Page 77 of The Serpent Prince

He regarded them with his hands clasped behind his back but did not smile. “Your Highnesses.” He bowed. “I’m Archmage Toross. The city of Eto is eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

He regarded Imani for longer than necessary, as if trying to work out a puzzle, then he abruptly turned to Kiran. “I can understand why you’re so protective of your lovely mate, Your Highness. But I do not take lightly to the type of protection spell you have around her when I’m assessing whether to admit you both to our city. This room is imbued with ancient magic to detect even the most powerful witches’ spells.”

Imani tried to hide her confusion, and then it dawned on her. It wasn’t Kiran’s magic encircling them—it was encircling her.

She glanced at Kiran. His gaze pierced the archmage as his jaw worked. Imani knew Kiran well enough to understand that he didn’t tolerate being spoken to this way. Unless it was from his family.

The prince turned to look at Imani. His gaze softened as he reached to tuck the curl he had been playing with back behind her ear. “Forgive me, Archmage Toross. My mate is quite literally constantly protected by my defensive magic. At any given moment, she’s likely surrounded by at least a dozen defensive spells I personally created and cast for her. And this one I never remove—it’s not a glamour, so I didn’t think it would be a problem. Of course, I can for now. Do you have a heartmate?”

“I don’t.”

“Then you could never understand how precious—how essential—she is to me. How impossible it is to control those instincts to keep her safe. Especially when I have a High-Bred Norn female for a heartmate. I know this is your first experience with one, but I’m sure you’re aware of their reputation,” he said quietly, still watching her. He moved the hand around her shoulders to trace tiny circles on the back of her neck.

Imani kept her face impartial, but her heart was beating fast. This had to be part of his plan. It had to be. Kiran knew about the ancient magic they used to detect defensive spells. He was playing this witch, taking a risk with the spell to make their relationship more believable. To distract the archmage.

The magic around her disappeared, and Kiran turned his gaze to the archmage again. “At any rate, my apologies. Of course we are here to comply with whatever you need,” he said, sounding sincere.

Archmage Toross sat down in the chair across from them and took out his wand. He was close, maybe about a foot away. With the magic gone, he gave Imani a curious, hungry look, as if he were just seeing her for the first time. The spell Kiran had around her must have been powerful. She wished he’d cast it before they’d entered the mountain, but of course, that wasn’t part of the plan. This spell was just for the archmage.

“Your Highness, this is a surprise. Your heartmate is a Norn. And she’s …” He trailed off, looking her up and down, almost in a daze.

Imani averted her eyes to avoid enthralling him even more.

He shot his suspicious eyes to Kiran.

“He didn’t steal me from the Draswood, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Imani said quietly, forcing herself to meet his eyes, feeling the archmage’s magic roam over her. Her shadows wanted to come to the surface, and she could feel them shimmering under her skin, but she stayed in control. “We met when he came to Essenheim on behalf of his father.” The truth. Mostly.

“They call the Norn the Silver Angels in our stories. A fitting name. Gods, you’re lovely beyond compare … incredible eyes. I’ve never seen such beautiful irises.” He leaned closer to her, mesmerized, gaze hungry.

Imani had seen this before.

The archmage moved to reach for her, and Imani flinched then let her wand slide out from her sleeve and pointed it at his hand. She stared directly into his eyes. “Don’t you dare move or say another word,” she growled, her voice layered with that unusual timbre her soul draw caused.

The archmage flew back into the chair. He appeared to be trying to move but couldn’t.

CHAPTER 28

The power of her soul draw, as always, intoxicated her.

She stood and circled around him, testing the limits of the spell she’d put on him. Wiggling against invisible bindings, the archmage tried to move but couldn’t.

“Can you speak?” Imani asked, her voice still sounding strange.

Nothing happened except he writhed even more.

Leaning down, she put her face directly in front of his. “You are never going to touch me unless I give you permission. You are barely going to look at me. Make a sound—any sound you can—to tell me you understand.”

A garbled noise came from his throat.

Imani’s heart pounded, and she turned away from him, her hand on her chest, trying to get control. She could feel her aura wrapped around him as if it were a physical entity—shadows wanting out, wanting to devour him.

What will happen when I let go? Her mind reeled. A pleasure like she’d never known flooded her, and she flexed her hands, feeling the power emanating from them. If she wanted to feed from him, she could right now.

This was the purpose of her power.

But she didn’t want to feed from this archmage. She needed him to trust them, and instead, she’d just attacked his free will.

Her hand flew to her chest to calm her beating heart before she whipped around to Kiran.