Page 70 of Gabe

I had my gun in my hand and pointed at the man before his name had even finished leaving my mouth.

Yet, to my surprise, Frankie grabbed my arm and forced it back to my side.

“No, wait, Gabe. It’s okay. He’s on our side.”

I looked away from Ozias just long enough to raise an eyebrow in Frankie’s direction. “What do you mean he’s on our side? He’s working for the Senator.”

Rather than answer, Frankie just pointed at the floor. It was a testament to how distracted I was that I didn’t notice the bodies lying on the floor. Two of them looked like bodyguards, while one was definitely Senator McLeod.

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story. But, like I said, Ozias is on our side. He’s not a threat.”

I was still struggling to process what Frankie was saying. “You mean he killed the Senator?”

“Yeah, in order to… oh. What’s Miss Bell doing here?”

Frankie was staring at Ozias with concern.

I followed his gaze to see Ozias standing off to the side of the room with a familiar boy in his arms.

Ozias and Tansie stared at each other, each with an unreadable expression on their faces.

“Who’re you?” Ozias demanded as he held the boy closer and backed up a step. “What do you want?”

Tansie said nothing as she stared at the boy with a dozen different thoughts racing behind her eyes and her fists twisting at one of her braided pigtails.

Frankie pulled out of my arms and approached her with his hands held out in front of him like he was trying to sooth a frightened animal.

“Um, Miss Bell. Let me explain. There’s a lot to talk about.”

“No,” she said with a voice that sounded like it came from a completely different voice box. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

CHAPTER 25

Frankie

A sharp pain cutting across my neck was my first warning that anything had happened. I never saw Tansie move, but in the blink of an eye she was standing behind me and I suddenly couldn’t breathe.

“Frankie,” Gabe shouted, sounding more distressed than I’d ever heard him.

Yet, it was as if everything were happening too fast for my emotions to keep up, so they’d just decided to shut down. A deeply ingrained instinct told me to keep my head still, so I looked around using only my eyes.

Gabe, Newt, and Sebastian were all looking at me terrified. Tansie stood pressed up against my back. One of her braids was undone, and I could just see the messy rope of hair in my peripheral.

Her hands hovered near each of my shoulders, holding tight to a wire that was wrapped around my neck.

Had she been hiding the wire in her hair the whole time?

That was a smart idea. I also had long braids. Maybe I should start doing the same thing.

Like a drowning man clinging to a single piece of driftwood, I couldn’t stop thinking about the logistics of hiding a wire in my own hair. It was easier than facing the reality of my situation.

Tansie had a sharp garrote wire wrapped around my neck. Assuming she knew how to use such a weapon, one quick snap of her hands would kill me.

“Miss Bell, what are you doing?” Newt demanded. He tried to come closer, but Gabe and Sebastian both stopped him.

Gabe eyed her with a narrow look, glancing briefly at the boy in Ozias’s arms like he was stitching pieces of a tapestry together.

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