Page 41 of Wicked Ties
She bit her bottom lip. “You have to let me save you too.”
Sunflower, you already have.
“Deal.”
CHAPTER 17
TILLY
It’d been hours since I spoke to Maze in the hallway, and everyone was busy getting ready to do battle. I didn’t know how I felt about this whole situation. It was one thing to hunt down some leads and follow them. But to ask him to do this . . . it felt like too much of a sacrifice. I was his soulmate. Yes, he’d kept it a secret from me, but even as it stung, I understood why. This was all so confusing. Part of me wanted to be around him, wanted him near me. Even when I was full demon, I was comfortable with him and needed him. Now, in the silence of our dorm room, I still felt at ease.
He lounged on his bed, flipping his cards around and shuffling them over and over again. The sound of them smacking together was comforting to me, like white noise. He didn’t offer big, elegant speeches or swooping apologies, but when he spoke to me in the hallway, I knew he meant it. If I wanted to stay, he would have me and we would figure this out. If I wanted to be free, he would let me go. He was always there, a constant presence in my life ever since I arrived here. The truth was, I liked it.
The sun had set, and darkness fell over the school. We were supposed to arrive at the Circus of Freaks shortly, and the battle to get my spirit back would start. I didn’t know if I would survive it, or more importantly, if he would. He rose to his feet and walked over to the dresser. He pulled out a leather holster and shoved his arms into it before buckling it across his chest and stomach. He turned back to his bed and flipped the mattress up on its side. There, within the base of the bed, was an array of weapons. He grabbed a set of knives and shoved them into his holster.
“How do you know which ones to take?”
He glanced at me while grabbing another. “In a big battle, I prefer swords, but this is the Crone. I’m likely to get close and have one-on-one combat. Knives will serve me well. Do you want one?”
He bent down and picked up another one. It wasn’t as big as his. It was smaller, with one serrated side and one smooth side. The hilt had a guard on it and looked like it’d been well cared for. Maze handed it to me, and I took it. I turned it over, looking at my own reflection in the sharp blade.
“I don’t have any place to put it.”
“I got you.” He snagged a leather holster from next to all the weapons.
It was smaller and more delicate. He held it out toward me, and I didn’t really know how to put it on. I must’ve made a face because he chuckled and unraveled it.
“Here. Let me.”
When he moved in closer, the smell of something sweet and sugary hit my nose, and I smiled to myself. He always smelled of something delicious, like chocolate covered goodness. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing his body close to mine, then wound the holster through the belt loops of my jeans. I held so still that not even a breath left my body.
“This one is built for your size.” He dropped to his knees in front of me and ran his hand behind my knee and pulled my leg forward. His fingers drifted down my thigh and around my leg where he fastened more of those leather straps. My heartbeat quickened and I wasn’t exactly sure why. But it felt good. He pointed at the holster on my leg. “This will hold it in place on your thigh rather than having to grab it from your sides. Easy access.”
The old me had gotten gifts before. The new me took what I wanted. But this was the first time someone had given me anything I would truly cherish. When he rose to his feet, our eyes locked, and I couldn’t look away from him. “Maze, I . . . Thank you.”
“Anytime, sunflower.” He gave me a half-smile.
I didn’t know what made me do it, or why I felt that I had to, but I couldn’t stop myself. My hand shot out. I wrapped it around the back of his neck and drew him toward me. I rested my other hand on his chest and felt the frantic beating of his heart under my fingertips. His eyes widened a split second before my lips touched his. The flavor of powdered sugar invaded my mouth and senses. He was a damn snack and a half. He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me tight to him. My back arched as he leaned into me and groaned.
His lips were warm and firm against mine, and I wanted to be closer to him. Something about this felt right. I belonged right here, in this moment. It was sweet and gentle in a way that no one ever had been with me before, like I was the most precious thing to him, and he didn’t want to hurt me, even though I was stronger than him. I breathed him in, taking in this moment of sweet tenderness that belonged to only us.
There was a knock at the door, and we jumped apart. Maze stood there, his chest heaving with deep breaths. His tongue darted over his lips, wetting them. My heart raced. I didn’t remember feeling anything like that before. It was . . . thrilling.
“Are you guys ready?” Astrid’s voice came through the door.
He nodded toward the door. I cleared my throat and ran my hands over my pants, feeling like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t have. “Yeah, we’re ready.”
Maze grabbed his trench coat and held it up for me. I gave him my back and shoved my arms into the sleeves. He adjusted it on my shoulders and then opened the door for me. I glanced at him one more time and his lips pulled up into a half-smile.
“I’m right here.”
We didn’t have to talk about our kiss or even what the future held, because neither of us knew if we even had a future. He was going to challenge a person who could take his life and his power at any moment, and I might never get my spirit back in order to be the Tilly they all once knew. Yet here we were, ready to take that leap.
When I stepped out into the hall, Astrid was there with Beckett by her side. “The others are waiting in the courtyard.”
This was it, the moment of our big play, and it was riding on an ambush of a thousand-year-old Crone. “Let’s do it.”
We all turned in unison and began walking down the hall and up the stairs to the main level. The castle used to be old and drafty to me, but now it felt like home, with the big blocks and deep earthy smell. It wasn’t dark and ominous. It was epic, like living in a royal era long since gone. The courtyard was still and quiet this time of night, with only the sound of the trickling fountain filling the air. I stopped farther from it than the others. Memories of the dunking came to mind, and though Matteaus was nowhere in sight, I preferred not to get that close.
