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“Hey, kid,” the man said, his square jaw, dusted with stubble, working the gum in his mouth. That smile—so similar to Donovan’s, yet so…not—spread into a big, dimpled grin. “Miss me?”

Roman’s legs gave out, and he practically fell onto the bench.“Uncle Dean?”

Part Four

THE BATTLESHORT

79

Hell’s Gate

ANGELTHENE, STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Loren was sosurprised to find Roark waiting for them out front of the holding center that by the time they made it back to Hell’s Gate, she still hadn’t found her voice.

Never in a million years would she have believed the Red Baron would willingly set foot in a Darkslayer House. And yet here he was, striding into the clean, bright foyer at her side, his head tipping back as he scanned the white walls and the high, vaulted ceilings of the impressive mansion that had become her home. His wings were concealed by a spell, his hands tucked away in the pockets of his expensive suit jacket.

“So,” he began, his voice echoing in the big open space as she shut the door behind him. “This is where you’ve been spending all your time.”

Eyes the color of brandy slid her way. As always, she couldn’t read them. Roark wasn’t just a closed book—he was a locked one.

She cleared her throat, taken aback not just by his shrewd gaze, but by the fact that he was bothering to make small talk with her. “I love it here,” she confessed. “Darien has made me feel very at home.”

The slayer she spoke of was currently coming down the stairs. He’d gone up the minute they’d arrived—to change his clothes, she realized now. Those were different jeans and a different shirt he was wearing, his hair no longer messy, but smoothed back.

She was so distracted by Darien that at first she didn’t notice Roark was watching her closely.

Was it something she’d said?

She clasped her hands before her. “I can show you around, if you’d like.”

“No need. I won’t be here long.” They were the same words he’d said the day he had gone with her and Dallas to Angelthene Academy a few weeks before their classes had begun. The Headmaster had offered to give him a tour of the grounds and the dorm room in the House of Salt where his daughters would be staying.No need,he’d said.I won’t be here long.He never was. He didn’t care enough about his girls to bother with seeing things like dorm rooms.

Or the Darkslayer House where his one daughter had been spending most of her time since almost being abducted last fall. No big deal.

She was used to being rejected by him. But she had not expected this particular rejection to sting this much. Maybe it was because this house they were standing in was her home. Her new one. A place that had changed her in so many huge ways that to share it with her father figure—the man she had looked up to her whole life—would have meant a lot to her. She hadn’t realized just how much until the offer was out and he hadn’t accepted it.

But she managed to hide her disappointment behind a fake smile and told him, “Maybe another time, then.”

He weighed her response—studying her face with eyes that always seemed to see too much while giving nothing away.

Darien reached the bottom of the stairs, drawing Roark’s attention away from her face. Everyone else, including Arthur, Kylar, Eugene, Sabrine, and Logan, was waiting for them in the dining and living area.

Darien tipped his head toward the sound of their voices. “Shall we?”

Loren walked in first, Darien following closely behind her, like he had every day since they had bumped into each other in the hospital in Yveswich. Guarding her, even in the safety of his own house.

Roark came in behind them, and everyone quieted down.

This was a man who dealt with crowds and uneasy situations all the time, so she knew there was nothing about this that unsettled him. It unsettled her, though. Because she had no idea why he was here, or what he was about to say. Did he have bad news? Good news? Did he know why Dallas wasn’t back yet or why she hadn’t called?

They hadn’t exchanged many words out front of the holding center, hadn’t received an explanation for the hell they had been put through in those interrogation rooms. But they all knew it was Roark who’d ordered the cops to release them. Thehigher upFinn Solace had referred to when addressing Detective Glen.

If it weren’t for Roark… If what had happened in that room with Detective Glen had lastedonesecond longer…

She shuddered.

Darien pulled out his chair at the head of the dining room table, but instead of taking a seat, he gestured for Loren to sit there instead.