The Magician's Lover

Minna is sent away to the middle of nowhere following a scandal that left her questioning her own thoughts and desires as well as the role she plays in a world where mages like herself are left to suffer the consequences of actions that are entirely out of their control.

If there is a silver lining to see here, it is that she has been placed under the guidance of a Potions Masters with centuries of experience under his belt.

Soon, Minna finds herself trapped between the obsession of a man who comes to her dreams and takes her apart piece by piece and the enigma of a man who puts her back together again once she wakes. One is a mage who claims that he can't live without her and the other a dragon who promises a love so deep that it threatens to consume her.

The first is a problem that she needs to solve and the second… the second, she struggles to remind herself why she shouldn't let him do to her exactly what he wishes.

~~~~~ PG Excerpt ~~~~~

“How did you find me?” she called out, her voice trembling a little. “Are you here for revenge?” she asked.

“Revenge for what?” he asked.

Well, if he wasn't going to be upset about the fact that she had knocked him out and left him for dead, she certainly wasn't going to be the one to remind him. “Nothing,” she called out over the door, hoping that he would leave her be. “How did you find me?” she asked. This really reminded her too much of Yundor, who never knew to leave her well enough alone and kept going after her even after she told him she never wanted to see him again. The memory of all the times she rejected him came back to her like a punch to the gut. She had forgotten that she hadn't wanted to see him. When had she forgotten?

She knew the how well enough. Yundor was an expert at creating false memories, after all. She just never thought he would do such a thing to her. Then again, he had done much worse to her, hadn't he? What was a little gaslighting in addition to all the terrible things that he had done already.

“I followed your scent,” he said like that was something that normal people did. He must be a shifter of some sort, then? Or an animal spirit. Those were less confined to their places of death.

“Are you saying I stink?” she couldn't help but joke and was rewarded with the sound of a hearty laugh from the other side of the door.

“Open up. I have something for you,” he said.

“I don't want it,” she said immediately, but curiosity got the best of her and she peeked out the door to look at what he had brought for her. “Oh!” she gasped and her body moved to open the door before her brain to provide any useful insight.

“I brought you your flowers,” he said, pushing the basket towards her.

“Master Kaufner will be pleased,” she said, happy to have the basket of ingredients back. Then, she remembered that she was not supposed to have ventured into that part of the mountain and she hesitated for a moment. “Perhaps I shouldn't…” she started, but he had already loosened his hold on the basket and she grabbed the handle before it could fall to the ground.

“Who's Master Kaufner?” he asked. There was something in his gaze that made her blood run cold. Jealousy and possessiveness. She was intimately aware of how the two expressions looked. She saw it in Yundor's face so often. Every time she talked to something new and he somehow found out. All that time she spent with Hector, he had that look on his face, like someone had done something to displease him and people were going to get hurt.