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Once I’m out of the palace, fresh air washes over my face. I inhale deeply, hoping the crisp predawn chill and the fragrant scent will distract me from the desire that builds within my core. My feet barely make a sound as I rush down the flagstone path leading away from the doors. When I’m far enough away that I don’t think I’ll be seen by anyone who happens to be up early and bothers to look out the window, I slow down, finding myself near the rose garden where I sat with Kaz.
Pain zings through me as the sight of it brings back memories of the conversation we had on that innocent metal bench. This will forever be the place where my silly dreams came to die. As a symbolicfuck you, I turn my back on it and head deeper into the grounds.
Surrounded by tall, old trees and beds of flowers, I draw in another breath, smiling at the woodsy, floral scent that pervades my nostrils. I’m well out of sight of the palace now. The tension from being cooped up eases out of my muscles as I walk, admiring the early spring blooms and how incredibly well-tended the gardens are, even in the shadows of pre-dawn.
Dad would love it h—
“Maddie?” a soft, familiar voice speaks from the shadows of a massive oak tree. The faint moonlight isn’t enough to reveal his exact spot, but I’d know that voice anywhere.
“Tai?” I frown. “Where are you?”
As he steps out from around the tree trunk, his silver hair practically glowing as the light of the moon kisses it, he looks like an ethereal figure. His face is partially hidden in shadows, but I see it when one side of his lips curves into a beautiful, surprised smile.
“What are you doing out here?” he asks.
I shrug, hoping he can’t see my face flushing while I do my best to sound nonchalant, like I’mnoton fire for him and his friends. “I woke up early and decided to come for a walk. You? Thanks for taking care of me earlier, by the way.”
“You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad, thanks to you.” I walk over to him, captivated by the ridges of his chiseled face when they’re thrown into contrast by the moonlight like they are right now. “I’m sorry if I was…I don’t drink much.”
He laughs quietly. “I had a feeling. Besides, I can’t judge. After I tucked you in, I sneaked out to a pub to get away for a while. Walk with me?”
“Sure.” I shouldn’t though. I should put some distance between myself and the Alphas, but I fall into step beside him anyway, his pull too magnetic to ignore. “A pub, huh? I didn’t realize you could go to one of those without causing a ruckus.”
Tai chuckles and offers me his elbow. Even though I shouldn’t do that either, I take it, linking my arm with his as we stroll farther down the path leading toward the forest at the edge of the gardens. “Generally speaking, we can’t go anywhere without causing a ruckus, but this particular pub is my personal unicorn. It’s the one place I can go where no one cares who I am.”
“What about Kaz and Wolf?” I ask curiously. “Does anyone there care who they are?”
“Not really. The regulars there are regular, hardworking people who go to blow off some steam. They don’t bother us, and we don’t bother them. I’m not sure I’d have survived here if not for that place.”
“Everyone needs that one place, huh? Funny, I kind of thought that if you live in a palace, you’d never want to leave it.”
“A golden cage is still a cage,” he muses before he glances at me. “What’s that one place for you, then?”
“The library,” I reply without hesitation. “At the moment, it’s the one at the Cambridge Academy, which is absolutely breathtaking, but before I went there, it was the small library in town.”
“Kaz is the same,” he teases, or at least, I think he’s teasing. “Show the man a library, and we lose him for the rest of the day no matter how big or small the place is.”
Fuck’s sake. I already suspected we had that in common. I really didn’t need it confirmed. And I didn’t want to talk about Kaz right now.
“What about you? Do you enjoy reading?”
“I’ve been known to crack open a book on occasion,” he says easily. “I’m not quite as obsessed as Kaz, or you, but give me the right story and a pot of tea, and I’m happy on the couch until my book is done.”
“That sounds like my dream vacation,” I joke, once again surprised by how at ease I am around him. “I wouldn’t need to go anywhere. Just give me my nest, a pile of books, and some snacks, and I’ll see you next month.”
He smiles, but something in his eyes flickers with heat at what I’ve said. His throat bobs.
Tai hugs my arm to his side as he points at a patch of lush lawn in a copse of trees off to our left. I see some archery targets in the distance. “Throw some archery into the mix on that vacation, and I’m there. I’ve traveled a lot, but it’s true what they say. There really is no place like home.”
“I wouldn’t know, but a good book takes you places no airplane can. I think I prefer my wildest imagination over anywhere real.”
“Want to sit?” he asks as we reach the patch of grass. “Kaz uses this clearing for stargazing sometimes. Apparently, it’s one of the best places for it on the property.”
“Oh?”
We sit down side-by-side, then I take it one step further by lying down flat on my back. “He showed me a constellation the other night when I looked through his telescope, but part of me wondered if he’s really into it or if it’s to make himself seem like the intellectual type.”
