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Hayden set his coffee down, most of the drink gone. “His family here is almost as big as the Williams family on the West Coast. It’s possible he met you at an event sometime. Maybe he became obsessed then? While his family is important, it’s too far for him to have had a hope of getting you from your father, but once you weren’t protected? If he figured out your death had been faked, he might have just kept searching until he found you.”
“Maybe,” I said, unable to deny it. “My father knew a lot of people, after all, and I met more than I could hope to remember at parties.” I rubbed my eyes, the coffee not doing nearly enough to keep me awake.
Then again, I’d snuck out the night before, which meant I hadn’t managed any shut-eye. The idea of going to class today felt wholly impossible. How could I force myself to get up, put on a fake smile and see anyone?
“You should sleep,” Hayden said.
“No, I’m fine.”
“You aren’t fine. You’re going to pass out on the spot.” Hayden took my mostly untouched drink from my hands. “You can miss your classes today and rest. You won’t be any good in them anyway.”
“I’m supposed to meet up with my adviser,” I said.
“That’s at four this afternoon. If you sleep now, you’ll get a few hours before you have to go.”
“So I can still go?” Hope sprang inside me. I’d thought after this fiasco he’d end up locking me down. I figured they wouldn’t let me do anything after this whole mess.
“Yes,” Hayden said, but the harshness in his tone said he I was far from being off the hook. “And tonight, after you’re back, we will have averythorough conversation on exactly what you did wrong, Kenz.”
And here I thought I’d gotten off lightly…
* * * *
Hayden
“She asleep?” Vance asked when I got back to the living room.
“Yeah. I didn’t know if she’d fall asleep, so I sat there for a few minutes, but she was out fast.”
Char let out a long sigh, annoyance tinging the sound. “Well this sure all went to shit, didn’t it?”
I couldn’t argue with that. We’d thought we had some rich, spoiled brat in our custody, but come to find out we’d been really damn wrong. Who knew we’d had the pup of an entire wolf pack?
I sure don’t want to tangle with that pack if they come looking…
I drew my hand into a fist as I thought about how close we’d come to serious danger without even realizing it. If the Quad had found out we’d all but abducted their little sister…
I shuddered to think about the hell they’d rain down on us.
Not that we couldn’t handle it, but if we hadn’t even known?It could have easily turned into a bloodbath.
“She didn’t rat us out,” Vance said. “When the Fox asked her about us, she could have told him what we’d done, could have asked for help, but she didn’t. She lied to him and said we hadn’t done anything to her.”
Which brought up theotherthing she’d said, the part none of us had mentioned.
Her words still echoed in my head, the ones that had come through our bug.I love them.
She loved us? I shook my head at the foolish idea. She didn’t love us—she didn’t even know what love was. Even if she did, she was far too young and trusting to be making such claims.
“It’s just more proof that she’s too innocent,” Char said. “She should know better than to fall for people like us. She stupidly protected us instead of herself.”
“And she was turning herself over to Lorien for us, too,” I pointed out. “She was headed for that hotel just to keep us safe, to make sure Lorien didn’t target us.”
Just saying that made my temper sour, and I was glad she slept soundly in the other room instead of seeing my expression. Just thethoughtof her handing herself over made me feel as if I’d lose my sanity. What would that piece of shit do to her if he got his hands on her?
I won’t let that happen.
But how was I supposed to deal with a girl so ready to sacrifice herself? How was I supposed to protect someone who didn’t seem to give a damn about her own life?
