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Valen’s lips tilt, his gaze darkening. Fuck, all I can feel are those lips on my cock while he licked me and Tori that night in Nora’s spare bedroom. My hands tighten too hard, and I flinch when a zing of pain shoots through my fingers.

Valen’s eyes flick down to inspect my hands before meeting my gaze again. “I can assure you, I restrained myself. Fucking a near-corpse is not one of my many kinks. That can change, though, now that you’re less corpse-like.”

Heat radiates from an incriminating flush on my chest and neck. Damn it. His smile grows.

I clear my throat and lift up on my elbows to ease into a sitting position. Pain lances down my chest, paralyzing me with its intensity. Red flashes before my vision and my back hits the plush mattress. Valen’s chair screeches and it kicks back with the force of him standing.

I snap out my hand to stop him when he reaches towards me. My voice strains as I snarl, “Do not touch me.” Valen freezes, those artist’s hands remaining outstretched towards me. I pant and try again in a calmer tone. “I’m fine. I can… do this…”

Through sheer force of will, I sit back up. My stomach clenches rhythmically and cold sweat drenches me. Valen’s hands curl into fists before they relax and he flicks his fingers. The pillows rearrange themselves into a nice slope for me to ease back against, and the glass of blue liquid hovers under my nose.

“Swallow all of it,” he commands.

I cover my queasiness with a smirk. “Not the first time.” I chug the whole thing, and my stomach instantly settles. The pain sizzles away, all except the scar over my chest. That still throbs. I frown down at it. What did Alasdair do to me?

Valen’s eyes sparkle. “Don’t tempt me. I did enjoy⁠—”

“Stop.” I’m not sure if I’m talking to myself, Valen, or both of us. My teeth grind and my eyes squeeze shut. All confident bravado strips from me as my insides roil. Playing with Valen is too damn tempting. Feeling his barbed, sensual words sink into me is a special kind of pleasure that I find myself craving. But a pain in my heart stops me. “Your letter told me everything I need to know, Valen. No need to keep doing this.”

Valen’s eyes shift and his throat works. I look away as well. I’d told him that I didn’t want to be used, and that’s exactly what he did. He selfishly sucked and kissed and toyed with my body in ways I haven’t permitted in years just so he could satisfy his lust. He gave no thought about how I would feel after.

Hate me if it will make it easier.

Gladly. I will hate him. I’ll play nice because he didn’t have to patch me up, but he did. I’ll give him that. But he tried to take Tori with him and abandon me with nothing. Now he’s flirting with me? My teeth grit and my hand tightens on the empty glass. Fuck him.

Great. Ten minutes in and I’ve already lost sight of trying to get Valen’s help. I sigh and rub my eyes. Tor. How am I going to save you?

Valen rights his fallen chair, and it creaks when he retakes his seat. “Would you like to talk about it…?”

I growl through clenched teeth, “No.”

“Fair enough. Then let’s discuss the most pressing matter.” His gaze darkens, magic sparking in his irises. “Who did this to you?”

My heart pulses and teeth click together as I grind. How dare he say that like he cares. I want to snap at him, scream and yell and fight with him. I want to shove him against the wall and storm out of this house. But I can’t do any of that. I barely can sit up. And I can’t fight Alasdair alone.

For Tori, I can master this pain.

My throat works, and I release all the tightness in my body with a harsh sigh. I begin my story with discovering the grimoires going wild. It seems the most relevant.

Valen is deathly pale by the time I finish. Exhaustion weighs me down into the pillows, and I let the soft goose down swallow my raw, bruised flesh. He doesn’t speak for a long time, and I’m fine with that. The ringing silence is a comfort to my swirling thoughts. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. I just need a moment to breathe, but I don’t get that luxury. While I lie in silk sheets, Tori is trapped. The memory of the black mist and wet clicking from Alasdair while Tori screamed in his prison tightens my throat, and I struggle to swallow around it. Can Jinx really keep her safe?

Valen finally breaks the silence. “I thought…” He clears his throat and shifts in his chair. “I thought Tori had sent you through to me while she finished with whatever new trouble you two got into. I never thought… I never expected…”

He trails off, and I gaze unblinkingly at the bed’s canopy. I follow the embroidered constellations I recognize. My voice rasps, “Yeah, I know.”

Valen rubs his forehead. “Alasdair was always a capable weaver. His Transformation line is quite skilled at warping metals and stones, but to keep her alive while imprisoned would be debilitating.”

“He’s something else now. He’s not a weaver anymore.”

“I fear you’re right. Tori fed her curse for too long and gave it too much. It has taken over Alasdair’s body.” His hand slides down his face to cup his chin, his finger tapping his lips as his eyes narrow. “I wonder what Atticus thinks of this new son of his and if he has noticed something else living within the body.”

“Yeah, that’s got me thinking. What do the weavers think happened to Alasdair?”

“He’s alive. Atticus used the news to create a standstill in the civil war.”

“What I don’t get is how he got out of that collar. That shit looked welded on.”

“It was. My father was the one who helped Atticus solder it together. A tether to keep him from crawling all the way to the bookshop.”