Page 84 of Royal

“You don’t need to know,” he answered, as a mask of indifference washed over him. The truth lingered in his eyes, though. The fear he refused to say out loud.

“But Iwantto know.”

Grayson approached the bed and rested an arm above my head, looking down at me with sad eyes. He touched my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “No, baby, you don’t. Trust me on this. Please. I wish she would’ve never told me, because I can’t get it out of my head.”

“What if it’s a real vision?”

“It’s not,” he growled, bringing my head to his chest and holding me there as his arms wrapped around me like a protective cocoon. Then, in a softer voice, he added, “It can’t be.”

He held me a moment longer before pulling away and finishing getting dressed. He tried to hide it, but I saw the tears in his eyes. Whatever his aunt had said had really upset him.

And of course, that only made me imagine the worst possible scenarios, like me lying in a pool of blood near the lake, cuts all over me, and my arms crossed over my chest. Another victim.

Before Grayson left for work, he kissed me again. “Don’t leave the house today, all right?”

“Fine with me,” I responded, pressing my face into the crease of his neck. The festival was still going on, but I was too exhausted from spending all day there yesterday. “A day at home, playing video games and maybe watching a movie or two, sounds perfect. Well, almost.”

“Almost?”

“It’d be perfect if you were with me.”

Grayson’s raspy chuckle sent my heart soaring again. “When all this is over, we’ll have days like that.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“If anything happens, c—”

“Call you.” I grinned at him. “I know.”

Grayson adjusted his tie and gave me one last parting look before leaving.

I eventually got my lazy ass out of bed and put some pants on before walking into the living room. Brysen wasn’t on the couch, and I didn’t hear him in the house.

“B?”

No answer.

I jogged back to my bedroom and unplugged my phone from the charger before texting him.

Me:Where are you?

A relieved sigh escaped my lips when I saw him start to type back a response. I really needed to get a grip.

Brysen:Sorry I didn’t tell u I left. Kye texted me. He and Declan came into town and asked to meet at D’s hotel. They invited u too, but u was screwing Gray and I didn’t want to interrupt.

Having way too many thoughts in my head to type back a response, I called him.

“Hello?”

“So you’re with Kyler and Declan?”

“Yeah. We want you to come over, too, once you get around and stuff,” Brysen said. “They came in for the festival.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I thought I told them to stay away from Addersfield. A goddamn serial killer who kills public figures is here, B.”

“Hey, don’t use your dad tone on me, Royal,” he shot back. “I didn’t know they were coming. It was a surprise.”

“It’s a surprise all right.” I walked into the kitchen to start some coffee. With how pissed I was, though, coffee wasn’t nearly strong enough. “Will you put Kye on the phone?”