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My eyes widened. That wasn't what I had expected them to be looking for. I thought it would be about more women.
"I thought you'd find something on them," Marcus murmured thoughtfully. "Hopefully some of it is useful, and you can find out where they are hiding and if they know anything about Ariel."
"That's what this is about?" I asked on a hysterical laugh. "You could have probably asked Adrian about this and he would have told you. I know he's creepy and an a-hole, but I think he actually takes his role as a Council member seriously. He would have given you the information if you'd asked about it. We didn't need to take it to this extreme."
"Doesn't matter," Quinton said briskly. "It's done and over with now. We're going home and they'll be none the wiser. They'll wake up feeling hungover and thinking they had a good time all night long."
Quinton moved into me, grabbed hold of my arm, and dragged me off around the side of the building. I could feel the rest of the others following behind us.
"What about the boys who'd brought out dinner?" I asked suspiciously. If he'd done something horrible to those young teenage boys, I was going to punch him in the throat and make him cry like a baby.
"Julian took care of them. They'll be sleeping it off as well."
"And they've not been harmed?" I pushed, for some reason needing to know the answer. They weren't mine, but that didn't mean I couldn't look out for them.
Quinton smiled down at me sweetly. "Raven was right," he stated. "You are definitely different than all the rest of them."
I frowned at him as he dragged me to the car.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Everyone was tucked away in their own beds and fast asleep. I'd chosen to spend the night alone in my big bed that Quinton had given me. When I'd complained before about waking up alone, I knew that tomorrow would be very different and I would welcome the time to myself. I needed it.
I sat the foot of the bed in my pajama shorts, tank top, and pretty silk robe Dash had given me. I was hunched over with my elbows pressed into my knees, and my head in my hands.
I wasn't upset, but I had too much on my mind for me to be able to sleep. It wouldn't shut off no matter what I tried. I'd stared up at my dreamcatcher, counting sheep and trying to relax. Images ran through my mind, interrupting my counting and making it impossible for me to sleep.
I kept going back to those cards Quinton had read for me and kept getting held up on that stupid fucking Death card. He'd said it wasn't a bad thing and it heralded new beginnings, and that was something I could have gotten on board with a couple of days ago. Now, after the epic failure of a dinner party, I couldn't get behind a new beginning. The thought alone terrified me.
It made me think too much about Adrian sitting there and announcing he wanted to invite me to join him and the rest of the Council. All those eyes watching me with hunger and lust. Rachel blatantly hitting on my men. The Council being responsible for young teenage boys who were probably better off at an orphanage than with those creeps.
So much shit swirled around in my head and, what was worse, I was remembering the feeling of that blade sinking into that hunter’s flesh when I'd stabbed him. I'd stabbed someone, happily, and hadn't felt bad when he'd been killed afterwards.
That last part ate at me and had been the real reason I'd crawled out of bed and turned the lights back on.
Chucky had stabbed Dash without a second thought and he'd felt zero remorse for doing so. In fact, I think he'd gotten some sort of sick joy out of it. I'd gotten no joy out of stabbing that hunter, but I had felt a sense of satisfaction, just not in a sick way. Still, shouldn't I feel remorseful?
I sighed loudly as I pushed myself up from the bed.
I paced around the room for a good twenty minutes, beating myself up for something I couldn't take back or seem to change my feelings for, and believe me, I'd tried.
When pacing did absolutely nothing to calm me down, and I realized that despite how exhausted I was there would be no sleep for me tonight, I headed downstairs. With the mood I was in, I hoped everyone else was asleep because I didn't think I'd make good company tonight. Nobody else needed to share in my misery.
The foyer and formal living room were empty. The office was the same. There was sound coming from the kitchen area and I knew the television was on in there.
I thought about turning around and heading right back upstairs, but just thinking about sitting in my quiet room all by myself with only my thoughts to keep me company made my skin itch with the need to move.
Maybe I should take up running. Then I could run, pushing myself to the point of exhaustion. I bet I'd sleep well then. It was too bad the thought of wearing running shoes and, you know, actuallyrunningreally did not appeal to me.
The kitchen was empty, the light off.
The living room was not.
Trenton lay on the leather couch with both his hands tucked behind his head. His feet were crossed at the ankles and he was wearing plain black pajama bottoms and a matching short-sleeved t-shirt.
Only his eyes moved as he tracked my movements.
