Havenfall Harbor: Book One

by Albany Walker

  Chapter 28

  Evan

  I give Leo a few moments to sweat, and sweat he does. The room we’re in is comfortable, if not stark, but he’s acting like it’s a hundred degrees in here. He’s seated at the metal table, folded into the metal chair. This room was designed to hold unruly shifters and newly blooded vampires, so I know it will hold him, even if I choose to leave him here for a while. Which might be a good idea, considering I would like to strangle him right now, both him and Michelle who’s in the room next door.

  Leo isn’t weak in the sense Michelle accused him of being. He’s a little over six foot with a lean body. Michelle called him weak because he’s not a natural leader, not a born alpha. He’s the type of man most alphas recruit. Easy to train, easy to manipulate, and even easier to control.

  I run my gaze over Leo. His eyes are blown wide, and he can’t seem to stop the nervous jumping of his leg under the table as he watches me. I’m betting on him cracking and telling me everything I want to know before I even ask him any questions.

  I asked Paul if he resisted being brought down here, but he didn’t. I almost wish he would have, that would have given me a reason to beat his ass.

  After a few more moments of silence, Leo breaks. “I didn’t touch her.” I grind my teeth to keep myself from lashing out at him after the statement. Schooling my features, I raise a brow at him and wait for him to continue.

  Leo wets his lips and his eyes bounce around the room. “I didn’t even realize what was happening until it was over.”

  I wait to speak until I know I can respond without strangling him. “But you didn’t help her either. You had to have seen what Michelle did, and you didn’t help the woman she attacked.” My voice is low, controlled, even though I want to scream at him.

  Leo leans over the table a little. “I got Michelle out of there,” he tells me, like he was somehow protecting the girl.

  “Michelle wasn’t the one bleeding to death,” I growl.

  “I knew she hurt the human. I was getting her away before the woman realized who it was, so Michelle wouldn’t get everyone in trouble with the humans. I know how important that is,” Leo defends.

  “You should have been concerned with saving a life, not protecting the killer!” I scream, and slam my fist down on the table, leaving a dent behind.

  Leo leans back, visibly shaking. “Michelle called someone and told them what happened. I figured they took care of the human. I didn’t think she killed her.” I can tell by the pale wash of his cheeks and the horror on his face that he’s telling the truth. Or some semblance of it. He didn’t know just how injured Quinn was.

  “Who did Michelle call?” I lean back against the wall to stop myself from snapping his neck.

  “I don’t know.” Leo lifts his hands in surrender when I push off the wall. “I really don’t know. She pulled out her phone as soon as we got inside and told me she was handling the lady. That I should get back to my room.”

  “And you just fucking believed her?”

  Leo blinks as if that’s the first time he’s even questioned himself about the situation. He eventually nods twice. This is why Michelle accused him of being weak.

  Evan

  I take the stairs two at a time. Griff sent me a text that he was staying behind with Quinn. I don’t blame him for not wanting to leave her alone right now.

  After I got any useful information from Leo, which wasn’t much, I left him and Michelle in the containment rooms to stew. I need to talk to Griff and see what we should do about this. Michelle never mentioned speaking to anyone about what happened to Quinn. If she had told someone else, wouldn’t she have communicated that to us, even just to save her own skin?

  I’m huffing a little when I reach Griff’s door. I try the knob, but it’s uncharacteristically locked, so I knock instead.

  Griff rips the door open with a scowl, which he drops when he sees it’s just me. “What was that look for?” I sidestep him to get into his room.

  “Fucking Letty.” He musses up the top of his hair, then pushes it back away from his face.

  “She came by again? Forget it, we have other stuff to talk about.” I dismiss the distraction.

  “What did you find out?” Griffin lowers himself on the couch into a sprawl. Quinn is tucked next to him, so I fit myself on her other side. She gives me a tight smile in return.

