Page 23 of Draco

I didn’t miss the city at all. Not one bit.

I looked around, watching the squirrels play, and the birds hop around. Several birds with bright red chests bounced together in a little group of four or so. They’d stop somewhere and tilt their heads to the side to look with one eye, then the other before plunging their beaks into the moss.

I watched one come up with a giant bug and another with a fat earthworm that wiggled as if it could free itself if it twisted up like a pretzel. Kind of like what I’d been trying to do, twist up and search for a way out.

What was I going to do? It seemed inevitable I’d go back to my father.

But I didn’t want that. I wanted to start over on my own. I wanted to be my own woman, not answering to anyone. I wanted to live a fresh life apart from the one that had been planned out. I didn’t want that prison. Because that’s what it was. It was pretty, expensive, but a prison all the same.

And now, even as mad as I was at Draco, I’d be lying if I tried to claim that I didn’t feel something for him. Not just anger, not just resentment that he wanted to drag me back to my father, I mean something warm and deep anddangerous.

I didn’t want to feel anything for him but hate, except things were complicated. My feelings for him were complicated. Sure, we’d slept together. But that wasn’t it. I’d slept with people before. I was far from innocent. But I’d never felt a bond with anyone I’d slept with before. I’d never wanted to be more than a one-night stand. I never cared if I hurt their feelings by telling them it was fun, but we were done.

I didn’t want to hurt Draco. Sure, I wanted to smack him upside the head for trapping me in this net like this, but I didn’t want to really hurt him. Icared,and that was so much more damn scary than anything I’d experienced before.

But did he feel the same? Was I just crazy?

Then again, he hadn’t taken me down yet.

And while he could say that he was sure I wasn’t safe, he’d told me he was there to keep me safe… so couldn’t he do that at my home?

14

Draco

Iglanced up as Leif let himself in.

“And that’s my cue to go.” Stryker stood up and placed his coffee cup in the sink before giving Leif a terse nod. The two men stared each other down for a moment, sizing the other up like rutting tags before Stryker walked toward the front door and let himself out.

Leif’s golden gaze left the front door to seek me out.

“I know you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.” With measured steps across the kitchen, I pulled out a clean coffee cup. “Coffee?”

He shook his head, and I put the cup back, closing the cabinet door as if moving slowly would delay the inevitable. It couldn’t, of course. I knew that.

With heavy feet, I moved back to the table, refusing to try to read his mind. I respected Leif and would never invade his privacy. “So just tell me.”

“Wrath isn’t happy.” His deep voice seemed to stir the wind outside, and the trees trembled before things went still again.

“Generally. What specific thing is he displeased about today?” I sat back in my chair, sprawled comfortably, coffee cup in one hand, the other draped over the second wooden chair at the four-person table. I stared at Leif past the mug, letting him take his time. The guy didn’t talk much. Hell, Stryker ruffling his feathers was the most amount of words I’d heard from him at once in… well… ever.

“I owe you a favor.” He crossed his arms, and his stance widened to one the seemed deceptively comfortable. With his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms crossed, I knew he was a breath from ready to kill a man. The question was, was I the man he was ready to kill today?

I nodded. “Consider it paid.”

“I do.” He didn’t so much as blink. “He’s coming. Soon. Be strong, my brother.” He closed his hand in a fist and brought it to his chest hard enough to make a thumping sound. I stood, bringing my fist to my chest.

Without another word, he turned and left.

* * *

I followedhim out in time to see him shift and felt the downdraft of his taking off. With quick steps, I moved toward Luna’s thoughts, using her vision to figure out which trap caught her.

Within minutes, I found her, swinging in a net trap, singing a song in a soft tone of voice as she tried not to scare the birds into silence.

She noticed me and shifted quickly, sending the whole net swaying. “Finally!”

With my mind still stuck on Wrath’s impending visit, I walked up and cut the bottom of the net. She slipped out of it and into my arms with a squeal of surprise.

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