“It’s away from you, so it must be right.” My vision had tunneled from anger and adrenaline. I’d find my way outside of this maze eventually. I was in no rush. I walked briskly, my heels poking into the ground and popping out. I took every left turn I could find. Instead of finding myself on the great lawn, I found myself back in front of thebirdcage.
I growled out offrustration.
At least Liam wasgone.
I tried again, this time focusing. I remembered I’d emerged from the maze on the side facing the cage door, so I walked back that way, and then I took a left, and another left, and another. On the ground beneath my feet I spotted the spindly branch Julian had ripped. Bolstered by the knowledge I was heading in the correct direction, I concentrated on recalling how I’d gotten to that point. It took me three attempts to figure itout.
When I burst out of the maze, I released a deep breath but then sucked in air anew when I caught sight of my welcomingcommittee.
Liam, Lucas, and Frank stood there. All of them had their armscrossed.
“What? No applause?” Apparently anger made mesnarky.
“You had help,” Lucassaid.
I shot my gaze to Liam who met it straight on. He didn’t even flinch. “Perhaps I did, but as far as I can remember, that wasn’tforbidden.”
Lucas whipped his head to shift his hair off his forehead. “That’scheating.”
“I didn’t come up with this test, Lucas. The eldersdid.”
“Frank, come on…” Lucas said, untying his arms and waving his hands around. “You can’t let herwin.”
I fixed my gaze on Frank and dared him to disqualifyme.
Slowly, his chest rose with a sigh. Even more slowly his lips parted, and he said, “Let me seeit.”
“Can’t you smell it?” I was pretty certain the odor would never wash away from my skin, even if I dipped my hand inbleach.
“I need to ascertain it’swhole.”
I raised my chin up a little higher and walked closer. I held out my palm and opened my fingers. When he tried to pluck it out, I snapped my fingers closed around the noxious wood and hid it behind my back. “I’m not giving itback.”
Frank cocked a bushy eyebrow. “If you don’t give it back, you’ll bedisqualified.”
“I know what it does,” I said, shaking withanger.
He dipped his chin into his neck. “I assumed asmuch.”
“How could you use this? How could you perpetuate such savagery?” I murmureddisgustedly.
Liam and Lucas turned their attention toFrank.
“Could we discuss this in private,Ness?”
“Why? Are you afraid of howyour boyswill react, Mr.McNamara?”
One of his eyes twitched. “No. Actually, go ahead and tell them. This shouldn’t be a secretanymore.”
He was bluffing. He had to be bluffing. The Alphas and elders had kept this a secret for acentury.
“It’s too late anyway,” he said. “For their generation at least, it’s toolate.”
“What does it do?” Liamasked.
Frank raised his gaze to me. “Shall I tell them, or should I leave you that honor?” When I didn’t move my lips, Frank said, “A trifling amount of the wood is mixed into your pledge drinks. It destroys femalesperm.”
Both Liam’s and Lucas’s eyes widened. Both their mouths gaped. They’d really had noidea.
