22. Paige
Paige
M y fingers stroke Aries’s hair as we lie in my bed.
It’s been nearly a full day since Mag and Blossom sealed the passageway and repaired my closet wall like the hole had never been there to begin with.
Nearly a full day of me watching Aries breathe and stealing moments away to check on the passageway to ensure it remains closed.
It doesn’t matter that Hoc put a protection ward around my apartment stronger than anything the keepers are capable of. I still worry. The longer I sit here in silence and think, the more questions I have. It doesn’t make sense.
Constantine digging the tunnel. The monsters in the cavern. Attacking Aries. And for what? Why?
Until Aries wakes up, I won’t know.
I do know Constantine’s book was sealed when Aries brought it back. Hoc is running tests now to find out whether Constantine is inside it. It’s a tricky thing to test without re-opening the book and unleashing the beast yet again.
I should be relieved that it’s all over with.
The tunnel is closed. The creatures being kept down there are no longer a threat.
And I don’t have to worry about the Vetus book tracking me down, either, because the first thing Hoc did was redirect a tracking spell from Constantine’s own book since it was a “stronger connection” as he put it.
Then there’s the fact that I opened the Vetus book in the first place. And closed it. And I still haven’t had a single second to ask Hoc how in the hell I was able to do that bit of magic. It’s still on my mind, too, but in light of today, it’s not quite as pressing.
In fact, all I can think about is how I only just found the man I love and already nearly lost him. Is this what love is? This gut-wrenching fear that the person you’ve pledged your life to will be ripped away from you?
Because no romance novel I’ve ever read covers what to do after you find your person.
Especially when said person is also a dragon who loves rushing toward certain death.
And it’s only going to get worse when we get to Astronia, considering he’s a king there and responsible for an entire country’s safety.
Just how in the hell am I supposed to keep him alive long enough for us to actually build a life together?
“What are you thinking about?” Aries’ voice is groggy with sleep, but it jolts me. I look down at him and smile softly.
“Nothing.”
He scowls. “You cannot lie to me, Paige. We are connected. I can feel your fear.”
“Fine,” I huff. “I’m afraid of losing you.”
“You didn’t.”
“But I damn near did.” I sit up and shove the covers aside, ready to fight this out. It’s not fair when he’s still so weak, but this fear and frustration has to go somewhere.
With a grunt, Aries sits up against the headboard and flips on my lamp. His sculpted body is already flawless again, the physical injuries healed while he slept the day away.
But he’s still pale. And the dried blood I couldn’t quite wipe clean earlier still glares back at me; a reminder. And try as hard as I might, the image of him bleeding and in pain on my floor, filled with a deadly venom, will never leave me.
I turn to face him, putting distance between us. “You could have died, Aries.”
“Yes,” he admits. “But I didn’t,” he repeats.
“Why the hell did you go down there alone? Why didn’t you wake me?”
“What good would it have done? I would have still gone alone, and you would have still been here when I returned.”
He’s right, of course. Even if I had insisted on going with him, it would have likely gotten me killed in that cavern.
“I don’t know,” I huff. “But I could have gotten help when you weren’t back soon.” Tears roll down my cheeks. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d have it more together than this by now. I should have it together.” I wipe my eyes with the tips of my fingers. “You’re the one who got hurt.”
Aries reaches for me, and I go to him, letting him pull me against his chest and cradle me close.
It reminds me of the night we spent in the basement when his dragon curled me in safely among its scales so I could sleep.
In this moment, I know Aries will always protect me.
Even if it means putting himself in danger.
“I am alive, Paige. And Constantine is gone.”
His tone is final. But I can’t help arguing. “What if—”
“He’s gone,” Aries says as he eases me back and reaches over to cup my cheeks. “You’re safe. So am I.”
I sigh, willing myself to concentrate on that. “You’re right. Even Hoc said with the book being sealed, it is unlikely he is still free.”
Aries frowns, and this time, there’s a shadow darkening his features.
“What?” I ask, fear rising all over again. “Do you not think--”
“We need to talk about Hoc.”
“What about him?”
“There’s something you need to know before you continue trusting him. Something I learned in that cavern. About you.”
“What about me?”
He hesitates, and somehow, I know, whatever this is, it’s not a small thing. “Aries, you can tell me. I can handle it.”
“Constantine dug that tunnel to your apartment for a reason.”
“I’ve been wondering about that.” I watch him carefully.
“Constantine said he used your magic to extract those creatures from their books and put them in that cavern.”
I stare at him, completely speechless. The language makes sense, but the words... what they imply... it can’t be. “That’s impossible,” I manage.
