JAYCE
The night air was cold against my face. I didn't feel it. My blood was too hot. My wolf, Jaden, was pacing inside my chest like a caged animal.
Below us, the maze stretched out in every direction. Hedges tall as houses. Paths that twisted and turned and led nowhere. Somewhere down there, she was hiding.
Samantha.
Our mate.
The one who kept running.
"Hey, kitty kitty!" Finnian called out from my left. His silver wings caught the moonlight. "Kitty, where are you?"
Darlington joined in from my right. His dark wings blended into the night sky. "Kitty, why are you hiding? Don't you want us to see your face?"
I ignored them.
Jaden would not shut up.
She is down there, he said. His voice was rough. Desperate. Our mate. Our bunny. I can smell her.
I know, I thought back.
Then why are we just hovering here? Why are we not diving down and grabbing her?
Because Darlington and Finnian will follow. And then it will be a fight. And she will run again.
Let them follow. Let them fight. I do not care. I just want her.
I beat my wings slowly. The wind pushed against my feathers. Below, the maze was silent.
She is making us crazy, Jaden continued. I cannot remember the last time someone made us this crazy.
You know when.
Do not say it.
Vanessa.
Jaden snarled inside my head. Why did you have to bring her up?
You brought her up first.
I said someone. I did not say her name.
You meant her.
I did not.
You did.
Jaden growled. Fine. Maybe I did. But that bitch does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as our mate. Vanessa was nothing. Samantha is everything.
I almost smiled. Now you are being dramatic.
I am being honest. There is something about her. Something different.
Like what?
The way she smells. Honey and flowers and something sweet. Like summer. Like home.
I breathed in. Even up here, I could catch traces of her scent. It drifted up from the maze, carried by the wind.
And her body, Jaden continued. That fire. Those curves. Do you remember when we saw her naked that day? In the garden?
I remember.
Her skin. Her hips. The way she looked at us with those big scared eyes.
She was terrified.
I know. It was beautiful.
I shook my head. Jaden had always been the darker part of me. The part that enjoyed fear. The part that liked the chase.
You have never been in love before, Jaden said.
I have been in love.
Lust. Not love. There is a difference.
I know the difference.
Do you? Because from where I am sitting, you have been acting strange ever since she arrived. You cannot sleep. You cannot eat. You pace the halls at night like a lost puppy.
I do not pace.
You pace. I am inside you. I know.
I did not answer.
Darlington flew closer. His dark wings brushed against mine. "Any sign of her?"
"No," I lied.
Finnian hovered on my other side. "She cannot have gone far. The maze has only one exit."
"Then why have we not found her yet?" Darlington snapped.
"Because you keep talking," Finnian said. "She can hear you."
"She can hear all of us," I muttered.
Jaden laughed inside my head. They are useless. Both of them. We should go alone.
I am thinking the same thing.
Then go. Stop waiting.
I scanned the maze one more time.
And then I saw it.
A flash of white near the center. A dress. Dark hair. Movement.
She was there.
Found you.
I folded my wings slightly and dropped toward Darlington. "I see her. Center of the maze. Cover the exits."
Darlington's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"
"Cover the exits," I repeated. "I will go in alone."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"No," Darlington said again. "You are not going in alone. Last time you went in alone, you scared her so badly she ran out of the throne room and fell into this maze."
"That was different."
"How? How was that different?"
"I did not have a plan."
"And you have a plan now?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
I paused. "Find her. Grab her. Kiss her."
Darlington stared at me. "That is not a plan."
"It is a plan. It is just a simple one."
Finnian flew up between us. "Can you two stop fighting for five minutes? She is going to hear us."
"She can already hear us," I said. "You have been shouting 'kitty kitty' for the past ten minutes."
"Because I was trying to be playful."
"She does not want playful. She wants to escape."
"Then why are we chasing her?"
"Because she is our mate!"
Darlington pushed his face close to mine. "You do not get to decide everything, Jayce. You are not the leader."
"I am the oldest."
"By three minutes."
"Three minutes is still three minutes."
"It does not count."
"It counts."
"It has never counted."
"Mom said it counted."
"Mom is dead."
The words hung in the air. Cold. Heavy.
Finnian looked away. I clenched my jaw. Darlington's face went pale.
"I did not mean—" he started.
"Yes, you did." I turned away from him. "Cover the exits. I am going in."
"Do not tell me what to do."
"Then stay here. I do not care. But she is down there, and if we keep arguing, she is going to find a way out, and then we will have to chase her through the palace, and then Father will wake up, and then we will all be in trouble."
Darlington opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
Finnian nodded. "He is right."
"I am always right."
"You are not always right."
"I am right this time."
Darlington sighed. "Fine. Cover the exits. But if you scare her again—"
"I will not scare her."
"You always scare her."
"This time will be different."
"How?"
I did not answer. I simply folded my wings and dove.
The wind screamed past my ears. The maze rushed up toward me. Hedges. Paths. Stone. I spread my wings at the last moment and landed softly on the grass.
Silence.
I folded my wings against my back. The hedges towered above me, blocking out the moon. The only light came from the stars.
I listened.
Breathing. Soft. Quick. Close.
She was near.
I smiled in the darkness.
"Run, bunny," I whispered. "I love the chase."