Chapter 17 #2
“I know I upset you,” she said, dodging a roundhouse kick. “But I can make this right. Don’t worry.”
“‘Don’t worry’?” he mocked, and her anger flared. “Gareth already wants to harvest you. Now you owe Kraven, the most dangerous type of fae, and you can’t even deliver.”
She swung. He dodged.
“And may I remind you of what he does to those who cross him?” he growled, dodging her hit again. “The fae bodies left in the Shadowood Forest that not even the police will question him about?”
Of course she remembered. How could she forget when she had him to remind her? She sent a diverting kick to his left, sending him dodging as she grounded herself, loaded her left side, and struck.
He grunted when she landed a blow to his shoulder, and he laughed. He actually laughed.
“I will figure… it… out!” she gritted out as she fought even harder, throwing punch after punch.
He didn’t move, didn’t even try to defend himself. He just stood there taking her punches to his impeccably hard abs, which were, fortunately this time, covered by a shirt.
“Zera, I know why you did it,” he whispered when her tears finally fell. “You did it for your son. But I wish you’d trusted me sooner. I could’ve helped.”
“How?”
“I… I don’t know, honestly, but we could’ve figured it out.” He held her as she finally stopped fighting. She didn’t have any more in her.
“I feel like a part of me is missing,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I’m lost without Cole. I need to end this and get back to my son.”
“I know,” he said reassuringly.
Zera pulled back from Maverick’s embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes. She took a deep, steadying breath as she met his gaze.
“Again, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you the truth sooner,” she said. “I was scared of ruining things, and I thought for sure this time the everfrost blossom would survive. I was wrong.”
Maverick nodded, his expression still reserved but no longer cold. “I understand why you did it. I just wish things could have been different between us.”
Zera felt a pang in her heart at his words. She had hoped that after last night, after being so close and intimate, he would be more forgiving. But the hurt was still there in his eyes. She had scratched at old scars, wounds that had probably taken him decades to get over.
“Me too,” she admitted softly. “I didn’t want our first time together to be tainted by lies. It meant a lot to me.”
Maverick looked thoughtful, as if weighing her words. “It meant a lot to me too. I don’t regret it, Zera. I need some time to wrap my head around everything. But we’re going to figure this out, I promise. We’ll get you back to your son.”
Relief washed over Zera. He was still there, even after she had betrayed his trust. There was hope for them yet. She offered him a small, grateful smile.
“Thank you, Maverick. That means more than you know.”
He gave a single nod, the barest hint of a smile touching his lips. “Want to break to eat?”
She arched her brow. “Is that a serious question?”
Of course she would take a break from training to eat. Her stomach rumbled, as if in response.
Maverick chuckled, shaking his head as they moved to the kitchen.
“Do you have any idea what might’ve happened with your plant?” He opened the fridge, rummaged through the shelves, and pulled out containers of food.
She tugged on her ponytail, a nervous habit. “I don’t know. I thought maybe it’s elevation, but this penthouse is almost at the lowest point that the flower is known to bloom.”
He skewered chicken and peppers, dipping them into one of the containers of some kind of marinade before tossing them into a black box with a grill option.
“How close is it?”
“Maybe fifty feet or so.”
He nodded, opening the box, the chicken kebabs sizzling as he moved them onto two plates. “I may have an idea for that.”
“Oh?” She leaned over the counter, her eyes hungrily taking in the kebabs.
“Yeah, come on. I want to show you something.” He dusted his hands on a kitchen towel before grabbing his plate.
She took the other plate and followed him, curious to see what he had in mind.
He led her up the stairs, back into the bedroom, and into the closet.
“This is what you wanted to show me?” she asked, eyeing a room large enough to have a center island filled with shelves of neatly organized clothes and accessories.
He just gave her a look that told her to wait and motioned for her to keep following him to the back of the closet.
“This penthouse was made specifically for my alias, Dane,” he said, balancing his plate in one hand while using his free hand to shove aside a row of garment bags. “And because I’m a spy, I naturally have two alternate ways to exit this place other than the elevator.”
