“I’m going to do my best, yes. But, Riley, I don’t know anything about pack laws or admittance into Havenfall.”
Riley’s face ages years beyond her time in a matter of seconds. The downward slant of her eyes and mouth tells me I’ve just made her lose the little bit of the hope she was clinging to.
“I can try…” I find myself saying just because I can’t stand to see the look of defeat on her face. And because I want to help her, that’s exactly what I’m here for.
Riley picks her head up, her eyes searching mine. “You will?”
I reach for her hand and fold mine over hers. “I will, I promise. Now, let’s talk about how you got into Havenfall.”
Riley pulls her hand out from under mine. “I got caught stealing.” Her voice takes on a defensive edge. “We were hungry.” My heart aches at the shame on her face. “Our pack is small, poor. I didn’t even know about Havenfall before getting sent here.”
Riley leaves my office a short time later. I jot down a few quick notes about the pack she and her brother Jacob come from.
My first step is getting him into Havenfall, then I need to figure out how to build an outreach program so we can prevent this kind of stuff from happening in the future.
I pick up my desk phone while running my finger down the computer monitor so I can get the extension I’m looking for.
“Yes?” I cringe when I hear Millie’s voice on the other end of the line. Did it have to be her?
“Hi, this is Quinn Shaw, I’d like to make an appointment with Director Stone.”
There’s a brief pause. “Unfortunately, the headmaster isn’t available to you for appointments.”
“He isn’t available to me?” I ball my hand into a fist on my desk. Griffin, that jerk!
“That’s what I said, Ms. Shaw. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Her voice is saccharine sweet. I just bet she’s loving this. I don’t even know why she doesn’t like me.
I tap my nail on the desk and run my eyes over the names on my extension roster. Evan Winters’ name pops out. “You know what, no. I’m good. Thanks.” I mash the button on the phone to end the call and dial Evan’s extension. It rings a few times before he picks up.
“Yeah?” He pants down the line.
“Mr. Winters, this is Quinn. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
There’s a prolonged grunting sound before he answers, “No, what do you need?”
“I was hoping to speak with you in person. I’m free now if you have time?”
“I’ll need about ten minutes to finish up, meet me in the gym?” There’s a loud thump and Evan makes anoomphsound, followed by a string of curses.
“Sure, I’ll see you there.” I look at the phone receiver in my hand and wonder what the hell I interrupted, because surely it was something, before setting the phone back in its cradle.
Chapter 9
Griffin
Evan sends a short,powerful jab to my side. If I had to worry about things like organ function, I’d be in trouble. I let the hit crash into my flank, then pull my knee up while jerking his shoulder down. I feel the air in his lungs gust out when he bends forward. He bounces back on his toes, fists already up. There’s a tiny drop of blood on the corner of his mouth from an earlier hit.
Evan grins and uses his forearm to wipe it away. He knows I let him get the hit in on me so I could return the favor. Without using our abilities, we’re fairly evenly matched in skill and strength. There’s no one else here I could spar with and not have to pull my punches. Same goes for him. Good thing my best friend is as much of a glutton for punishment as I am.
“You’re distracted,” he accuses, and motions for me to come at him again. He’s right, I am. It’s not the small crowd that always seems to form when we fight. I’m used to them, but the human woman up on the third floor is clouding my head. That’s why I came down here after she all but ordered me out of her office. I need something to get her out of my head before I storm back in there and tie a pretty red ribbon around her wrist like she accused me of doing, only I’d attach it to my bed. Not an image I’ll soon get out of my thoughts, I’m sure.
Evan seemed just as eager to spar as I was. Which makes me wonder what he has on his mind. He hasn’t asked me any questions, nor have I asked him, but I can see the inquires in his gaze. When we get done here, he’ll want to know—unless I can put him on his back, then he’ll be too pissed at himself to worry about me.
Keeping my eyes locked on his, I feign a jab but sweep my leg out instead. He’s too smart, too trained to fall for the move, but it does open him up for a left hook to the jaw. Evan’s head rocks back, but he recovers quickly. Another drop of ruby liquid teases his bottom lip.
Evan doesn’t wait for me to attack this time, he steps into me, getting a few punches to his torso from me in response. I have a brief warning before he jerks his head back and slams his forehead down over the bridge of my nose. “Fucker.” I spit the blood that’s filling my mouth onto the mat and bare my bloody teeth at him.
There are some hushed gasps and sounds of appreciation from the crowd, but we both ignore it. No one here would risk their lives to get at the powerful blood spilled on the ground, his or mine. Once we’re gone, some of the baby blooded vamps who don’t have full control might come to see if there’s anything left worth consuming, but not now.
