Page 5

Max stared at the pile of food, silently seething and blinking the burn from his eyes, breathing through the tight knot of helpless frustration in his chest. He might have been used to it, but it was worse now. He’d technically escaped his father, but he was still trapped.

He picked up a fork and scooped some jam onto a piece of toast even though he’d lost his appetite. “So either the Order takes me, or I let you bind me.” He didn’t miss the quick look Quinn and Caius shared, but he pretended not to notice. Feigning ignorance was one of his best honed skills.

“How old are you?” Quinn asked.

“Twenty-two.”

Max made a face and shrugged. “Technically they could. ”

“But?”

“But they usually prefer getting their hands on mages as young as possible.”

“The new laws prevent them from taking anyone younger than ten,” Caius added. “Mages are usually required to train until sixteen, then serve eight years in the field. Most are supposed to be free by twenty-four.”

Quinn nodded. “There’s a chance they won’t want to deal with training an adult.”

“But,” Caius interjected, “it would be easier to convince them to let you be if we bound you first.”

And having the power of a mage behind them wouldn’t hurt Caius’ pack either, but Max kept that thought to himself. At least if they needed him, they might be more willing to let him have some kind of a life. Not that he planned on sticking around unless he had to.

Caius picked up his phone when it chimed. “Lukas landed and is already on the way,” he said. “He should be here in a few minutes.”

Quinn snorted. “And you still haven’t told him, have you.

” He rolled his eyes at whatever look Caius gave him.

“Awesome,” he added with enough sarcasm to season Max’s eggs.

A man after Max’s own heart. “This’ll be so fun.

” He pushed away from the counter, turned back to the fridge, and pulled out stuff for another grilled cheese.

The brief glimpse Max got of the inside was almost depressing—beer bottles, bacon, and cheese.

Other than some avocados, there were no fresh fruits or veggies as far as he could see.

Just how big was this pack? Max poked at his eggs before taking a bite, forcing himself to eat and not freak out at the idea of another shifter showing up.

He couldn’t trust them, could he? They’d probably say anything to keep him here.

Surely the Order wasn’t that prepared or determined that they’d follow him all the way to Japan.

As far as he knew, Japan wasn’t under the Order’s thumb.

At least, not as much as the Americas and Europe.

Japan had their own government magic institute, though he knew next to nothing about it, other than it served as a loophole for them to have their own standing army without violating their treaty with the US, since mages technically weren’t considered a militaristic power.

He ate slowly as he weighed his options.

If he was going to risk running, he had to do it before they bound him.

He was in borrowed clothes, didn’t have much money on him, and he had no idea where his bike or car were.

He doubted he had enough cash for a taxi to the airport, but he could run until he was far enough away to find a ride.

Not much of a plan, but it would have to do. He might be able to slip away later if he only had to get past Quinn and Caius, but every new shifter who showed up decreased his chances of getting away.

He shoved the last bite of a piece of toast in his mouth and pushed the plate to the side, half the eggs and toast still on it.

“Thanks for the food,” he said, getting to his feet and heading towards the stairs.

He spotted what had to be the front door on his way and didn’t think twice about racing for it.

He heard Quinn’s surprised shout from the kitchen and cursed, adrenaline forcing him to move faster.

He was a few steps from the door when it swung open.

He barely got a glimpse of a tall, dark-haired man in fatigues with a large duffel before he was face down on the ground, a knee in his lower back and a gun pressed between his shoulders.

He snarled and thrashed against the pinning hold, but he was lacking at least a hundred pounds of muscle to be able to budge the man.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Let him go,” Caius ordered.

There was only a moment of hesitation before the weight and gun vanished; then Caius offered Max a hand and pulled him to his feet.

Max eyed the open door with a yearning so sharp it hurt.

“Max,” Caius said, turning him with a hand on his shoulder. “You are not a prisoner here.”

“Sure,” Max scoffed, tearing his eyes away from the door.

Caius sighed but kept his hand on Max’s shoulder. “Lukas, this is Max, a mage who Sparked yesterday. Max, this is the third member of my pack, Lukas.”

Max looked up and found amber eyes focused on him with an unsettling intensity. It was similar enough to how Maurice would watch him when his father wasn’t around that he took a step back, bristling when he hit Caius’ chest.

Lukas blinked and holstered his gun, his expression blanking as he grabbed his dropped duffel. “Nice to meet you,” he said, before nodding to Caius and stepping past them, disappearing down the hall.

Caius squeezed Max’s shoulder before closing the door.

“If you run and the Order finds you, we won’t be able to protect you.

Whether they’d train you or force you to serve, I don’t know, but I’m certain they would bind your magic to them.

” He grasped Max’s shoulder again. “I won’t lie.

Having a mage bound to us would help solidify our standing in the city, but you wouldn’t be trapped in a prison.

You would be pack.” With that, he released Max and headed down the hall after Lukas.

Max watched him go before looking at Quinn where he’d propped his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Can’t blame you for trying to run,” Quinn said after a moment. “If you really want to leave, I’m sure Cap will help, but as soon as word gets out about you, you’ll be on the run forever. Even if you got out of the country, you’d have to be a citizen for any guarantee of protection.”

Max scrubbed at his face, masking his sob of frustration with a snarl. “This isn’t fair.” What the fuck had he done to deserve this? If he was a mage, why hadn’t he Sparked as a kid?

He startled when Quinn pulled him into a hug but gratefully let the other man take his weight.

“It’s not,” Quinn agreed. “And I know you can’t trust us, but Cap will protect you if you give him the chance.

We all will.” Quinn shifted his hold and tugged Max to the couch, pulling him down to sit.

“For now, why don’t you give me a list of things you need?

I don’t mind sharing my clothes, but they’re a little too big, and they don’t suit you at all. ”

Max let out a watery laugh and slumped into his side. Quinn seemed nice. Nice enough that Max wouldn’t mind getting to know him better. Of all the people his father could have sold him to, Max could certainly have ended up somewhere far worse. Like in a lab being experimented on.

“I could use access to a computer,” he murmured.

If he was going to be stuck here for more than a few weeks, he should at least finish his semester.

“I have online courses to finish for my graphic design degree.” He’d scheduled all his finals on the same day, which would suck, but he hadn’t been planning on taking them.

He’d been ready to walk away from it all in order to get free.

Fat chance of that now.

When Quinn squeezed his shoulders, he sank further into the couch and Quinn’s side. “And some fruit would be nice.”