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“No?” She laughed once, sharp and humorless. “Then what do you call it? Every time I mention magic, you shut the conversation down before I’ve even finished speaking.”
“I’ve seen what it does.”
“And I’ve seen what it can fix!”
The words echoed off the stone walls.
Ria took a steadying breath, trying to rein in her temper. “Korinnae deserves every chance we can give her. If my theory is wrong, I’ll admit it. If I find another way, I’ll take it. But you can’t keep saying no simply because the answer involves magic.”
“I said no.”
The finality in those words snapped the last thread of her patience.
“You are the most infuriating bull I have ever met.”
His brow lifted.
“And that is saying something.”
She brushed past him with an exasperated huff.
“Where are ye goin’?”
“To compare my notes with Liora’s case,” she shot back over her shoulder. “Since apparently gathering more evidence is less offensive than actually treating your niece.”
She stepped around him, and one moment she was striding down the corridor, and the next, every light winked out. The stone floor vanished beneath her feet, leaving nothing to catch her as she plunged into absolute, consuming darkness. There was no pain, no warning, only a void that swallowed the world whole.
The last thing Ria registered was the distant sound of Asterion calling her name before everything dissolved into black.
Chapter 3
Asterion
“Ria!”
The sound of her name from his lips was both alien and not at the same time. But this thought came to Asterion at a much later time, because he didn’t even have time to think, only act. He moved before his brain caught up, pure instinct, just like in any fight. He reached the witch before her body hit the floor.
The first thing he registered was that she barely weighed anything. The second was that his hand had gone under her to catch her and landed against bare skin where her shirt had ridden up, and now his palm was pressed flat against the curve of her waist, where he could feel the heat of her. Shifting his hand, he moved it over the fabric so he no longer touched her bare skin.
The sound of footsteps from behind caught his attention. He angled his head and caught Liora rounding the corner at the far end of the corridor, her face already tight with alarm. Maldenis slithered behind her.
“Ria!” Liora was at his side. “What happened?”
Liora touched her face. “Can you hear me?”
The witch stirred against him and mumbled, “I’m fine.”
Asterion begged to differ. The witch’s face was the color of parchment and she could barely keep her head up. “Where’s her room?”
“I said I’m—”
“Down the hall, last door to the left,” Liora interrupted.
He bounded down the corridor before the witch could protest, his great strides and quick steps making short work of the distance. Thankfully Brontaios’s mansion had wide halls built for minotaur frames, at least, so he didn’t have to worry about knocking her head against the wall or doorway.
He set her down on the bed in the guest room, then stepped back, putting distance between himself and Ri—the witch. A reflex, that’s all it had been. She’d saved Korinnae, and his body had responded to the emergency. That was all.
Maldenis and Liora came in behind him. Liora sat on the edge of the bed while Maldenis leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, his expression inscrutable.
