“You’ll wait here. It’s twenty feet away and there are a hundred people between here and there. I’ll survive a two-minute pee without a royal escort.”
A short staring contest that Lucian lost.
“Two minutes,” Lucian said.
“Three. I want to check my hair.”
“Two and a half.”
“You’re insufferable.” I turned and walked toward the back of the square where the temporary restrooms had been set up.
The crowd thinned as I moved away from the dance floor. The music faded, replaced by the chirp of crickets and the distant hum of conversation.
The restrooms sat at the end of a gravel path, tucked behind a row of vendor stalls that had already closed for the night. The fairy lights didn’t reach this far.
My dagger was strapped to my thigh beneath the dress.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Shadows. Empty stalls. The path behind me was clear.
My hand found the door handle. I pulled.
A hand closed over mine.
I didn’t have time to scream.
He was behind me.
Pressed against my back, one hand over my mouth. The other gripping my wrist hard enough to grind the bones together.
His breath was hot against my ear, and his cologne… the cologne I’d spent two years trying to forget, the one that still made my stomach turn in my sleep, flooded my senses.
“Hello, Mira.” Hudson’s voice curled against my skin. “Did you miss me?”
17
— • —
Lucian
Mira is taking too long.
I stared at the crowd between our table and the restrooms and counted the seconds. Four minutes had passed, and the unease I’d been ignoring all evening was impossible to ignore now.
“Maybe it’s a ladies’ emergency.” Percy tipped his chair back on two legs and popped another grape into his mouth. “Calm down.”
“She’s been gone for four minutes.”
“Some things take time, Lucian.” Percy chewed. “I don’t know the specifics but I’ve been told it’s rude to rush. Besides, we agreed not to suffocate her.”
Solomon leaned back in his chair, scanning the crowd. “She’s fine. The path is well-lit. There are people everywhere. Don’t pick a fight with her again.”
He might be right. It was just in my nature to be overbearing.
She’s fine.
My wolf disagreed.
