“I . . . will always protect you, Anya.”
That was a no, that he didn’t see us being anything more. Even after this closeness, we’d never move beyond what we were now.
“Cas.” I said his name with the sanctity it deserved.
“I kidnapped you. That’s hardly the foundation for a good relationship.”
He tugged the blanket tighter and wrapped his arms around me in a possessive hug.
These quiet moments with him were what I held on to. His layers were peeling back and revealing his extraordinary depths.
He nodded toward the maze. “When Stephen came for me, I ran in there to hide.”
An imaginary flash of movement before me as though I was seeing that event replay all over again—two young people disappearing within—being chased by men with guns. So vivid, so real as though I, too, was personally recalling that day in all its horror.
“You hid in the maze,” I said wistfully.
“The maze hid us.”
Which meant the maze was so much more than a sum of its parts. It was a profound representation of the way nature had protected him that day.
No wonder it was impossible to walk away from it. To leave this town and the memories of what came before.
Reaching for his hand, I said, “Take me in there.”
He turned his back on it in a quiet refusal.
“Who looks after it then?”
Tending and trimming the hedges to maintain their precise design.
“I have a gardener. Well, I did before you. I only go in there now to find and rescue you.” He winked.
That made me smile.
He looked over at the maze with affection, eyes conflicted with a flurry of emotions. Maybe some part of him was still trapped within. That young man still running along its leafy corridors, turning corners and stumbling around its sharp bends, maybe even unable to find his way out.
“You once asked if I trust you,” I said softly.
“Yes.”
“Do you trust me?”
“I believe I do, Anya.”
Taking his drink off him, I placed our mugs on the stoop and rose to face him again. He looked at me with a curious arch of his brows.
Interlocking his fingers with mine, holding his hand tight, I led him toward the maze.
Anya
I pulled Cassius farther down a hedged passageway to where I believed the center of the maze to be. My free hand ran across the delicate leaves as we turned a corner. I was so ready for what was to follow that my body quivered in anticipation at the intimacy it craved, my nipples beading in anticipation for his touch.
His kiss.
His hand slipped from mine.
Glancing back, I was staring at nothing. Cassius was gone.
Wait.
Seconds ago, he was right behind me.
His voice came from the other side of the hedge. “The lanes that lead through the labyrinth are like the veins that lead through the heart. The more lost you become, the more love will depart.”
“What does that mean?” Because I was lost.
And lost without him.
Heart hammering, I realized this was how Cassius had eluded my father. He’d moved about this labyrinth and defied him and his men. They’d had no idea there were moving parts to this place. Walls that gave way to another side—because that was the only way Cassius had just disappeared into thin air. These leafy walls hid him now just as they had protected him that day.
Stepping back to where I last saw him, I gave the hedge a nudge, but my hands slid between the bush, scraping my palms.
A rustling came from behind me. But there was no one there—like an illusion. I turned and followed the rustling down the passageway.
Then nothing.
Silence.
I tried to shove another hedge to get to the other side, fingers buried deep in leaves. The pressure of a palm covering my mouth. I screamed into a hand, pivoting quickly.
Cassius stood behind me, laughing. A rush of delayed terror mixed with amusement at his playful smile.
“How did you do that?”
“It’s a secret.” He waggled his eyebrows.
I thumped his arm.
Swiftly, I was hoisted up with my legs on either side of his hips and pushed against the hedge behind me.
His mouth was close to mine. But no kiss came.
Caught in what felt forbidden, my arousal spiked. He let me down slowly. My feet touched the grass as I reclaimed my balance.
Turning on his heels, Cassius headed down the way we’d come.
“Where are you going?” I called after him.
“Back to the house.”
“No you don’t.” I hurried after him and grabbed his arm. “Show me the place.”
“Being in here . . .” he said the rest with his eyes.
“This is not a negotiation.” Grabbing his hand, I pulled him back into the heart of the maze. Cassius relented and reached into one of the hedges. Seemingly feeling for a metal catch. The hedge opened ajar. Enough for us to slip through. He led the way, moving into the next space.