Free FoM02 Trammel by Anah Crow, Dianne Fox Page A

more minutes, Lindsay watched him sleep. He’d screwed up. What if Cyrus hadn’t been here? What if Noah really had been attacked? Lindsay was never going to let this happen again.
    He stroked Noah’s head and down the back of his neck one more time before standing. He’d told Noah he would check on Kristan, and he needed to let Dane know what he’d done.
    Downstairs, Lindsay didn’t see Dane, but he did find Kristan alone in her room, awake and aware.
    The door was partly open and she was curled up in bed. Her hair was cropped short, like someone had taken random handfuls of it and hacked it off with a pair of shears. The moment she realized it was Lindsay in the doorway, her expression went icy.
    “Noah asked me to check on you.” Lindsay was trying to feel some sympathy—he’d seen what Noah’s magic was capable of—but he knew how she’d made Noah feel, and that bled in each time he thought about how much pain she must’ve been in.
    “He’s insane, you know,” she said bluntly. There was still a splash of hot pink up her chest and throat, and her hands, where they clutched the blanket, were dark red as though she were scalded.
    “If I were the one who’d come that close to raping someone, I wouldn’t be so quick to judge his reaction.” Lindsay knew his opinion of Kristan was still colored by jealousy that she’d been with Dane first, but he didn’t like her magic or the way she used it, regardless. She was careless with it, using magic in the place of seduction, and now that he’d felt Noah’s response to it, the idea of that being turned on him made his skin crawl.
    “It’s never worked on anyone who didn’t want it,” she shot back. “Not if I didn’t want it to. Don’t accuse me of something I didn’t do. It’s not my problem he’s fucked up.”
    “His wife died not long ago,” Lindsay said. “Of course he’s fucked up.”
    “He didn’t say no,” Kristan said, looking stubborn. There was a flicker of doubt on her face though.
    “He’s a big boy, Lindsay. He could have said something. So could you. If you want all your toys to yourself, say so. I shouldn’t forget you’re an only child.”
    “No, he couldn’t. And you shouldn’t have gone to him without asking me first, or at least Vivian.
    There are rules.” Lindsay sighed. All the rules in the world wouldn’t help Noah at the moment, or Kristan.
    “Leave him alone. If he comes to you, that’s fine, but until then, leave him be.”

    “I don’t need anyone’s permission to talk to anyone,” Kristan said flatly. “I don’t hold to the same superstitions as some of you, and it’s not my problem if you can’t deal with it. I didn’t think you’d have gotten your claws into him this fast. But I should have known better. Maybe it’s you, not me. I won’t touch him again, don’t worry.”
    The more Kristan blamed Lindsay, the more he wanted to set her on fire himself. He resisted the urge, but damn it, couldn’t she see what she’d done? Lindsay could still feel the acid burn of Noah’s fear and rage in the back of his mind as he tried to rein in his response.
    “Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have talked to him. But going beyond that...” He shook his head. “Noah’s not like you. He’s broken, and he needs time to heal.”
    “I’m not stupid.” Kristan winced as she rearranged the blankets, pulling them up farther. “I knew he was...upset. But I didn’t hurt him. What I do doesn’t hurt people.” She hugged the blankets to herself.
    Lindsay swallowed back his anger and made himself really listen to what she was saying with her words and with her eyes. He could see her angry façade waver. Behind it, she looked fearful.
    “I’m sorry. I thought he’d feel better. You don’t have to believe me, but I did. I’m not stupid, okay? I didn’t know he’d blow up the house and nearly get us both kicked out of here.”
    The rules Lindsay instinctively followed were meant to prevent things