it wasn’t from within the foreboding depths of the maze.
The stone path continued, and the glowing turquoise-blue light of a swimming pool appeared ahead, along with a well-lit white pool house with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Then I saw Lucas.
The wolf king was standing beside the pool, wearing khaki trousers and an unbuttoned white shirt that looked remarkably similar to the one I had borrowed from his penthouse. He was barefoot, which I had come to realize was one his secret comforts. His blond hair was still short and tousled, but in the three months I’d been gone he’d grown a beard. It was short and well groomed, but it was odd to see his handsome, youthful face covered in fine blond fuzz. It made him look older, more mature, and that was probably the point.
He was talking to a girl with straight brown hair. She faced away from me, but her lean figure was clad in a backless orange sundress. She too was barefoot. Lucas said something to her I couldn’t hear, and she tossed her head back and laughed, her hand touching his upper arm as she did.
I stepped into the light and waited until his gaze moved past the girl in the sundress and found me. Me, wearing my borrowed shirt with my unwashed hair and ridiculously overdressed heels. I stood at the edge of the pool’s patio and met his wandering gaze across the distance, unsure of how he was going to react.
For a moment he stared. The girl’s hand dropped from his arm, and she turned to see what he was looking at. She was fresh-faced and pretty, her skin glowing from a day out in the sun. She didn’t look pleased to see me, although I didn’t think we’d ever met.
“Secret?” Lucas asked.
“Hi.”
He brushed past the girl like she wasn’t there, and a part of me was glad he hadn’t replaced me, while another small part of me felt bad for her because she had been so easily forgotten. Lucas was halfway from her to me when a twig snapped from the bushes next to the path. I turned, and out of the garden stepped someone I’d never expected to see again—the young wolf who had helped kidnap me.
The wolf and I froze simultaneously, and then both looked away from each other and to Lucas. The young man took another step out of the garden and moved towards Lucas, who was staring at us with great confusion.
I panicked. It seemed like my kidnapper was back and this time he wanted something from the king. Frantic, I screamed, “ No. ” I dove towards Lucas, and before the other wolf could reach him, Lucas and I were falling backwards into the pool.
Chapter Ten
When we resurfaced, two dozen puzzled faces were gazing down at us, including those of the pretty girl and the young wolf. Lucas was already climbing out, looking remarkably graceful for someone who’d been knocked into the water. In addition, a familiar blond was smirking down, extending his arm to help me out of the pool. I grabbed the hand Dominick, Desmond’s brother, was offering, and let him pull me up like I weighed nothing. He was a small man, not much taller than me, but he made up for it in strength. Not to mention personality.
“So, Secret,” Dominick said, his smirk widening. “You haven’t forgotten how to make an entrance, I see.”
The other people had stepped back to allow Lucas and me room to get out, but I could see a few of them moving into a defensive stance near him, clearly thinking I was crazy enough to try it again. That none of them seemed worried about the new wolf made me feel foolish and very aware of the mistake I’d made.
“What’s he doing here?” I pointed an accusing finger at the young man. Now that his face had healed from my attack at the motel, the familiarity of him was driving me crazy.
“Jackson?” Dominick asked. All I needed was to hear his name, and then I remembered why I recognized him. He’d been one of the werewolf guards I’d left alive while trying to take down Marcus. Dominick continued without being aware of my discovery.
James Holland
Scott Caladon
Cassie Alexandra, K.L. Middleton
Sophia Henry
Bianca D'Arc
Ha Jin
Griff Hosker
Sarah Biglow
Andersen Prunty
Glen Cook