Page 5

Puck’s eyes widened, and his lips pressed together, sealing in his secrets. His frail shoulders bowed to avoid answering me. A cold sweat crawled down my spine. I wondered what he saw when he looked at me. A useless omega who couldn’t even find her way out of this maze.

“Nobody’s ever alone in The Barracks.” Puck brushed off my comment. “Like this idiot.” Puck jerked his head toward the Designated as he stumbled toward us.

His blurred gaze brightened, and a sharp smile cut through the haze of his expression. The faintest scent wafted off him, sweet grape. It was powerful, despite the sweetness.

An alpha. I bounced on my toes, looking behind me.

“I didn’t think I was that drunk, but I’ve never hallucinated an angel before.” His hollow laugh bounced off the rust-stained walls.

I wrinkled my nose as his spirit-soaked breath hit me in the face. A dark lock fell over his eyes, and he tossed his head back like a stallion. With elegance, power and a liberal dusting of danger. He wore a black tuxedo jacket with no shirt underneath. The smooth line of his ribs rippled, peppered with tiny tattoos and glitter.

“Keep walking.” Puck slipped between us and the man laughed again.

The sound was thorns on a rose. Beautiful in a painful way. It stole inside me, and I plastered myself against the wall. I’d never had such a visceral reaction to another person before.

Not even Chase.

“Don’t make me go home alone, angel,” he coaxed with warm eyes. It curled in my stomach. He dragged his fingers down the plunging neckline of his jacket, over his skin. His sweat left a delicious sheen.

“You’re drunk,” I stated the obvious.

The man let out a whistle and shrugged. It was sheepish, playful, and I didn’t believe it one bit. This man was an alpha, even if his scent was sweet. He would take a bite of me and knowing my luck, it would be my heart he aimed for.

“What’s your name?” He tilted his head, and another shiver went down my spine.

The only sound was a drip from a cracked pipe.

He sighed. “You don’t want to tell me? Smart girl.”

“You going to introduce yourself?” I don’t know why, but I didn’t want our conversation to end just yet.

Maybe I was drunk myself on the prospect of adventure and freedom.

A thick layer of eyeliner coated his hazel eyes, and they gleamed. “Oh no.” He clicked his tongue. “An alpha needs to maintain some sense of mystery, especially when he’s being rebuffed.”

“Exit is that way.” Puck pointed down an alleyway I hadn’t seen before, but the man lingered.

He danced his painted black nails over his lower lip and I felt the touch under my skin.

“Bye, angel, come visit me again soon.” He winked and stumbled to where Puck pointed.

Puck nudged me with his elbow in the opposite direction.

“You sent him the wrong way, didn’t you?”

“Serves him right.” Puck spat to the side.

I trailed after Puck as he darted through the narrow tunnels. Past shops that were carved into little holes in the wall. It was always quiet this time of day, which was why I came in the morning. The Barracks at night would have been thick with people.

“Do you think they’ll ever clean that up?” I shuddered as we passed a partially collapsed building. Graffiti covered the broken slabs of concrete now, but it was a reminder of how dangerous the world could be.

“Doubt it. Those humans will never get back in, though. We know not to trust that anyone is coming to rescue us.”

I smothered a noise. My parents had tried.

Human Liberty Alliance, or HLA, targeted The Barracks three years ago. They were human extremists who hated the existence of Designated. They infiltrated the thick walls guarding the city and blocked off a section with Designated trapped inside. My parents had been in thick negotiations with the human rebels. The HLA wanted all Designated removed from land they believed belonged to humans, and they weren’t afraid to use force to make it happen.

“If I put you on the phone, they would be here in five minutes,” Puck continued.