an accommodation like this if their grades are good enough. I guess Father Gabriel really wants me to work my way up from the bottom.
Apollo brings me a cup. “Cream and two sugars.”
I can’t help but smile. It’s sweet that he still remembers how I take it, although the day he saw me putting in sugar I’d given myself a double dose.
Hell, I probably still need the energy. Maybe this will become my regular serving from now on.
“What time is it?” I ask, glancing around. The lights are on and the curtains are drawn, but it doesn’t feel like it’s night time yet.
“Five,” Reuben says. He’s sitting on one of the two couches that make up his living area. “Come sit.”
His quiet command makes my hackles rise. I glance at Apollo with raised brows, but he just gives me his usual lopsided smile. “We need to talk,” he says. Then he goes and fetches another two cups of coffee, handing one to Reuben before sitting down beside him.
Thank God. I’m not sure if I would dare to sit beside any of them after what happened in the library. My chest goes tight just thinking about what Cass had tried to do.
Suddenly the coffee doesn’t taste as nice.
I sit on the fabric couch and hurriedly tug down my dress when it inches up my leg.
“Cold?” Reuben asks, already standing before I can answer. He disappears into his room and comes back with a wool blanket that he hands to me without a word.
I throw it over my lap and give him a grateful nod.
“Zach wants to get rid of you,” Apollo says.
My sip of coffee goes down the wrong way. I cough and almost tip the entire cup over me. Thankfully it only spills on the blanket, else it would have burned me through my dress. I quickly put the mug down on the coffee table. “Excuse me?”
“You’re causing disruption,” Reuben says.
“Disruption?” Great, now I’ve turned into a parrot.
Apollo waves a hand. “Don’t worry, we talked him out of it. But shit’s still a bit tense right now.”
Really? I thought Cass trying to fuck me on the armchair was a normal day for these guys.
I pick up my coffee again. It’s instant, but it’s warm and sweet and I need all of that right now.
“You should keep out of his way until you’ve cloned that hard drive,” Apollo says before taking a noisy slurp from his cup.
“Zachary’s my Psych teacher,” I say dryly. “I have a class with him.”
“Then get it done tomorrow.”
I sit forward, frowning hard at Apollo. “How the hell—?”
“It’s for your own safety, Trinity,” Reuben says. “If Zachary says you have to disappear then—”
“Then the three of you will do what he says like the good little soldiers you are, right?” Of course I regret the words the moment they leave my lips, but I blame the headache and the lingering taste of bile in my mouth.
Oh, and don’t forget the scratch marks Cass left on my inner thighs. I don’t have to peek under my skirt to know they’re there. I can feel them throbbing in time to my headache.
Reuben drops his head and lets out a heavy sigh. A humorless laugh huffs from Apollo, disturbing the surface of his coffee as he brings it up for another sip.
“How will you do it, huh? Mince me up into burger meat? Hit me over the head and bury me in a shallow grave there in the cemetery?”
Apollo purses his lips. “Hadn’t thought of that.” He shakes a finger at me. “That’s a good one.”
I glare at him. “You can’t get rid of me. Gabriel will find out, and he’ll start looking around. He’ll find you—all of you—and then…”
I don’t know what happens then, but I know they’ve been trying to avoid it for years so it’s as good a threat as any.
Apollo stands and heads for the kitchenette. There’re a microwave and a kettle and a few odds and ends on the counter. He brings back the device Zachary had been toying with earlier and holds it out to me.
“Do it tomorrow, soon as Gabriel’s back.”
“Yeah, I’ll just invite myself to his room, ask him where his super-secret computer is, and copy everything while he pours me a drink or something,” I mutter sourly as I snatch the box from Apollo. “Great plan, guys.”
“It’ll take like five minutes to copy. This shit’s high tech,” Apollo says as he sinks back into the seat beside Reuben. “And we’ll help