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There was a rushing sound in my ears and my eyelids felt oddly heavy. From the corner of my eye, I could see the tattoos along Derrick’s forearm as they lit, and my mouth went dry. Each swirling loop of tattoo was not merely one rune, but many packed together. Thousands of runes I began to recognize came to vibrant life as he accessed magic: truth, focus, coercion, trust.
A sick knot formed in my gut, and my mind flew back to that first day, standing outside the manor, Derrick touching me, asking me simple questions, and me wanting nothing more than to kiss him. He’d told me then, hadn’t he?
“It’s a charm,” he’d said.
My voice shook and I met those devastating, clear blue eyes. “This whole time?”
“Answer me, Nora. What are you?”
“A charm,” I whispered and there was a flicker in his eyes, recognition or regret, I couldn’t tell, and I didn’t care.
This entire time, he had been manipulating me, coercing me with those blasted tattoos. How many times had he used that charm to drag information out of me? Fury ignited, replacing the knot of unease and I tried to yank my wrist back. His grip slipped, but he tightened before I could dislodge him completely, his tattoos flaring.
The words slid out of my mouth, dredged up by the runes glowing green in his skin. “I’m a marital counselor…”
“An unmarried marital counselor?” The skepticism in his voice made my hackles rise. “Have you even been in a serious relationship in your life? How can you possibly help couples?”
“Derrick,” Cade said again, but we were both ignoring him now.
“I’m an empath! I can sense what they’re feeling. That’s enough to help most couples communicate.”
His grip on my wrist was near to bruising, and I thought of the werewolf side of him, the side that rampaged through the safehouse in bloody fury. Werewolves were not known for great self-control, and I imagined he was still coming down from all the adrenaline of the fight, but that didn’t matter, not really.
“Let me go, Derrick.”
“What sort of empath?” He demanded, not moving. “What were your parents?”
Cade grabbed Derrick’s shoulder, pulling him away with startling strength. “I said that’s enough, Derrick. It isn’t her fault.”
Derrick’s grip was torn away, and I felt the pressure of his magic release. “You said it yourself, Cade, something’s not right with her. Warlock traffickers wouldn’t go to all the trouble of directly attacking the CEB for one empath.”
“I agree,” Cade said, sounding far too reasonable. “But whatever is going on, Nora didn’t do it. And you know that as well as I do, you’re just suffering under the effects of the change. Give yourself an hour and we’ll circle back to this conversation.”
The two men glared at each other, some silent argument passing between them. Nearby, Sam shifted on his feet, looking like he wished to be anywhere else. I glanced at the older man, humiliation forcing a blush up my neck and into my face.
A charm. The whole time.
My mind flew to the kiss and I recoiled, feeling violated and exposed.
Was this the real Fairy? Bess and Martin had used me, that was clear now, and my mind still revolted from the idea that they’d killed my parents to do it, but a dark knowing had already seeded in me. And now a Constable was using magics on my unprotected mind to entice me into cooperation.
Nauseous, I struggled to my feet, waving off Cade’s attempt to help. The movement caught Derrick’s attention and he tried to step forward, one hand reaching out to me.
“Don’t touch me,” I said, retreating three steps. My eyes burned and I had to swallow something hard in my throat. “You don’t ever touch me again.”
Derrick dropped his hand, looking pained.
“And you don’t get to look at me like that, either.” I took a steadying breath, thinking of the kiss and how safe I’d felt with him. “This whole time, you were pretending.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said.
“No, you don’t get to try excusing it away. You don’t get to tell me how I don’t understand, because I understand perfectly. I know you were doing your job and I was…” My heart ached but I let the words fall, because holding them in would only hurt me and I was already hurting enough. “I was just a piece on the board you needed to move.”
I turned away, meaning to leave, but Cade’s voice brought me up short.
“Nora, it is dangerous.” He said, sounding so remorseful it was a physical blow.
I kept my back to them, tears burning my eyes.
