Hal smiled sadly down at me. “I don’t know when or where, Moonlight, but I will fight to find it. The place where we don’t say goodbye.”
I blinked rapidly. “Hal . . .”
His eyes held such tenderness as he looked at me like he knew.
“We have to get you back,” Hal said, letting me go.
“When will I see you?” I asked as cold air flooded all the places that had touched him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen some art.” Hal tucked a curl behind my ear. “If tonight goes well and the plan goes forward, I’ll be seeing you very soon. But you have to get back.”
Hal pulled the door open before I could ask about the plan as hurried footsteps filled the hallway outside our hiding spot. Hal snapped the door shut, shielding me behind him. Terror left me paralyzed. Had Collin found me?
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“QUIT BEING AN IDIOT AND JUST ACCEPT THE CONTRACTalready,” a male voice rang out.
“Why don’tyouaccept a contract already?” the other male snapped back.
The footsteps drew closer. “I promise you should be thanking me for rejecting my last contract, Gregory. You think you’re angry now. Emeline and her brother were an excellent match. One would assume, given that we share fifty percent of our genes with Emeline, that one of us would match to Nora.”
There was a scuffle. Someone slammed against the wall near our hiding place. Hal pressed me farther into the wall behind him.
“You,” Gregory spat venomously. “They matched her with you.” Fury and panic filled the hall.
“Yes,” Phillip replied, his voice strained. “I rejected it. But maybe I shouldn’t have. You seem incapable of hiding it anymore.”
“I do not care if others talk.”
“You should, and she will,” Phillip shot back. “If they go after her offspring, she will never forgive you. You are being selfish and they will notice.”
“Only if you or Collin open your mouths.”
“Collin does not wish his sister ill. It is why we are having this conversation. I daresay our sister is keeping him busy enough as it is.”
Hal’s grip on me tightened.
A growl ripped from Gregory’s throat. “That’s rich, seeing as Collin has stood by as Mate after Mate has taken his sister. One would thinkthatis wishing ill. I thought he would stop it.”
“Collin cannot control everything.”
“Only you, little brother, only you.”
“You are to enter this contract with the Minor, Gregory.”
“People do not enjoy being told who to be with. I cannot do it again.” Gregory hissed a breath between his teeth.
“It is either that or lose her completely. Others are noticing. They will not allow it. They will never allow it. They will not give you something you care about. You know this. You have to let her go.”
“I will never let her go.”
“If you love her—” Phillip began, but the sound of a fist colliding with a wall rang out. I jumped from the impact.
“If—” Gregory shouted. “If?Do not question something you have no idea about. You have never loved anything, Phillip. All you have ever done is climb your way up. Don’t ask if I love her. I have given everything to her.” Gregory’s voice shook with a fury I felt.
“Then you doom her,” Phillip threatened. He didn’t even raise his voice.
My hands grew clammy. I swore I could feel Gregory’s fury break as pain slithered through the door.
