Crimson Wind by Diana Pharaoh Francis Page A

with that.”
    Thor frowned, giving Alexander a long look. “You aren’t planning anything stupid, are you?”
    “Depends on how you define stupid. ”
    The other man shook his head. “I can’t have your back. I gave myself to Horngate.”
    “I can take care of myself.”
    Thor shook his head. “Not if Max turns us loose on you. We’ll kill you for sure.”
    “Then it was good knowing you.”
    “You don’t think she’ll do it?”
    Alexander’s mouth quirked. “I think ….. I think I will find out very soon.”

Chapter 6
    MAX WAS STUFFED. SHE’D EATEN EVERYTHING magpie had put in front of her. Tutresiel perched on the back of a chair opposite her. She had no idea where Niko and Tyler had made off to, and Giselle had refused to say anything about what she and Alexander had been discussing.
    “I made a circle of silence for a reason. I don’t actually want you to know what we talked about,” the witch-bitch had explained slowly, as if Max were a three-year-old child. Then she had gone off with Xaphan.
    Max scowled down at her plate.
    “Eventful morning,” Tutresiel observed, watching her.
    She made a face. “Too damned many secrets around here.”
    “Too much truth can be unsettling.”
    Her brows arched. “Is that so? Personally, I’d rather have more than less.”
    “You didn’t tell anyone but me that you were going to see Scooter. Or that he has been attacking you in the night. Why not begin with sharing your own truths?”
    “What are you, a lawyer? Jiminy Cricket? Or maybe one of those good angels who sit on your shoulder and talk you into behaving properly?”
    He smiled. Damn. It made him go from austerely beautiful to downright touchably gorgeous. Were those dimples? Max swallowed.
    “I would never talk anyone into proper behavior. And I’m just pointing out the obvious: you like secrets just fine—as long as you are in on them.”
    She couldn’t disagree there. “All right. So there are too many secrets being kept from me. Satisfied?”
    “Truth stings, doesn’t it?”
    “Bite me.”
    His gaze ran over her. “You don’t look quite so much like a corpse anymore. I might be talked into it.”
    A shiver ran through Max, and she stretched like a cat. “Kitten, don’t tempt me. I haven’t been laid in months.”
    “Months?” He shook his head. “Pitiful. Maybe I should fuck you for first aid.”
    Heat swept through Max. The offer was tempting. If she screwed him, would that make her forget Alexander? Somehow, she doubted it. She sighed. “Sorry, kitten. I’ve got business to take care of. Maybe next time.”
    “Your loss.”
    “Cocky bastard, aren’t you?”
    “You wanted truth. I’m telling it straight.”
    She snorted.
    He sobered. “One more thing. I will not let anything happen here while you are away. I promise.” As he said the last two words, a coruscating ring of silver light pulsed outward, rolling through her. The walls glowed for a second, and then the magic swept away through the mountain.
    Max stared. For any magical creature to make a promise was a momentous thing. It carried the weight of magic, and it made the person vulnerable. Promises were the strongest chains, because they were self-imposed. Tutresiel hated being enslaved to Giselle or anyone else. For him to bind himself willingly was a gift beyond measure and wholly unexpected.
    “Are you sure?” Stupid question. The deed was done and he knew very well what it meant. “Why?”
    He lifted his shoulder in a shrug, his face shuttering. “I told you. I like you more than I thought. You should have a place to bring your family back to.”
    “They might be dead.” She forced the words out. He was right. The truth sucked sometimes.
    He stepped down from his perch. “They might be alive. Do come back. I would not like to be stuck with that promise forever.”
    “Sounds like buyer’s remorse. Maybe you should have thought it through harder.”
    “Call it self-interest. I do not want to go back to