Page 37 of Pretty Little Shadow
The cycle continued for a week before I opened my door to grab a box of takeout food for breakfast—and came face-to-face with Callum Frost.
I tried to slam the door, but he caught it with a simple, stiff lift of his hand. I could've attacked him with my shadows, but considering his magic was of the torturous variety, I sure as fuck wasn't going to do anything that might set him off.
Glancing into the hallway, I looked for his mate.
She wasn't there.
"What do you want?" I asked, not beating around the bush.
"Can I come in?" He nodded lightly toward the hotel room, wincing just the tiniest bit with the movement.
"No."
He hit me with a burst of icy magic, surprising me for long enough that he managed to shove the door open further, and he strode inside.
I glanced down at myself after the door swung shut.
My headset rested with one of the ear pads placed only halfway on my ear so I could hear him.
My shorts were decent.
My bralette put my very pointy nipples on clear display.
Callum was mated, so he probably wouldn't care, but hewasbasically Dare's brother.Flashing him wasn't ideal.
"Just a second," I said, as he sat down on one of my couches.
I disappeared into my bedroom long enough to ditch my headset on the edge of the mattress and pull on one of the cropped t-shirts Darius had given me. Callum was waiting on the couch when I went back out.
There wasn't one cell in my body that wanted to have any sort of discussion with him. But I did understand that given the situation I was in, a conversation was probably unavoidable.
The fae royals had given me a week of relative peace. I could do with at least another month of it, but I'd known this was coming in some form.
I'd just assumed Darius would be the one forcing his way in.
Since it was Callum, I had no idea what to expect.
I leaned against the wall near the door. Though I could use my shadows to disappear if I needed to, I wanted to be close to the exit in case I couldn't. Callum wasn't exactly known across the city for his kindness or compassion.
"Darius doesn't know I'm here," Callum stated. "Neither does my mate, or the rest of my family."
My eyes narrowed.
"What do you know about mate bonds, and how our magic works?" he asked.
It felt like he was giving me a test.
I doubted I'd pass.
"Not much. Whatever Grayson decided to tell me when he explained why he was abducting Merrily. Your magic makes you suffer, but that's fixed when your fated mate is with you."
"Those are the basics. As far as our magic goes, the suffering is different for each of us. I feel constant physical pain when I'm not touching Kat. Darius feels numb when he's not touching you. Based on the few times he's described the way it affects him, I would choose my suffering over his. All of us would."
So the royals all thought Dare's struggle was worse than their own.
"Darius only survived as long as he has by chasing the highs in life. Fast cars and motorcycles. Sex. Good food. Excessive amounts of caffeine. Constant stimulation keeps him alive. He's made bargains with every willing person he's ever found, because of how bad it is for him. We did what we could to help, but it wasn’t enough.”
"What did you do?"
