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LUKE
Itraversed the labyrinth early, hoping to get to the courtyard for Bella before the sunset stretched shadows over the castle. Things could lie in ambush in that sudden darkness.
The headmistress had come to the council herself after our meeting, wearing a velvet cloak, and an expression of fury on her ageless face.
She was plain with her words.
There had been a sloppy break-in at the library, and we had not prevented it. She had allowed us the pick of her young charges for our mates, and we couldn’t even stop an amateur thief from muddying up her marble floors.
I couldn’t say I blamed her for her anger. It was shocking that my brothers hadn’t picked up on the hellhound that wandered the woods last night.
And I felt guilty that I had hidden Bella away instead of fighting. But she was my mate. It was my nature and my duty to protect her.
Dueling allegiances battled in my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to shift and howl at the inconstant gods for watching over all of this impassively.
But even as my mind tangled, my feet moved quickly. I began to jog as I got closer to the opening of the boxwood maze. The wait for evening had been endless.
If I thought I was worried for Bella last night, now I was frantic. My thoughts began to run in rhythm with my footsteps.
I have to claim her tonight.
I have to claim her tonight.
I have to claim her tonight.
“Luke?” her soft voice startled me out of my reverie.
She stood just outside the entrance to the labyrinth, her eyes wide with fear.
“Yes, little one, it’s me,” I told her, the endearment falling out of my mouth again without my permission.
I opened my arms and she fell into them.
A symphony of emotion played through me at the soft feel of her curled against me. I closed my eyes and tried to memorize the melody of her fragrant hair and the warmth of her body pressed to mine.
“Sorry,” she said, quickly pulling away.
It took all my restraint not to clamp her to me. But I knew it would only hurt my cause.
I had to make her crave my touch and then deny her. Only this would bring the headstrong little witch around and make her ready to be claimed.
And I had to claim her quickly, or risk her very safety. I could not let her go back to that castle again. Not with the threat of the Order hanging over it.
“How was your day?” I asked her casually, leading her back into the labyrinth as if we were normal people going on a normal stroll.
“Kind of crazy,” she admitted. “Something broke into the library - something with paws.”
“You know it wasn’t me, right?” I asked her.
“You were sealed into a cave all night with me,” she said, looking at me like I had lost my mind. “You’re the only one who couldn’t have. But do you think it was the hellhound, or…someone else?”
One of my brothers, was her implication. I appreciated that she knew better than to say it out loud.
“My brothers have pledged their souls to the protection of the library, as I have,” I said carefully. “And a hellhound only operates at the bidding of another, so a break-in seems sophisticated for such a base creature. But, yes, it’s possible that it was a hellhound, and it’s also possible that it was something else. Your headmistress chose to clean up before we could investigate properly.”
A furrow formed on her lovely brow. I resisted the temptation to kiss it away, and focused my eyes on the forest instead.
“What do you mean a hellhound operates at the bidding of another?” she asked me, neatly ignoring my dig at her headmistress.
