Spirited Legacy (Lost Library) Read Free Page B

Harrington, I need your permission to leave town. Is that true?” Her tone was grim. Fair or not, she was upset. No. She was more than upset. Frustrated? Angry? Disappointed? She rolled her shoulders, trying to stretch out the tension gathering in her neck. All of those and more.
    John shifted uncomfortably, avoiding direct eye contact.
    “What exactly am I supposed to do? Run my travel plans by you for approval every time I decide to visit my parents or want to take a trip with friends?” Her nostrils flared and her face flushed. She knew her fair skin turned a brilliant shade of rosy pink when she was flustered or angry, and she was both right now.
    “What the hell did Harrington say?” When she didn’t immediately answer, he said, “Lizzie, take a breath. Calm down.”
    He avoided the question and told her to “calm down.” Calm down? After she’d just been told her decisions were not her own, her life was not her own. That she needed permission to travel, from a man she’d known less than a month. That she was expected to live by rules she hadn’t known existed a few weeks ago, rules she still didn’t actually know. Lycan society, Lycan rules, were just as new to her as magic, as new as John was in her life. It was all too much.
    Calm down? She didn’t think so.
    “I’m leaving for Prague. As soon as I can make arrangements with Harrington for a flight.”
    “What? Why? What’s happened?” John said, his voice shaded by confusion.
    “He’s offered me a job.” As John’s face tightened at Lizzie’s words, she revised her statement, reason compelling her to be more explicitly truthful. “A temporary job, just for a few weeks. I’m taking it.”
    His tone cold, John said, “You’re leaving.” It wasn’t a question. He seemed certain. “You’ll damage my reputation and harm your relationship with the Pack.” Not just cold—icy.
    Lizzie’s breath caught in a small hiccup. She didn’t want to leave him ; that hadn’t been the point. Damn. She was going to cry. She forced a slow, even breath as the sting of unshed tears prickled her eyes. She wanted to make her own decisions. No, she needed to. She couldn’t lose herself in this new world, in her newly acquired magic. Not even in John.
    As much as his chilly anger hurt, she knew that going to Prague was a good, if rash, decision. And John was the Alpha of his pack. Even if he didn’t influence every move of his pack members, he still played an important leadership role. She didn’t think he could pack up and leave for a month. He’d already been gone for too long—he’d said it himself.
    She needed to go. So she replied to John’s unasked question. “I’m going.” What she didn’t say, what her anger prevented her from saying, was that she wanted him to go with her.
    He’d nodded, picked up his keys, grabbed his wallet, and said, “I’m checking in with the Pack. I’ll be back tonight.”
     

Chapter 3
     
     
    A fter Lizzie called Harrington to accept his offer, he’d instructed her to take whichever flight suited her schedule and just drop him a note with travel details. He would arrange for pickup on the Prague end. So she’d hidden herself away in her office and booked the quickest flight she could find. She was scheduled to leave for Prague the next night. With any luck she’d be able to sleep for a good portion of the flight to London. She hoped to arrive early in the morning feeling, if not great, then at least human.
    Last minute, while she was still on the phone with Harrington’s travel agent, she’d decided to schedule a layover in London. A long layover. She’d have enough time to make a local visit if she didn’t hit any major travel delays.
    And that left her with the rest of the day and all of tomorrow to pack, deliver the dogs, and regret the ongoing dissension between her and John. The time stretched out before her, seeming both too long and not long enough. She mentally girded herself for some errand