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‘At the end of the day, she has to look out for number one.’
‘Yeah,’ Archie agreed. He cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘We spoke briefly about Ace. She said she didn’t even cry at his funeral. She said that he was more like a tormentor than her brother.’
‘His funeral? He’s only missing.’Weknew that he was dead, but the Devon pack didn’t, at least not for sure.
‘Missing, presumed dead,’ Archie said. ‘Thea said that Beckett had him scried by one of the local witches. The scry failed, and the way in which it failed told Beckett that Ace is dead, so they had a funeral for him.’
‘What about Lauren?’ I asked. ‘Did they have a funeral for her?’
Archie grimaced. ‘Apparently not. She wasn’t important enough to warrant one. They didn’t bother scrying for her, what with it being so expensive. I guess they just assumed that if Ace was dead, so was Lauren.’
I hadn’t liked Lauren; she’d been a stone-cold bitch and she’d attacked Archie ruthlessly. That said, she had family somewhere and they deserved closure. Beckett Frost’s lack of consideration for others was clear in his every action.
‘What do you think about Thea?’ I asked carefully.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I think she may have a romantic interest in you. And if you’re right about what she’s been through, you need to tread carefully. Slowly.’
He blushed a little and looked away. ‘She seems nice,’ he said finally.
‘Well, keep on watching out for her. For now, be her friend. But Archie? Be careful. This could all be an elaborate act.’
He nodded. ‘I know. But honestly? That’s not the vibe I get from her.’ He stood to leave. ‘Thank you for your time, alpha.’
‘Before you go Archie, how does the pack feel generally?’
He shrugged. ‘Everyone is upset by Bobby’s disappearance.’ He hesitated. ‘We heard about the dead gargoyle being found in the grounds and a few people are muttering about why they weren’t told about it – particularly as we were all gathered that evening for the pack movie night.’
I hadn’t wanted to alarm anyone, and I’d wanted to deal with it myself. Now that was biting me on the ass. Lesson learned; I needed to be more transparent with the pack.
Outwardly I shrugged. ‘At the time, it was need to know – and none of you needed to know. It was gargoyle business. The gargoyles were summoned and they dealt with the body. There was no need for anyone to get alarmed.’
Archie hesitated again and licked his lips nervously. ‘Some people are saying that if we’d known about the body, we’d have been more on our guard. Perhaps Sonia would have waited until she saw Bobby was inside the school building before she drove off. That’s not what I think,’ he added hastily. ‘I’m just repeating what’s been said.’
Guilt roiled in my tummy. I’d had the same thought, but it was too late to do anything about it now. ‘Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it.’
‘For what it’s worth, alpha, I’ve done my best to argue with anyone who’s spoken against you.’
‘I appreciate the support.’ I smiled at him. ‘Thank you.’
‘There are only a few detractors,’ he assured me. ‘The pack are warming to you.’
‘I hope so.’
Archie gave me a respectful nod and left me to my reading. I couldn’t help being unsettled by his comments. The worst thing was that I felt they were right: perhaps if I’d been more open about Hamlet’s death, Bobby would never have been snatched.
Chapter 16
Iwasbusystewingin my own guilt and inadequacy when the door burst open and in ran Greg. ‘Something has been dumped at our gates. I can’t make it out from the angle of our cameras but someone sped up, rolled it out of their car and drove off again. I’ll go and see what it is.’
‘I’m coming too. Let’s go.’ I had a bad feeling about this. Don’t let it be Bobby. Don’t let it be Bobby. I’ll give up chocolate éclairs if it’s not Bobby.
I followed Greg as we both broke into a run. It’s a good thing Esme is so fanatical about fitness; I’m not as fast as her on two legs, but I’m not slow either. Anyway, I didn’t want to wait to strip off my clothes in order to change.
Greg quickly outpaced me. I ignored the burning in my legs as I pushed myself to follow him down our long gravel drive. As we ran I heard a whinny, then Ares joined us. He trotted effortlessly, keeping pace with me. ‘Show off,’ I panted.
Greg arrived at the metal gates first and keyed in a code to open them. He dashed to the heap on the ground. ‘He’s dead,’ he called to me. He would have said if it were Bobby – and anyway, it was too big. The dead guy was an adult.
