by R. A. Gates
was
a
werewolf, she could run faster and
longer than most humans. Plus, Kyle
wouldn’t let the others hurt her if they
did manage to catch her.
Now she and the guys needed to
find the prince before the Eradicators
figured out they were chasing the wrong
blonde. She stepped into the hallway to
continue the search when Darius
emerged from the shop. Damn it.
Garren yanked her back behind
the wall. He tried to drag her along but
she twisted her arm free. Together, the
three of them scurried along the balcony
to the stairs leading down to the dining
area. They weaved between tables and
waiters in white collared shirts. Garren
turned on the charm, smiling and nodding
at curious bystanders watching their
hasty retreat. When they reached the gate
leading to the alley, Garren led her
through with his hand on the small of her
back. Suddenly, all of her attention was
drawn to that spot. The heat of his touch
burned her skin through her thin t-shirt,
spreading to her toes.
She pulled away after passing
the gate, not wanting to be distracted by
his presence, or more importantly, her
unusual reaction to it. Focus on the
mission, Ivy.
As soon as they reached the side
of the building, Garren checked around
the corner. “He’s coming this way.
Move!”
They sprinted down the alley,
their
footsteps
echoing
off
the
surrounding walls. A couple turns later
and they were back on the wooden
walkway with the rest of the tourists.
“Guys,” Thane panted. “I need to
rest.”
After a quick glance around,
Garren led them into a gift shop. They
slipped to the back of the store by the
circular racks of California themed
sweatshirts. The first one Ivy touched
was pink with a howling wolf on the
front. Dueling emotions raged inside as
she thought of Athena; concern for her
safety as she played decoy versus relief
that she was no longer making a
spectacle of herself by hanging all over
Garren versus guilt for being glad she
was out of the way. Trying to unravel
her feelings hurt her head. She needed to
shift her focus.
“Are you all right?” she asked as
she pretended to check out the clothes.
Thane shook his head, hunched
over to catch his breath. “I’m exhausted.
I didn’t realize this thing would be so
draining.” He pulled the sapphire out of
his shirt and gasped. It was nearly clear.
“I thought you said it would last
an hour,” Garren hissed.
Of course he would find a way
to make this my fault. “That’s what
Irene told me. Maybe it’s broken or
something.”
Thane stared at the stone in his
palm as if waiting for it to reveal its
secrets. “Perhaps trying to block the
magic of four people was too much.”
His eyes widened in realization. “Or
maybe there’s other magic around here
that it was masking by default. Like, say,
a prince in a magical coma.”
A hush fell over them as each
one pondered the weight of this
possibility. They were so close, yet still
so far away. Pioneer Park remained a
mystery.
Garren broke the silence first.
“Let’s quit wasting… Down!” He pulled
her to the floor, behind the clothes rack.
“Man, don’t these guys ever give up?”
After moments of silence, she
parted a couple hangers in front of her to
check the Eradicator’s location. She
didn’t see him, even as she leaned
further into the rack to get a better look.
The only other person in the store was a
soccer mom buying a visor at the
checkout counter.
All this stress has cooked
Garren’s brain. There’s no one here.
She moved to back up but lost her
balance. She fell forward, out of the
coverage of the shirts, and landed on her
hands and knees. A pair of grungy, white
shoes stopped in front of her.
Oh, no. Her gaze traveled up
jean-covered legs, over a leather jacket
and settled on the angry blue eyes. She
swallowed the lump of fear forming in
her throat.
Play it cool. “Hey, Darius.
How’s it going?” She stood and brushed
imaginary dirt off her pants. The top of
her head only reached his shoulders.
She’d had a huge crush on the older boy
when she was, like fourteen. With his
dark skin and light eyes, he was exotic
and beautiful. But he never saw her as
anything more than a little buddy. Maybe
she’d get some sympathy points for old
time’s sake.
“Better now,” he said. “Why you
runnin’ from me?” With his hands resting
on his hips, he seemed genuinely
curious. But he wasn’t stupid.
Like
you
don’t
know. She
scrambled for a way out of this mess
while thinking up a half-way believable
excuse to play along with his game.
“Was that you chasing me?” Oh yeah,
that’s believable.