  “Be right back,” she excuses herself, but I’m pretty sure it’s because she doesn’t want to hear what I have to say, so I wait for her to head back toward our room. That thought stops me in my tracks. Not Griff’s room, our room. Fuck me, even with all this shit going on I like the sound of that.

  As soon as she’s out of hearing range, Griff demands, “Tell me.”

  I scrub my hand over my face. “Leo’s a fucking idiot,” I growl. “He thought he was doing the right thing by getting Michelle out of there so she wouldn’t get into trouble. He said he didn’t realize how badly Quinn was hurt.”

  Griff explodes off the couch. “Doesn’t matter.” His face is set in a scowl.

  I lean forward and brace my elbows on my knees. “I know, it’s no excuse, but get this. He also said Michelle called someone to ‘take care of the lady.’ His words, not mine.”

  Griff stops pacing and regards me. “Who?” The single word is spoken like a curse.

  I shake my head. “He didn’t know, and fuck, I hate to say it, but I believe him.”

  “Did you ask the girl?”

  “No, not yet. I wanted to talk to you.” I raise my brows. I also wanted to see Quinn for myself, but I don’t tell him that.

  Griff looks in the direction Quinn went. “She asked me if I had something going on with the kid.” He tilts his head.

  I shrug. “The girl’s been obsessed with you since you got her away from the Buchans.” There’s no other way to put it, she has. We’ve never had anyone try to sneak into the staff wing like she has. “Hell, Michelle probably has diluted herself into thinking you guys are destined to be together or some shit.”

  Griff dips his chin once, acknowledging my words. “We need to figure out who else she talked to, and then decide what to do with them.”

  “What do you think she wants us to do about it?” I tilt my head, indicating Quinn.

  Griff snorts. “She’s got a soft spot for kids.”

  “Yeah,” I agree.

  “I think she should be punished.” Quinn’s voice surprises me. I can’t believe she was able to return without me knowing. I lift my arm and invite her to sit next to me.

  “What kind of punishment?” I ask, when she’s tucked into my side.

  “Ground her.” Her face flushes. “Community service. Show her what happens to victims of violence. Show her you can’t go around hurting people to get your way.”

  I look up at Griff, who is still standing across the room. The twist of his lips tells me he thinks it should be a much harsher punishment, but if we let Quinn decide, it might help her feel more in control of what happened to her. Her idea isn’t bad, not as severe as I’d like either, but not too bad.

  “We might be able to work with that,” I tell her. What I don’t say is that we need to make sure Michelle knows that if anything like this ever happens again, there won’t be a slap on the wrist. She’ll go right back to her family. I think that would be worse than death at this point, and we still need to question her about who she called, find out who else knew what she did.

  Quinn lets out a long exhale and cuddles deeper into my side. I decide right then Leo and Michelle can sweat it out a little longer. I’m not leaving her just yet.

  Griffin

  Quinn’s sleeping and I don’t want to leave her, but we need to take care of Michelle and Leo. I motion for Evan to follow me out of the room. He pulls his arm out from under Quinn’s neck and slinks into the kitchen behind me.

  “Call someone you trust to watch the door, let’s get this done.”

  Evan is pulling his phone from his belt before I finis
h. “Westly, I need you on the third floor. Meet me outside Stone’s room.” Evan hangs up before the guy could have responded.

  “Westly,” I sneer. He’s the newly blooded vampire I saw Quinn talking to when we went out for the day.

  “He likes her, he’ll make sure she’s safe.” Evan sounds slightly conflicted, then he adds, “Plus, he’s dating Alice, she and Quinn are friends.”

  I arch an eyebrow, wondering if he realizes we are both trying to date Quinn. It’s not like someone else being in the picture makes them unavailable.

  “Shut up, he’s newly turned and strong enough to deal with shit,” he says defensively.

  I’m tempted to tell him I didn’t say anything, but that would just be goading him, so I don’t. We sneak out the door, leaving the television on and hoping to return before Quinn can wake up and realize we’re gone.

