“Evening.” A figure emerges from a side path. “You three in a rush?”
Agent Knight looks at the three of us, expression unreadable, lips curving faintly.
My arm tightens around Arianette. Every instinct in my body goes on alert. Knight has already put one innocent man in jail, and Arianette? She’s not fucking innocent. Not by a long shot.
“Agent,” Hunter says, taking a small step in front of Arianette.
“And no,” I say, “We’re not in a rush.”
He looks down at her. “You look rattled, Ms. Hexley. You sure you’re okay?”
I feel the press of my gun at my back but make no moves, and answer for her. “The Baroness wanted to show her respect and support for Kelsey and her family, but as you can imagine, it’s a little rough.”
“I’ve been meaning to check up on you.” The way he looks at me, I feel like he’s taking an assessment. “To see if you’ve recovered any memories.”
Her fingers twist into mine, and she shakes her head. “No.”
I run a hand down her back.Good girl.
“That’s unfortunate,” he says, running a hand through his dark hair. “Because whoever is doing this isn’t leaving us much to go on. I have a feeling whatever we’re going to find out is going to come from you.”
“I don’t know anything,” she whispers. “About anyone. Not about the dark or the footsteps. Hard hands. Sharp teeth.”
She’s spiraling, and when Arianette starts to spiral…fuck.
“Sharp teeth?” The agent’s eyebrow lifts.
“Red. So much red.” She holds up her hands and looks around, like she’s not fully here. I know she’s not back at the riverbank. She’s in the hunt. With Armand. With us.
“Agent, as you can tell, Arianette is not in a good state of mind right now, but if you’d like to make an official appointment to discuss the case with the Baroness, you can go through the Baron King’s lawyer,” Hunter says, his tone a million times calmer than mine would have been. Which is why my mouth is shut.
We leave him standing there, and I urge her along, half carrying her back to the truck. Once we’re inside, away from the noise of the vigil, Arianette stays close, burrowed into my side. I’m not sure, but I think I hear her murmur,“You know too much.”
With Ari, you never know. Not what’s real and what’s part of her imagination–her memories on a confused loop. I tighten my grip around her, because imagination or not, someone put that thought in her head–and that’s enough to change the game.
“It’s like he knows,”I say, looking down at Arianette, curled on her side like she’s folded in on herself. She has one hand tucked under her cheek and Ares is stretched out at her feet, solid and watchful even in sleep, his flank rising and falling slow and steady. No matter how much space Hunter tried to put between his dog and Arianette after the fire, Ares is determined to stick by her side.
“Right?” Hunter replies, giving his dog a stroke on the head.
“Did you hear what she said?” I ask quietly. “Back at the vigil?”
Hunter shrugs out of his coat and hangs it over the back of the desk chair, movements careful, like noise itself might set her off again. “The part about how she never should’ve run?”
“Yeah. And then…” I lower my voice further, glancing at her face. Peaceful now. “I’m pretty sure she said something like ‘you know too much.’”
Hunter drags a hand through his hair. “It’s hard to know with her. Half the time it’s memory, half the time it’s… whatever else is in there.”
“I know.” I look down at her, really look. Whatever storm had her shaking at the vigil has eased for now. We got her into the car before it swallowed her whole, got her home before she fractured any further–this time. Still, my chest tightens thinking about how close it was.
“Do you thinkhesaid it?” I ask.
Hunter doesn’t pretend not to know who I mean. “Armand?”
“Yeah. Like right before she?—”
Footsteps echo off the stone floors and the King steps in the room. He’s masked, unlike at the vigil, where he was acting as Timothy Maddox, and I notice the tight roll of papers tucked under one arm. The statement on my tongue is swallowed and I pray he didn’t hear us.
He seems focused on other things though, his gaze going straight to where Arianette is sleeping. His mouth turns down slightly. “How is she? I noticed she seemed panicked.” His tone sounds even, but there’s a hint of concern. “It’s understandable, given the circumstances. But Knight–what did he say to her?”
