I doubted it. “You’ll be fine.”
She grumbled under her breath. I noticed her lower lip quaking as she breathed in. While I wasn’t concerned about her arcana, I was worried about her mental state. A panic attack would help no one, certainly not Cerri.
“We’re going to find your friend. Give me time to do what needs to be done, though.”
My beast hated how I spoke to Addie, but I remembered the way she’d held me with her command. I wouldn’t be her servant. Her power could turn me into her plaything. If I allowed myself to let my guard down, she would have me in the palm of her hand.
The beast wanted me to be kind to her. It wanted me to roll over for the woman. She had ahold of a part of me, already. I wouldn’t give her more, even if I wanted to be kind to her. I had to hold her at a distance.
“Adeline! Pull yourself together!” I yelled when I shouldn’t have. Lowering my voice, I gestured to the glass on the floor and asked, “Do you know what this could be?”
A wave of cold pooled around me. I could feel Addie’s arcana trying to dig its bony fingers into my flesh. My beast answered like the power wanted to scratch behind my ear and not lock a leash around my throat.
“Stop. It.”
Addie turned white eyes on me. Her jaw clenched tight. A cold fury enveloped her, turning her into an inhuman being. Her pale skin turned translucent for an instant. The visage of a skull flashed over her face.
Unafraid, I stalked up to her and gripped her chin in my hand. Her jaw was clenched tight, but when I pressed my lips to hers, it slackened in surprise. I meant to pull away, but something in me pressed harder.
Her lips parted, and I deepened the kiss. I pushed my tongue into her mouth and heard her groan in response. She grasped for the front of my sweater like she was clinging to life.
Finally, I jerked back. Our chests heaved. The tension in the room was gone. Addie’s shoulders slumped and color returned to her face. In fact, she blushed again. Realizing that she was holding onto me, she suddenly released her grip on the fabric and stared at her hands in disbelief.
“Good. I’m glad that’s over.”
I couldn’t fall for her. I refused to. The power imbalance between us was one thing, but I had other reasons for wanting to keep all potential partners at an arm’s distance.
Addie sucked in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then said, “The glass on the floor is probably from a potion bottle.”
I raised a brow in question. When I turned to Addie, her face was still a dark red. For a heartbeat, I allowed myself to wonder what was going on inside her head.