Page 68 of The Claiming

I note him hovering on the sidelines, gazing at her with adoration as he waits and a pang of sympathy hits me.

“He’s not that bad.” I attempt to reassure her, and she rolls her eyes. “If you like creepy guys who trail after you, then be my guest, take mine.”

“I don’t know, Kennedy. Maybe take a closer look.”

She turns to find him and scans his face for the briefest moment before she turns back and makes a face.

“Still not interested.”

I shrug. “He is probably considered hot by association?”

“In whose world?” Her eyes widen and I nod to a couple of girls nearby who are staring at Amos with newfound fascination.

Kennedy sees what I’m getting at and takes another look at Amos and she says slowly, “I mean, there may be something there. He’s got good bone structure, I’ll give him that.”

“Disregard the clothes he’s wearing.” I add, warming to my subject. “His hair could use some styling and with new clothes and possibly a workout or three, he could be kind of hot.”

Kennedy turns around and I’m guessing is now seeing things differently because she nods, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“I’ll see what I can do with him. God knows he needs my help.”

She turns back to me. “What did you want to talk about? Because I don’t think for one second it’s Amos Sam’s makeover.”

“No, it’s The Claiming, actually.”

“What about it?”

“When I left you in the room outside of the tunnels, who was the last one to go into them?”

“It was Autumn, I think.”

She taps her finger on the side of her glass and shrugs. “Yes, it was. Abigail was first, then me.”

“When we left you, you were checking out the door, but we hadn’t got far in our tunnel before we heard a scream. If you were second into the tunnel, Autumn was still in the room when Abigail screamed. It was too soon after we entered the tunnel.”

“You’re right.” Kennedy’s eyes widen. “I went in soon after you and Autumn were going to take the other one. If Abigail was caught by the centurion, he was surely already in the tunnel because nobody passed us. We heard them coming, we all did, but nobody was in the room when they arrived.”

We fall silent and Kennedy whispers, “Fuck. It wasn’t one of the five guys chasing us. Who was centurion number six, and how could he be in the tunnel when there is no other entrance? Santi would’ve seen him because he was the only one in the chamber for the entire challenge.”

“Unless there’s another way in that we haven’t discovered yet.”

I grab another beer from the cooler on the bar and hand it to her and as I grab one myself, I touch her bottle with mine.

“Thanks, Kennedy. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

She turns and catches Amos’s eye and smiles. “Same.”

Before she goes, I ask quickly, “Has there been any word from Abigail?”

She shivers. “Yeah, she’s in a bad way. They made her go through all kinds of tests and examinations. She even had to take the morning-after pill, just, well, in case.”

I am disgusted by what she endured and rest my hand on Kennedy’s shoulder and say sincerely, “If there is anything I can do to help, you only have to ask.”

Her eyes brighten with grateful tears and she whispers, “Find the bastard and give me five minutes with him—armed with a knife.”

She hisses, “Castration would be too good for him, but it would be a start at least.”

“I can’t agree more.”

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