Page 64 of Hunt Me

Archie gives a single, sharp shake of his head.

Leaf’s brows furrow deeper. ‘You look dangerous.’

He nods. ‘Very dangerous. I protect.’

Leaf looks satisfied by that and places his hands on his hips. ‘I have some knockoff TNT. If you use it wisely, you can have.’

My mouth opens in a loud laugh, and I fingerspell, ‘WTF!’

Leaf ignores me, still looking at Archie. ‘True-biz. I have TNT, a grenade, and some poison. Oh, and several mousetraps that just make me sad, so I don’t use.’

I wave my hand at Leaf and make a noise to get his attention. ‘Why?’

He ignores me, of course, his gaze fixed on Archie, who shifts forward on his stool and cocks his head. ‘Where?’

Oh my god. I slap my hand on the table. ‘No,’ I tell Archie. ‘Donottake weapons or poison.’

Archie waves me off. ‘I want. I can use. Knives are limited, and our supplies at home are low.’

Supplies? Fuck’s sake!

Leaf points out toward the backyard and then to a set of keys. ‘Barn.’ Then he meets my gaze. ‘They’re locked in cabinet. Don’t want Michael to blow up.’

I place my face in my hands and sigh, feeling Archie stand up next to me. He runs a hand up my spine, the motion soothing in spite of the fact that he’s now participating in Leaf’s chaos. I don’t really know what I expected, to be honest. I should have known Archie wasn’t going to encourage Leaf to see reason.

‘You watch him?’ Archie asks Leaf after I drop my hands. ‘I don’t want him hurt.’

‘I promise.’ Leaf produces a cheese grater from a drawer. ‘If someone tries, I will grate-grate until dead.’

Archie nods in approval and then glances around. ‘You have bag?’

“Oh my god, you’re not serious,” I moan aloud, but in spite of being in a room with two hearing people, I go completely ignored. Leaf rushes around the island and gives him a tote bag that saysI Love Cheesein big orange letters, and Archie slips it over his shoulder.

‘Back soon.’ He disappears a moment later, heading out the sliding glass door in that prowling, predatory way I’ve really come to admire.

‘I cannot believe you did that,’ I bitch the moment Leaf and I are alone.

Leaf eyes me, unrepentant. ‘He looks like he kills for a living. I can trust him with weapons. And you need a martini.’

‘I have concussion.’

Leaf sighs dramatically. ‘You can have small one. Don’t worry. I used to interpret at hospital. I’m basically a doctor.’

I know he’s joking, but I also know that being an interpreter, he picked up more medical information than most first-year students. An unexpected laugh escapes me, and Leaf grins.

‘Tell me how you met…’ He flicks his wrist to where Archie disappeared. ‘Name?’

‘Archie,’ I supply, spelling it first before using his sign name. ‘The stalker found me after a show and got his hands around my throat. Archie saved me.’

Leaf’s eyes widen, a lemon slipping from his fingers and rolling across the counter. I stop it with my hand and roll it back, and Leaf catches it.

‘Is that where the bruises came from?’

My face burns hot as I shake my head. ‘No. He came back last night when I was alone, going to a meeting with a studentafter my evening class. Archie’s brother found me, but I was hurt. Now Archie’s refusing to let me go anywhere alone.’ Which is probably a good thing, as annoying as it will probably get.

Leaf bites his lip as his eyes cut toward the back door, then to me. ‘He looks scary.’

I can’t exactly argue. Archie does look vaguely terrifying with his resting murder face, his scar, and the fact that hedoesprobably murder people. But at the same time, I also know that being himself has left him very lonely, and I hate that. ‘He’s not always scary. He’s mostly misunderstood.’