1 Dicey Grenor (36 page)

Read 1 Dicey Grenor Online

Authors: Dicey Grenor

My vision blurred.
My mouth went dry.

Then I smelled
sweet vanilla.

No way.

I took off fast…down
the hall, out the back door, out into the lot, into the trees…

But there was no
outrunning it.

No outrunning him.
I just needed to get him away from Hades.
Away from humans.
Away from my friends.

I finally dropped
to my knees and rolled around in the damp earth.

“No, no, no. Go
away!” I said in the darkness.

I came for you
Willow
, he said from inside my head.

It was just a
whisper, but it made my whole body tremble as if he was right next to me. And
then I knew he was.

Buzz, buzz,
buzz
. The buzzing of mosquitoes got louder as he formed on
the earth next to me.
In the flesh.
Mercedez
formed next to him.

I could see
nothing but her eyes and teeth as she grinned. Maximilian the Great on the
other hand, I could see clearly since his Celtic skin glowed in the moonlight.
Even the twinkling stars kissed his blond hair.

“Aren’t you glad
to see me?” he whispered.

“Not really.”

“Is that any way
to greet your
maistre
after I’ve come from such a
long way to see you?”

“No. I guess not.
If you would have given notice, I could have been more prepared.”

His laughter
rumbled through the woods. Then in his most menacing Max way, he said, “Well, I’m
here now. And don’t worry. I won’t be leaving without you.”

Chilled
me to the core.

I didn’t know what
I was going to do about
Remi
and Aaron. Didn’t know
how I was going to continue working at Hades. Didn’t know how I would keep Max
away from everyone I cared about, including myself.

How in the hell
could I keep him happy enough to not punish me while I strategized how to get
my heart from him?

’Cause as ominous
as it was to have Max here in the flesh, it would be much easier to figure out
how to find the first thing I needed to gain my freedom. I could find it, steal
it, and finally release myself from this unwanted bond.

In that regard,
Max had come to visit right in the nick of time.