Page 43 of Into Darkness (Night Prowler 6)
“If you’re up for it, a bunch of us are going hunting topside later. You’re welcome to join in.”
Lu’s brain closed around the word topside with an almost audible snap. She pictured the cloud-wreathed peaks she’d seen on the flight here, she pictured emerald forests and cool, shady glens. But there was another word he’d spoken, a word that made her mouth water and her blood quicken in the most wonderful way.
“Hunting?”
“There’s only so much fish you can eat,” he said with a laugh. “Topside there’s rabbit and birds and even red deer.” He laughed again, this one softer. “Though I pretty much always let the deer get away.”
“Why’s that?”
His eyes shone in the low light. “Be
cause it’s the chase I love. If a deer gives me a wonderful chase, I give the deer its life in return. I let it go.” He shrugged, a little sheepishly it seemed. “But I figure it’s a fair trade.”
Knowing she was missing something again, Lu frowned at him, but he was backing out the door.
“So, are you in?”
His expression was so hopeful she couldn’t deny him. “Sure. It’s a date.”
His eyes darkened. “A date,” he repeated softly, holding her gaze. Then he abruptly turned and left.
On his way back to the small, dark cave where he slept—he couldn’t even call it home because that would imply some kind of warm, pleasant space filled with good memories—Magnus ran into Morgan, hurrying through the cool passageway with a large bundle of towels in her arms.
“Oh! Magnus! I’m glad to see you; I was just going to take these to Hope and show her where the bathing pool is. Will you please help me—”
“Lumina,” he said through gritted teeth, his stomach threatening to crawl into his throat and out through his mouth. “She likes to be called Lumina.”
Morgan stopped and peered at him. “Are you all right? You don’t look so good.”
The reminder of how he looked was extremely unwelcome. Especially in light of the way Lumina had gazed in wide-eyed wonder at the dazzling, Day-Glo Beckett, he of the perfect face and perfect . . . everything else. The memory made him angry, and a low, hostile growl rumbled through his chest.
Morgan rolled her eyes. “I meant your color, Magnus. It’s somewhere between battleship gray and moss green. What’s wrong?”
My face. My soul. My life. Aloud he said, “I have a hangover.”
Morgan stared at him, comprehension dawning in her eyes. “Oh, ducky,” she said gently, “that was really sweet of you.”
He clenched his teeth harder. “Morgan. About the pet name thing. I’m the Alpha; calling me ‘pet,’ ‘ducky,’ and ‘luv,’ is disrespectful and undermines my authority. Cut it out.”
She said defensively, “It’s not disrespectful, it’s affectionate! And I don’t call you those names in front of anyone else—”
“You called me ‘ducky’ in front of Lumina just yesterday!”
She stopped to consider it. “Did I? Hmm.” Her look sharpened. “Which bothers you more: that I did it, or that I did it in front of her?”
He exhaled hard. The rumbling noise in his chest grew louder.
Morgan looked pleased with herself. “That’s what I thought. But don’t worry, I won’t let it slip again. In front of anyone.”
She began to brush past him but he stopped her with a sharp, “Wait.”
Morgan turned with lifted brows, surprised by his tone.
Voice lowered, he said, “I assume you heard about what happened during the Assembly last night.”
She’d missed Honor’s little “demonstration.” Immediately afterward, the meeting had ended before it had even begun, as everyone fled to their respective chambers to whisper and conjecture. Except for Jack, who’d nervously over-served Lumina the infamous vodka while she stared in numb silence at the wall, and Hawk, who stood watching Lumina from one corner of the room with a face as stormy as a hurricane. As for himself, he’d made good use of the heavy bag he’d found in an abandoned gym on one long-ago search trip, and dragged all the way back to the colony so he had something to do with his fists other than beat them against the walls.
He used to do that a lot.
