Page 71 of Out of My Flocking Mind

I pressed the power button on the side of the phone, and the screen lit up. Once it turned on fully, it vibrated as waiting texts came in. I scrolled through them, moving past the ones from kids looking for their fix. This wasn’t the phone he’d used when talking to me…

Judging from the date of the earlier text messages, this had to be the phone he used to contact Ryder with. Which makes it my only true line to him…

Harrison’s words came back to me, the fact he’d said the person who caused the damage could potentially repair it—at least some of it. He didn’t think Ryder would do it, but what other choice did I have?

My hands trembled as I worked through the notes in the phone until I found the number I was looking for. It had no name, but instead said Sparrow. I pressed it to call the number.

“Who is this?” came a voice that made my stomach clench with a fear I hated but couldn’t deny. It showed what a number Ryder had done on my mind that he could make me this fearful with his voice.

I took one deep breath to center myself, demanding my voice come out strong. “I think you know.”

Silence met me for a moment before a dark chuckle came through the line. “I never expected to have you reach out to me.”

“Well, after what you did to Trey, I couldn’t help it.”

“Trey? Oh, is that the bear?”

The fucker didn’t even know his name? The complete lack of care had me tightening my hand around the phone in anger. He’d damaged and possibly killed a kid and he didn’t even think his name important enough to take notice of?

“So you admit it?”

“I had a seller who got out of line. He was selling other’s product in my territory. He knew the risks and did it anyway. Really, if this is anyone’s fault, it’s yours.”

“I didn’t attack him.”

“No, but you sent him into the lion’s den. You got him involved, fed him lies about how you were going to help somehow, then left him out to dry. If you hadn’t come around, it never would have happened. Fuck, to think that the girl I’ve been looking for is the same one causing me so many problems.”

I hated that he was right, that his words mirrored the fears and guilt already inside me. Still, breaking down wouldn’t get what I wanted.

“That isn’t what we’re talking about, though, is it? I mean, you didn’t call just to yell at me about some kid.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, that’d be stupid. You have enough reason to hate me all on your own. Don’t you want to cry and complain to me? Tell me to leave you alone, that I’m a horrible person? Wouldn’t be the first fucking time I’d heard that in my life.”

“So why do you want me to say it? Why do you care?”

He paused, then let out a soft laugh that sounded far too much like Harrison. “What first drew me to you was your mind. It was different than others, like a maze I could get lost in forever. After that, I had to know more about you. I asked around, gathered information, and found out you were far more unique than I would have thought. It’s funny, because what I wanted more than anything was to overthrow Harrison, to get back what was mine, and to think that you did it. It makes sense that we’re bound together, doesn’t it?”

“Not really. One of us is a psychopath, and even with my questionable choices, I’m pretty sure it’s not me.”

“Ah, I love that bite of yours. Too many people just cower for me, but not you.” He said nothing else for so long, I moved the phone from my ear to look at the screen and make sure he was still there. Finally, he went on. “It started with your mind, then your background, but you know what really made me settle on having you?”

“My charming personality?”

“Harrison. I saw him arrive to pick you up when you were drunk. Do you know how he looked at you? I’ve seen him get everything in his life, just given the things taken from me. He took all of our power, stole it to become the head of our clan while I got left with nothing. Not a Mind but not a human, either. Stuck between worlds with no one there to save me. I planned to take everything from him—I always want to do that—but when I saw him pick you up that day, when I saw the panic on his face, I realized you’d leave a deeper wound than anything else.”

“So all this damage, all the hurt people, the dead ones, it’s all because you have a weird brother complex?”

“Everything comes back to some petty hatred,” Ryder said. “But you focus on that instead of the fact that I will have you? I’d figure you’d worry more about yourself. You really are fucking weird.”

“Not the first time someone said that, won’t be the last. I’m not worried about it because I already knew that.”

“So why did you call me?”

“I heard that when someone damages a person’s mind like you did, that the person who did it can repair at least some of the damage.”

Ryder was quiet for nearly a full moment before he responded. “That’s true. It still isn’t a sure thing, and the process to repair the damage isn’t a pleasant or easy one, but yeah, it’s true. I’m guessing this means you’re going to beg me to save your little bear friend?”

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