“He’s doing his job.” Then she slid her fingers along the screen, texting back.
After a moment, his own phone chimed, and Hunter grabbed it from his pocket.
She’d sent him a message.
I don’t want to be your enemy, Hunter.
While he was looking, another message appeared.
Silver was going to kill you last night. I stopped him.
He didn’t look at her, just texted back.
Why?
Because I understand you. And I think you understand me.
He sighed. Another message appeared.
I don’t want anyone to get hurt, either.
Before he could text back, she caught his hands between hers, cradling the phone. She looked up at him. “We can stop them, Hunter. We can. We can stop all of this from happening again.”
He blew out a breath. “How?”
“Find out who was working with her. We’ll take care of it and leave you alone.”
She was using him. It was obvious. He knew it, and she knew it.
But what would his father have wanted? For Hunter to hide with the Merricks?
“I don’t know who was working with her,” he said.
“Can you find out?”
He kept thinking about that kid who’d been with Calla in his house. Who was he?
They’d probably have pictures of the missing kids on the news. He could start there. Maybe it would lead to nothing—but maybe it would lead to a whole lot of something.
“I only have one lead,” he said. “It might not go anywhere.”
“But you’ll help?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s enough for now.” She kissed him on the cheek and then was gone.
Hunter didn’t check his other messages until he was in the jeep. He had a text from Gabriel.
All OK?
Hunter sat there and stared at the screen for the longest time. He thought of the gunshot, of Gabriel saving his life, of the arguments in the Merrick house, of the whispers about leaving, the quick action to shut up when they heard Hunter in the hallway. He thought of Calla. He thought of Kate, of Silver.
He thought of his father.
Then he typed back quickly.
Yep. Be back soon.
Then he clicked off the phone and started the engine.
Silver was waiting for her, sitting at the table, checking his weapons.
Kate deliberately took her time getting through the door, putting her sunglasses away, running lip gloss over her lips in front of the mirror in the front hall.
She gasped when Silver grabbed her arm and spun her around.
“Did he agree?” he said evenly.
“Let me go.”
“Answer me.”
“Yeah, he agreed. Now let me go, before I make you.”
Silver half smiled. “Now I’m curious. Make me.”
She didn’t hesitate—just swung a fist into his midsection.
He blocked, of course. She was ready for it, using his momentum to throw an elbow into his groin.
She wasn’t ready for his fist to smack into the side of her face. She wasn’t ready for the room to go sideways.
Thank god the front hallway was carpeted.
Silver left her there. “The problem, Kathryn, is that you assume people won’t want to hit that pretty face.”
No, the problem was that she’d assumed Silver wouldn’t hurt her. That he’d play, the way Hunter had at the carnival.
Stupid.
She tried to convince her joints to work. Her head was still spinning, and for an instant, she couldn’t figure out which stretch of drywall was supposed to be the ceiling.
Her cheek ached. “I could stab you in your sleep,” she said.
“You could try. I feel rather certain that you’d find a similar result.”
Tears were burning at her eyes, and she told them to go away. Silver could probably sense the water threatening to spill over her cheeks anyway.
Hunter was supposed to be her enemy, but she couldn’t ever imagine him doing that.
She thought of the way he’d warned his friend about those bullies at the carnival last night, the way Gabriel Merrick had gone storming across the fairgrounds to confront them.
Or how Nick Merrick had invited her to sit with him at lunch.
Silver had chastised her for letting those people off the Ferris wheel. The ends justify the means.
She needed to get off the floor. She fought for balance and remembered the confrontation with the Water Elemental that had led to her mother’s death.
Keep that memory fresh.
But there were other memories, later ones, that threatened to cloud her judgment.
She needed to remember the moment her mother had died, everything that had gone wrong that night.
The Merricks might not have been evil, but they weren’t all good, either. They couldn’t be. She’d spent her life hearing about the dangers of full Elementals.
She dropped into the chair at the table, where Silver had gone back to checking his weapons.