Bait N' Witch (Brimstone Inc. #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,44

out of her almost as quickly as it had come, she breathed through it. Finally, she glanced up at Grey who had dropped to crouch beside her, though he hadn’t touched her. Scowling, jaw like stone, and a hard light in his dark eyes.

“You’re going to kill me,” she whispered.

A cry rose up inside her that she swallowed down even as her heart shattered.

How could she have been such a fool? She’d let herself be lulled into a false sense of relationship with Greyson Masters and his daughters. But he didn’t know the truth about her. When he did…

Grey reached out as if to draw her back. “Why would you say that? I could never kill you.”

Rowan shook her head, her curls flying around her face. Randomly, she wondered when her appearance had been returned to normal. And by whom? Grey probably.

Focus! “They are the fates who predict death.”

Still cradling her arm against her, she struggled to her feet, only to have Grey grab her arm. He pulled her deeper into the woods just as the girls drifted by. Their lovely faces still reflected the trance they entered to make their predictions.

She tried to tug out of his hold, but Grey wrapped his fingers around both arms now. “Look at me.” He gave her a tiny shake.

Rowan glared up at him. “There’s nothing you can say.”

“They don’t predict death. They aren’t the fates.”

She stopped herself mid-argument, mouth wide open. Wait. What? She narrowed her eyes, suspicion warring with ridiculous hope inside her. “What do they predict?”

He shrugged broad shoulders, almost a twitch. “Nothing. While you were out, we had Delilah’s people examine them. They aren’t fates.”

“Then what are they?”

Now he hesitated.

“Spit it out, Grey.” Please, nothing bad. For the girls’ sake. For his.

He quirked his lips. “Did you know you’re the only woman who talks to me like that? Most fall all over themselves to agree with me.”

Rowan sniffed. “Your point?”

He grinned. “You’re not very good for my ego.”

“Maybe your ego needs taking down a peg.”

Instead of answering, he shocked her by reaching for her wrist, which had at least dropped in pain levels, tingling now more than burning. “What happened to your arm?”

“Nothing.” She tried to yank out of his grasp, but he held on. She knew the second he saw the lines—which were even more visible now, though they didn’t make up an identifiable pattern—because he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Did you do this?”

She gritted her teeth against the accusation in his voice, in his shadowed eyes. “No.”

“What happened, Rowan?” Something in his voice compelled her to answer.

“Some kind of magic gone horribly wrong.” That, at least, wasn’t a lie. She just didn’t know what magic.

“Is it a burn?”

She tossed her hair back. Why not be honest. “That’s what it feels like. The marks showed up when I arrived here.”

There. You figure it out.

Grey’s eyes widened. “Does it hurt now?”

Rowan shifted on her feet. Hurt? No. But with his continued touch, the tingling was gathering, fizzing through her blood and collecting heat at the juncture of her thighs. If he held on much longer, she might throw herself at him or orgasm on the spot. She wasn’t about to share that tidbit of info. “Only when the lines brighten. They started out much fainter.”

She gently tugged out of his grasp, sucking in a silent gulp of air as he allowed her to step back, and the sensations buffeting her body dissipated. “You still haven’t answered my question. What are the girls, Grey?”

He stared at her for a long moment, gaze strangely intent. “We don’t know yet.”

That didn’t make her feel any better. Especially given what they’d just been saying. She took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes. “I would never hurt them. Ever.”

“I know.” Not even a smidge of hesitation. Grey tugged her in the direction of the house. “Come on.”

Inside the house, he left her in the kitchen with a “don’t leave” as he ran upstairs to check the girls. She stood, arms dangling at her sides, gaze focused on nothing in particular as thoughts chased themselves through her mind like hounds after a fox.

“They’re fine,” he said as he reentered the kitchen. The soft whisper still made her jump.

He sent her a smile she supposed was meant to soothe, but after tonight, and the warnings, and the way her heart was reaching for Grey and his family, it didn’t help. If anything, the way he was trying to help only made this