“Gailin, you will not call for help. Gailin, you will not use magic on me. Gailin, you will not move.” His words came so quickly she could not react in time. Instead she froze where she stood, eyes wide in alarm.
“Why?” she gasped, as if she were ignorant of his motives. “I've done nothing but help you.”
Drake rose from his seat and came toward her, slapping the useless parchment into his shaking palm. Slowly he circled around her and seductively drew the tip of the scroll around her neck like a knife. She managed to swallow. “You are a magician,” he whispered. “You have powers. Why should I trust you?”
“I cannot lie to you,” she replied, “but I have no way to prove it to you.”
This surprised him and he stopped circling her. The offending parchment disappeared and he placed his hand ag
