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Elio reaches into his pocket and retrieves a keychain with several keys and a bottle opener attached to it—my keys that I lost, along with my taser.
My jaw drops. “Where did you… Have you had those the whole time?”
“No, I haven’t.” He chuckles and replaces them in his pocket. “The other night I went for a walk and wound up at the place where the portal dumped you out. I found them and knew they had to be yours.”
I close the distance between us and look up to meet his dark eyes. “So you just decided not to tell me?”
He averts his gaze, suddenly distracted by one of the tasseled throw pillows on the bed, which he runs his fingers over.
“I apologize.” His accent makes his apology one or two syllables too long, but it sounds sexy when he says it. “I’ve been a little… preoccupied.”
“And here I thought it was just because you hate me.”
There’s a brief moment of silence before Elio replies. “I don’t.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say, mainly under my breath. “Is that all you came to tell me?”
He turns back to face me and tucks both his hands into his pants pockets, giving him a strikingly poised appearance. If they had male models in the monster realm, Elio would definitely be one. He’s fine as hell.
“Yes and no.” He shifts again, swaying back and forth on the spot. “Azarius asked me to check on you and see if you needed anything, and I wanted to warn you. Please refrain from doing anything stupid while we’re gone.”
Irritation brews in my chest, and my brows knit together over my eyes. “Excuse me?”
“I meant what I said. You have a tendency for rash behavior, and if you get into trouble while we’re gone, we can’t protect you. You’re on your own.”
I press my lips into a firm line. While he’s not completely wrong—I do have a knack for getting myself into daunting situations—he doesn’t have to be such a dick about it.
“I thought Azarius said the Malevs don’t come this far into the woods.”
He steps toward me until we’re toe to toe and drops his voice to an intimidating whisper. “I’m not just talking about what lurks outside these walls.”
Rafe.
That’s who he’s trying to warn me about.
If I mess around and cross Rafe, they can’t save me this time. And there’s no telling if Azarius’s claim will hold any weight without him here.
“So I’m just supposed to stay in this room while you’re gone?” I ask, gesturing around us with a sweep of my hand.
He nods once. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Azarius was worried you might try to argue, but I’ll be happy to tell him you enthusiastically agreed.”
My jaw drops, and I struggle to string words together. When I don’t respond immediately, Elio takes the chance to bow his head slightly and turn for the door.
“See you later, princess.”
Princess?
Before I can say anything else, the door snaps closed behind him and he’s gone. I’m left standing in the middle of the room with my jaw slack, wondering what the hell I did to make Elio hate me so much. Rafe, I can almost understand. He probably hates Elio and Azarius to some extent. But I’ve been nothing but nice to Elio. I have no idea what his deal is.
Maybe Azarius knows. They’re best friends. Surely they tell each other everything.
I make a mental note to ask him tonight when they get back.
As I gaze around the guest room, it suddenly feels small and stuffy despite being nearly as big as Azarius’s quarters. I perch my hands on my hips. He wants me to stay in this room all day and behave like a good girl.
I think not.
If he really wanted me to stay in one spot all day, he would have locked me in. Or chained me up, which might be kind of hot if I wasn’t so pissed right now.
