Read Online 20 Years Later by Emma Newman - Free Book Online Page B

loved to frighten each other with at night, but now that he was actually here, they came back to him with a visceral quality. Images of the way the Hunters pounced upon Dev and the new scars on his face flashed in his mind.
    The courtyard through which Luthor steered him was surrounded on three sides by tall, four storey high brick buildings, not unlike those in his mother’s square, but these were all well cared for and clearly still in use, as several of the windows were open on the upper storeys.
    The smell of food wafted from one of the open windows of the large building along with the gentle clamour of many people eating within. Zane’s own stomach growled and he longed for a taste of whatever it was that smelt so good.
    Luthor directed him to a large set of double doors with a steady pressure applied to the small of his back. Zane felt that Luthor didn’t want him to have time to take in all of the details of the place.
    A small set of steps led up to two grand wooden doors that looked heavy and thick, proportioned as if for men twenty feet tall, with two huge polished brass handles too big for any mere mortal to grasp in one hand. Again, they were flanked by two guards, both just as strong as those on the gate and withtheir hands on the hilt of the large swords hanging from their belts. Luthor nodded to both briskly, and they opened the doors for them to go through.
    The interior was cool and shadowy after the glare of the noon sun. The floor alone arrested Zane’s attention, as the pale marble shone unlike any surface he had ever seen; it was a world away from the wooden floorboards and faded rugs of his own home. A pair of large doors stood to his left, a grand staircase swept up in front of him, and a corridor stretched away to his right. The air smelt sweet as Zane recognised lavender, but it was laced with something else, something musky, unlike anything he had ever smelt before.
    Luthor propelled him towards the doors to his left. A single guard, the biggest yet, but still not as impressive as Luthor, looked Zane up and down with barely disguised surprise and then opened the door at Luthor’s nod. As the heavy wooden door was swung open, Luthor’s hand went to the back of his head, pushing it down so that he faced the floor as if in deference. Zane wanted to shove him away, but was mindful of how much stronger Luthor was.
    A beautiful polished floor, the colour of dark honey, stretched ahead of him. He was aware of the size of the room and how light it was. One large window was to his left in his peripheral vision; it was open and thin gauze curtains were teased by the gentle breeze.
    That heady, unfamiliar scent was stronger here, and Zane felt the presence of someone at the far end of the room, but with Luthor’s hand still firm on the back of his head, he couldn’t look up to see who it was. He was manoeuvred further in and heard the doors shut behind them with a loud, deep thud that briefly drowned out his thrumming heart.
    â€œBring him closer, Luthor,” a voice said. It was soft yet commanding and floated from a place beyond where he could see. His heart splashed against his chest. It was the firstfeminine voice he had ever heard that wasn’t his mother’s, and something rich in its tone made him desperate to look up and see what its creator looked like.
    Luthor did her bidding, and a shallow step in the same gleaming wood as the floor came into Zane’s field of vision.
    â€œMmmm …” The silken voice murmured a hint of approval and Zane felt immensely self-conscious all of a sudden. It was a novel sensation. He wanted to know what she was thinking, wanted her approval somehow, before he had even seen her. “Hello, Zane,” she said quietly, lingering over his name in the same way as he would savour the last bite of his favourite meal. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
    Strangely, he was thrilled to hear this. “You have?”