“Who the fuck did this to you?”
His deep voice rumbles through me.
“A student?”
Why did I say it like a question? I hate the way my words are so unsure now that I’m here, standing in front of the massive wall of charisma and anger staring at me.
“From the college?” he demands.
“Yes. Ledger. He’s new. He took me out on a date, and well, it went quite badly.” To my shock I start to giggle, but it turns into a small sob, and I clap my hand over my mouth, embarrassed.
The door to the clubhouse swings open, and a tall man with curly, light brown hair strides out. I recognize him. He came to the party held at the college a few months ago, and he’s handsome enough that I can recall himandhis name.Ace.
He catches sight of me, and his face lights up in a wide smile, revealing perfect teeth and twin dimples in his cheeks. He clearly recognizes me, too. But then the expression fades.
“What’s going on?” His normally relaxed face turnstense as he stares at me. “Hey, I know you, right? You’re Vani’s friend.”
I nod and sniff, acutely aware of how pathetic I must appear.
“She was on a date, and it went bad.” Jack scowls up the hill toward the fence. “He out there?”
“I mean, he was. I don’t know if he went back to the college.”
“Chopper,” Jack calls to one of the six men loitering around. “Take the dogs and some men, see if you can find that fucker.”
“No, you can’t,” I cry, horrified.
“Can’t?” He looks at me as if that word is not in his vocabulary. “Oh, but I can.”
“No, but you don’t understand. The college has rules. It’s complicated, but if you harm him, then I might be the one who must pay. Because he did this to me, the dean and his son will deal with him. They’ll make sure he never does anything like this again, but I only have a short time left until graduation. If you kill him, they’ll throw me out.”
He scrubs a hand over his beard. “Fine. If we catch him, we’ll keep him here overnight and take him back to the dean, Nataniele, tomorrow, but if I’m not happy with whatever he decides, Iwilltake my own form of justice.”
I sigh, but I don’t argue. I’m suddenly exhausted beyond all belief, and I feel as if I’m going to faint or throw up.
A huge yawn takes me by surprise, and I’m shocked that I can be thinking of sleep when so much truly bad stuff has happened.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I can’t believe I’m so tired.”
“That will be the adrenaline crash,” Ace supplies,dragging a hand through his curls and tilting his head to one side as he regards me. “You’re probably in a bit of shock.”
“Come on. Let’s put you to bed,” Jack rumbles.
“Here?” I squeak.
“Yeah. You can’t go back to the college tonight if we don’t catch that fucker, and you’ll be safe here. I’ll have Ace and a couple of the guards watch out for you.”
Nodding, I start to follow Ace, but step on another stone.
“Damn it,” I yelp. I should really put my shoes back on, but I also don’t want to wobble around in those stupid heels. I’m already not feeling very steady, and I’d probably turn my ankle.
Suddenly, my feet leave the ground, and I find myself wrapped in the biggest pair of arms I’ve ever known and held against a solid wall of muscle. Jack carries me to a building I had seen but not taken too much notice of. It looks almost like a very small motel, two stories, with three doors on the ground floor, and three on the second.
“Putting her in one of the bunk rooms?” Ace asks, trotting along behind us.
“Yep. Best place for her tonight.”
They’re talking about me as if I’m not here, but I’m too exhausted to fight. I simply rest my head against the crook of Jack’s neck and shoulder and breathe in his delicious scent of leather and oil.
