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“I’ll get with Devil and coordinate things. If Peter left on his own, where would he go?”
“I’ll call his uncle. That’s probably where he’d go if he ran, though he couldn’t have made it far without a car.” Did he even have a driver’s license? “Make sure none of the cars are missing. Hopefully, he’s still on the grounds somewhere. But if not—”
“We’ll find him,” Angelo assured me.
“I’m going to take the trail that leads to the lake. Sabrina said he wanted to be alone to think.” I didn’t wait for any more assurance from Angelo or criticism from my father.
As I headed into the woods, I kept watch for a glimpse of Peter’s gray coat and red beanie, assuming he’d worn them. I should have checked my room or the coat tree to see if they’d been left there.
I was jumpy, startled by birds and squirrels. I had to get myself together.
Movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention. When I turned to investigate, it wasn’t Peter.
It was Stefan, and he had a gun pointed at me. No wonder we hadn’t found our snitch. Why the fuck had I trusted him? I reached for my own weapon, but I was too late. Something hit me, knocking me back.
I stumbled and fell to the ground, reaching for my shoulder where I’d felt a sting. I yanked out the dart that had lodged there. As I stared at it, my vision began to blur. I tried to fight the tiredness that swept over me.
“Fuck you.” My words were slurred, and the man just laughed.
Elena had warned me Damian was moving up his plans. Why hadn’t I been more careful. Did they have Peter too?
“You’re working with fucking Damian?”
He grinned. “You finally figured it out.”
“Why do this?”
“Ash.”
Was I already out and dreaming? What did his brother have to do with this? Had he come back? Was he part of their family business now?
“I know what you did to my brother, turning him gay, putting your filthy hands on him just because you could, then sending him away.”
He’d known? He’d never said anything back then. The world wavered. I tried to speak, but my tongue seemed too thick for my mouth. The last thing I saw was the world flipping upside down as Stefan tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed no more than Peter did.
27
Peter
After sitting in Lucien’s room for a while, I’d needed some fresh air. The room was so like the one at his house in town that I couldn’t stop the flood of memories of nights spent in his bed or sitting on his balcony. Thankfully, I’d brought my coat and hat with me. I put them on and stepped through the French doors onto a patio. Standing in the fresh air wasn’t enough, so I began to walk. I wandered through a garden that was just starting to turn green again. I noticed a walking trail leading into the woods. I knew it would be best to let someone know where I was, but I didn’t plan to be long, and I didn’t want anyone coming after me. I walked along the trail until it ended by a small lake.
I only meant to stay a few moments, but as I stared out over the lake, watching birds soaring above and flitting around in the trees, I got lost in thought, analyzing all the pros and cons of staying with Lucien. Would he let me go if I wanted him to? He told me he’d only give me that choice once, but would he really force me to stay if I said I wanted out? Did I want out? My stomach churned as I tried to answer that question. I realized I’d been outside longer than I meant to be, so I reached for my phone to find out how long I’d been gone and realized it must have fallen out of my pocket when I’d been lying on Lucien’s bed. I would just have to hope no one had tried to call me. I could only imagine how badly Lucien would punish me for leaving without it.
As I turned to head back to the house, I heard something. It wasn’t exactly a shout, more like a groan followed by a thud and the crunch of leaves.
I shivered. Something was wrong. I was sure of it. Lucien had warned me that I’d continue to be a target. Why had I left the house? How could I have been stupid enough to walk this far without telling anyone where I was? I had no phone and nothing to use for a weapon, not that I’d know how to shoot a gun if I had one. Anyone coming after me was sure to be well armed themselves.
I wasn’t just going to stand there, though. I needed to see if I could figure out what was going on. Maybe I’d imagined the sound, or maybe it was just squirrels playing in the leaves. I needed to be sure.
