“What is it?” I glance at her.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. You?”
She takes a deep breath. “I’m nervous.”
I curl my fingers around hers. “That’s normal. I’m a bit nervous too, if I’m being honest.”
She gives me a strained smile. “I guess we’re both hot messes, huh?”
Unable to resist, I reach for her face, cupping her cheek. “Absolutely.”
Sophie scooches closer, and I lean in, stopping inches from her lips to search her eyes. I can’t resist the magnetic pull she has on me. There’s no hesitation in her gaze, and when her tongue darts out before she bites her lower lip, it’s my undoing. I shorten the distance between our mouths and kiss her.
I barely have a chance to savor her before Derek barks, “Hey! No making out in my car.”
Sophie jerks away from me as if pulled by an elastic cord that had been stretched to the max. The gap between our bodies is back.
Thanks a lot, jerkface.I glare at the back of Derek’s head.
I keep my displeasure to myself. I might have a big mouth, but I don’t have a death wish. I don’t need to know Derek well to realize he isn’t a male I want to piss off. There’s something about him that tells me he’s dangerous, perhaps even more so than Larsson and King Raphael.
I wait a couple of seconds before I take Sophie’s hand again. That’s all I dare to do. We don’t talk the rest of the ride, and since I’m not distracted by her, I pay attention to the area. We’re on a rural road, moving away from the city judging by the lack of streetlights and the abundance of greenery surrounding us.
“How far is Tatiana’s house?” I ask, breaking the silence after we’ve been driving for at least twenty minutes.
“Not much farther now.”
“Has she always lived outside Salem?”
“Yes.”
Derek turns onto an unmarked and unpaved road, making the ride a bit shaky and slower. After a moment, there’s a tingle above my skin, prickling.
“Whoa. What’s happening?”
“Protective wards,” Sophie replies. “They should prevent anyone not affiliated with Tatiana’s court from breaching through.”
“That was before the Accords,” Derek adds.
“I thought the Accords were no longer valid after Boone’s demise,” I say.
“That’s what Jacques believes. It isn’t so. He doesn’t know the reason the Accords were implemented in the first place. No one does save for Tatiana and King Raphael,” Derek replies.
“Not even you?” Sophie asks.
“I didn’t before, but I do now.”
“Are you going to tell us?” I ask.
He looks at us in the rearview mirror. His green eyes have a dangerous gleam to them. “No.”
“Great,” I mumble.
Derek doesn’t offer a retort to my sarcastic comment, but I forget all about it when the silhouette of Tatiana’s mansion appears ahead of us. My jaw drops of its own accord. It’s a beautiful construction that resembles a fairy-tale castle made of light gray bricks and blue turrets, surrounded by a beautiful garden and tall trees.
“That’s her house?”
