Excerpt
Dace nuzzled his
cold face into my neck, planting little kisses everywhere he could reach.
I love seeing you like this, I said.
Hmm?
Happy. I tilted my head to the side to allow him better access to my
neck. I loved when he kissed me like this. Like he couldn't be this close to me
without having his hands and lips on me.
I am happy. You make me happy.
Gage leaned down
to whisper something to Chelle. She looked out over the field, frowned, and
then whispered something back to him, too low for me to hear. Gage responded,
causing her to shake her head. Her frown deepened.
I followed her
gaze with mine and had to bite back the urge to groan.
Ronan stood
across the quad, his long hair blowing in the brisk wind.
Why is he here?
I asked him to come, Dace said.
"Why?"
I demanded aloud.
Some of the girls
around us turned in my direction.
"Shit,"
I cursed under my breath. I would
remind everyone I was within gawking distance. I arched a brow in a pointed,
unspoken request.
They hurriedly
averted their gazes, opting instead to cast furtive glances over their
shoulders at us.
Behave, please. Dace continued nuzzling my neck, trying to
distract me.
I closed my eyes
and leaned back into him again, doing my best to ignore the renewed interest of
my former classmates. They weren't only curious about me. They were just as
curious about Dace, the gorgeous TA who had never dated a student before me.
Didn't help, though. I didn't like the attention.
Why's Ronan here? I asked.
To help keep an eye on things.
Dace sucked at
lying. Or maybe I'd gotten better at picking up on the things he didn't say.
Whatever the case, he wasn't being honest with me. I heard it in the half-second
pause before he answered. Felt it in the way his body tensed for a moment
before he relaxed again.
I'm not lying.
You're not telling the whole truth,
either.
I am.
Geri? I pushed my thoughts out toward the wolf. If he knew what
Dace was plotting, he'd fill me in. Wolves didn't keep secrets.
Geri stirred.
Dammit, Arionna. Dace nipped gently at my skin with his
teeth, a little punishment for defying him, and a little reward for defying
him. The boy was nothing if not complicated.
"Tell me,"
I said, turning my face into his.
He's here to see if he can root out Sköll
or Hati.
I froze, my heart
jumping.
We don't know if they're here, Dace said, trying to ease my mind.
It didn't work.
He didn't know
for sure, but he suspected the demon wolves were here. And why wouldn't he?
Whoever they were, they knew where he worked, where I went to school. They knew
exactly where to find us the day they attacked, right down to our schedules. Of
course, they were here somewhere. What I didn't understand was why Dace was
here.
If he expected Sköll
and Hati to show up, why did he willingly let me, Chelle, and Beth come here?
Because you're safe here.
So he hoped.
I won't let anything happen to you again.
I sighed, things
beginning to fall into place in my mind.
Dace wouldn't let
any of us leave the house without a guard, but he had no such qualms about
putting Ronan in danger. Sköll and Hati had to know Dace would be too busy
keeping an eye on me, Chelle, and Beth to spare any attention for anyone else
today. No one would be watching Ronan's back, making him an easy target. All the
twin wolves had to do was separate him from the crowd, and no one would ever
know.
That's why we
were really here today. Not because we needed a break or because Dace was
actually trying, but for this. So Ronan could do what Dace wouldn't let me do
and act as bait.
We couldn't even
get away from the apocalypse for a single afternoon.
The damn thing
followed us everywhere went.
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2 comments:
this sounds really good!
Awesome, good to learn about this.
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