She blinked in surprise when he found some secret trigger behind the clothes, making the whole rack collapse inward to reveal a small staircase beyond.
He motioned for her to go in first, and she carefully stepped over the ledge that had once been the back of the closet onto the winding staircase, which had steps barely the width of Maverick’s broad shoulders.
Zera cautiously ascended the narrow staircase, the light overhead growing brighter. She gripped the rail with her free hand while keeping her plate of kebabs upright. She didn’t want any of her food plummeting down the metal stairs.
She reached the landing and gasped. The whole city stretched out around them from every angle.
She stepped onto the rooftop of the penthouse sixty stories above the ground, the air somehow warm and windless.
The breathtaking view of the city skyline made her heart skip a beat.
Maverick stood beside her, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
The sun painted the buildings in hues of gold, casting long shadows over the bustling streets below, the faint hum of the city life filling the air.
“Wow,” she gasped.
“It’s probably the best view of the city,” Maverick said before turning to her with a soft smile. “And now a plant sanctuary for your terrarium. This should get you closer to elevation.”
“It’s perfect,” she said, a flutter of hope rushing through her veins.
He took her plate and moved to a little table with two chairs pushed against a wall.
She followed him, taking in the cozy rooftop setup—potted plants, a rustic firepit surrounded by mismatched chairs, and a small grill in the corner.
A stark difference from the posh furniture throughout the penthouse below.
“This is amazing,” she said as they sat down and Maverick set her plate in front of her.
“I’m glad you think so,” he replied with a grin. “This is the only place in this penthouse that actually suits me.”
“Really?” She hardly believed that. Judging from the fancy restaurant where they’d met and the clothes he wore, she didn’t take him for one who enjoyed the simpler things like picnics and sitting around a fire.
Maverick chuckled, the sound low and rich. “I’m a spy, Zera. There are so many things I keep buried in this line of work.”
“So, where do you actually live?” she asked, savoring a bite of chicken that nearly melted in her mouth.
“If I told you that, then I wouldn’t be a very good spy, now, would I?”
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. It felt good to get back to a normal conversation. To distract herself from all the bad that happened, if only for a moment.
“You said this was a secret exit,” she said, checking the surroundings. Though it seemed to be one of the tallest buildings around, anyone who could fly could easily see his patio setup. Also, she didn’t see a way for a werewolf to get down. Someone with wings, perhaps, but not Maverick.
He smirked, tilting his head to the side. “You don’t think I had everything about this penthouse spelled and shielded from those who don’t know how to find it?”
To be honest, she hadn’t even thought about it. Not even Sloane was powerful enough to shield a whole penthouse from everyone. That required a lot of counter-defensive magic. Or at least she assumed it would to counter everyone else in the Fae Realm.
Zera glanced around. “You mean this whole place is hidden? No one can see or sense that we’re here?”
Maverick nodded, his smirk growing wider. “And the exit is a long dive that I’d take only if the penthouse were taken under siege.”
She gulped. “You’d just jump off the side of a sixty-story building?”
He leaned against the hard back of the folding picnic chair. “I had the ledge spelled so that when I stepped over it, I’d float to the ground.”
“But only you, I’m guessing.”
He shrugged, as if that was a given. “I’m a spy. Don’t want enemies who can’t fly getting a boost.”
She shook her head in disbelief. She didn’t even want to know about the second exit.
The height alone would make that fall a death wish even for the strongest of fae.
Whatever witch or mage had done all this was probably expensive but worth every penny.
But she guessed a rogue spy for hire could afford it.
At least there was hope that the elevation would help.
It would get her closer to her goal, at least. She sighed and took another bite of her chicken, chewing slowly as she mulled over all the steps she’d taken when planting the last seed and what she would do differently this time.
She could only change so much, but she wanted to be sure she hadn’t missed anything.
That it was, in fact, the elevation issue that had triggered the plant to die.
She had gotten further than before. The plant had just gotten stuck in the middle stages.
Lost in thought, Zera barely noticed as Maverick spoke up.
“You know, Zera,” he said, his voice low and husky, “there’s something incredibly seductive about watching you savor every bite like that.”
Zera choked on her bite. “What?”