The Eye of the Wolf by Sadie Vanderveen Page A

slightly in the
direction of the cliff with his head. Mikayla bent under the roll bar and took
his hand. She jumped from the Jeep and landed next to him in the dirt that
faded off into vibrant green grass, a green that she had never seen before in
her life.
    “Have
you ever noticed that the color of the flowers, the grass, the sky, even the water
here are brighter than anywhere else in the world?” Mikayla asked as she
slipped her sun glasses onto her face to cut the glare of the sun. Her eyes and
head were in constant motion as she tried to take in everything. Her attention
was so focused on this new place of paradise that Will had brought her to that
she didn’t even notice that he still held her hand, warm and firm, in his own
as he led her to the cliff that overlooked the island.
    Will
looked around him and tried to see the world through her eyes. He had lived
most of his life on the island, other than those years spent in England
attending school with other rich boys destined for greatness. Perhaps, because
of this, he had forgotten the beauty of Amor, but he had never forgotten his
tie to his home. Regardless of where he was in the world, Amor always called
him home, like a mother to her son. And he always came when he heard the call.
He had heard the call just weeks before, just as Mikayla was arriving at Amor.
He hadn’t understood it, but he had heard it, and he had answered. And that was
why he understood that their paths were connected somehow. She had arrived, and
he had been called home by a longing to see Amor again, to experience it again.
    Now,
as he looked about him, through her eyes, he realized that everything did seem
brighter than other parts of the world. Will had seen the entire world through
a camera lens, and he knew that Amor shown brighter than any other place in the
world. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but I guess you are right.” He smiled
down at her as she grinned up at him. He squeezed her hand once and led her to
a grouping of large stones that were in a perfect symmetric circle near the
edge of the hill. He gestured for her to watch her step as they stepped over smaller
stones into the shade of the larger stones.
    Mikayla
looked about her with the eyes of an adventurer, not a historian. The spot he
had chosen for their afternoon picnic was something out a fairytale with the
sun shining down, green grass laid out like a velvet carpet dotted with yellow
clover flowers. The stones were laid out in three circles, each a smaller
circle within the larger. Each stone was perfectly carved, smooth and straight,
standing tall against the elements that battered it for centuries. The air here
felt different, charged with an energy and a peacefulness she didn’t
understand. She realized she didn’t want to understand. She was to enjoy, revel
in, but not understand.
    “What is this place?” Mikayla
whispered in awe, an awe she was barely aware she felt.
    Will spread a blanket out on
the grass in the center of the smallest circle of stones, where the shade was
the best. He glanced at her briefly as she turned in the circle, taking in her
surroundings. He knew what she was feeling. He felt it every time he came here
himself, and he came here often. To sit. To think. To dream. To wish. To do
those things his own life didn’t permit. He frowned slightly as he opened the
picnic basket. He had never told anyone about this place, though he knew there
were others who had discovered its mysteries, but he had never shared it with
anyone he was close to. He didn’t know what had driven him to bring her here;
it had just happened. It made no sense, yet inside it felt perfectly right to
have her there with him, sharing in its magic with him.
    “According to local legend,”
Will grinned when she flashed him a sharp glance. He knew how Mikayla felt
about legends and folk lore. “As I said, according to the people who have lived
here for generations, this was the sight of the original Secluded City.