I glanced over my shoulder. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and yet, if we couldn’t get the curtain open, we didn’t have a hope of leaving the magic realm. There was no other way out. The high warlock, and all his family before him, had made sure of that.
Michael turned toward me, a wild look in his eyes. “It’s shut.”
“No.” I let go of Xander’s hand and ran for the veil. I pressed my hands against the cool barrier, searching for the edge where I would usually lift the flap and walk straight through to the outside world.
To freedom.
“No,” I repeated, tears gathering in my eyes. “I’ve been out... every week. For years. He can’t...”
“Who can’t?” Kyle asked.
Xander groaned and threw his head back, staring up into the tree canopy. “Who do you think?”
Panic set in and I began to tremble. “Oh, my God. We’re too late.”
How were we going to get out now?
“What does this mean, Michael?”
I looked at the high warlock’s heir. My friend. My first crush. The asshole who’d left me for years, then waltzed back into my life just when I’d finally begun to forget him.
He went strangely still and quiet. Then finally he said, “He definitely knows what we were planning. He’s locked us in on purpose.”
My head pounded with a dull headache, and I pressed my palms into my temples. “Oh no. This is all my fault.”
Kyle, my sweet wolf, grabbed my waist and tugged me closer to him. “Sweetheart, it’s not your fault.”
“It is!” I cried, angry tears in my eyes. “I was the one who forced you guys into the realm. Took you to the high warlock in the first place. All of this is on me!”
Kyle took both of my hands in his and dragged my arms down, holding my fingers tightly. “Look at me. Are you listening? Monique!”
I nodded, but the panic inside my mind was overwhelming. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
This was terrible.
Kyle cupped my face and kissed me, hard. I threw myself into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding on to him while he whipped me into a storm of pleasure.
When he finally lifted his head, he stared into my eyes in a way that made my heart soar and my soul relax. “Before I met you, I would have given anything to meet you. Literally anything. My blood. My soul. My life. Do you understand?”
I didn’t. Not really. “Why?”
“Because I was made to love you,” he whispered, still holding my face close to his. “I will die to protect you, Monique. And I’d rather die than leave you. So, you are never, and I mean never, allowed to regret finding us. Do you understand?”
I inhaled sharply and nodded.
“I mean it,” he repeated. “I’d die happy knowing that I found you and loved you. I’d rather that than be back in our pack, alone and slowly dying inside without you.”
“Really?” I whispered, my heart soaring.
“Really.” He kissed me once more, softly this time, then pulled back to grin. “Now that we’ve got that sorted, we need a plan.”
He tugged me into his side and turned us toward Michael and Xander, who were staring at us with identical looks of hunger on their faces.
Did they want to kiss me like that, too?
Despite the situation, my insides quivered at the thought of taking them one at a time in a long and passionate kiss. I cleared my throat, needing to focus.
“Well?” I said at last, calmer now. “Michael? What do you suggest we do?”