Free Crimson Wind by Diana Pharaoh Francis Page B

was a boy toy. She had dismissed him without a thought, and it churned in his gut. But he would be damned if he let her see the effect she had on him. At least, not until he had her alone on the road. Then they would settle things.
    “When you’re done chatting with Giselle, I want to see you.”
    “Do you?” he asked, and walked away. He was not bound to Horngate, and she had no right to command him. He would see her when he got around to it.
    GISELLE HAD NOT GONE FAR. SHE WALKED BY HERSELF, although she was wobbly. Xaphan paced behind and to the side. He turned as Alexander approached, his wings flaring protectively in front of Giselle. He said nothing.
    “I want to talk to her,” Alexander said.
    “Let him through,” Giselle said.
    Xaphan hesitated, then lowered his wings and stepped aside. “Your funeral,” he told her.
    “Alexander isn’t going to hurt me, are you?” she asked. She motioned him to accompany her inside a small sitting room. A dusty assembly of chairs, couches, tables, and shelves was stacked against one wall. Wide cracks zigzagged across the walls and ceiling. The room was still waiting for repair.
    He glanced over his shoulder. “I would rather we were not heard,” he said.
    Her brows rose, but she scraped a wide circle in dust on the floor with her foot and stepped inside. He followed suit. She bent and drew a sigil, and power flickered around them.
    “No one will hear,” she said, crossing her arms as she watched him. “What do you want?”
    He rubbed a hand over his mouth. This was absolutely a bad idea. Still, he did not have a better one. “Magpie came to see me.”
    Giselle stiffened, her eyes hardening. “What did she say?”
    “She said I would get my heart’s desire. And that I would be Prime.”
    The witch did not say anything for a long moment. Instead, she paced slowly inside the circle, her brow furrowed. She looked at Alexander. “I don’t want you to be Prime. Not here.”
    “Neither do I.”
    Her brows rose. “I wish I could believe that. You could be useful here.” She frowned again. “But you knew I wouldn’t. You knew telling me would make me want you dead, just to be sure. What’s your game?”
    “I want a place here. That is my heart’s desire. So I am going to go with Max to California, and I will keep her alive and bring her back. When I do, it should prove I can be trusted. So I will want you to bind me.”
    “Or what?”
    He shrugged. “I will think of something.”
    Like threaten Max. He could see her racing to the conclusion. He did not bother to contradict her; she would not believe him.
    “So this is blackmail? I’ll have Xaphan burn you to a crisp the moment you walk into the hall.”
    “It will not work. Magpie’s prophecies always come true,” Alexander countered. “She told me so. Therefore, I must become Prime.” The words were like hot lead on his tongue. He must become Prime. But he could put it off for a hundred years—a thousand. Shadowblades did not die naturally—they had to be killed. All he had to do was keep Max alive.
    “She runs after trouble like starving sharks after blood,” Giselle pointed out.
    “Yes. No doubt that will make the trip more interesting for me. But I will keep her alive.”
    She cocked her head at him. “I’m curious about one thing. Why haven’t you voluntarily bound yourself to Horngate as Thor and the angels did?”
    “What would be the point? Unless you want me, any oath I make is meaningless, not to mention stupid. I would be chained here, unable to leave.”
    “It could be taken as a sign that you want to be here.”
    He bared his teeth in a snarl. “I nearly killed myself defending this covenstead from Selange and from the angels. Surely that tells you that I want to be here.” The words were hot and hard.
    “Or it tells me you are very clever. Selange could be trying to plant you inside my covenstead to spy.”
    He snorted. “You really believe that? She cut my bindings and kicked