Why had Riordan sent her away? The night before he had told her he loved her, as she did him. What could have changed?

She’d hesitated before opening the door to his chambers last night but didn’t pause this time. The door refused to open at her touch and, without thinking twice, she raised her hands and blew it nearly off the hinges. She strode through it and into the now-familiar chambers beyond.

If she’d startled him, he gave no sign. He didn’t even turn from the row of bubbling beakers in front of him. Noa stopped and waited for him to speak.

“Next time, try not to break my door.”

The calmness of his response, spoken in the familiar, sarcastic tone, deflated her a little. Set her back. Made her doubt.

“I woke up alone, Riordan.”

Did she imagine his shoulders tensing, just a little? “I know.”

“Why?”

His glance over his shoulder made a shiver run down her spine. “Because I desired it should be so.”

“And what of my desires?” She took two steps toward him. Her entire body hummed with tension. Strands of her hair began to lift around her, but she made no effort to smooth them.

He turned back to his beakers. “You got what you wanted from me, Mistress Kahane. Take it and be glad of it, and leave me alone.”

His words infuriated her. “I thought I had gained your heart, which was what I truly wanted.”

“You gained the thrall. As for the other…”

“Yes? The other? ‘I have loved you from afar for so long.’” She threw his words back to him. “Did you lie to me last night?”

“Mayhap I merely told you what you wished to hear.”

She gasped as though he’d slapped her. “Look me in the face and tell me you lied to me, Riordan. Meet my eyes and tell me last night was fulfillment of your duty and naught more. Convince me, and I’ll leave you alone and not bother you again.”

He sighed, and the sound encouraged her for it meant he was unable to immediately spout anger at her. He turned, his shoulders slightly bent, then straightening as he faced her. His eyes met hers without blinking.
“I did not lie to you, Noa. But I spoke wrongly.”

She lifted her chin and faced him squarely. “You don’t love me?”
The mouth that had given such pleasure thinned. Again he wore the long, high-necked robe of his office as Instructor Primus. Crimson peeked at the hem and just above the collar. A length of black cord tied his dark hair back from his face. Her heart broke from looking at him.

“Riordan?”

He gave an infinitesimal shudder that nonetheless gave her hope. “It’s impossible, Noa. It can’t work.”

“Why not?”

He held out his hands, palms up. “You have your entire life ahead of you. You have the chance to be one of the greatest magicreators this land has ever seen. I can sense it in you. You need to reach that potential.”

“And loving you can play no part in that? If I have that power, it’s because part of my soul is tithed to yours. Riordan, no matter where I go in this world, part of you will always be within me. You can’t send me away as though I’m of no consequence to you. You have some of me within you, too.”

“I have some of lots of people inside me,” came his cruel reply. “I have been the ahavatara for many young magicreators.”

“I am not they,” she said quietly. “You love me.”

“Don’t make a fool of yourself. Go away and leave me alone.”

“Why do you seek to push me away?” she cried and advanced on him. “Why fight me like this? What are you afraid of?”

His retort thundered in the chamber. “I fear nothing!”

“You are a liar!”

He raised a hand and she stumbled back. Her powers had grown, but his were stronger. She could not fight him with magic and expect to win.
Instead, she went to her knees in front of him. Her hands lifted the hem of his cassock and exposed the dark leather of his boots. He stepped back, but his thighs hit the table behind him and he could go no further.
“I offered this to you last night, and you took it.”

“Any woman who gets on her knees before a man to try and woo him to her wishes is an idiot.”

She shoved him harder and the table crashed against the wall. “I’m not wooing you.”