“Your one true love?”
I glared at her, teeth clenched.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, there’s only one way to find out, and standing here discussing the possibility is not it.”
I remained frozen, unable to move.
Melaina smirked. “Unless you’re too scared,” she taunted.
Oh, that did it.
“Dammit, fine,” I muttered. “But this is completely stupid. There’s no way…”
Before I could stop myself, I surged forward and knelt at his side, tapping his temple as fast as I could, ready to be done with the entire discussion.
And sparks flew from his mark, making me screech and stumble away.
“Mother of God!”
My stunned gaze lifted to my aunt. She gaped back with wide, incredulous eyes. “It worked,” she blurted, blinking rapidly, apparently as surprised as I was.
I shook my head. “No,” I whispered. “What just happened?”
Melaina was the first to recover. With a sudden snicker, she shook her head. “It appears you just landed yourself a partner for life, my dear.”
Chapter 7
Quilla
I skittered backward so fast I tripped and landed on my bottom. But that wasn’t even enough space. Needing to be farther away from the unconscious man who’d just changed everything with his stupid tattoo, I pushed up and was back on my bare feet a second later, backing away again until I bumped into a tree.
He didn’t follow. Yet I still scowled at him anyway, ready to fight if he did decide to stir.
Finally, I huffed out a breath, blew a lock of blond hair out of my face, and glared Melaina’s way. “I don’t want a damn partner.”
She shrugged, amused by my panic. “Doesn’t matter. Here he is. How marvelously incredible, huh? He’s a fine catch too, girl. You’re a lucky little shit.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
I turned away and slapped my hands over my mouth while I rested my shoulder against the tree’s trunk. Then I bent at the waist and spent a few seconds breathing through my nose in order to not pass out. Once I felt marginally better, I glanced back, caught sight of the High Clifter again, and spun away once more, back to being light-headed.
“Well, now we don’t have to worry about him wanting to kill you,” Melaina started conversationally, moving around and doing something behind him. “All the poor man really desires is to bed you.”
My stomach churned, even as my skin prickled with a fiery kind of excitement. Or dread. Maybe it was just dread. Yeah, probably just dread. I swallowed and breathed through the heatwave.
“This isn’t funny,” I snarled.
Something scuffled, like a dragging sound, like Melaina was dragging his body across the ground.
I lifted an eyebrow. What the hell was she doing back there?
“I don’t recall saying it was, though it really is, isn’t it?” She grunted out a strained breath. “Quite ironic, anyway. A High Clifter falling for a Graykey. Bet that’s never happened before.”
“He’ll always be able to find me,” I said, wondering if I should stop her. She had to be touching him again. And he kind of belonged to me now. Should I warn her away from my property? I had never liked it when Melaina pawed through my things.
Ugh. No. Even the idea of him being mine made my head swim all over again. That High Cliff scum—whoever he was—was not mine.
And yet a small part of me still burned to remove her from his presence, because seriously, how dare she touch my mate?
God, this was so weird. What was happening to me? If you didn’t have one of those damn High Cliff love marks, you weren’t supposed to feel the irresistible pull to your true love like a person who did have one. So why was I feeling anything at all for a stranger from an enemy land?
“No matter where I go,” I murmured aloud. “He’ll just find me again.”
“Yep,” Melaina agreed, panting and a little out of breath. I heard a scrape and shift of cloth. Dear God, was she removing his clothes? Touching intimate places?
“Unless you kill him,” she added.
Kill him?
My stomach dipped. Killing had seemed like the only viable option when I’d thought he wanted to kill me, but now that I knew otherwise—
Dear God, I honestly don’t think I could kill anyone in cold blood if it came right down to it. And all he’d done was smile at me, say hi, then given me really helpful fighting tips. He’d even praised the moves I’d done right. Not a very practical reason to end his life, I didn’t think.
I spun around to argue my point, though I had no argument really to make in support of letting him go free, only to jar to a halt when I found my aunt clamping metal cuffs around his wrists.
Releasing an exhausted breath, she straightened and dusted off her hands. “But I recommend tying him up and bringing him along.”
“You kept the handcuffs?” I blurted stupidly, shuddering as I remembered how we’d had to use the dreaded things to make it north to Pinsky from Kole in the first place.
But, of course, she’d kept them. This was Melaina we were talking about.
“I thought they might come in handy.” Still breathless from her exertions, she set her hands on her hips and glanced down at the man with a satisfied nod. “And they did. See.” Glancing up, she beamed. “Turns out, the jeweler liked dominant women. So I’ve gotten to use them twice in one day. Bonus, huh?”
I grimaced.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I cleaned the shackles before putting them on your true love.”
“He’s not my—” I started to rebel, only to realize I couldn’t. There was no denying the response of his mark to me. But I had to deny something, so I pointed at him and snarled, “That piece of High Cliff trash is nothing to me.”
Melaina only smiled. “You’re not going to argue the bringing-him-along part, though?” Lifting her eyebrows, she blew out a low, impressed whistle. “That’s surprising.”
“Because I was sure I was hearing things when you said that.” Spinning away, I began to gather my things and pack them for travel.
The village of Tyler wasn’t just going to come to us.
And besides, I felt the urgent need to flee just now.
“There’s no way in God’s name we’re bringing that man with us,” I said, clenching my teeth as I yanked with all my might to pull my second dagger from the trunk of another tree.
“Well, we can’t leave him here. You and I both know he’ll just follow you. And you’ve already decided not to kill him.”
When I frowned her way, she lifted a finger. “And don’t try to deny it. It’s written all over your face. You don’t want him dead.”
I snorted and turned away, jamming my things into the saddlebags.
“Think about it, dear heart. He’s like your own personal medical kit. Being your true love, he can fix any boo-boo you get with a single kiss. And he’ll protect you at any cost. He’d give up his life for yours.”
When I sniffed again and sent her a disbelieving glance, she grinned and shrugged.
“Plus, I’m sure he’ll willingly help you shed that pesky virginity of yours. It’s about time if you ask me.”