  It only takes a few moments for Westly to jog up the hall. His eyes bounce between the two of us, but he doesn’t hesitate to come right up to us. “What do you need?”

  “I want you to guard this door. No one gets in.” Evan drops his hand on his shoulder and gives him a slight squeeze. “Call me if anyone comes sniffing around. Anyone.” He puts extra emphasis on the word to make sure he understands. Westly nods quickly. “If Quinn wakes up while we’re gone and comes looking for us, tell her to wait here then call me. Do not let her leave.”

  “I got it,” Westly assures us. “She okay?”

  “Yes, and that’s how I want it to stay.” I don’t give him any more information and he seems to understand not to ask for any.

  “We’ll be back.” Evan claps his hand on the man’s back and we stroll away. I don’t feel as confident as Evan about leaving Westly here, but I’m trusting Evan on this one.

  “Let’s do this quickly. We just need to find out what Michelle knows and we can figure out the rest later.”

  “That’s fine. I have an idea about the grounding Quinn suggested.” Evan grins, but there’s an evil twinkle in his eye I can appreciate.

  “Do tell.” We bounce down the stairs hurriedly and head to the containment area on the lowest level.

  “Well, I don’t think Michelle should be allowed to go back to business as usual in her cozy room with her friends. She should just stay right where she is, in a containment room. We can put a cot in there. There are enough security officers to put one on duty down here. I’m a little disappointed we didn’t think of this earlier ourselves. Not that we’ve had too much trouble, but this would probably work as a good deterrent.”

  I smirk, enjoying the idea of her being isolated down here by herself, she will hate it. It’s perfect—well, it’s as close to perfect as I’m going to get without pissing off Quinn. Another few months and Michelle will be gone from Havenfall anyway. I feel a little better knowing the plan, but I still don’t believe Michelle’s recount of what happened. She was holding back something. And now that Evan has put the idea of her obsession in my head, I can’t help but think that maybe she was behind the other incidents with Quinn, and all this comes back to being my fault. If Michelle was harassing Quinn to get her to leave because she had some twisted fantasies that we would be together, and she somehow knew Quinn threatened that, I would feel responsible.

  Evan dips his chin to Paul, who’s leaning back in a chair with his ankles crossed. He looks completely relaxed, but I know he would be ready at a moment’s notice. “Any issues?”

  “Nah, quiet as a mouse,” Paul answers.

  “We’re going to need to set up this room for an extended stay—cot and basic necessities only. Ms. Buchan will be staying here for the foreseeable future,” Evan informs Paul.

  “And that one?” Paul asks, indicating Leo with a tilt of his head. I can’t tell how he feels about the news concerning Michelle, his voice is flat, lifeless.

  “Might just cut him loose. He graduated, he can find work outside of Havenfall. It hasn’t been decided yet. Find someone to stay here tonight until we can set up a more permanent watch situation down here,” Evan finishes, and pulls the door open to the room Michelle is waiting in.

  The moment the door opens and she sees me her heart rate picks up. How did I miss these cues before? The fact that I could not be less interested in her isn’t an excuse. Michelle is powerful for an unblooded vampire, and will be even more formidable once she changes over. I should not have ignored her interest and let this go on for so long. If I’d handled this sooner, today might not have happened.

  Michelle blinks up at me, all feigned wide eyes and innocence, and it boils my blood. This girl is an Eva in the making. “Just stop,” I tell her, my voice flat and devoid of emotion.

  Her eyes search the room, probably looking for Quinn, and when she doesn’t see her, she trains her focus back on me. “Headmaster Stone.” Michelle’s bottom lip quivers. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was…I was just scared.” Her shoulders lift as she lowers her head in mock shame.

  I want to roll my eyes at her failed attempted, but her submission might help me get the answer we need about whom she talked to. “Scared? You?” I eye her, pretending I know something about her other than the small bits of information she’s given me today. Those few tidbits are more than enough to tell me how unlikely it would be for Michelle to show any remorse for hurting someone weaker than she perceives herself.

