I shivered as heat poured through my belly.
This man was so beautiful, and strong, and sexy. I wanted him to kiss me so badly, and yet, he wanted to put some sort of spell on me.
Whatever.
“Are you here for some nefarious purpose?” he asked, and before I laughed aloud at his use of a word that Bella would say was well above the average, I felt a cold hand slide into my brain.
“What the...?”
“Don’t fight it.” Tavlor commanded and I struggled to relax my mind.
My eyes squeezed tight around the weird, prickling pain at my temples as Tavlor’s spell poked around inside my thoughts.
He hadn’t said it would hurt!
“Why are you here?” he asked and I gasped as more pain exploded across my frontal lobe.
“Ow!” I reached up to rub between my eyes. Every instinct inside of me flared with heat. I wanted to fight him. I itched to fight him. Instead, I restrained myself.
But I needed to stay here for so many more reasons greater than this momentary inconvenience.
The pressure increased and I breathed how my mother had taught me, deep inhalations and slow exhalations.
As I did that, the pain began to recede.
I relaxed even more, sinking into his hands and opening my mind the way one would throw open the door to their home.
“Have you told the truth about your mother?” Tavlor asked.
This time a pleasant feeling washed over my body as a reel of images flashed in front of my mind.
Of my mother’s her face, her magic lessons in the back yard.
“Are you telling the truth about your father?” he asked.
This time the feeling hurt and I panted, trying hard not to fight Tavlor’s investigation.
I had nothing to hide, except what I already told him I couldn’t share.
The pain grew more intense, until I was swallowing a sob.
My head pounded, like a migraine but worse.
I bit my lip and grabbed onto his waist, afraid I was about to faint.
Then the pain was gone.
Completely.
Like it was never there.
“I’m done,” Tavlor said and I opened my eyes.
The room swam and my knees buckled beneath me.
Tavlor swore in a language I didn’t understand and swept me up into his arms.
I put my arms around his neck and clung on, not sure if I was going to vomit or pass out.