“True enough, but this is a great opportunity for me to learn more about southeast Asian metallurgy.” Hadrian turned and walked away from her, as if she were no more dangerous than a mouse.
Where was the knife? She couldn’t see it anywhere.
“You can’t just take it!” she protested.
“Well, I’m not going to give it to you so you can kill me with it.”
That wasn’t an unreasonable argument. “But it’s mine.”
“And now it’s mine. The djinn probably thought it was his, too.”
Rania could have growled with frustration. She glared at him, but Hadrian just smiled again. “I like when your eyes flash like that. You look like you could take me out with your bare hands.”
“I’m tempted.”
“Go ahead and try,” he said, his voice low and his gaze hard. They stared at each other for a potent moment, then his gaze slid over her as surely as a touch.
“How about it?” he murmured.
She knew he was referring to his offer. “Why would you give me the bichuwa just for satisfying the firestorm? That makes no sense.”
“Because everyone deserves a last wish,” he said. “Because a son is the greatest legacy a Pyr can leave.”
“But you don’t know that I’ll be a good mother. You don’t know that I’ll raise your son the way you want.” She flung out a hand. “You don’t know anything about me!”
“Wrong,” Hadrian said with conviction. “I know what’s important. You’re my destined mate.”
“There’s no such thing as destiny,” she insisted. “And no such thing as romance. It’s my task to kill you, no more and no less. That’s the one thing you know about me and it’s hardly the reason you should choose me to have your son.”
He shook his head with conviction. “No. The firestorm chose you, and the firestorm is never wrong.” He approached her and that white glow brightened. “I know that you’ve been trapped by the Dark Queen and that you’re determined to free your brothers. That kind of commitment to the team and to family is something I live and breathe. I know we have that in common.”
“But...” Rania took a step back, feeling the firestorm turn her thoughts in a predictable direction as Hadrian moved steadily closer. He didn’t slow down or stop but kept taking one step after another, closing the distance between them. His eyes were very green and filled with intensity.
“I know that you think Maeve is going to keep her end of the bargain, which shows that you have a sense of honor. It’s unthinkable to you that someone could break their promise, just as it once was to me.”
“What changed?” Rania found her back against the wall.
“The Dark Queen lied.” He stopped right in front of her. “She taught me distrust, just as she’s going to teach you distrust.”
“No. That’s not going to happen.”
His confidence was unshakable. “Yes, it is.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Rania’s protest sounded desperate even to herself.
“Yes, I do.”
“But you’re still willing to let me kill you, in exchange for conceiving your son?”
“In exchange for a lot of pleasure, too. Don’t forget that.”
“You can’t know that I’ll take care of that son.”
“But I do.” His gaze locked with hers. “I know Maeve is going to do something unfair, something to cheat you of your due. You’ll learn the truth about her, and eventually, you’ll triumph over her and get the freedom you deserve. It’ll be too late for me to help you or to celebrate with you, but that lesson will ensure that you take care of my son. You’ll want to give him a legacy, because I warned you. You’ll feel an obligation to me.”
It sounded all too plausible. “You don’t know that...”
“I do, because I would feel the same way. I think we’re a lot the same.” He reached for her and touched a fingertip to her cheek. “I think you’re going to defend our son with every bit as much valor as you’ve used to fight for your brothers.”
The raw admiration in his gaze made it impossible for Rania to look away from him.
But he was manipulating her!
She spun away from him, still looking for her knife. “You’re making all of this up,” she complained. “I trust Maeve! I know she’ll stand by her terms.”
“Why?” Hadrian asked, his voice hard. His hands closed over Rania’s shoulders and she found herself leaning back against his strength as the firestorm crackled and burned, stealing her breath away. “What’s in it for her?”
“Keeping her word. Justice.”
Hadrian’s lips were on the back of her neck and she felt his breath when he laughed. “Justice. That’s rich. You’re a shifter. You’re on her list of species to be eliminated, just like I am.”
Rania spun to face him. “That’s why I have to finish the deal. She’s going to give me a reprieve.”
His eyes narrowed as he watched her, his confusion clear. “How so?”
“She’s going to make me Fae. My brothers will be mortal men again and I’ll be Fae. It’s win-win.”
“Not for me.”
Rania forced herself to shrug. “Oh well.”
Hadrian’s hand moved quickly and he hooked a finger beneath the chain that hung around her neck. In a flash, he held the ring in his hand, his gaze boring into hers. “Does it always glow this brightly? I’ve heard of gems looking like they’re lit with inner fire, but this one really does.”
“No, it doesn’t,” she admitted reluctantly.
His gaze was mischievous. “Maybe it’s as affected by the firestorm as both of us.”
“No.” She tried to tug it out of his hand but failed. She didn’t want to break the chain so she gave it up.
“Who was he? Who is he? Are you still in love with him?”
“I don’t owe you that story...”
“What kind of stone is it?”
Rania bit her tongue and kept silent.
That didn’t silence Hadrian, but then, she hadn’t expected otherwise. “And here I thought you were turning me down because of this guy, whoever he was. I thought you were holding out for love and romance.”
“I’m turning you down because I don’t want to have your son,” Rania said, her voice rising slightly. “I’m turning you down because I don’t believe in destined mates, and maybe you don’t either. Maybe you’re just trying to buy some time.”
“Maybe I just think the firestorm shouldn’t be denied,” he countered, then leaned toward her, obviously intending to steal a kiss. Rania’s thoughts were too jangled and her resolve too compromised to let that happen.
She wished to be home.
Four
Gone again.
And he’d been cheated of a kiss again.
Hadrian’s mate had to be the most annoying woman he’d ever met—but she was also the most intriguing. He didn’t know what to expect from her and that snared his attention completely.