“Bob fucking Grace, again?” Flint grumbles.
“Yep,” Alder replies. And much to my shock, Alder’s arm winds back, and then he chucks my phone clear across the driveway, where it lands with a wet plop in some kinda bog at the bottom of the slope.
I turn wide outraged eyes on him. “What the hell was that?”
Alder looks like he’s even surprised he just did that. Flint snickers.
“Sorry. It just slipped,” Alder tells me.
I give him an incredulous look. “You slip on a puddle, you do not slip tossin’ my phone clear across the yard!”
Alder straightens his shirt and settles me with a look. “Did you want to talk to Bob Grace?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Did you want to go out with him?” he challenges, and somethin’ flashes in his eyes that tells me he’s very invested in my answer.
I roll my eyes. “No, but—”
“Then forget about Bob Grace,” he interrupts. “We’ll buy you a new phone, and until then, you can use mine to call your parents and do whatever else you need to.”
“Except for textin’ Bob Grace,” I say dryly.
Alder’s lip twitches. “Yes, except for that.”
I should be livid, but I find myself wantin’ to share a smirk with him, because that was a hell of a jealousy reveal. I just can’t help but love it when a man feels possessive.
“I’m gonna hog your phone and scroll through Instagram for hours,” I threaten. “And I’m callin’ Mama and Daddy whenever I want.”
The grin he’s tryin’ to suppress breaks through, and damn if that smile doesn’t make me melt. “I think that’s fair.”
“And when you replace my phone, I want an upgrade.”
“She ain’t gonna go easy on ya,” Flint says cheerfully.
“I expect nothing less,” Alder replies.
“Good,” I say with a nod. “Now let’s go meet these Guardians.”
We walk across the driveway together, me feelin’ oddly cheerful for a girl whose phone just got ruined.
The three of us make our way up the steps to the front door of the estate, and then Alder raps his knuckles against the wood. I blow out a breath and try to mentally prepare myself as I smooth down my T-shirt.
“You nervous?” Flint asks.
“A little.”
He surprises me by leanin’ in and pressin’ a kiss against my hair. “Don’t be.”
I give a single nod, thankful that these two are by my side. I have no idea what to expect or if the Guardians we came to see are even here, but I’m glad Flint and Alder are with me every step of the way.
Seconds tick by. “Should we knock again?” I ask when we continue to stand on the front steps and the door remains closed.
“No, that would just make Strut even more difficult,” Alder tells me. “He likes to take his time.”
“Who the heck is Strut?”
In answer, the door suddenly swings open, and I gape at a pale, ridiculously tall man. He has such a heavily defined brow that it looks like he lifts weights with it. And those under-eye circles he’s sportin’ could give a raccoon a run for its trash. He’s dressed in a white and black butler’s suit, which only makes his grayish complexion stand out even more.
“What do you want?” he asks, lookin’ completely bothered to find us standin’ here.
“Strut, good to see you as always,” Alder says dryly. “We’re here to talk to your bosses.”
Strut takes another moment to look over us with bored derision before steppin’ aside. “Fine. Second floor, fourth door on the left. Do not track dust into the house.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Flint says, clappin’ him on the back as he moves aside for us to pass. The male glares at Flint unflinchingly before movin’ his gaze over to me.
I’m not sayin’ I run a little to catch up to Alder, but...okay, yeah, I do. This butler guy is an asshole. And scary. I definitely wouldn’t wanna find myself in this mansion alone with him, that’s for sure. Especially if I accidentally tracked in any dust.
As soon as my feet hit the stairs, I start rubber neckin’. The inside of this place is just as pristine and opulent as the outside. There’s an old-world elegance to it, and the size alone leaves me dumbfounded. We could probably pile up every damn trailer in the trailer park, and they would all fit in the space of this mansion. I don’t know how Delta and her Guardians don’t get lost in this place.
“Well, at least we know they’re here,” Alder muses as he leads the way ahead.
“Yeah, which means they’ve just been ignoring our calls. Dicks,” Flint says at my side.
Alder nods in agreement, and I open my mouth to ask how many times they called these Guardians, but at the sound of voices, the words die in my throat.
“Fuck!” The feminine shout makes all three of us falter on the last steps of the stairway. We share a look as murmurs of more people speakin’ filter into my ears.
“Should we...wait?” I whisper nervously.
It sounds like someone is pissed or maybe arguin’. We could be walkin’ in on them at a bad time, and we’re totally unannounced.
Alder and Flint hesitate a moment.
“Find who?” someone asks, this time, a different female’s voice.
“Come on,” Alder murmurs, and the three of us start makin’ our way down the hall. The closer we get to the door, the faster my heart starts beatin’.
My ears are strainin’ to hear what they’re sayin’, even though I know it’s rude to listen in on someone else’s conversation. But I swear I hear someone say my name. My footsteps stutter a bit, but then the guys start to pick up their pace, and I have to hurry to catch up as chills crawl over my skin.
“...guess is that Morax is going to go after her just like he did with you.”
I hear the tail end of those words spoken by the same feminine voice who first shouted, and my worried gaze shifts over to Flint. He reaches down and gives my
