Verdant Eyes tilts his head to the side as he appraises me. “I know you,” he says after a long beat.
“No you don’t,” I say hurriedly.
That makes him release a dark chuckle. “Yes, I do. Mira. Mira Greene, right? I’ve seen you around Greywood.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Idogo to Greywood University, but I don’t recall ever seeingthismale around. Then again, I tend not to pay attention to faces; a skill I learned when I started getting overwhelmed as a child. Looking into faces serves as a direct line to seeing a person’s true nature, and I amsickof learning things I wish I didn’t.
“I ran into you at the library once,” he goes on. “I helped you get a book from a high shelf.”
“What?” I breathe. I don’teverremember seeing this guy before.
My befuddlement appears to irritate him. “You don’t remember? I asked you for your number.”
Flashlight Guy releases a snort of disbelief. “You didwhat?Asked agirlfor her phone number?”
“Shut up,” Verdant Eyes snaps at Flashlight Guy. Back to me: “You said you have texts to prove you’re here for a hike?”
“Doesn’t matter if she’s here for a hike,” Flashlight Guy says. “Even if she wasn’t sent by anyone, she saw something. If she didn’t see something, she heard something. That’s a loose end.”
I have a dreadful feeling that these guys are not the sort to let loose ends walk away. “What I heard was someone sayinggo deeper,” I say, trying to keep the tremor from my voice. “I’m not a fan of watching public sex, so I tucked tail. As far as I’m concerned, the two of you could’ve been fucking under the cover of darkness. I heard nothing important. Please let me go—I guarantee I won’t say anything.”
“Maybe youdidn’thear or see anything,” Flashlight Guy says, “but then we chased you. You’re currently pinned down on cold soil. You could report that. If you report that, it could cause someone to take a closer look at us. They won’t find anything, of course, but I’d prefer not to be under investigation. Investigations are headaches, and I don’t react nicely to potential headaches.”
“I amnotgoing to report you,” I say firmly. “What I want is to go home so I can get up in time for my 9 a.m. class. I already stayed way too late with the wolf pack.”
“Okay,” Verdant Eyes says. “Everyone calm the fuck down. Mira, I’m going to back up enough for you to grab your phone. Is it in your back pocket?”
Maybe I’ll still get out of this alive. Flashlight Guy doesn’t seem to want to let me go, but Verdant Eyes is slightly more reasonable, even though I’ve shirked him by not remembering him. If he asked me for my phone number, he probably liked me; if he likes me, he might hesitate to see me as a loose end. I usually have no problem gauging someone’s emotional state—in fact, I can’t seem tostop—but right now, my fear is overwhelming my ability to get a good sense for him.
“Mira?” he prompts, arching an eyebrow.
I clear my throat. “It’s in my back right pocket, and I can’t move my right arm. I’ll need to sit up to grab it.”
His brows furrow. “What’s wrong with your right arm?”
“I think my shoulder’s dislocated. Not sure yet, but it hurts a lot.”
Flashlight Guy scoffs. “Bullshit. If it was dislocated, you’d be crying and screaming in pain.”
I contemplate informing him that I have experiencedfarworse pain than a mere dislocation, so a shoulder out of its socket is very manageable, but decide against it. He won’t care, and I don’t feel like talking about my past. “Okay.”
“She could lunge at your throat with a knife,” Flashlight Guy comments. “She has one on her belt.”
Verdant eyes runs his hands along my belt, swiftly unclipping my knife and tossing it toward Flashlight Guy. “I’ll pull back. You’ll sit up and grab your phone. Don’t make any sudden moves. Agreed?”
I nod. “Yeah, agreed.”
He does exactly as he said he would, leaning back. I prop my left hand on the ground to push myself up, grimacing at the pain shooting down my right arm, then awkwardly reach for my phone with my left hand and wriggle my ass until I’ve managed to retrieve it. Before I can enter the password, Verdant Eyes snatches it from my hands. “Password?” he asks—demands.
I frown. “Can I put it in?”
“No. It wasn’t a question. You are treading onextremelythin ice, Mira. I’d highly recommend you cooperate.”
I swallow my pride and tell him the six digit code. He spends several long minutes tapping around my phone, probably going through my texts, social media messages, and who knows what else. Meanwhile, I try to move my right arm around without much success—it’sdefinitelydislocated. I donotfeel like paying the medical bill to get it fixed, so I’ll need to ask Valerie to help me relocate it. She’s a pre-med major, so she’ll probably be able to help.
That is,ifI make it home tonight.
“She’s telling the truth,” Verdant Eyes says. “There are texts with her friends confirming her story.” He looks back at me. “The fuck were you doing with a wolf pack?”
