A Girl Named Calamity (Alyria 1)

Weston laughed. “Your mind tricks could use some improvement.”

The old man must have been a Mage. His face turned bright red in anger. “Maybe so, but my other skills are . . . proficient. You will not do what you are supposed to, and that is why I will be back for the girl.”

I sucked in a breath as the Mage disappeared into thin air.

Did he mean that Weston wouldn’t make me open the seal? A small bit of elation filled me until Weston’s arm tightened around me and I wheezed.

“Do not listen to the ramblings of an old Mage,” he scolded before he dragged me back into the camp.

* * *

I stared at the crystal around my neck while I lay in front of the fire. It wasn’t glowing, and I wondered why it didn’t consider Weston a danger. Maybe it couldn’t sense him at all like I couldn’t sense his hum. Or maybe it was because he didn’t physically abuse me.

It wasn’t like he made me feel all that welcome, though, either.

“I want to know what happened to you while you were gone,” Weston said.

“Yea, well, too bad. I don’t want to tell you,” I retorted.

“Tell me.”

Sonofabitch.

My whole story came spewing out of my mouth. I told Weston everything that happened, not holding anything back. He took it all in, and looked irritated when I explained about Sahara and how she bit me.

“You don’t let anyone take your blood,” he scolded.

“She wouldn’t have wanted it if I wasn’t a virgin. So I’ll be losing that as soon as possible.” I said it with a little truth, and also because I wanted to hear what he would say.

“You won’t be losing anything.”

For some reason, he believed he could control every aspect of my life, and it made me want to scream in frustration. Instead, I just closed my eyes and imagined Maxim on top of me, kissing me, peeling off my dress.

“Fucking hell, Calamity. Stop,” Weston growled.

“I can have sex with whomever I want.”

His eyes narrowed. “No, you can’t. As soon as the seal is open, you can do whatever you want. Until then, a virgin you will be.”

I scowled. “Why do you think you can control my life?”

“Why do you constantly try to piss me off?”

“’Cause I like to,” I mumbled as I rolled over, trying to get comfortable. The toll of my day had overwhelmed me, and I fell asleep seconds later.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

BRIDGES AND BITES

“Get up. We need to go.” Weston’s voice was too loud, and I groaned and rolled over.

“It isn’t even light out,” I grumbled.

“Get up.”

“No.”

My pallet was pulled out from under me, and I rolled onto the ground. A stick poked into my side. “Hey!”