“All right,” I said and sighed. “Then to the Underearth it is.”
Chapter 30
The Underearth
“Why did you choose Oz to come along?” I asked Lucien quietly as we walked through the forest. We had just finished showering and putting on fresh clothes, and it was time to meet our other companions for the field trip.
So I used the time to voice my concerns.
“Despite his hatred towards me, Oz cares about the pack, and he knows that a threat to me is a threat to the pack as a whole,” Lucien replied in a calm voice, though his face was troubled.
And this didn’t make me feel any better. “I still don’t like him,” I informed him. “He’s picking fights for no reason, acting rude and disrespectful towards you, and generally being a humongous asshole.”
Lucien let out a breath. “Oz and Mack used to be best friends,” he said. “I believe Oz’s anger isn’t really directed at me, but rather at Mack, for betraying not just the pack’s trust, but Oz’s too. But since Mack’s gone, he directs his fury at me.” He smiled bitterly. “Of course, if his behavior persists after we’re done with the Syndicate, then I’m going to take serious action. Let’s just say this is his chance to show me he is fit to remain a Beta, or a pack member in general. But let’s talk about something more important now.”
I knew what he wanted to talk about, so, looking straight ahead, I decided to speak first. “Once we come back, you’re transforming me into a werewolf. It is settled.”
My voice was defensive, and I was prepared for a fight—only this time, without the mind-blowing sex, which was quite unfortunate. But when Lucien said nothing, I glanced at him and saw a gorgeous smile on his face. It was a genuine smile, so beautiful, so breathtaking, I found myself unable to look away, entranced by the sight.
“Okay,” he said softly, glancing at me with a tender look that made me weak in the knees.
“Okay?” I repeated, eyes wide in disbelief. “You’re not going to talk bullshit about being selfish and whatnot again?”
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “When it comes to you, Drew, you could ask me to pull my heart out of my chest and give it to you, and I would say yes.”
I wrapped my arms around him and huddled closer. “Lucien ...”
He kissed my forehead. “I just hope you don’t come to regret it,” he said quietly. “That’s all I’m really worried about.”
“I won’t,” I said at once, pulling back to catch his gaze. “And in the zero chance I ever do, I will never, ever blame you.”
His gaze softened, and I could see it. His love for me. It shone bright in his eyes now, when before it never had. As if he didn’t want to hide it anymore.
But I could also see the hesitation still lurking there too. He couldn’t fully trust my words yet because I was his Eteria, after all. An emotional slave whose soul belonged to him, and who was destined to love him, and only him.
That only made me more determined to go through with transforming into a werewolf. I couldn’t wait to show him—and myself, too—that what I was feeling was real. That it had to be real.
Nothing else mattered to me more than showing the man I loved that I truly loved him.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, wrapped around one another, we arrived at a clearing in the forest where Blaise, Teya, and scrunch-faced Oz were waiting.
Wordlessly, Blaise handed each of us a flask filled with a shadow mark and said, “It might look like there isn’t a lot of liquid inside, but it’s an optical illusion. There is enough to drench you fully in the portal for it to occur safely, but make sure to not leave even the smallest part of your body dry.”
Blaise motioned for us to uncork the flasks, and I was suddenly nervous. The first time I saw Lucien’s human form was when he stopped me from touching the shadow mark. He’d told me later that if the portal wasn’t applied right, it could cause single and even multiple dismemberments.
Lucien must’ve noticed my anxiety because he lowered his head toward me and murmured, “Don’t worry, Drew. It’s not like when you had a few drops; there is enough here to cover you whole without leaving even a pinky out.”
I swallowed hard. “All right.”
“Follow my lead,” Blaise now said as he placed the flask over his head and began pouring the liquid.
But it wasn’t really liquid, or rather, not entirely. It poured down almost like some sort of glaze, yet when it made contact with Blaise’s skin and clothes, it turned into liquid. The liquid spread smoothly all over his body as if it knew what to do on its own, as if the shadow mark was actually sentient in a way, and once the last drop hit his head, Blaise evaporated into thin air, leaving a small trail of fine white smoke behind.
I blinked, staring at where Blaise had just been, before turning to Lucien. “What ...”
Lucien shrugged and surprised me with a sexy wink. “Welcome to the world of magic, Drew Colter.”
Smiling a little, and relieved to see him joking like this—despite everything that had happened and everything that would happen soon—I took in a deep breath and mimicked everything Blaise had done.
