Page 8 of Wild Wolf

A snarl broke from my lips and I lunged at him for even suggesting that. Ethan grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

“Easy, love,” he said. “That’s not true anyway. They don’t care about bodies in Darkmore and they aren’t hiding the deaths of those other bastards who were trying to escape with us. Look.”

He directed my attention back to the screen and my heart lurched painfully as I found Sonny and Brett’s faces looking back at me alongside several of Gustard’s cronies, the news anchor now naming those who had died in their attempt to escape before moving on to a list of guards who were killed during the riots.

I swallowed thickly. I hadn’t wanted any of them to get hurt. I’d only ever wanted to get Roary out.

“Okay,” I breathed, trying to focus on what mattered now. “So they’re not covering up deaths but they are claiming Roary and Gustard got out with us. Which means…”

“They don’t want anyone asking where they’ve gone,” Cain finished for me.

I met his gaze, a flicker of fear running through me as I thought of the Fae who had been taken to Psych and of whatever fucked-up machinations had been taking place down there. Could this have anything to do with that?

“We need to figure out where they are,” I said firmly, my brain turning it all over, each piece slotting into another. The escape, the FIB, the guards, the lies on the news.

“Is this a private party or are we all invited?” Sin’s deep voice drew my attention back to the present as he strode into the room and threw himself down on one of the couches.

“Sin…” I said slowly. “Jerome was able to hack into the prison cameras while we were escaping. That means he might have still been watching when we got away, right? He might have seen where they took Roary. He can help us get back in.”

Sin’s eyebrows rose in understanding as he thought about that and a wicked smile crept across his seductive mouth.

“You know, kitten, I think you might just be onto something there,” he purred.

CHAPTER FOUR

“What are you doing?” Rosalie demanded.

It was pretty obvious though. I was on my knees, hunched over like an alley cat with my nose to the dirt, sniff-sniffing.

“Sin.” Rosalie gave me a kick in the ass, but there was no time for foreplay.

“I’m sniffing for FIB boots, sex pot. I can smell the nectar of beeswax in ‘em. If they’ve been anywhere around here recently, I’ll know it.”

“Why would the FIB have been anywhere near here, stronzo? It’s a dusty woodland surrounding an abandoned railway station that hasn’t seen a customer in thirty years.”

I did a forward roll and leapt to my feet in front of her. “Fair point, honey pie. But you can never be too careful when it comes to nosey lawmen.”

“You and careful don’t belong in the same sentence.” She cocked a brow at me and I wiggled mine back at hers in a little silent eyebrow strip show.

“I got caught and fried once, baby cakes, I don’t plan on being caught twice. Especially now I have you to dance the dingo with.” I caught her chin. “Kiss me like the world’s about to end.” I leaned in, but she smacked my hand away like a little savage and my smile grew. “Are we about to play slapsy-fucksy?”

“No,” she said, capturing my chin and taking control of me instead, angling my head towards the rusted train tracks that headed out of the trees up to the old railway station. “Jerome might have answers about Roary’s location. Focus. For me, okay?”

“I can do that, sugar,” I promised, taking her hand from my throat and nipping each of her fingers in turn. “Jeromeo will know-eo.” I took off out of the trees, excited to reunite with my foster brother. Damn, it had been a long time since I’d seen him with these eyes. I was going to hug him so tight I might just puncture a lung.

I cupped my hands around my mouth and howled like a fully-fledged Oscura – which I was now, thank you very much. I’d run with the Wolves, cuddled the pups and played merry mischief in their backyard. Yup, that made me one of them now. I’d be getting my Oscura tattoo when I got back there later, I just couldn’t decide if I wanted it on my ass cheek or right there in the middle of my forehead, blazing like a beacon of Oscura glory.

I’d surprise Rosalie with it one way or the other.

“What happened to careful?” Rosalie drawled as my howl turned to a song about a sea frog and a hesitant owl.

“I’ve secured the perimeter,” I said with a shrug, my song falling dead in the middle. I couldn’t remember most of the lyrics anyway – which was weird considering I’d been making them up on the spot.

Rosalie almost cracked a smile and I stepped closer to her as we approached the train station. Ever since we’d escaped Darkmore, her smiles were playing hide and seek with me and we were in a feisty little game that I was struggling to win. She was damn good, but I was the better player. Crafty, cunning and cool – I was great at cunnilingus too, which wasn’t all that relevant to the game, but was always worth noting when the C words came to dance inside my mind.

“Tag - you’re it!” I slapped Rosalie’s arm and sprinted full pelt the last few steps to the station, shoving a rickety wooden door wide and releasing a wild laugh as I raced through the dusty space. Man, it was good to be free. It was like having wings, only the wings couldn’t flap or make me fly, but they still took me places. Places I’d been unable to go for so many years. They let me use my magic whenever I wanted, allowed my Order to be unshackled and my smiles were bigger out here too. They were the stretchy kind, reaching for my ears and trying to tickle them.

“Sin?”

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