Velvet Haven

she had said, especially when she now believed she was wrong. She touched his face, and he closed his eyes.
    “Why do you make this so much harder?” he asked through gritted teeth.
    “I don’t mean to.”
    “Then leave,” he growled, turning his back on her.
    “I tried that earlier but Rhys was blocking the door. He said it was on your order.”
    His shoulders stiffened. “For your protection.”
    “Or is it to keep me with you?”
    “I want nothing from you.”
    “Then why do you keep me and Rowan here?”
    “Because I made a bargain with Suriel. He was looking for a book that belongs in Annwyn. I knew you had it, and knew you could decipher the clues behind the story. So that is why I keep you here, because we need your knowledge.”
    His words were intended to hurt her. To push her away. And they did hurt, but Mairi was done running. She wasn’t going to let him win this easily. “What you’re doing is denial.”
    He glared at her. “No. It is not. It’s self-preservation.”
    “This morning you wanted me. I believe you would have done anything to have me.”
    “That has changed.”
    “Has it?”
    His stance told her he was struggling with his facade, but he held to it, stubborn to the very end. “Everything has changed. My world has been thrust into turmoil. Your world . . . it is the same here. Dark times are coming, and we are caught up in it. Me, you, your friend. We’re to play a part in it all. What has happened, it’s merely the beginning.”
    “Rhys told me about the body you found in the alley. He says that more like it have been discovered in Annwyn, and then there was Lauren. This . . . killer is who you search for.”
    He nodded. “Until I discover his identity and what he wants, you cannot leave here.”
    “And that is honestly the only reason you’re keeping me here?”
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t believe you. I think what you said this morning is closer to the truth.”
    “I was manipulating you. I needed energy to feed my curse.”
    “What is it that has suddenly made you turn from me? What is it you fear?”
    “Let it go,” he demanded.
    “Why, because you’re too much of a coward to admit what you feel? Are you afraid of me? A mere mortal?”
    “What am I afraid of?” he stormed, capturing her shoulders in his big hands. He brought her body up hard to his, forcing her to tilt her head back to look at him. “I’m afraid of loving you and never having you. I’m afraid that you’re going to be Suriel’s lover and I’ll have to sit on the periphery and watch.”
    “Suriel?” she cried. “He is not . . . that is . . . that’s insane.”
    “He wants you.”
    “Not in that way! Oh, don’t,” she gasped, cupping his face in her hands. “Don’t keep your hands off me because you think I’m with Suriel. Please, Bran, it isn’t at all what you think. It’s you I want.”
    “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
    “I know what I want.”
    “No, you don’t. Fuck ,” he ground out. “Can’t you understand that this cannot go any further?”
    “Why did you go to Suriel, then, and ask him to save me?”
    “Because Annwyn needs that book and I knew you had it.
    Just like I need your friend Rowan and her visions. I saved you because, simply put, you’re useful to me.”
    Mairi felt her lips tremble, his words sinking home. “You said this morning that you didn’t intend to use me.”
    “I lied.”

    In a quiet corner, Mairi sat with Suriel and pored over the book. In a notebook she wrote down phrases, trying to decode the hidden meanings and messages. She wondered if she shouldn’t invite Rowan down to help her.
    “You are not yourself tonight,” Suriel said, as he watched her break yet another pencil tip against the paper. She threw the pencil down and reached for another one.
    “Mairi,” he said gently, “what is going on in that mind of yours?”
    “I’m trying to get this damn book deciphered so I can get the hell out of here.”
    He put his hand over hers. “The raven will never allow you to leave.”
    She snorted. “Yeah, right. He can’t wait for me to be done with this.”
    Squeezing her hand, Suriel forced her gaze to his. “He burns with jealousy because he covets the bond we have.”
    “Ours is spiritual. I told him that. But the stubborn ass has it in his head that we’re together, in the sexual sense,” she clarified.
    “Only because he fears the bond we have is stronger than yours with him. What he doesn’t