Page 220 of Juliet & Her Romeos

Curtain fairy lights are draped from the stars. They make the ballroom appear to have been been transformed into a magical grotto.

A magical grotto is the right setting for Benedict, who looks like a fox fae. He deserves a room as beautiful as this. We’re only returning him to his rightful realm.

And never a cage again.

Swan gave me a heart attack this afternoon, when he clambered up a high ladder to hang the fairy lights and then decided to try out his poses and dance moves at the top of it.

“Stop it, Feathers,” I gasped. “Come down before you fall. Aren’t you scared of anything?”

“Nothing. Bring it on.” Swan pushed himself onto tiptoes on the top of the ladder like a god amongst the stars. “If I fall, I know that you’ll catch me.”

Now, I take Swan’s hand and lead him across the dance floor toward the white, grand piano.

The ornate piano looks even more magical, now that we’ve wound roses around its legs.

I’ve swept on dramatic metallic eye makeup, as well as a pretty shade of violet lipstick. I’m wearing a short, sequined golden party dress.

Swan has dressed to match me in a spectacular golden evening suit with feather designs on his waistcoat and a bow tie that manages to give him the roguish air of a villain in disguise, who’s only here to pull off a dashing robbery.

Ironically, he already has, but it’s to rob this pack of their hearts.

Swan set out to court the Romeos. And I believe that Swan can achieve anything that he puts his mind to.

“This is Bec’s big day,” I say, firmly. “He was brought up to believe that he’d be abandoned, when he hit thirty. That’s his fear. We need to prove to him that it’s not true and celebrate him instead. Bec has done so much for us. Laurent would understand.”

Swan leans against the piano. “Laurent is Bec’s best friend. Of course he’d understand. But it’s tearing me apart, JuJu, that I don’t know where he is. Is this Olivia’s revenge, despite the fact that she’s locked in the Alpha Center? She’s cunning enough to have arranged it. Or is it one of those illegal underground fighting gangs? Laurent is the most beautiful male Omega in the fucking state. I mean, he’d be a prime target. I can’t bear that it’s been almost a week…”

Anguish washes through the bond, powerfully enough for my knees to buckle. I steady myself against the piano.

I feel it too.

When Laurent was snatched, it wrecked each one of us.

Laurent is like my brother.

He’s spent his life caged and abused but secretly fighting to help the Betas in the academy andto save me.

He’s alone and packless.

He’s been terrified of being forced into a bond. Yet he’s never even been kissed. I’ve been desperately hoping that he could find a pack who’d both understand and cherish him like mine do.

Except, now he’s been kidnapped.

What the hell is happening to Laurent?

“We’ll rescue him,” I say. “Ambrose has the cops on it. He’s hired the best private detectives. Plus, we have the resistance secretly working on it as well. This is our mission, and you knowthat Amby and Bec have barely been sleeping because they’re working so hard. They need at least a couple of hours away from their phones.”

Swan cups my cheek. “To celebrate.”

“To love.” I lean forward, allowing my distress to wash away, being replaced by the depth of love that I feel for this incredible man.

My mentor.

Protector.

The Beta who dared to dance with an Omega, as primo and prima.

The man who has never once let me down, but instead, has brought us both out of the darkness and into the light of the Romeos.

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