Page 116 of Twisted Royals

“Lucas, man, don’t get us involved.” Carter shakes his finger at me. “Hunter can handle this one on his own.”

“If he called Seth, it’s because he needs a place to stash her.” I look to Seth. “How long?”

Seth shrugs. “He’s got another job to get to; he’s not dropping and picking up; he just wants to drop.”

“Great.” Carter plops down in a chair.

“Hunter’s one of us. And we don’t leave a man behind, right?” I meet eyes with every man. We’re not in the military anymore, so I won’t make this call without everyone on the team in agreement.

After getting six other nods, I turn back to Seth.

“Go on. Make the call.”

CHAPTER 3

Seraphina

“Is she ever gonna wake up?” a deep voice asks from somewhere in the distance.

“How much did Hunter fucking use?” An angry voice comes next. “How long has she been out?”

“Why don’t you both just relax?” A softer voice with a southern tilt to it is closer.

Someone sneezes, then curses.

“She’s gonna be hurting when she wakes. I’ll get the aspirin and some water. You guys leave her be and shut the door behind you when you leave.”

I lift my heavy hand to my head, trying to rub away the ache building behind my temples.

“She’s waking up,” the first voice says.

“Out.” The southern voice gets harder. “Lucas will talk to her first. Let’s go.”

There’s shuffling of feet.

I pry my eyes open as they adjust to the darkness. It’s just a room. A simple bedroom. I turn on the lamp closest to me and sink onto the edge of the bed. One of the voices had said he’d be back with aspirin.

I touch my throbbing head. I could use it.

Where am I? The question screams in my head, and I go to the window, pushing aside the thick drapes. Outside is shrouded in darkness. The moon hangs high tonight, and bright, but it doesn’t tell me anything about my location. All I can see are trees.

“You’d probably break your neck if you jumped.”

I spin around so fast at the sound of the stranger’s voice, my head whirls, knocking me off balance. I stumble on my own damn feet and fall forward, catching myself on the bed.

“Woah.” He’s next to me in a split second, his hands on my arms, helping me to my feet. “Those drugs will take a little while to work themselves out of your system. You have to be careful.”

Careful? Drugs?

I twist out of his grip, take a step back, and face my captor. He’s tall, so much taller than myself and I have to tilt my head back to see his face properly. He’s wearing a gray t-shirt that hugs every bit of his biceps and his chest. I move my gaze up further, over the scruff of his salt- and-pepper beard to his crystal blue eyes. They’re laser focused on me, like he’s waiting for me to make a move.

“Who are you?” I narrow my eyes and retreat another step.

He drops his hands to his sides, as if to prove he’s not a threat. “Your head’s hurting.” He points to the glass of water and bottle of pills he put down on the other night table when he came in. “Those will help.”

“I think you’ve helped plenty.” I’m too scared and too angry to care about politeness. “Where am I?”

“You’re in our care.” He takes a small step forward, and I scramble up onto the bed.

---