Page 249 of Primal Bonds

Her eyes met his. “Maybe he has something else planned. Anyway, let’s get the hell out of here while we can. Just let me change first.”

She was already dragging off her dress. She knelt on the tundra to rummage in her backpack, covered in only a couple of silky gold scraps.

His mouth dried. He could just make out the shadows of her nipples, and when she leaned forward to dig deeper in the pack, the gold material stretched taut over her round behind.

She stilled and glanced up. “You’re looking. I feel it.”

“Yeah. Does it bother you?”

She shook her head. “I like it. I never thought I’d be so comfortable with a man again. But with you, I am.”

“Good. Because I intend to do a lot of looking.” He waggled his brows at her. “Among other things.”

Her lips twitched as she pulled on her jeans. “Don’t distract me.”

“Sorry,” he said meekly.

She just snorted and finished putting on her clothes—a T-shirt and a gray hoodie. She shoved her feet into a pair of sneakers and slid the switchblade into her front pocket.

The dress she rolled up carefully.

He scowled. “Leave it.”

She hesitated. “I know he gave it to me, but it’s pretty—and it must have cost an arm and a leg.”

“Leave it,” he repeated. “I’ll buy you another one. Even if I have to save up for a year to do it.”

She gave the dress a last regretful look and then with a shrug, dropped it on the grass. “I don’t have anywhere to wear it anyway.”

Fane slung the pack over his shoulder. When she objected that he should take it easy until he felt better, he said, “When it gets to be too much, I’ll let you know.”

“Men,” she muttered, but stopped arguing.

He pointed west. “That way. We’ll find a portal to the human world. From there, we can hitch a ride to Reykjavik.”

“What about your SUV?”

“It’s Sindre’s now.”

“Oh. Right.”

They started jogging across the tundra. At least this side of the castle wasn’t as boggy as the south side. Still, without his Gift, Fane felt like he was running through molasses. He grimly slogged on.

They’d gone about a mile when he realized nothing had changed in their surroundings. The moon was the exact same height in the sky, and the castle hadn’t grown any smaller.

He muttered a curse and halted.

“What’s wrong?” Marjani asked.

He knelt to finger a clump of weather-beaten grass. It felt real, but… “Sindre’s Gift is chicanery. The man can create illusions so real you can touch them.”

“You think we’re still in the maze.”

“Yeah. I do.”

Her nostrils flared and then she let out a single pithy word. “You’re right. I smell silver. Just a hint, but it’s obvious now I’m aware of it.”

“Damn it, I should have expected this.” Fane rose to his feet. “I know what he’s capable of, but I thought he’d use the maze itself to mess with us.”

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