Page 64 of Awakened Ash and Alchemy

“I’m no lady. I’m just Angela.” She laughed awkwardly.

“Tamarr, a moment.” Lord Gellar motioned the maid to one side of their private dining room.

Zarek didn’t need to be a mind reader to know Gellar was telling Tamarr to keep whatever she learned or heard in the company of Miss Duboise a secret. The servant already proven trustworthy in her years of service.

Tamarr gave a single nod. “I understand, Commander.” She then faced them, carrying herself differently. “How can I be of service, Miss?” Again, Tamarr bowed, her eyes shining brighter.

“Can you show me where I can get a drink, please?”

“Come with me, Miss.”

Angela hesitated to look at Zarek—and there it was, the thing he had no adequate response to… Unwanted, impossible trust.

Not that long ago, she wanted to swing that fire poker at him, and now he was the only thing in Paradox she trusted.

He didn’t deserve that.

Yet, he was pretty sure it didn’t matter to the Claiming, or to her, or to the part of him that tightened his grip. By the realms, he did not want her to leave or let go of his hand. But he had to. Angela wasn’t his. She was a mortal who was complicating his entirety.

“Tamarr will take care of you.” He gave her hand a squeeze, then let her go, watching Angela follow Tamarr. Only when the door closed behind her did the room exhale.

Gellar’s eyes narrowed at Zarek. “Did she tell you what she could do?”

Zarek shook his head as he sighed heavily to rid the tension from his chest. “My guess is that Angela doesn’t know what she can do as she’s never been allowed to test her powers.”

“Then she has hidden her potential.”

“Yes.” An anger burred under his skin that wasn’t for Katarra, or the war. It was for the people who’d convinced Angela she was broken or had made her so scared of finding out what made her so unique.

“She also fears being used. So I won’t allow it.” The warning spread like ripple of warmth coming from his magick. What’s worse, he caught the slight glow in the staves on his armor. The Claiming did that. Not him, but that dragon he wanted to pummel into oblivion.

“We won’t, I give you my word,” said Gellar. “But we need to assess her. You know this.”

“Aye. You have her consent.” And that was the only one that mattered. Even if he did snatch her from her world without permission, he did that for her safety. But this, he would only do if she allowed.

Gellar stepped closer, his voice softening from that of a commander to that of a friend. “Are you going to be able to contain yourself?”

“I will not harm her,” Zarek said as an oath. But if his own brothers… “Find a way to end this Claiming, Bellus.”

Bellus pushed up his glasses to rub his tired eyes. “I’m trying. My wife thinks I live in the Hidden Hall of Histories.”

“Good.” Gellar then said to Zarek, “Sit. The meeting continues. Hunting schedules. Plans. We need every advantage.”

Zarek sat, but his awareness remained fixated on the door Angela had walked through, because for the first time in centuries, there was something in this war he might personally lose.

TWENTY-FIVE

The chamber wasn’t a dungeon, which Angela supposed was something to be grateful for. More than anything, it resembled a hotel room stripped of all soft furnishings, with no nondescript paintings on the wall to fill the space that everyone ignored. There was no thick carpet softening the floor, or even a television humming in the background, and for once she actually missed the overpriced minibar.

But it was still a cell.

The knock came just as Angela was busily inspecting her new room after Tamarr’s quick tour of places she struggled to remember. The Great Hall, Magic Hall, Training Hall, to meet the elderly housekeeper, then back down through windowless corridors to some tailor with thick glasses and string for measurements because walking around in jeans wasn’t a thing. It became more obvious when they made her stop before crossing into main walkways, to ensure no one else saw her. Then she’d been escorted to this wing by a series of back doors, where furniture was being shifted in the hallway as men were being moved out, so she could move in.

But it was the first time she’d been alone since arriving in this place, and had this strange need to find another fire poker, that she hesitated before opening the door.

First, she was surprised it wasn’t locked.

Secondly, it was Zarek holding a tray of food.