When Griffin was filled in on everything I knew, he turned to Hunter. “You followed Amanda from Grenève. You enrolled in the same college. Why didn’t you tell her you were fromGrenève?”
Hunter’s words were strained. “Princess Amandine made a foolish mistake leaving Grenève. But it wasn’t my place to do anything but try to protect her. And then I got to know her. I fell in love withher.”
“You have no accent,” Griffinstated.
Hunter sneered. “I couldn’t very well blend in with an accent, couldI?”
“You loved her so much that you had to kill her?” Isaid.
“Yes,” hereplied.
Griffin was clearly about to lose control. His hands were clenched into tight fists, and his face was red, making the whiteness of the scars stand out even more prominently. “Why didn’t you kill meinstead?”
“I will,” Hunter replied. “And I’m really excited to kill your new bitch. I see the way you look at her when she’s not payingattention.”
Griffin snarled his lip but didn’t respond, so Hunter continued. “Princess Amandine had to be punished. She abandoned her country, married a commoner, anAmericancommoner. She bought a house in the American suburbs! She couldn’t be allowed back inGrenève.”
Griffin let out a roar and punched Hunter on the jaw. Hard. Really, extremely hard. Hunter’s head snapped back, and he slumped in his seat, outcold.
“I don't want to hear anymore. The Grenèvian government can deal with him.” Griffin turned toward the fireplace. “If he keeps talking, I might killhim.”
The lights popped back on. Hunter’s instructions had been correct. I sighed inrelief.
“Well now what do we do with him?” Iasked.
“We lock him up until the blizzard is over and give him to the police. I’m sure they’ll want to extradite him toGrenève.”
We waited on Chandler and Ellion to join us so we could move Hunter to a more secureroom.
“What time is it?” I asked Griffin. The constant darkness made it impossible for me to tell how long I’d been their unwittingguest.
“It’s almost one in the morning,” heanswered.
I did the calculations—I’d only been with them for a little over forty-eight hours. In barely more than two days I’d begun to care for them and slept with one of them. I was considering a relationship with them after only two days. I had to get out of that house and away from their time-sucking powers ofattraction.
Ellion and Chandler stomped in, distracting me from mythoughts.
“We’re going to go up on the roof and see if we can’t get the internet fixed, too. We might as well while we’re bundled up. The snow has let up a little bit, and we should be able to get to the equipment,” Ellionsaid.
They were covered in thick winter gear from head to toe. If not for their height differences, I wouldn’t be able to tell who was who. They disappeared in the direction of the library. I presumed a roof exit was down thatwing.
“Want me to help you move him?” I askedGriffin.
He was sitting on the floor in front of Hunter, staring a hole through him. He grunted. “No. I want to wait.” That was all he seemed in the mood tosay.
“Well, since he’s obviously not a threat to you, I’m going to go sleep for a while. I’m tired, my ribs and head hurt, and it’s been a crazy day. Wake me up if anyone needs me.” I’d had enough. I needed to rest my addled mind and get away from the men who had turned my emotions upside down. Not three days before, I was convinced I needed to be single for awhile.
My words to Ellie echoed in my mind.I always assumed that when I meet the right guy, the rest will fall into place.I didn’t know if they were the right guys, but events certainly had conspired to allow us to get to know oneanother.
The shower called my name as I walked by the bathroom, so I hopped in for a quick one before bed. When I left the bathroom in only a towel, Ellion was knocking on my bedroomdoor.
“Linda!” He blushed bright red to see me in my towel. “I wanted to tell you the internet is fixed. You can call yourfamily.”
My heart caught in my chest. They’d gone two days without hearing a word from me. I always sent texts to our family group chat when I flew. When they hadn’t got them they’d probably all freaked out. I ran to my room to change before remembering I’d left my clothes washing in the laundry room that morning. It seemed like my flirtations with Chandler had happened weeks before, nothours.
All propriety thrown to the wind, I hurried across the house in my white towel to get my clothes. Unfortunately they were still in the washer. I whimpered, too excited about calling Arch to wait. I threw the clothes in the dryer and grabbed the first t-shirt I saw in a basket on top of the dryer. I dug around in the basket until I came to a pair of boxers. They were way too snug at the waist to make me happy, but I blamed it on my curves, which were sexy, dammit, and ran out to findEllion.
He wasn’t in the kitchen or living room, so I headed to the lab. He was booting up his various computers. He handed me a phone first thing. Arch’s was the only number I knew by heart so I dialedhim.
