Page 86 of Poet & Protector

Ansel’s offer had been more than a kindness. He’d put himself at risk to give us this brief reprieve from the hunting eyes of the world. We couldn’t lose ourselves, no matter how good it felt.

But it was hard to remember that when Nev was touching me.

“Is there any way we could get out of here?” he breathed into my ear. I could feel his pulse pounding. “I need you.”

“I need you, too,” I answered, barely able to get the words out. “But I don’t⁠—”

The heavy mist swirling through the club, eddying and pooling in and around the scaffolding that hid us, briefly parted and I glimpsed a figure crouched on the catwalk over our heads. I blinked, the mist thickened, and the silhouette was gone.

I told myself that whatever spells swirled in the lilac fog were affecting my senses, making me see things. It had to be my imagination. There was nothing…But the veil of mist shifted, parted again.

My heart stopped. It absolutely stopped.

For a brief, merciful moment I thought I’d dreamt the entire night. More than that. The whole week. Ren’s invitation to Eden. Logan intercepting me after lunch with his jarring offer. Our arrival at the club. Caleb at the bar. Dancing with my packmates. Ending up in this secret place with Nev.

Every moment. It had all been a figment of my imagination. It had to be…because dreams could become nightmares and I’d just entered one.

The shape I’d seen was still there. One of the club lights spilled over the catwalk for a few seconds, illuminating the person who watched silently from above.

Logan Bane.

He was staring at us, his amber eyes like twin flames blazing in the dim light.

The desire surging through me became a ball of barbed wire in my gut. My body lost its rhythm and I swayed on my feet, sick with fear.

Nev sensed the change instantly.

I was already pressed against him, but he pulled me even closer, his arms wrapping around me like armor. “Mason. Hey. What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t speak. My breath had been choked off when I recognized Logan. I hoped Nev would follow my locked gaze and understand.

He did. I sensed the moment he tracked my line of sight and clocked the Bane heir lurking above us. The smart thing would have been for Nev to let me go and step away.

He didn’t. His grip only tightened and a growl rumbled in his chest. The vibrations of his sudden wrath pulsed through my body. Nev’s reaction, instinctive and utterly possessive, thrilled me for a brief instant before a wave of horror swept any pleasure away.

I wasn’t afraid Logan would reveal us to his father or an elder Guardian. That wasn’t in his interest. His reason for watching us was personal. If his intent was what I both suspected and dreaded, Nev couldn’t warn him away. Neither of us could. Logan was the Bane heir, Nev’s master’s only son. We were at his mercy.

“Let me go, Nev,” I whispered, tugging at his arms. “You need to let me go now.”

I could feel Nev’s chest heaving against my back, but he swore under his breath and released me. He stepped to the side, creating a bit of distance between us. I hated it. We were trapped in a club filled with the Keepers’ wraiths. Logan could summon one in an instant and kill us both.

I knew he wouldn’t. But Nev didn’t know anything of the sort, and as much as his wolf was bristling with anger, he also had to be terrified.

Logan slowly rose from his crouch. In a single lithe movement he stepped off the catwalk and floated to the ground, touching down silently. He stood before us, a fallen angel dressed in a dark semi-sheer t-shirt with a deep v-neck and black jeans. His golden hair shimmered whenever the lights slid over him.

“I obviously should have taken more care to conceal myself,” Logan said. “I was enjoying the show. Then again…perhaps I was hoping for an invitation to join you.”

It didn’t matter that we were no longer touching—I could feel tension crackling through Nev like a static charge.

Logan came closer. He stopped in front of Nev, waiting.

“Logan.” Nev inclined his head slightly in the required acknowledgment of his master’s heir.

“Neville.” The Keeper smiled at him. “You appear to be having quite the night. What a lucky one you are to catch our Mason’s eye. I could almost envy you.”

Logan’s smile became a keen, bright blade. “Almost.”

I heard Nev’s sharp intake of breath and I felt his attention shift from Logan to me, his unspoken questions piercing me like arrows.