Southern Secrets: Book 2 in Southern Charms Series

Chapter Thirty-One: Temper

Rose

I twisted my wrists, stretching the ropes binding them but not enough to free my hands. At my side, Ash slumped over, his eyes hidden by damp, dark hair. After the warrior woman's declaration of death, they provided us with the mercy of being knocked unconscious. Through magic and not a blow to the head, though I was certain the leader would have preferred violence. At least against Ash.

When I returned to consciousness, I was warm beneath piles of furs inside of a tent. I might have even said I was cozy if not for being trussed up like a pig. The tent's frame was formed by thick flowering vines. The blossoms glowed, either through bioluminescence or magic, and they were bright enough to wash the tent with warm light.

It had taken me a moment to register Ash's absence, but by the time I shot upright, the flap on the front of the tent moved to the side, and he was roughly shoved inside. A bruise covered his left cheekbone, and a deep cut split the eyebrow on that side. It was enough to send me lunging toward the exit, but Ash stopped me with a touch.

"Don't."

Don't. He spoke not another word in the next two hours, and the sympathy I had for him soured until rage bubbled in my gut. He could tell me something. Why had they hit him, knowing it was Ash in control? Or did they not believe him? Or had he not told them? All of these questions bounced in my skull until it ached.

"What did they say?" I asked finally- anything was better than stewing in bitterness.

He shrugged. Then his head snapped up, some of his old fire returning when my foot contacted his thigh.

"What the hell, Rose?"

"What the hell, Rose." I mimicked him and then glared. "Stop sulking."

His eyebrows flattened. The movement broke the fresh scab, and a trickle of blood slid down the inner corner of his eye.

"I am not sulking."

"Yes, you are," I argued. "I happen to be an expert on sulking, and you are throwing yourself a very fine pity party over there."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to stop acting like you're in this alone."

Ash's spine straightened, and I knew my words were poorly chosen. "You want me to stop acting like I'm in this alone? Kind of how you acted like you were in this alone when you made that stupid deal with Malphas? Or when you gave in and broke the locket, trapping me inside myself, only allowed to come out when your new boyfriend deems it necessary?"

"Th-that's not fair," I spluttered, shifting from side to side so I could draw my legs beneath me. The memory of his mouth on mine was so strong, my lips tingled, and my body remembered the way our magic tangled together in imitation of our bodies. That had been just hours ago, but right now, I desperately wished the ropes on my wrists weren't magical so I could zap him into another dimension.

"Where's the lie, Rose?"

"You know what's funny?" I countered, "When I met you, you always talked about being judged by other people. You wished people would get to know you before deciding you were no good. Why doesn't Malphas deserve the same?"

Ash's face went pale, making the bruise look black against his skin. Then he was in front of me, our noses almost touching.

"That's different, and we both know it. They sent away me to that school because of your father. He set me up. Malphas possessed your other boyfriend, remember? Charlie? Ring any bells? I know you're stringing so many of us along, you might have forgotten a few names."