Shadowspell

I rang the doorbell once again. This time when Ethan’s footsteps approached, his tread sounded heavy, like he was stomping instead of just walking. He flung open the door, and magic prickled against my skin. His face was twisted into a fierce scowl, an expression I’d never seen him wear before, and his hands were fisted at his sides. The sensation of magic intensified, and my mouth dropped open as I realized he was about to cast some kind of spell. I didn’t think it was going to be anything nice, either.

Ethan’s eyes locked on my face, and there was no doubt he saw me this time. The magic fizzled and died, and the scowl faded to a more neutral, guarded expression.

“Dana?” he asked, as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes.

Nerves made me shove my hands in my pockets and hunch my shoulders. “In the flesh.”

He blinked a couple of times, then glanced around the landing, taking in the fact that there were no bodyguards in sight.

“Idiot,” he said under his breath, then grabbed my arm in a grip hard enough to bruise and yanked me over the threshold, banging the door shut behind him.

I was too shocked by his behavior to manage a protest. I thought sure he was going to apologize for manhandling me like that, but instead he shoved me against the wall of the foyer and shook his finger in my face.

“Stay here!” he ordered, then stomped into the living room and yanked on the curtains, trying to close the tiny gap between them.

Kimber hadn’t been kidding when she said he wasn’t acting like himself. I ignored his order and followed him into the living room, resisting the urge to rub the soon-to-be bruises on my arm.

“Stop messing with the curtains,” I told him. “No one’s going to see me through that gap.”

He let go of the curtains with an irritated grunt. He turned to face me, but his eyes were focused just over my left shoulder, like he couldn’t bear to look at me. “What the hell are you doing here?” he growled.

This was definitely not the reception I’d been hoping for, and I felt every shred of my self-confidence draining out through my toes. I felt like some geeky little schoolgirl who had a pathetic crush on a guy way out of her league. I tried not to let that show on my face.

“You wouldn’t return my calls,” I said, then hated myself for sounding so needy. He’d been giving me a not-so-subtle hint when he’d refused to call me back. Why hadn’t I paid attention?

“Jesus, Dana! Half the world would like to see you dead, and you decide it’s a good time to go wandering the streets of Avalon all by yourself late at night? Do you have a death wish, or are you just mental?”

Every word he said was like a knife in my heart. He must have been playing me all along, I realized. No way could he be this horribly cruel to me if he’d ever really cared about me. I’d come here expecting him to be unhappy with me, though I’d assumed it would have something to do with the Erlking. I hadn’t for a moment expected him to be like this.

I could have defended myself and told him about the Erlking’s charm. I didn’t like letting him think I was stupid enough to ditch my bodyguard without any other form of protection. But explaining would have meant hanging around, and I didn’t have the stomach for it.

“If I’d known this was how you were going to be, I’d have let the Erlking keep you,” I said, and had the satisfaction of seeing Ethan wince. I didn’t mean it, of course. An immortal lifetime of slavery was a bit of a harsh punishment for being an asshole. But I’d been getting into a nasty habit of lashing out lately, and right now I didn’t have any inclination to break myself of it.

“Sorry I bothered you,” I continued, turning toward the door. “I’ll try to get back home without getting myself killed, but you know since I’m a crazy moron with a death wish, I can’t make any promises.”

I grabbed the doorknob, but before I had a chance to turn it, Ethan quickly crossed the distance between us and grabbed me. Once again, he shoved me up against the wall, only this time he stayed right there in my personal space, one hand planted on the wall on each side of my head. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something—from the look on his face, it wasn’t going to be anything I wanted to hear—but no words came out.

My heart was still aching from his less-than-welcoming reception, but even so, I couldn’t help noticing the faint, woodsy scent that clung to him. Nor could I help noticing the warmth of his body so close to mine, or the intense teal blue of his eyes. He leaned closer to me, and at first I thought he was about to kiss me, and my pulse started hammering for reasons other than anger.

But instead of kissing me, he merely touched his forehead to mine and closed his eyes. I didn’t quite know what to make of the gesture. I told myself I was relieved that I’d been wrong about his intentions, but my body wasn’t buying it. My skin felt tight and tingly, and my pulse kept rocketing. Without conscious thought, my hands somehow made their way up to Ethan’s waist, the touch tentative in case I was misinterpreting his signals.

He moved even closer to me, making it easier for my arms to slide all the way around him. He raised his head, and our gazes locked. There was a whole lot of desire in his expression, but there was something else, too. Something I didn’t understand, but that I instinctively didn’t like.

I was going to ask him what was wrong, but before I had a chance, he was bending his head toward mine again, his slightly parted lips telegraphing his intentions and leaving no doubts in my mind. No doubts, and no thoughts, period. I forgot why I’d come here in the first place, forgot all my mixed feelings about him, forgot how harshly he’d spoken to me.