out on my own. Lift the quieting spell.”
Tiana laughs and looks to Seth, who’s still performing the spell with Kiara and Samara. “Seth said that? Hmmmm. I’ll take that as a compliment. And no, I’m not lifting the quieting spell. Not yet.”
She leans forward. “Eric hasn’t come to me or my sisters. He’s only targeting Aaron. Why?”
“I do not know,” I say, though suspicions are forming in my mind.
She grins at me, seeing more than I want her to.
I stiffen and turn when a familiar scent catches me. Coffee and sandalwood. When I turn, a portal has suddenly appeared not far from me, blue-gold light crackling at its edges.
I turn to Tiana nervously.
“I’ll handle it from here,” she says, her voice low and urgent. “Go keep him distracted.”
“What?” The word comes out as a squeak.
She stands up and sets her coffee mug down. I turn, watching Aaron step through the portal, his face dark with anger as his eyes lock on mine. My tail curls between my legs.
Tiana immediately lifts the quieting spell, the shield dissolving around us.
She throws me off guard when she throws her arms around me from behind and steps on her toes and kisses my cheek, the gesture so unexpected I freeze in place.
“See?” Tiana says loudly, her voice carrying across the room. “That wasn’t so bad. Us having a real woman-to-feline chat. You are, in fact, the perfect mate for my brother.”
Seth and Kiara notice the commotion. Samara walks over to me and grabs my tail, smoothing her fingers over the fur.
She looks to Tiana. “So this means I can finally get to know my sister-in-law?” There’s genuine warmth in her voice that catches me by surprise.
Tiana grins at her.
Aaron approaches immediately and puts his hands on my face, searching it. “Are you okay?” he asks.
I frown at him. “We’re fine.”
“What’s the problem, big brother?” She smirks. “Your mate isn’t allowed to get to know us?”
“She’s such a lovely lioness,” Tiana continues. “I’ve clearly misjudged her.”
Kiara gives Tiana a strange look, then goes, “Mmhmm,” as if she doesn’t believe her at all.
She goes to stand beside Tiana. Seth approaches.
“Hey, bro,” Seth says. “I saw Mara in the library, and she said she had some woman stuff to handle with the girls.”
Aaron removes his hands from my face and grabs my waist, pulling me against him possessively. The heat of him seeps through my clothes, familiar and grounding. “Don’t come here alone again. Next time let me know, and I’ll bring you here myself.”
“Oh, please,” Tiana says, rolling her eyes. “We weren’t going to turn her into a frog or anything.”
Kiara snickers.
Samara brushes her fingers over the tassel of my tail. My tail pulls away from Samara’s hand and gently brushes over her cheek. She giggles.
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Samara says. “You can trust me, Aaron. I really like your mate.”
I try to turn toward Samara. Aaron’s arm tightens, keeping me where I am. My lion settles.
I grin at her. “I like you too.”
“Come on,” Aaron says. “Let’s go get settled in. We’ve got classes to teach tomorrow.”
“See you at Sunday dinner, Mara,” Tiana says, a mischievous glint in her eye. “You can leave the grump at home.”
Aaron huffs but pulls me to the stairs.
“What are you doing?” he asks as we descend. “We talked about this.”
“We talked about Eric,” I correct him, keeping my voice equally low. “And it’s been a year, and your mother and sisters haven’t warmed up to me. So I took care of it myself.”
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, but I force myself to meet his eyes steadily. My lion whimpers inside me, hating the deception, but I silence her. This is for Aaron’s protection.
I smile when we reach the bottom of the stairs. The sudden glares from the witches and warlocks below have faded to indifferent faces and nods of respect as he pulls me to the door.
The large double doors magically open, and Aaron and I stiffen when Angie is standing in front of them, her arms crossed over her chest.
Her face goes cold, fury radiating from her in waves. “What is she doing here?”
“I came to get to know the girls,” I say.
Angie pushes through us both and immediately heads for the stairs, not bothering to look back or acknowledge my words.
“Don’t worry about that,” he says, his hand finding the small of my back.
“I’m not,” I say. “I will fix things with Angie soon.”
Aaron pulls me out of the Conjuring Hall, and the doors immediately shut behind us.
I pull myself away from him. He glares at me, hurt surfacing before anger covers it.
“What are you doing?”
“Tell me what happened with King Amir,” I demand. If I’m going to protect him, I need to know everything.
He frowns at me. I shrug at him, and my tail comes around and brushes his cheek. Just that simple touch is enough to make him fold.
“I got another offer,” he answers. He grabs my hand and starts to pull me out of the library.
“To be king?” I ask.
“Shhh,” he says, glancing around. “Let’s talk about this in our suite.”
“Why are you keeping stuff from me?”
He stops, then frowns at me. “What are you talking about? I’m not keeping anything from you.”
“Yes, you are,” I snap.
“What did Tiana tell you?”
“I asked about the Witching Glen,” I snap.
Aaron groans, running a hand over his face. “So you ratted me out to Tiana of all witches.”
“It’s a dangerous place,” I tell him. “That means Eric is dangerous.”
Aaron cups my face. He’s still angry, but his hands are careful. “Yes, the Glen is dangerous. But Eric has been helpful. This whole time he’s been around, he’s done nothing but try and rebuild our relationship.”
“You can’t see it,” I murmur.
“See what, baby?” His thumbs stroke my cheeks.
I hold his gaze and start to sniff the air. “I never caught it before because of the coffee beans.”
“What?” Aaron asks.
“You. There’s a veil over you. It’s not magic. It’s in your blood.”
Aaron sighs, then kisses my lips. “Baby, I just want to get us alone.”
I step back from him. Magic sparks involuntarily at his fingertips, blue-gold light dancing across his skin.
“MARA,” he says, and it almost comes out like a growl. The sound makes my tail fall flat, my lion cowering inside me.
Whatever is about to happen, it’s on me and not on her.
“If I come, you talk to me,” I demand.
He steps forward and wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me back to him. “Whatever you want to know, Mara. But no more running from me. Cut that shit out before I lose it.”
I nod nervously. He gently kisses my lips.
I let him take me back to our suite, but in the back of my mind I’m still thinking about Tiana’s words.
The Witching Glen is still a bad place, filled with souls who defied Mother Fate’s natural order.
Eric wants out of the Glen. I’ve picked up on that much of it. But he needs Aaron to do it.