“Gio,” Hannah began. “Do you have any special dessert for us? Maybe you can take a break for a bit and join us?”
“Of course I do,” he said. “I’m having someone bring it out of the oven now.”
Adrianna breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for Hannah changing the subject. “Good, because I saved lots of room.” Hopefully there would be no more talk of Darius or the mages from now on.
They finished lunch and though Adrianna didn’t want to leave just yet, she did have responsibilities, as did Hannah. With a final goodbye to Gio and Hannah—plus a long cuddle and kiss for Blaise—she walked out of the private dining room. Darius was waiting, of course, his cobalt blue gaze immediately darting to her as soon as she appeared next to him.
“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” she said.
“It’s my job.”
She didn’t know if she wanted to scream or sigh. That’s all she was to him. A job. But then again, why should she expect anything else? Hell, she didn’t want him around in the first place. She didn’t want a bodyguard, ever. Not since—
A sudden shiver went through her. Those memories came back. Not rushing, like it did in the movies, but more like a slow, ebb of emotions and flashes of scenes. A cold sweat broke over her forehead.
“Miss Anderson?” His gaze turned curious.
She swallowed the fear and bitterness. Frankly, she was surprised it had taken this long for the memories to resurface. It had taken years to bury it all.
“You are unwell. What is wrong?”
“None of your business,” she snapped. Despite her acrid tone, he didn’t seem too offended. “I mean, I’m fine. I just need to get back to the office.” She didn’t bother to wait for him, her feet practically having a life of their own as she rushed out.
The cool, winter air felt good on her damp skin. She stopped just outside Muccino’s front door. Her body felt frozen. Get a grip. She didn’t want anyone to see her this way, especially him.
A looming presence behind her told her that Darius was there. Surprisingly, she wasn’t scared or angry.
“We should head back to your office. It is getting cold out here.”
His words wrapped around her like a warm blanket and despite herself, she nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s go.”
It had been years since she’d had dreams of that day.
Right after the incident, the nightmares had been so vivid that she would wake up screaming. Mama would come into her room and rock her to sleep while Papa stood by, helpless as he watched his daughter relive the worst day of her life.
Sometimes, she wasn’t even sure what was a dream and what was real, as the bad men would sometimes turn into real monsters with claws and sharp teeth. But certain details never changed.
She and Lucas were waiting outside the school. Shane, their trusted bodyguard and caregiver, was pulling up to the driveway to pick them up. He got out of the driver’s side and waved, flashing them a sunny smile.
The sound of tires screeching made him turn around. Suddenly, he pivoted and ran towards them. “Lucas! Adrianna!”
He reached them before the bad men did and gathered them into his arms. However, there were too many of them, and they were surrounded. She screamed as she was yanked away. Shane reached into his jacket for his gun but was too late. The echo of the gunshots rang in her ear and when she looked at Shane, she saw the red stain bloom on his pristine white shirt. She looked down at his face, ashen as the blood began to leave his body. But it wasn’t Shane’s face she saw. It was Darius.
She let out a strangled cry, her body jerking awake. It was just a dream. She rolled out of bed, her heart pounding like a hammer in her chest. Usually, the knowledge that she was here, in the present, and that everything was okay—they had been rescued from that dank basement by Uncle Nick and Meredith, and that Shane survived and was now retired with his wife in upstate New York—was enough to calm her down.
But this dream was different. And even now, in the darkness of her bedroom, she couldn’t scrub the image of Darius dying.
No!
She ran out of the bedroom, down the steps, and out the back door, not caring that she was in her sleep shirt or that the ground underneath her bare feet was frozen solid. Her lungs squeezed inside her chest, making it hard to breathe, even though the air outside was crisp and fresh. Her inner wolf seemed confused too. It didn’t know why she was scared and why she had those dreams, having only been born inside her years after the incident. It clawed at her, wanting to protect her.
“Stop!”
That voice. A deep baritone that plucked at her, making her halt. When she turned around, she saw him. He was wearing only dark sweatpants, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she couldn’t help but run her gaze over his muscled body. His tattoos ran from wrist to wrist, crossing over his arm and across the top of his wide chest. She looked up to his face and saw Darius’s cobalt blue eyes glowed in the dark, burning with … anger?
“What were you thinking?” he growled. “Just running away in the middle of the night without letting me know? What if there were mages lurking about?” He grabbed at her arm.
“Leave me alone!” She
