Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
I really like hearing him say my name and I’m suddenly wondering when Aric and I will take our turn in the bathroom. I can totally picture showering with him.
He smiles at me in this moment, then winks like he’s reading my mind.
This makes me blush.
“She’s doing it again,” Quaid says.
“Doing what?” Declan asks.
“She’s got that weird look on her face.”
I let out a breath and roll my eyes.
Aric continues. “Something has happened here.” He makes a motion with his finger to me, and Declan, and himself. “Something unexpected.”
“Something that broke my glasses,” Quaid adds. Like he’s pissed off that he’s not being included in the conversation.
And just to piss him off more, I decide to participate in this conversation even though I have no clue what’s going on. We’re all standing in a rough circle, Declan on my right, Aric on my left, and Quaid across from me. I reach for Declan’s hand, then for Aric’s and I tug them closer to me, like they’re mine.
Neither of them object. Both of them smile and reach for me, letting go of my hands and slipping their arms around my waist in a similarly possessive move. This causes a thrill of desire and arousal to course through my body and then, something else happens.
The lights go out and there is a brief moment of total darkness. Then… the whole place lights up with those tiny celestial carvings in the walls.
“There!” Declan says, pointing to the walls.
“Yeah,” Aric agrees. “I see it. Wow.” Then he pulls his arm back from me, like he’s unsure, and the glowing stops and darkness fades.
“No!” Declan says, looking at me. “What did you do?”
“It wasn’t me,” I say, looking up at Aric. “It was him.”
“Put your arm back around her,” Declan says. “The magic is between us.”
“Yeah,” Aric agrees. But he doesn’t put his arm around me again. “I get that. But… how? And why? What are we doing? This was supposed to be an abduction job and now I’m stuck in the fucking maze and my target is affecting my magic in ways I don’t understand.”
“Isn’t that I good thing?” I ask. Because he’s pulling back and I don’t want him to.
Declan wraps both his arms around me now, kinda grinding in to me. “More for me, if he’s not interested.”
And to my surprise, it is Quaid, not Aric, who responds. “I’m interested.”
We all look at him. Everyone’s eyes narrowing down in suspicion. “Interested in what?” I ask, unable to hide my hostility.
I get a crooked smile as an answer. “Well, you’re the wellspring, Star. And I’d like to take a drink.”
Declan chuckles. “Hey, I’m down with sharing.”
“No,” Aric suddenly says. “No,” he says again. “We can’t combine the powers.”
“Why the hell not?” Declan asks.
“Yeah,” Quaid adds. “Why not? They’re synergistic, you said it yourself.”
“Her and us,” he says. “That’s the synergy.” Then he points to Quaid’s glasses, which he’s holding in his hand. “Only her and us. Because if Declan and I combine, then things get out of hand. That’s what broke your glasses, Quaid. It was too much.”
“So what’s that mean?” I ask. Feeling weirdly disappointed. Because I like them both and I want them both. And now Aric’s saying it can’t happen.
“I think it means that we each have a synergistic power with you, Star. We make you more powerful and you make us more powerful. But’s a duo, not a triad.” Then he looks at Quaid. “Or a quad.”
“Wow, that’s weird,” Declan says. “His name is Quaid and with us he makes us a quad.”
“My name does not mean four, Declan. It’s not weird.”
Declan shrugs. “It’s still got a Q in it.”
Which makes me smile for a moment. But then I look up at Aric and find him frowning. I decide to confront his unease head on. “Why are you so worried?”
Aric lets out a breath. “I’m not worried, exactly. It’s just… you’re… special.”
I smile. “Thank you. I’d like to think so.”
But he doesn’t smile back. “It’s just…” Now he looks around the room. And suddenly I get it. We’re in some kind of… trap for him. He was stuck here, fighting the monster, all by himself. And now he’s probably worried about how we get out.
So I reach for him, taking his hand as I look up into his eyes. “Don’t worry. You’re not alone this time.”
And finally, he smiles. “You’ve said that already. But Star, I’ve got to say, even if you can help me get out of the maze again, I would never ask you to do that. Because you have no idea how bad it’s gonna be.”
16 - DECLAN
“Ithink we should start there.”
The heavy moment between Aric and Star breaks and everyone turns to look at me.
“Start where?” Quaid asks.
“With them.” I point to Aric and Star. “Clearly, they have a strong connection. She saw Aric in the maze and they were already…” I pause here, tying to find the right words. “They were already getting to know each other. And Aric saw her in the maze. Some kind of vision. They were talking to each other. Plus, he knew about her song. He knew the words.”