“He used the tunnel to siphon your magic while you slept,” Aries says quietly.
I don’t answer, too caught up in the memory of opening that Vetus book. Something about it keeps me from arguing.
Aries watches me, but he’s not stopping. He’s not treating me like I’m breakable. Somehow, that steadies me. I suck in a breath and blink, assembling my thoughts.
“This can’t be right,” I say. “Maybe he lied to you. If I had magic, I’d know.”
He gives me a strange look.
“What?” I demand.
“Paige, your magic was evident the moment I met you.”
My eyes narrow, and my heart thuds wildly. “What do you mean?”
“It feels different than anything else I’ve ever encountered, but my dragon senses magic, and yours was unmistakable. I didn’t even realize what it was, at first. It’s as though it’s muted somehow.”
I crawl off the bed and stand, my chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as my heart thuds louder. Heat rises to my neck and face. I don’t know why. Or what I feel. Just that this is utterly impossible.
“What kind of magic do you sense?” I hear myself ask.
He shakes his head slowly like he wishes he had a better answer. “I don’t know. It’s not like anything I’ve felt before.”
“I have magic.” I say the words quietly, mostly testing them on my tongue. It sounds strange, but not untrue, and that shocks me more than anything.
Aries waits, watching me.
“If it’s true, Hoc will know,” I say, starting for the door.
“If it’s true, why didn’t he already tell you?”
Aries’s questions stop me, and all that heat I felt a second ago leaks out, leaving me cold. I turn back to him and see the glint in his eyes—and finally understand what he’s waiting on me to figure out.
“This is why you didn’t say anything earlier,” I realize. “You think Hoc lied to me—all this time?”
“I think you deserve to know the truth,” he says carefully.
For some reason, I can’t help but defend Hoc. “Hoc has never been anything but good to me. He took me in when my parents died, treated me like his own daughter. He wants me to become head librarian and run this place someday.”
“I’m not saying he wasn’t there for you,” Aries says quietly. “But if this is true, he’s holding back for a reason. And since we don’t know what that reason is... You’re my concern, Paige. Not him. You come first for me. Always.”
My heart softens, and his words take some of the panic out of me. I drift back to the bed and sit, covering my hand in his. “You come first for me, too,” I say. “Always.”
“I understand if you need to stay here for a while longer,” he begins.
“What?”
“Returning to my home with me would take you away from the one person who might have answers. I understand that.”
“No, that’s not—Aries, look at me.”
He lifts his lowered gaze to mine, and I let his dark eyes steady me.
One look at him, and I know exactly what I want.
What I need. “Look, if I have magic, and no one told me, that means I can’t trust them to give me the truth now.
I deserve to know what I am, and... if Hoc has been hiding it, I don’t think I want to stay here anymore anyway.
I need to figure this out, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.
Nothing will ever change that.” He leans toward me, so I add, “But I will ask him about this before we leave.”
He nods. “Of course. We should give him a chance to—”
“I will speak to him alone.”
He straightens, eyes blazing. “Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
My brow arches. “Oh, you mean like it was too dangerous for you to go into that tunnel alone?”
He scowls. “It’s not the same.”
“Exactly. That tunnel and Hoc are not the same at all. Hoc would never hurt me, Aries. Even if he’s lying, he loves me.”
But even as I say the words, my stomach churns. Do I really believe that?
“Fine. But I’ll be close by,” Aries warns. “Close enough to hear. And if he tries anything, I’m coming through the wall.”
“Or, you know, you could try the door.”
He bares his teeth, and I have to swallow a laugh. The dragon king doesn’t scare me. Well, unless you count the fact that I love him so much it’s scary.
“You don’t scare me, Your Highness,” I tease.
Before I see it coming, he grabs my wrist and yanks me toward him. I nearly sprawl across the bed, but he catches me and pulls me into his arms. His large, muscled, incredibly strong arms. They wrap gently around me so I’m looking up at his scruffy face.
“I love you, Paige Murphy,” he says fiercely. “With everything I am.”
I meet his gaze, a lump of emotion in my throat as I study his handsome face. For so long, I’ve wanted this kind of love. Even as I knew it would likely always be out of reach for someone like me.
Then came Aries.
He exploded into my life like the fire-breathing dragon he is, and now, nothing will ever be the same. Shit, if you think about it, a pumpkin spice latte changed the course of my entire life.
“I never want to know what it’s like to be without you,” I tell him as I cup his cheeks and arch upward to press my lips to his. “I love you, too.”