The Bitter Seed of Magic by Suzanne McLeod

Author:Suzanne McLeod [MCLEOD, SUZANNE]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780575089068
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2011-02-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

I came awake in an instant, fully aware of where I was: in my own bed, in my PJs, covered by a cool cotton sheet, and aware of who was with me: Malik. The moonlight filtering in through the window left the corners of the room in shadow, turned the wardrobe and chest to dark, silent sentinels and muted the white-painted walls to grey, the same greyness that clung like mist to my mind. As I pushed into the mist, so pieces of events came back to me: the vibration of a vehicle, the hot splash of a shower, and Malik’s constant caring presence.

I ran my hand over my stomach, tentatively investigating it – magic sparked as I brushed over Tavish’s handprint spell – and found my injury healed—

‘The metal is removed, Genevieve.’ Malik’s voice was soft; a brief push of mesma giving the words a soothing note.

‘Thank you,’ I said quietly, deeply grateful.

The soothing touch of his mesma and his presence in my head withdrew. I turned to look at him.

He lay on his side, his head propped on his hand, watching me out of his dark, exotic eyes. The moonlight glinted off the black stone in his left earlobe, played over the pale, gleaming skin of his shoulder and along the muscled contours of his arm, but left his bare chest in shadow. My gaze followed his arm down to where his hand rested on his leather-clad thigh— and stopped. Part of me – the part that was all instinct and lust and heat – was disappointed, even frustrated that he was still half-dressed. The rest of me was intrigued, albeit slightly wary.

I shifted onto my side, mirroring his position, and pasted an enquiring look on my face. ‘Should I expect to be seduced any moment now, or am I getting the wrong message?’

His eyes lit with amusement. ‘You still have a distinct lack of furniture, Genevieve. I see no reason to sit on the floor when you have a perfectly comfortable bed.’

Damn. I was getting the wrong message. ‘Ri-ight, so we’re just being practical here,’ I said drily.

‘Also,’ he smiled, giving me a glimpse of fang, ‘you appear to have a dryad tree growing in your living room.’

Sylvia! Oops, I’d completely forgotten about her. ‘Back in a min,’ I said, and jumped out of bed to check on her.

She was still asleep, still smiling blissfully, and her roots were still digging into my wooden floorboards, but the blood was gone. The buds on her fingers and scalp had grown into long, delicate branches covered with pink and white cherry blossom, and their subtle fragrance filled the room with the scent of springtime. As I stood there, she made a small sound, a sort of hiccoughing snore, and the flowers shivered. A mini-snowfall of petals drifted down to decorate her rooted feet.

Sylvia was fine – out of it, but fine.

I smiled, my anxiety gone. I didn’t care about the holes in my floor; she was far too pretty and she looked way too happy for them to matter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.