Page 96 of Fought and Freed

As she dried her hands, her thoughts kept circling back to what the druggy had said about her taking everything from Mike, and her mind hung on one person.

She needed to find out what happened to Nikki after the fire.

When she walked into the living room, she found Cody pacing.

Before she said a word, he stomped over to her. “From now on, one of us will drop you off and pick you up from school, and you shouldn’t leave the house otherwise.”

She tilted her head in exasperation. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being ridiculous?” He jabbed a finger toward her. “Someone just attacked you, and you stabbed him!”

Her chin snapped back, and anger sizzled through her. “Yeah, I took care of myself. What did you want me to do? Let him take Torr? Why do you think I’ve been training with Harry? I don’t need someone watching me twenty-four hours a day.”

His expression twisted with rage, but he reined it in. “I have to go back to work. I’ll see you tonight.”

He stormed past her and out of the house.

Maddy wanted to scream. Why didn’t Cody understand that she could take care of herself?

Needing some way to vent her emotions, she headed downstairs and into the art studio.

When she opened the door to the room, the smell of paint thinner and paint filled her nose, giving her a sense that she had come home.

She lost track of time in that little room with no windows, the sound of the exhaust fan drowning out the small noises of the house.

When her phone chirped with an incoming message, she set her brush down to check the screen and saw a text from Jace.

Jace: Where you at, baby girl?

She texted him back.

Maddy: Downstairs.

She cleaned up, making sure to put everything back in its place.

Jace walked into the room. “Hey, baby girl. How was your day?”

His cheery voice usually made her feel better, but not today. “Not good.” She cleaned her hands off with a towel. “Is Ryder back?”

“I think I heard him upstairs.” Jace’s gaze swept over her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’d rather tell you all at once. Cody already knows.” She tossed the towel into the dirty bin with a huff of frustration. “I don’t really want to tell Skylar. He might react just like Cody did.”

Concerned, Jace backed out of the room. “Come on, let’s go see if Ryder is around.”

As they stepped out onto the main floor, Ryder came down the stairs from his bedroom.

“Good, you’re here. Maddy has something to tell us.” Jace turned to face Maddy. “Do you want to call Skylar or not?”

She rubbed her forehead. “We promised no more secrets, so yeah, get him on the phone.”

Jace called Skylar as they got comfortable on the couch.

Skylar’s voice came from the speaker, the sound of construction in the background. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

“Maddy needs to tell us all something,” Jace explained. “Ryder’s here, too.”

Skylar’s voice turned somber. “What’s going on, Princess?”

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