Page 46 of Wings and Shadowthief

“They have a will of their own.” At least he’d thought so before. Now he amended his statement. “Or perhaps the other part of me drives them.”

“The part I don’t like much.”

Jack could feel Hunter’s interest pique; his other self stirred, annoyed and frustrated.

“It likes you.He,” Jack corrected. “He likes to call himself Hunter.”

She chuckled. “You know how insane you sound, right?”

Funny, when he hadn’t felt quite so lucid in a long time.

“Well, tell Hunter he’s on my shit list.”

“I think he wanted to talk to you. That night, you know. I get some flashes, some memories. I think I—he—left your room to take a phone call. Then I woke up. I had no clue what happened, or I would have been right back.” He stared into her eyes as he said so, needing her to believe this.

Gwen looked away, uncomfortable.

He wasn’t about to push. Besides, neither of them needed the distraction. In a few hours, they’d be on a mission.

He asked her about her taste in music to keep the conversation light. Gwen was unfortunately into pop. No wonder she and Tris got along. But somehow, surprisingly, they shared some of the same favorite books and movies.

One layer after the other, he was getting to know her—and more importantly, she was letting him.

They landed in Rome in the later afternoon, where a driver was waiting for them.

“I can’t believe we’re in Rome and we’re not visiting,” Avani grumbled to Alexius. They were the last ones to enter the back of the limo.

“We’ll come back.” The ancient kissed his mate’s temple.

The driver closed the door behind them and returned to his seat. “Where to, sir?”

“The jetty, if you please. I have a mind to take the yacht.”

“Certainly.” The driver closed a screen separating the passenger car from the front and smoothly drove the enormous vehicle through the busy streets of the Eternal City.

Gwen looked out the window, taking in the tall antique buildings. “You’re a virgin to our fair city,” Seth gleaned. “I’ll have to make sure to give you a tour on our way back.”

Jack shot the other demigod a warning glance. Seth didn’t get to use that smooth, flirty tone with Gwen.

“Right. If we’re in the mood for tourism on our way back,” she shot back in a half-whisper.

Jack didn’t want to get into it, with a driver no doubt possessing supernatural hearing in the next compartment, but it was obvious that Gwen was stressed about their upcoming night.

He did the one thing he could think of: slid his hand over hers and held on to it.

And she let him.

The Tunnel

Gwen was going to freeze to death before any vampire got the chance to bleed her dry.

Who would have thought that southern Italy could be this freaking cold?

The wind blew salt water on her face, negating the twenty-seven-degree Celsius temperature. She could have hidden inside Seth’s humongous yacht like Seth, Alexius, and Avani, but she wanted to be right here. Stuck inside, she wasn’t sure to feel the portal. What if Seth had made a mistake when he’d recorded the coordinates where they were supposed to find it? What if she couldn’t sense its magic?

She felt more than a little out of sorts. Water was her domain, but salt was well known to neutralize magic, or at least disrupt it. What if her magic wasn’t enough? What if she couldn’t activate the portal? Part of her wished for it. If she couldn’t do it, then they had no way to Atlantis, and her friends would stay safe.

Until the next time Aveka decided to come at them.

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