Read Betrayals in Spring for Free Online

supposed to notify him when she shows up. She has to sleep sometime.”
    My hand tightens around Lucas’s. They’re trying to take down my wall—and they will, given enough time. I have a day or two, maybe a week, before sleeping is going to again become a luxury. The good news is that we’ve found my alcove.
    For a moment I close my eyes, trying to recall the twists and turns we took from Pax’s sinum, wishing more than anything that I had a pen. When I open my eyes, there’s a pen in my hand.
    Lucas’s wide eyes blink a couple of times as he stares at it, then motions for me to hurry up. I write directions between Pax’s and my alcoves on my arm, then tuck the pen into the pocket of my jeans. This time when Lucas jerks his thumb back the way we came, I don’t argue. But before we move more than a couple of steps, a contingent of five Others steps into the hall in front of us.
    Five this way, and who knows how many behind us, guarding my sinum.
    Claustrophobia claws at my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. Dizziness and sweat swamp me in waves as I spin around, unable to decide which direction to try. The cold anchor of Lucas’s palm against mine stops my whirling, and his steady eyes hold mine still.
    “We just have to open our eyes in the cabin.”
    Cold and heat swim out of our palms, mingling as it runs into my veins and then back into Lucas. I close my eyes, suck in a deep breath, and ignore the pounding of booted feet as the Others clomp toward us in the hive.
    Then I smell a crackling fire, and Wolf’s wet tongue scrapes across my cheek.
    Lucas’s body is there, but our hands aren’t touching. Then he falls backward onto the carpet, jerking into a ball with a grunt.
    He didn’t make it out.
    Panic tries to slow me down but I shove it away, remembering how Pax saved me while Zakej had me in the hive. I can do the same for Lucas. Swallowing hard, I scurry to his side and grab both of his hands, turning inward again and focusing on Lucas’s face.
    The five Wardens that found us are still there, and the sound of running boots says more are coming. Two of them have Lucas’s hands pinned behind his back and struggle to slip gloves—like the ones that trapped my power in Portland—over his hands. Lucas shakes one Warden loose with an elbow to the jaw, but he’s rewarded with a punch to the face and another kick to the ribs for his efforts.
    I’m behind them, which gives me the advantage. The anger from watching Lucas get hurt overcomes the twist of guilt in my stomach, and I reach out, shoving fire at the two Wardens dealing the blows.
    They ignite and spin to face me, and the ones holding Lucas drop his arms in surprise. Pain at the sight of their unreal beauty slams through my eyeballs and into my skull, making me squint, and their blond hair and bottomless black eyes blur around the edges as they go up in flames.
    Lucas scrambles to his feet, soaks the Others in a waterfall, and then stumbles to my side. The moment our hands meet and Lucas’s eyes close, I focus on the cabin.
    This time we’re both here. Lucas’s right eye is so puffy it’s almost closed, and blood dribbles from his nose, but we’re alive. They didn’t get us, and our minds are safe.
    “You came back for me.”
    “Of course I did. From now on, where you are, I am.” The words come out automatically, and even though I mean them, it occurs to me that the choice might not always be so simple. Especially if one day Lucas decides his place is on a spaceship with his father.
    The thought clogs my throat with tears. Without thinking, I toss my arms around Lucas’s neck and bury my face in the hollow spot between his collarbone and his shoulder, breathing in deep to memorize the safe smell of him.
    His breath catches, and I unwind my arms and slide self-consciously backward, replaying the kiss Pax and I shared after a similar panic on my part, wondering if Lucas would push me away if he knew. But Lucas’s eyes won’t let mine