Threads of Desire (Spellcraft) - By Stone, Eleri Page 0,42

make certain of that.”

* * *

Kal accompanied her to the University. There’d been no gainsaying him. They waited in the anteroom outside of Lanel’s library after Diani had rebuked them for not scheduling an appointment. Diani had taken Ily’s place as Lanel’s liasin and seemed to revel in what little power that gave her. Ily wished her much pleasure of it. She’d found none.

Kal, who seemed completely at ease, watched the small, brightly colored fish swim up behind the wall. When he caught her staring, he smiled. “How do they feed them?”

“Truthfully? I’ve no idea. It was never one of my responsibilities.” She tipped her head to one side. “Did I gawk when I came to your home?”

“Not so I noticed. But then my attention was...fractured. I’d decided to approach you with my offer of partnership, hoping that I could gain your trust when you offered me your body instead. You do know how to discomfit a man.”

“And yet you walked away from me. Twice.”

“I ran. You don’t trap a street cat, you coax her to you.”

She arched her brows. “Street cat?”

“Hmm. Exactly like a cat—proud, wise, impossible to tame. With sharp claws and sharper teeth.”

She reined in her smile. “You like when I bite.”

“I do.” His gaze was warm as sunlight, chasing away the shadows. “It’s how I knew I had to have you, beloved.”

The heated look he gave her tempted her to crawl into his lap. He was working hard to distract her. Perhaps she should let him succeed. Surely they could pass the time better than staring at fish. But while she was still pondering how long Lanel would make them wait, the door swung open and Diani gestured them inside. Kal rose first and reached for her hand. Perhaps he saw something in her expression, perhaps he was as attuned to her as she was to him and simply sensed the dart of fear that struck her when she saw that open door.

Pulling her to her feet, he bent his head and whispered, “Steady. This will go as we planned it.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Then we make a new plan. We do this together, Ily. I won’t let him hurt you.”

But it wasn’t the prospect of new injury that had her trembling as she crossed the threshold. It was the memory of old wounds—and what could Kal do against those?

This room, brightly lit but well sealed from the salt air, had always seemed cold to her. The walls were whitewashed. The wooden furniture bleached. The colors of the fabrics in the rug, upholstery and tapestry deliberately muted. She’d always hated this room and Lanel knew that. He knew so much about her, some of which she’d never confessed to anyone save Kal. She’d had to tell him the details of her plan to blackmail the guildmaster, which meant explaining how she’d come to know such sensitive information.

She glanced uncertainly at Kal and his smile widened. No fear in that smile. Nothing but encouragement. She would have thought he regarded all of this as a grand adventure, if she hadn’t been aware of how carefully he watched her. He was here for her, guarding her like a dragon, ready to breathe fire on her enemies if any dared raise a hand against her. Against them. But for now he stood tamely at her side, content to let her take the lead.

His smile, the proud and mocking tilt to his mouth that had once so annoyed her, gave her the courage to lift her face and meet Lanel’s gaze. He was seated behind his desk in a straight-backed chair, wearing the robes of his office as if this was a formal reception. It was strange how little the guildmaster seemed to have changed since she’d left. His hair was perhaps a little grayer but his eyes were still sharp and his smile was just as deceptively benevolent as she remembered. Fixing his gaze on her with a disturbing intensity, he ignored Kal completely. Sheer perversity made her slide her hand around Kal’s arm so that Lanel was forced to address them both when he invited them to sit.

Now that the moment had come, she doubted her resolution to face him. Her confidence, hard-won over many years of struggle, at this last moment threatened to desert her. A fine tremor ran down all of her limbs and her feet felt as if they’d rooted to the rug—one she’d created. It took Kal nudging her