A Girl Named Calamity (Alyria 1)

I woke to bright sunlight in my eyes and a soft breeze against my skin. I tried to push the hair off my face, but couldn’t move my wrists. My eyes traveled down my body from the cloth tied around my wrists to my bound ankles.

I frowned. “What the hell?”

“I have no idea how you got out of that bathhouse, but I wasn’t taking any chances.”

I looked up into a pair of amused eyes. So, I had disappeared from the bathhouse? How? And why? I couldn’t find the seal, and yet it was undeniable that strange things seemed to have happened to me.

“You think this is funny?” I snapped.

He smiled. “Yea. I do.”

“Untie me, now.”

“Ask me nicely.”

I glared at him. I tried to wiggle my wrists out of the tie, but it was too tight. I couldn’t play this game for the rest of my life. Although I was more than relieved that he couldn’t make me open the seal, this was just another problem that wasn’t ideal.

“I can’t go anywhere without you, anyway! Did you not feel the stupid bond?”

He rubbed his jaw. “Oh, I felt it. But somehow, you got out of a bathhouse that I was standing right in front of. I can sense you a mile away and you just disappeared. I want to know how you did it.”

“You can’t always have what you want.”

“Trust me, I know that,” he said roughly. His eyes swept down my body, and my heartbeat picked up when I realized what he was saying. The temperature suddenly went up ten degrees. His gaze had my skin flushing and cooled some of my anger. Some.

“Please untie me,” I snapped.

He sat on his haunches and untied my wrists while I avoided looking at him. He was a conundrum, and I wasn’t going to spend time thinking about his motives. Because there was always something that drove him. And I would probably never understand what it was.

And I didn’t think I wanted to.

I rubbed my wrists and stood. Sand sunk in between my toes as I walked down to the beach. I didn’t know if Weston was watching, but I didn’t care, I stripped off my clothes and waded into the waves. I spent some time scrubbing up and then some time enjoying the water.

I was neck deep when I heard a deep voice. “Get out. We need to go.”

I spun around and saw Weston at the tree line of the beach. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I told him.

“Get. Out.”

I sighed. I was ready to get out. And I really loved to get under Weston’s skin. Put those two together and it worked just fine with me.

“Fine.”

I complied and began to walk out of the water, his narrowed eyes still on me. Water sluiced down my shoulders, and my skin tingled from his gaze. Before the water uncovered my breasts, he turned around and walked back to camp. I laughed. It was a little edgy considering I had no idea where I got the guts to do that. My actions surprised me more than they probably did him.

I walked back up the beach to camp, expecting an angry assassin, and I was correct. Although I hated the calm angry assassin; he made me nervous.

“Let’s go,” he said calmly, but too calmly.

I was only waiting for the storm to hit. But sometimes I liked the storm and wanted to open the window to let it in. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not! I’m going to Undaley. If you don’t want to feel the effects of the bond, then you better—” A hand over my mouth cut me off, and I muffled against it.

“Shut up,” Weston ordered, and his tone had me listening. I could feel my heart beating in my chest while my ears strained to hear something. I heard only the swish of the palm trees and the water lapping on the beach. I leaned against Weston with his hand still over my mouth.

“You are going to stay right here. And you aren’t going to move. Nod if you understand me.”