One eyebrow raised as a hint of
amusement tugged at the corner of his
mouth. “Do you usually have black guys
chasing you through the streets?”
She channeled her inner Athena
and flashed him the flirtiest smile she
could muster. “Well, I hate to brag,
but…”
Shock flickered across his face
before he barked out a boisterous laugh.
He reached over and pulled her into a
bear hug, lifting her off the ground. His
whole body vibrated against her as she
froze in his arms.
“Whoa, there.” She tried to pat
his back but it wasn’t easy with her arms
pinned to her sides. Only her hands
could move. “Look at you, lifting me
up.” She forced out a giggle to cover her
nerves. Where are Garren and Thane?
“You can put me down now.”
Darius placed her back on the
floor and stepped back, securing his
hands on her arms. “I sure missed you,
girl.” That easy smile he always wore
lingered on his lips.
Getting away from him might be
easier than I thought. “I missed you,
too. We should get together some time
and catch up, but I really should be
going.” She tried to turn out of his hold
but he only tightened his grip.
“Sorry, girl, but I’ve got my
orders.�
�� He leaned in to whisper in her
ear. “Rousseau’s been wanting to talk to
you.” Cold determination replaced any
affection he held for her. Squeezing her
upper arm, he led her to the front door.
Fear grew with every step. I
think he’s serious . “Darius, you don’t
want to do this.” She tried to tug her arm
free but he only crushed it tighter. She
wouldn’t be surprised to see his
fingerprints embedded in her skin. Her
shoes scuffed along the wood planks in
an attempt to root herself to the floor.
The closer he dragged her to the door,
the faster her heart pounded.
“Let her go,” Garren said, finally
joining the conversation.
Relief washed over her at the
sight of him. She wasn’t sure if she
wanted to sing hallelujah that he finally
decided to help her or curse him out for
taking his sweet time.
He held out his hand, palm facing
out, as he blocked the path to the exit.
No matter how much damage he could
cause with the magic coursing through
that arm, he still looked ridiculous
standing there like a back-up singer for
the latest girl-crazed boy band.
Darius glared. “I don’t have time
for this. Get out of my way before I hurt
you and Ivy.”
Me? What did I do? Her arm
tingled. “Darius, could you loosen up?
I’m losing feeling in my digits.” She
wiggled her fingers when he glanced
down.
“Nice try, but I’m not falling for
that.”
“No, seriously, I think you’re
cutting off an artery.”
While she argued with Darius on
how to properly manhandle a prisoner,
Thane slipped out from the cover of t-
shirts hanging along the wall.
“If you’d like, I can knock you
out and drag you,” Darius threatened in a
low voice, irritation dominating his tone.
“No, I’m good.”
Thane
followed
the
lady
customer as she walked by them to
leave.
Darius pulled her closer as the
woman passed, blocking the grasp he
held on her arm with his body.
The woman stopped before
stepping out of the store. Her gaze
locked on Ivy as if waiting for
permission to leave.
Warmth wrapped around her
heart at the concern shining in the
stranger’s eyes. The unspoken bond of
sisterhood inherent in every woman’s
soul reminded her she was not so alone
in this world. With a meek smile, she
nodded to the woman. She didn’t want to
get an innocent Bane involved in her
mess.
“At least magic hasn’t destroyed
your common sense,” Darius said as
soon as the door clicked shut after the
woman. “Move.”
Garren stepped up until he was
nose to nose with the bulkier guy. “I
won’t tell you again. Let her go.”
“Get out of my face, Weed.” The
threat seeping through Darius’ clenched
teeth ramped up the fear constricting her
chest. She’d seen his victims when he
was done with them. Garren was too
pretty to sacrifice his face like that.
“Listen to him, Garren. I’ll be
fine.” She placed her hand on his chest
to push him away and felt his heart
hammering against her fingers.
His set jaw twitched as he
refused to budge. The war roaring on
inside his head subtly played upon the
features of his face. After a small
eternity, he furrowed his brow and
stepped aside.
Finally, he listens to me. She
sighed in relief. As she stumbled behind
Darius, she caught the slight nod Garren
gave Thane.
Now what are they up to?
A moment later, Thane slammed
into Darius. The Eradicator tripped and
landed on the floor with a grunt. He
would’ve taken her down with him if
Thane hadn’t caught her around the waist
and pulled her free.
