Page 13 of Bros Come Before Hordes
"You kidding me?" His blue eyes sparkled, a breathtaking display, even with the dark shadows spread underneath them. "I'm having a blast. But you're welcome."
I stepped in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Despite how sucky being queen was so far, I really didn't deserve these three. They had my back, no questions asked, no requirements in return. Plus, they were hot and horny. I definitely wouldn't complain about them, and I genuinely liked being around them. Asa did, too, which was huge, though not surprising. He liked everybody, while his sister usually hated everyone based on instinct alone.
We joined Vance and Asa at the table while Calhoun rolled in a flat-screen TV on a cart at the very back of the room.
"Hey, big guy," Tavis said to Asa, eyeing the TV. "See how many rocks you can paint before I say stop, and then I'll see if I can beat that. Ready?"
Asa's head bobbed as he sat and readied his supplies. "Say go, Tavis."
Tavis paused for dramatic effect and then barked, "Go!"
Asa got to work while the rest of us joined Calhoun at the TV, far enough away from Asa so he wouldn’t hear or see anything he shouldn’t.
I produced the video footage, and Calhoun took it, his gaze never leaving mine. “Do you want to tell us what happened before or after we watch this?”
“After,” I choked out. I needed time to process still, and seeing the video might help me make sense of it by explaining last night.
Calhoun nodded and loaded the video while Vance and Tavis pressed in close to my sides. Vance took my hand, and Tavis wrapped his arm around my waist.
"Let's see what we got." Calhoun hit play on a remote and then fast-forward until close to the end. “It looks like this only goes until midnight, so we won’t see what actually happened at the full-moon ritual. We’ll see everything before it though.”
When two men in tuxes entered Oliver's office, he pressed play again. The time stamp at the bottom of the screen read eleven forty last night. The picture quality was crystal clear, but the other man had his face turned away. Then I slipped through the door wearing my fancy gown, looking like I might pass out from stress alone.
Which was exactly how I looked now, almost twelve hours later. I was sure of it.
"You have to be a ninja spy," Tavis said, waving at me crouching behind the table on the screen. "They don't even sense you."
"A sexy-as-fuck ninja spy." Calhoun looked over his shoulder from his crouch in front of me, the bandages on his neck rustling faintly, and roamed his dark gaze over all the skin the dress exposed. "That dress is pure sin on you."
I tried for a smile, but watching myself relive the most terrifying night of my life slipped it right off.
Vance narrowed his pale eyes at the screen. "That other guy refuses to face the camera."
"He will, any second now." I remembered it clearly. Already, he was shifting his weight to stand in front of the gun he'd placed on the mini bar. Then he lifted it and turned.
Calhoun immediately pushed the pause button, and the four of us stared at Oliver's shooter. The same guy who'd actually murdered him with the Queen’s Cross? I didn’t know. I didn't knowhimeither.
Calhoun looked to Vance and Tavis. "Anyone you know?"
Vance shook his head."Never seen him before."
Tavis shrugged. "He has that kind of face that sort of blends in, you know? There's really nothing that stands out about him."
He was right. Short blond hair, average height, facial features that weren’t too big or too small. Just...normal, though I supposed a lot of murderers looked normal.
"Keep going," I said.
Calhoun hit play, and on the other side of the table on the screen, a chair moved, seemingly on its own, but it was me diving underneath. Then the man fired at Oliver and charged forward.
I leaned in. "Pause again?"
He did, and something scraped at my memory, something that I should've remembered but didn't. The same thing had happened last night while I'd hidden myself under the table and watched the man stalk past. It was there. Right there. An observation or something...
I rubbed my tired eyes and then tried to stare harder at the screen. "There's something there. I felt it while I was in there too."
"What is it?" Vance asked, his voice gentle yet prodding.
"I don't know. Something I noticed, but my subconscious was like nope at the time. I can't even remember what it was I noticed."
