Braving the Elements (Darkness #2)(13)

“Sasha, you need to calm down. Whatever’s the matter, we can discuss it.” He sounded so calm. A human lunatic with a knife wanted to poke holes in his stupid body, and he addressed me as if I asked about a petition.

“Is her dagger white?” someone whispered. Another gasped.

“Is she Trek’s creation? Is he controlling her?” a lady trilled.

He had been in the middle of a meeting. I didn’t care.

I had the knife, the power, the anger, the angst…I just needed a way to begin the duel. Somehow olé didn’t seem appropriate. Maybe I should slap him with a white glove…

“Can we speak of this in private?” Stefan tried again.

“Why, so you can pat me on the head, put me in chains, and tell everyone what a great pet I am?”

“They’ve been calling her pet all week, Boss,” Charles mumbled from the door. “Should I remove her?”

“Try it, Charles. Try to remove his majesty’s pet. See what happens.”

Pain threatened to consume me, wobbling my lower lip. A single tear worked out of my eye. Not the time for vulnerability!

“This clan knows I do not take pets. I do not adhere to that practice.”

Stefan stood tall, that danged connection calling me. Begging me to step forward and merge my body with his. To find the peace I sought within his arms.

I took a step back, my heart dropping an inch. My chest filled with lead, covering over that connection. Hiding it.

Stefan took a step, a strange apprehension peeking through his controlled mask. “What did you just do?”

“I’ve thought about your earlier offer for room and board. Thank you, but I decline. I think I’ll take my chances on my own.”

The door slammed behind me. Charles stood in front of it with a grim face and sorrowful eyes. He shook his head. “I can’t let you run away, Sasha.

You remember what happened the last time.”

“We can’t let the enemy get hold of you.” Stefan’s voice grated. “They’re searching. You’ve nearly died by their hand twice. It’s me you have the problem with. Come with me now, we’ll speak about this.”

“So I’m a prisoner, is that it?”

“This is your home, now.”

“Living with a bunch of people who think I am a possession does not make this my home. Tell me, Stefan, how would you feel if your home consisted of a bunch of people who thought you were no better than someone’s dog? A dangerous dog, at that. A prized trophy, guarded constantly. They probably think I’m a sex slave, too. Can’t learn magic, human, no skills—I don’t belong here. I hear it all the time. I didn’t belong in my old life, either. Not with my old family, not with my old boyfriend—what does that make me, Stefan?” Pain welled up from down deep. “Unwanted.

How could this possibly be a home?” Will I ever have one? Will I ever fit?

Stefan stared at me grimly.

The lethal poise of the Boss’s body shook my confidence. Flouting his dominance in front of his subjects was definitely the stupidest thing I’d ever done, and I’d done some pretty eyebrow raising stuff. He wasn’t a guy I would fight and live long enough to gossip about. I needed to go, and I did not plan to let Charles the Double Crosser bar my way. Not ever again.

“Move, Charles, or I will move you.”

Pity overcame his expression. “This is best for you, Sasha. You have to see that.”

“This is the second time I ask. There will not be a third. Please move.”

“Sasha.” Stefan took another step toward me. His face held a command, stern and disapproving.

“Just beguile her,” someone said with exasperation. “Make her listen.

Your plaything is out of control, Boss, excuse me for saying. She—“

Way wrong term.

I turned with a now-black blade, my other hand outstretched, pointing at a man with a round face and double chin. Black smoke surrounded him, binding him to his chair. Magic taxed my body, prickling my skin with heat. I was close to the cusp. I pushed my palm through the air. His chair flew backward, knocking a lamp and globe out of the way before hitting, then putting a hole through, the wall behind him.

“If you do not stop this right now, I will be forced to stop you.” Stefan had his sword up. The tattoos on his arms glowed that burnished gold.

It felt as if something scrabbled through my chest. He searched for the link. He could use it to smother my magic. And he would. He could control all of this. He knew how to work the elements just so, how to build— whatever Master Bert had said—and hone…that other thing. He operated with calm and level-headed knowledge.

I operated by the seat of my pants. I’d been lucky so far. My butt tingle told me it was about to end.

A wildness crept into me, something primal and fierce. I moved like a rabid animal from a net. Pointing my sword at the door, I blasted a hole through the handle, turning my blade back to white; I didn’t have much stamina—magic required energy to use and sustain. Like a runner, you had to work at endurance. I hadn’t been at this for long.

Charles stood his ground with the grim faced courage he was known for throughout the clan. I darted at him, slapping my hand against his arm, and electrifying it as I did so. He flew sideways as if from an explosion.

A quick glance told me Stefan had started running, seeing that my escape attempt would work.