Page 61 of A Valiant Prince

“False alarm, we think it was just deer tripping a motion sensor,” Jack says. “I’m rounding up everyone else; we’ll head over to the house shortly.”

“Alright. Thanks for letting us know,” Anna says.

Jack nods and closes the door.

Anna sighs and pulls her legs up against her chest, wrapping her arms around them and placing her chin on top.

“I want this to end,” she murmurs.

“That makes two of us,” I agree.

She turns her head to look at me. “Can we go on the boat?” she asks.

I furrow my brows. “Now?” I ask.

She half smiles. “No, when this is over. Can we go on the boat?” she reiterates.

“Of course. You are always welcome on The Matilda,” I say to her.

We decide not to change into our dirty clothes. So, we pile them in some plastic bags we find in the room and head down to the car. Eli is down in the waiting room, which looks more like a living room.

“Hope you all slept well,” he says cheerily.

“We did. Thank you again for your…hospitality,” Anna says, searching for the right word. He grins.

“You’re welcome,” he replies as we make our way toward the car and back to Jack’s house.

We are all quiet on the way there. It still feels like a calm before the storm, before the inevitable happens. As we reach the house, the wind picks up and an actual storm begins moving in.

“Let’s get inside,” Jack yells, ushering us in as the rain begins. We aren’t in the house for five minutes when a lightning bolt hits nearby and the power goes out.

“Well, that’s fucking fantastic,” Auggie mutters.

“Wait here,” Jack says. He’s back with battery-operated lanterns for each of us.

“Seriously?” Anna asks.

Jack shrugs. “You can never be too prepared,” he says.

“Well, someone was a Boy Scout,” I mutter.

“Is the power out at the cottage?” Anna asks.

“The cottage has a backup generator. This house does too, but that lightning strike was pretty close, I’m going to have to check on things. Give me a few minutes to get the power back up here, and then the storm should be passing, and I can take you over there,” Jack says to her.

“Anna, seriously? Do you really need to go out in this?” Chris asks.

“Yes,” she says defiantly, jutting out her chin. I do my best to keep my grin in check.

Chris rolls his eyes. “I can’t sit around here. I’m going to see if Jack needs any help,” he says. He turns to Mia. “Why don’t you wait in our room?”

“Sure,” she says. I practically bite my tongue as they look longingly at each other. If they aren’t having sex yet, they might physically combust from it.

Chris disappears down the hall where Jack went. Cain and Hendrick follow him. Pete turns to us.

“Anna, maybe you should stay put for now?” he suggests, glancing out the window where the rain is pelting the glass.

Anna looks outside just as another lightning bolt illuminates the dark sky.

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