Page 10 of The Hunt
I rocked back on my heels. “Yep. What are you doing here?”
“Came to see the laurel trees,” he said. “They’re my favorite.”
“Really?” I asked. “Mine too.”
“I–Oh, really? I didn’t know. I was thinking, maybe if you’re free after this–”
“She’s not interested,” someone said behind me, slinging an arm around my shoulders.
My eyes widened, and I turned to see nobody other than the idiot himself, Apollo DeLuca. He pulled me closer to his chest, his pointed glare on Mark’s innocent expression, almost sizing him up.
What is he doing here?! What is it, Stalk Daphne Day?!
“We’re going out after this,” Apollo said. “So run along.”
“We are not,” I said, shoving him away.
“Who’s this?” Mark asked me.
“We’ve met before,” Apollo said, stepping in front of me, a sinister smile crossing his face. Except it wasn’t friendly. Not in the slightest. “In the library, when you were stalking Daphne, just like you were in the Coffee House earlier today too. You know who I am, Mark.”
Mark’s gaze flickered between Apollo and me. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t fucking play with me,” Apollo growled. “I told you to get lost.”
Warmth spread through my body at the sheer protectiveness that Apollo was giving off right now, because–I shook my head. No, no. This was all weird. Apollo and Mark both shouldn’t be here. It wasn’t hot that Apollo was here, protecting me. Stop it, Daphne.
Mark looked at me, waiting for me to answer for Apollo.
But I kept my mouth shut, because Apollo was right. Why was Mark everywhere that I went? Was he really stalking me? Why hadn’t I thought about that earlier? Redwood was so small that I chalked it up to being a coincidence.
Multiple coincidences.
After another moment, Apollo put his hands on Mark and spun him around, so he faced the exit. “Thanks for keeping her company, but I’ve got it from here. Why don’t you go back to Redwood before something happens?”
The threat in Apollo’s voice did something to me… something bad.
To my surprise, Mark cleared his throat and headed toward the exit. Apollo didn’t turn around until Mark had disappeared from our view. Then he took my hands. “You need to be more aware, Daph. He’s been following you since you left sch–”
I ripped my hands out of his. “You’re one to talk.”
Something dark flashed in his eyes. “Oh, so you’d rather he stalked you?”
“That doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t even be here.”
“It does matter.”
“Leave.”
“A simple thank you would be nice, Daph.”
“What would I thank you for?! For stalking me too?”
“For saving your ass.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
A smug smirk stretched across his face. “You didn’t have to.”
