Page 87 of Havenfall Harbor
“Is she okay?” I hear the girl’s lowered voice. I’d almost forgotten she was still here.
Griffin is gruff when he answers, “She’s fine.” His response tells her not to ask again.
Evan gives me space. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he faces Etta again. “You risked something by speaking up in front of those kids.” Evan crosses his arms over his chest, which makes him look even larger. I turn enough so I can watch them. The girl’s eyes go a little wide.
“You asked.” Etta’s voice is low, and she gives a slight shrug as if to say she was helpless not to answer.
“You know why they hang out here?” Evan takes another look around, his eyes scanning over everything quickly, including me.
Another shrug as Etta stares at the ground. “Ya know, kid stuff.” A flush rises in her cheeks. “Not a lot of teachers come out here.” She chances a glance in Griffin’s direction.
“You said Michelle, Minka, and Alexis, anyone else?” Evan still has his arms crossed over his chest as he watches her.
“Boys, you know?” The redness across her cheeks deepens.
“You’re fucking kidding,” Griffin sneers.
Evan’s jaw ticks as he turns his gaze on his friend. His eyes say,you’re not helping. The girl shifts on her feet again, which draws Evan’s attention back to her.
I close my eyes and let out a long exhale before walking over to Griffin. His eyes track my movements, but as I draw closer, he keeps his gaze on Evan and Etta. I reach over and touch the tips of my fingers against the side of his palm to get his attention. He jerks his head over and his eyes find mine without error.
I lean up on my toes so I can speak softly to him. “This was probably an accident.”
Before Griffin can respond, Evan states, “Etta, we appreciate you coming forward. If I have any more questions, I’ll let you know.” He dismisses her quickly.
I look over my shoulder and watch the girl hustling back the way she came. “Wait,” I call out. I bite my lip, unsure if I’m overstepping my boundaries. “If any one of those kids bothers you because of this, please let someone know. What you did was brave, I don’t want you to have problems because of it.”
Etta’s lips curl back into a grin, her eyes darting to Evan. “They wouldn’t dare,” is all she says before she gives me a stiff nod and strolls away.
I watch her for a few seconds after she’s gone. I knew I was out of my element, but damn, I still have a lot to learn.
Unaware of my inner musings, Griffin dips his chin and asks, “What do you mean this was an accident?”
“You heard what she said,” I tell him, but I question my assumption for a second, pondering if I must have missed something, considering that girl’s confidence that she would be fine. I shake the doubt away. “I must have stumbled on someone’s make out spot and spooked them.”
“Make out?” Griffin pulls his head back a little. “You realize we’re talking about sixteen to eighteen-year-old supernaturals, right?” He gazes at me, wondering if I’m really that naïve.
I wave my hand, not wanting to think about these kids doing stuff like that, they seem too young. “Whatever.”
Griffin gives me a tiny, indulgent smile before it gets wiped away. “It doesn’t matter, we still need to deal with this.”
I pull Evan closer using his shirt sleeve. You’d think I would know better than to try to manhandle the giant of a man, but I do it anyway. He steps closer, humoring me. “How do you plan on dealing with it?” I glance between the two of them, focusing more on Evan, since he’s the more levelheaded of the two. I frown…well, I think he is anyway, it’s not like I can say I know him all that well.
Evan’s gaze goes to Griffin over my head. I wait for them to answer, but after a few seconds tick by, I realize they aren’t going to.
Chapter 26
Griffin
Quinn is lookingbetween Evan and me with thinly veiled wariness. Her question about how we plan on dealing with the kids she thinks somehow accidently hurt her goes unanswered.
I don’t think she wants to hear what I would like to do to them. I avert my eyes just in case she can see the answer there. I’m not all that concerned with their age, we’re not talking about twelve-year-olds here, we’re talking about kids getting ready to graduate in the spring, move on in the world, and get jobs and build lives.
Part of the reason for Havenfall’s existence is to make sure the kids who come here are better than they would have been had they not attended. Almost killing a human woman and running away after is the opposite of what we’re trying to build. Plus, Quinn isn’t just any human woman, she’s mine.
Quinn plants her hands on her hips. I keep my mouth closed, I don’t want to provoke her anger, but I’m not going to lie to her. Evan blows out a weighty sigh. “We’re not going to kill them.”
I raise a brow—we aren’t? That’s news to me. Quinn’s shoulders relax a tiny bit. “But something has to be done about this, Quinn, we can’t allow something like this to go unpunished. What if we didn’t find you? What if it happened again, out there after they left? Something like that could cause a war with humans.”
