Page 33 (1/2)

PROLOGUE

Then

‘ARE YOU HURT?’

Eve shivered as Gage pulled his coat close around her, covering the wet clothes clinging to her body A cold trickle of rainwater drizzled down her spine from the hair plastered to her head She reached her hand to her te the area where a dull throb ached ‘Only a bump, but I’m okay’

‘Where?’ Gage’s voice sounded urgent A torch flicked on She winced as the brightness of it cut through the dark

‘Here’ She touched her head again and his gentle fingers brushed her own out of the way, tracing over her skin where it hurt the ain, but not fro warmer and suffused with pleasure

‘I’m sorry,’ he said His soft lips touched the middle of her forehead He bent down and placed the torch on the floor, the sht like a cocoon around them ‘Anywhere else?’

She shook her head ‘What about you?’ He’d been driving when they’d slid off the road in the deluge They’d been in a rush, trying to get away quickly because she was sure her sister, Veronique, had seen her sneak out of the house to e and run

‘I’m fine,’ he said ‘Don’t worry about me’

She searched his face, shadowed as it was by the gri they’d found after grabbing their packs and fleeing the wrecked car He looked okay, but he’d never tell if he wasn’t Gage always tried to protect her from every hurt She wished he’d let her protect him sometimes

‘Did we have to leave the car?’

‘It wasn’t going anywhere, and we can’t drive with that dae It’ll draw attention At least it’s off the road and not a hazard’

Gage wrapped his arms round her and drew her close She nestled into his damp chest as rain pattered on the roof above theh, pooling on the floor

‘It’ll be okay, cher We’ve got some money’ He squeezed a pocket on the coat she wore A few thousand dollars wasn’t o, she supposed Gage promised it would, and he always kept his prooet married and no one can stop us Not your family, not Mom and Dad’

His voice trailed off as sadness tainted it Gage loved his parents, but the Caron and the Chevalier fae had been alive His mom and dad had made it clear to hih he’d tried to convince them that while she was only twenty and he twenty-three, they loved each other and that’s all that ed their minds

As for her fa ache that had been present for so long she barely noticed it some days She couldn’t think about ould have happened if they’d known Eve wrapped her ar torso

‘You’re sure about this?’ she asked Theyby being with her—the support of his family, ere important to him

Gage pulled back and looked down at her The pale yellow torchlight bled the colour froreener than the unearthly blue that filled her waking thoughts and dreams for the future ‘I love you And we don’t need anyone’s consent to marry in Alabama, not like home’

If only she’d been twenty-one, they wouldn’t have had to run But they couldn’t wait She was afraid of the parades of eligible suitors her father had forced on her, and what theyschool finalised, t

here was no escaping the truth It was a choice between running or not seeing each other for a year, ht was unbearable She couldn’t It had e, she knew it had cost soh he didn’t say so