“Why?”
“Cordelia King is a witch. An old, evil, time-traveling witch. She’s targeted the Langeais wolves for centuries.” Pierre held her gaze. “Last Christmas she tried to kill Gabriel and had Annabelle kidnapped. Then she disappeared. We’ve been trying to track her down for months. You were our best lead.”
Melinda sucked in a breath. God, she’d been such a fool. Played right into their hands. They’d… She couldn’t be here anymore. Couldn’t look them in the face and not remember their intimate moments. Not after this. She snatched up her laptop. Manchu. She needed to get Manchu. And her purse, her phone, her passport. She headed for the stairs.
“Melinda, wait,” called Louis. “Please. We’re sorry. It was never our intention to hurt you. It’s just when we met you…”
Pierre stood shoulder to shoulder with his twin, a united front. “It’ll never happen again. We promise.”
Melinda froze, one foot on the stairs. Those words. She’d heard them countless times before. Her father had said them to her mother every time he’d beaten her. All lies. He hadn’t been sorry. Ithadhappened again. And again and again.
Louis and Pierre crowded her in. Her gaze strayed past them to the door. She was their only link to Cordelia. Would they let her leave? She stared up the stairs where Manchu was probably curled up on the bed, oblivious to the drama unfolding. She loved the little guy. He was everything to her, but… She’d risk everything, including her client, if she didn’t get out of here. She couldn’t do it. She had to leave. Now.Sorry Manchu. I’ll come back for you if I can.
Her heart breaking, she slipped past Louis and was across the living area before either of them had moved. She flung the door open and raced for the lift.
Stunned silence and then, “I’m going after her.”
Louis. Footsteps followed her. Frantically, she pressed the lift buttons. The door swished open. Inside, she slammed down on the close door button, then the one for the lobby.
“Melinda,” yelled Louis. “Wait, please.”
“Let her go, Louis,” commanded Pierre.
The door closed, and the lift was moving. She slumped against the wall and let the tears flow.Let her go.A sob bubbled up inside her. It had all been a lie. Everything. All along it had been them cracking the identities she’d set up for MysticMage.Shewas the job they’d had in London. And she’d fallen for it, for their charm. And for a minute there she’d thought they might tell her she was their mate.
Foolish, foolish Melinda.
The lift stopped and the doors opened on a busy lobby. She wiped away her tears and forced herself to move. She didn’t havetime to wallow in her misery. Pierre and Louis could change their mind. She needed to be long gone before Louis convinced Pierre they still needed her. Her passport was in the safe and she had no visa. No purse and no phone. But she did have her laptop. With that she could achieve a lot.
She’d hole up in some random hotel. It would take her a few days, maybe a week, to get things sorted. Not enough time for Pierre and Louis to track her through their malware again. If they could at all. Her virus would have done a number on Pierre’s laptop.
There were numerous hotels on this strip—one of them would suffice. One night, just to organize everything online, then she’d disappear for good.
And Manchu?
Fresh pain bloomed in her chest, and her steps faltered. Maybe she could find a way to sneak back in a few days’ time and steal him away. After everything Annabelle and Stef had told her about shifters, she doubted it.
She pushed through the entrance, blinking back tears.I’m sorry, Manchu.
“Well, look what we have here.” Two men blocked her way. Two men with tattoos peeking out from under their collars. “Going somewhere, little hacker?”
* * * *
Louis slammed the door and stormed back into the suite. She was gone. Their mate was gone. He picked up a chair and threw it at the wall before rounding on his brother.
“Fuck you, Pierre. We should have told her!” Louis jabbed himself in the chest. “Iwantedto tell her, but no,you”—he stabbed his finger at his brother, the pain of Melinda leaving fueling his fury—“youdecided we shouldn’t.”
“You think it would have ended any differently had we told her?” Pierre shot back. “We betrayed her, Louis. Lied to her.Putain, we stalked her. Bought an apartment in her building, hacked into her security feeds and watched her make tea.”
Louis prowled back and forth in front of his brother. He itched to throw another chair at the wall. Better yet, turn wolf and shred the fucking sofa, the entire suite. Anything to appease the agony threatening to swallow him whole. “So, what, we just let her walk away? Why didn’t you let me go after her?”
“She’ll be back.”
Louis gaped at his brother. “Whythe fuckwould she come back?”
“Think, Louis. Where is she going to go? She can’t return to London. She doesn’t have a valid visa to be here.”
“Melinda’s a hacker,tête de noeud, and she has her laptop.”