“Get her out of here,” Garren
yelled as he kept Darius pinned to the
floor with his magical shield.
She hesitated for only a second
before grabbing Thane’s hand, jumping
over the squirming Eradicator and
bolting out the door. Tourists staggered
out of their way as they clomped along
the wooden walkway. When she spun
around the corner she smacked into the
hard body of a policeman.
The lady from the store stood
behind him. “That’s the girl, Officer. She
was being harassed by some gang
members.”
Okay, now you’re just being
nosey. She stepped back to reassure the
Officer she was fine when Thane turned
the corner and plowed into her.
“Oomph.” As she went down, she
knocked over the policeman who then
fell into the lady. They all toppled over
like dominoes.
“Oh, my gosh, I am s o sorry.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks as she lay
splayed across the middle-aged man.
She pushed herself off him, ignoring his
grunts of pain. Grabbing Thane’s hand,
she took off again.
“Hey, come back here,” the
officer yelled.
Yeah, right. She dragged the still
weak Thane towards an empty lot at the
corner of the block. The ground was
about a floor lower than the street with a
set of stairs leading down. As they
approached, Thane tugged on her hand
and pointed to the sign painted on the
arch at the top of the stairs: Pioneer
Park.
She smacked her forehead. Duh.
She’d passed by this lot at least a
hundred times growing up. “Great. Let’s
go find my prince.” A shiver ran down
her back at the thought of what she had to
do when she found him.
A few ivy-covered trees littered
the lot along with six rusty, ornate
columns that held up nothing. Bushes and
remnants of fallen columns covered the
ground but no obvious signs that a
cursed prince was there. Along the sides
of the stairs and below the walkway was
a wood-plank wall.
“So, where is he?”
“Over here,” Thane called with a
hushed voice from beside the stairs. He
pulled her into a dark corner just as
footsteps thundered above their heads.
The stomping stopped at the top
of the steps. She pressed her back
against the wall below the walkway.
Was it the policeman? Was it Darius?
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
Where was Garren?
“Ivy?” a voice whispered from
above.
She couldn’t be sure who the
voice belonged to, so she kept silent.
“Thane?” the voice whispered
again, more urgently.
Oh, thank goodness. Tension
slid off her body like water. “Down
here.”
Garren climbed down the stairs
with an uneven gait, leaning heavily on
the railing. He breathed as if he just
finished a marathon.
She quickly surveyed his body,
searching for blood or other injuries.
Something
wasn’t
right.
“What
happened?”
“I knocked that guy out and
dragged him to the store room. It took a
lot—”
“You did what?”
“Shhh!”
Thane
said
while
glancing up to the walk way.
She lowered her voice. “Did you
hit him with your shield? You can really
hurt someone like that, you know.”
“I’m fine, by the way. Thanks for
asking.” He turned his back to her and
spoke to Thane. “So, where’s the dead
guy?”
Thane ran his hands along the
wall. “Can you feel that?”
Both Garren and Ivy groped the
wood planks searching for whatever
Thane was talking about. There wasn’t
anything unusual about the painted
lumber that she could tell. She was about
to question Thane’s sanity when she felt
it. Magic pulsed from deep behind the
wall, reached into her soul and throbbed
in her veins. It tugged at her gut, pulling
her to the source. If only there wasn’t a
wall in the way.
“Can you break the planks?” she
asked either guy. That’s what boys did,
right? Demolish things?
“Not without causing some
damage,” Garren answered.
“Isn’t that the point?”
“I meant to one of us,” he hissed.
Someone’s touchy . She glanced
around for anything they could use as a
battering ram when an idea popped in
her head. “Move aside. I need some
room.”
“What do you think you’re
doing?” Garren asked while backing
away.
“Just watch.” She stood about
five feet away from the wall and raised
her arms in front of her. With her palms
facing forward, she gathered her magic
into a humming ball in her center.
Slowly, she channeled the magic to her
hands and imagined pulling on each
plank of wood. At first nothing changed,
then a squeak of nails sliding out of the
beams encouraged her.
She tugged harder, almost losing
her balance. Three boards pulled free
with a loud crack and flew straight at
