I stilled, sensing the jackaltooth lurking under his skin, clawing at his bones, aching to tear free and ravage everyone in the wedding hall. He’d locked all his emotion deep inside, but I could hear the chains rattling.
No. Actually, that was the jackaltooth rattle scraping from his throat.
I flinched as his dark gaze flicked over me. Then his lips turned up at the corners, and he smiled.
“This isn’t exactly the wedding I had in mind when I made you that memory.”
I pressed my hand against the cold wall, steadying myself. During the games, Luvic had created memory knots for me, and one of them was of us at a wedding. Luvic in a tux; me in a white dress with a flower crown. He’d kissed me, love in his gaze. That was when he’d thought everything would turn out, and Finn and I would have a wedding, and he’d walk me down the aisle. This wasn’t anything at all like Luvic’s dream.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said.
His eyes darkened. “Yes. I do.”
I stepped away from the wall, nodding.
Maybe he did. I knew a lot about doing things I didn’t want to.
We stared at each other, neither of us speaking, neither of us moving.
“I invited some . . . old friends of yours.”
He tilted his head, catlike, then his smile widened. He reached out and touched the space between my eyebrows. “What’re you up to?”
“Mischief.”
His smile turned to a grin. “Which old friends?” He tapped his bottom lip, but suddenly, his amusement faded, and he pierced me with a predatory stare. “Which old friends, Mari?”
I took a step back.
“What did you do?” he growled, a rattle working in his throat. “This wedding is a trap for anyone stupid enough to try and interrupt it. Mari—” He reached out, whip-fast, and gripped my arms. “Who did you invite?”
His eyes flared orange, and a jackaltooth snarl slipped from his throat.
My heart thundered. Luvic’s fingers tightened, and goose bumps climbed over my arms.
“Don’t threaten me.” I couldn’t look away. He’d transformed into a predator, and every instinct shouted that if I looked away, he’d tear out my throat.
His chest rose and fell with quick breaths as if he were working to hold a beast inside. He shook his head and let out a string of violent curses.
“Is it Finn?” he asked.
I laughed. “No.”
Luvic swore again. “How did you even find them? I didn’t want them here. I didn’t want them to risk— If they die?—”
He was cut off by a loud chirp.
I frowned.
The chirp sounded again.
“What is that?”
Luvic’s cheeks turned pink. The tension in his frame fell away. “A cricket.”
“What?”
He touched the red silk square in his jacket pocket. “A wedding gift from my bride. The stupid thing wouldn’t let me leave without it.”
