Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 86

Chapter 86

An hour later, the first draft of the statement was mostly in order.

Adrian leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. Exhaustion finally catching up

to him.

I stacked the sorted pages into a neat pile and looked at him. “Go rest.”

He opened his eyes. Didn’t get up right away. Instead, he said. “You too. You didn’t sleep much last night.”

I blinked. I hadn’t told him what time I’d gone to bed.

I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it. “Mm,” I said instead.

I slid the papers into a folder, stood, and headed toward my room. On the way past the living room, Ryder’s voice stopped me.

“Harper. Come outside with me for a second.”

I followed him onto the balcony. The sky was dark. Streetlights scattered small pools of light in

the distance.

Ryder was quiet for a while. Then. “What exactly are you thinking about Adrian?”

I leaned against the railing. Didn’t look at him. “He’s helping us right now.”

Ryder turned to me. “That’s not what I asked.”

I didn’t answer immediately. The night wind came through, and I pulled my jacket tighter.

“I don’t know. He’s complicated. I know I shouldn’t be thinking about him the way I am.” I paused. “But I can’t pretend like nothing happened.”

Ryder studied me, choosing his words carefully. Finally. “He has his own agenda.”

I turned to face him. “What if I choose to trust him this one time?”

We held each other’s gaze for a long time. He didn’t argue. Eventually, he reached out and

pressed his hand lightly to my shoulder-like he wanted to say more, but decided not to. Then he

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Chapter 86

turned and went back inside.

I stayed on the balcony alone. The wind tangled my hair a little.

288 Voucher

I raised my hand and touched my own lips, still thinking about what happened last night, still not sure what I felt about Adrian.

But one thing I was sure of

Compared to how it used to be-back home, completely on my own-standing here now, I felt like I had something to lean on. Just a little. But enough.

And I didn’t want to let go of that.

The recording team Colton had arranged arrived at the safe house on time the next morning.

Two technicians set up cameras in the living room. They adjusted the lighting twice, tested the audio twice-Colton’s exact words were “One take. No edits. I’m not giving them a single opening to call this manipulated.”

I stood in the corner, watching them work, my palms damp.

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