“I can just eat something in the morning.”
His jaw was clenched enough to cut steel. I heard him swear under his breath before he glanced at his watch. “Ms. Darling, if you don’t give me an idea, I’ll have everything from steak and fries to ice cream brought up here.”
Brought to me? As if I was a prisoner here. “Whatever, then. Send bread. I’ll try to eat some, I guess.”
“Right.” He straightened his cuff links. “Be gentle on your wrist tonight. I’ll check it tomorrow. And make sure to eat something once it’s brought.”
He left me in the perfect room of a perfect estate with the perfect view.
Steak, fries, five different flavors of ice cream, and bread were brought to my door within an hour.
I didn’t eat any of it.
Mia
THE NIGHTMARES WEREN’T THEworst part of sleeping at Jameson Knight’s estate that evening. For me, it was the unknown.
While sleeping, I couldn’t control what thoughts raced through my mind, but when I was awake, I wondered about the man who’d dragged me here. Was he keeping me here to protect himself or me? Was he actually a good dad and man? He couldn’t be when he’d killed others.
And that’s where my nightmares took me. To the killing. To the blood. To the school.
I woke to my own screams and a swift knock at my door.
I glanced at the clock and grumbled about it being only seven in the morning. If it was Archer, he was a whole hour early. So, I wasn’t feeling great about answering the door in pajamas, which I’d found in the dresser—in my size. They were black silk and not at all what I would normally wear, and so I’d dug in my duffel for my tried-and-true cactus pajamas.
Padding over to the door, I cracked it open. And there stood Archer with Franny, her grandmother, and another man. I remembered her haughty stare and how she’d looked completely put together even in the midst of an attack on the school. Now,she looked down her nose at me, her wool suit pressed perfectly and her makeup not a touch out of place.
“Ms. Darling? Are you okay?” Franny wrung her hands while she stared at me with worried eyes.
Grandmother Knight added, “You were screaming.” Her tone wasn’t at all concerned like her granddaughter’s, but rather annoyed.
“Oh, of course.” I patted Franny’s shoulder as I assessed the man next to them. He was tall like Jameson but had almost completely black hair, so dark it was almost a hue of blue. His eyes were all shadows, an onyx color as he stood there with his arms crossed like he was perturbed with my presence already. “I was having a bad dream is all.”
“I get those too.” Franny nodded as if this were all completely normal. “I can check your room though.” She lifted pink little binoculars from her neck and ran in to look out the window. “Sometimes I can see if there’s a threat from afar.”
“No threats, Franny,” the formidable man responded immediately. “I’m here to make sure of it.”
She dropped the binoculars and smiled over her shoulder, her curls swaying wildly. “Hades, I had to double check the perimeter just in case. It’s all clear.” She smoothed her maroon dress with a black bow down before she got to the next matter she felt needed to be discussed. “Now, Ms. Darling, have you met Hades and Grandma? Archer gets to play with us all day, too, he said.”
I smiled at Archer, and he winked at me. “Seems I’ve been called to duty.”
“Thank goodness. Mr. Bos and Ms. Prim were missing you already.” I pointed behind me at the foliage on my dresser.
The sigh that fell from his lips was like an old melody to my ears. “Those flowers don’t care one iota about anything.”
“Then why is their color off today, Archer?”
He took a second to narrow his eyes at them. He’d see the environmental change affected them. It was so completely obvious. “They look the same, Ms. Darling.”
Botany wasn’t Archer’s strong suit. “I’ll show you what’s different later.” I waved away his frown, and then I folded my hands together as I turned to the others, not sure how to approach any of them.
I tried not to shrink under their assessment, but I was still in my pajamas and my hair probably looked like a bird had made a nest of it.
“I’m only Grandma to Franny. To everyone else, I’m Mrs. Knight.” The older woman smoothed the tight dark bun on her head and pointed to Hades. “Hades is head of security and is trained in combat. He will protect Franny at all costs.”
“He would have been very good at protecting us at the school with Archer, Ms. Darling. Hades is even better than my daddy at hide-and-seek.”
Franny’s tone was grave, and I saw how her grandmother’s facade broke for just a moment. The one line between her brows deepened as she patted Franny on the shoulder. “You’re always protected, Fran.”