  I lower myself into the chair across the table from her. I don’t bother hiding the unnatural fluidity that comes so naturally to me. My predator is a vain beast. Merciless when someone is deemed our prey. Michelle’s hungry eyes eat up the show. I flash her my fangs a few times as I rearrange myself in the seat, letting her sweat it out a little longer until I start questioning her.

  Evan is leaning against the back wall, his arms crossed over his chest, but it’s a relaxed pose, and she barely offers him a glance. Reaching up to twirl her fingers in the ends of her hair, Michelle bites her bottom lip. She’s trying to be seductive, but even if I didn’t have Quinn waiting back at home, it wouldn’t work. Finally, she remembers to answer my question about being frightened. “I guess I was more startled than afraid, I just reacted without thinking. I felt threatened.”

  Now Michelle feeling threatened I can buy. “Understandable.” I furrow my brow just a bit. “You’re probably getting close to your blooding, acting on instincts.”

  Michelle nods her head jerkily, eager to agree. “I do feel as if it’s getting close.”

  I lean back a little farther, relaxing my pose. I was bred on this dance of manipulations. Michelle may think the Buchans and their cruelty taught her well, but they have nothing on my father.

  Evan, understanding my role as the sympathizer, assumes the opposite character. “I talked to Leo. He told us you spoke to someone after the incident, that they were going to take care of it. We need to know whom you spoke to.”

  Michelle tilts her head to the side a tiny bit and widens her eyes, but I hear the rush of her blood as it races to her heart with adrenaline. Without the benefit of being blooded, these senses would allude her. She may think her mask of innocence is enough, but my senses are much keener than anything she could yet comprehend.

  “I didn’t tell anyone.” Michelle furrows her brow as if she’s confused. Her breathing shallows just enough so her next breath is a little ragged. I want to glance over at Evan to see if he finds this as ridiculous as I do. I’ve witnessed children half her age manipulate a situation better than this.

  I tsk and shake my head slowly, showing her I’m disappointed in her response. She fidgets in her seat, but doesn’t offer any more. “I believe Leo,” Evan states. “He’s just not deceptive enough to make that up.”

  Before she can deny it again, I speak up and offer her an out. “It’s okay if you forgot to mention it, no one would blame you. Not after what you’d just been through.”

  Evan makes a noncommittal grunting sound. Michelle licks her lips. I can see the calculation in her eyes as she tries to decide if she should tell me or not. When she loo
ks down, I know she’s going to lie again. “I can’t tell you, because it didn’t happen.”

  “I want to help you, Michelle, I really do.” I make sure to use her name. “But I can’t help you if you’re not willing to help yourself.”

  The girl leans back in her seat, and I know she’s not going to tell us anything. It would be a waste to ask her about the pig and the blood, she’s not talking. Not yet anyway.

  “Well, since you aren’t working with us, you might as well get comfortable here. This is your new home.” Michelle looks around the empty room in confusion at Evan’s words. “Someone will escort you to class and bring you back here when the day is over. No roommates, no friends, and definitely no sneaking out. We don’t want you to find yourself in a situation where your instincts can take over.”

  “How long do I have to stay here?” Her voice is small. This may be a better punishment than I thought. I bet Michelle is used to being the center of attention, she certainly carries herself as if that’s the case.

  “Indefinitely,” I reply with mock sadness. “Unless you have more to tell us, we can’t let this kind of thing go unpunished, even for you, Michelle.”

  “Like until I graduate?” Now she looks between Evan and me.

  “Unless you have something else to tell us that would change our minds?” I offer again.

  Michelle looks down at the table, and she seems as if she’s actually thinking about it, so I sit very still, waiting.

  Long seconds pass in silence before she finally takes a deep breath and shakes her head in denial. “No, there’s nothing.” But she doesn’t meet my eyes, so I’m even more convinced she’s hiding something. Who would be important enough to this girl that she would be willing to protect them?