“Where the hell have you been?” Damon demanded, rounding on his brother.
“Out,” Connor said shortly.
“I can see that. We need to talk.” His gaze flickered toward me and then back to Connor. “Downstairs.”
“Okay.” By his apparent air of unconcern, it was clear he had a lot of experience managing his brother’s rages. He shot me the briefest of glances, as if trying to ascertain for sure that I was all right. I gave a tiny nod, then went and sat down on the bed, trying to appear as collected as he was.
They both left, Damon not giving me a second glance as he shut the door behind him. I forced myself to remain sitting on the bed for a moment to give them enough time to get downstairs, but I knew I couldn’t stay there. I had to find out what had sent Damon hastening over here, clearly intent on confronting Connor about something.
After I thought a safe interval had passed, I got to my feet and opened the door. The knob was still warm to the touch, the lock clearly blasted beyond repair. I shivered. And that was just something Damon had done hurriedly and in anger. I really didn’t want to think about what he was capable of with a chunk of preparatory time behind him.
The hallway was empty, of course, but I hadn’t expected to see them up here. I tiptoed down the corridor, then paused at the top of the stairs. The place wasn’t so big that I couldn’t hear them from this location, and I didn’t dare get any closer.
Damon’s voice, tight with rage. “…were you thinking, leaving her alone?”
“The wards you set are working just fine. She couldn’t get out.”
“Yes, they’re working to keep her in the apartment. But she still managed to do a good bit of damage. You know who I just had a visit from?”
Silence. Maybe Connor had shaken his head, but since I couldn’t see him, I didn’t know for sure.
“The elders of clan McAllister…accompanied by Maya de la Paz.”
“Oh.”
“I’m going to leave aside the fact that they came to my house. Maybe that’s better — at least because it’s Saturday, they couldn’t come barging into my office on campus. Do you want to know how they figured out that they should come straight to me?”
Another pause, and then Connor replied, “Well, it’s not that big a leap to think of you when their prima goes missing, is it?”
“Maybe not. But I doubt they would’ve worked quite this fast if the girl’s aunt hadn’t gotten an email forwarded from a friend, an email saying that Angela McAllister was here in Flagstaff.”
“Oh.”
“Stop saying that. You sound like an idiot. Of course, who but an idiot would let that girl roam around freely so she could lay her hands on his laptop and get a message out to her family?”
Despite myself, I felt almost sorry for Connor. Maybe he’d been careless, but he didn’t deserve to have his asshole brother calling him an idiot. And Connor was right — of course everyone’s suspicions would’ve landed right on Damon Wilcox when I disappeared. It might have taken them a bit longer to put two and two together, but….
I was sort of impressed by how quickly they’d gotten here, though. It had been not quite three hours since I’d sent that email, and it took almost that long to get here from Phoenix even in good weather. Maya de la Paz must have hit the road almost the minute she got the call from my clan. I wondered if it had been Aunt Rachel who’d made the call, or whether one of the elders had contacted the de la Paz prima. Not that it really mattered. The important thing was that they’d come. Maybe rescue was closer than I’d thought.
Voice even, as if he’d suffered this sort of abuse many times before and no longer cared, Connor said, “So what did you tell them?”
“Nothing. I said I didn’t know what they were talking about, and that they were trespassing on our land and breaking the pact to stay out of one another’s territory. What proof do they have, really?”
“None, I suppose.”
“Exactly. And I put out the call as soon as they appeared, so Marie and Lucas and a few others showed up to lend their support. The McAllisters had to back down, even if they did have Maya de la Paz with them. She’s too shrewd to start an all-out clan war, although she did tell me this was not the end of the matter.”
“So it’s all okay, then.”
“No, it’s not okay. I’ll ask again — what the hell were you thinking? And you clearly left her alone again after that…not to mention that it’s obvious you didn’t do what was expected of you and seal the deal.”