Page 48 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

"Lex had a session with Dr. Armstrong today," Nellie informed her. "And he said something Dr. Armstrong found very odd."

Amara knew all three in-house doctors reported anything and everything odd to Nellie so she could report it to her. "Tell me."

Nellie hesitated. "Lex was speaking about friends before he was found, and we think he slipped up. He didn't mean to mention it because he clammed up immediately after that."

Amara waited, and after a beat, Nellie continued. "He mentioned Xander and talked a lot about him and how much he liked the boy. Went so far as to say Xander felt like a brother from another mother to him."

"Okay," Amara acknowledged, waiting for the odd part. She already knew how much Lex and Xander liked each other. It was amazing to know their friendship had somehow solidified so deeply.

"He mentioned something, Dr. Maroni," Nellie told her. "The way he was talking, Dr. Armstrong thinks he and Xander have spent much more time together than we know of."

That gave Amara pause. She looked out the window at the driveway, deep in thought. They had assumed when they found the boys that they'd all just been together temporarily, because none of the boys had shown a lot of bonding with each other. None except Lex and Xander. Could they have been together for longer? Could Lex actually know about Xander's past and history that none of them knew?

"Did he say anything else?" Amara asked, holding the ledge, eyes unfocused as her brain tried to put the missing pieces together.

"He mentioned a guardian," Nellie said, her voice perplexed.

Amara frowned. "A guardian angel?" Children had active imaginations, especially those who were alone. Maybe the boy thought of a guardian angel watching over him.

"No, an actual guardian," Nellie clarified. "He said something along the lines of how he wanted to be a cool badass when he grew up, just like their guardian was. And then he clammed up. He's never mentioned it before so Dr. Armstrong thinks it wasa slip, especially since he tried to prod more. But he completely shut down."

"Did he mention the guardian in singular or plural?"

"Plural.Theirguardian."

Their.

Lex and Xander's.

Who the hell was their guardian? The boys had been with them for a year, and they had never let anything like this slip before. Hell, she never would have suspected they grew up together if this seed of suspicion hadn't been planted in her head. Now that it was, their behavior and bond were making a lot more sense.

But who had been the guardian? Someone from The Syndicate? Or someone else? Lex thought he was a 'cool badass,' so who?

The more she mulled it over, the more her head began to hurt. Hell, she needed a little break. But there was no break to be had. She loved her life and was grateful for every blessing that she had, but lately, she was beginning to feel burnt out, and the candle from both ends almost melted completely.

"Dr. Maroni?" Nellie's voice in her ear reminded her she was still on call.Shit.

"Sorry, Nellie," Amara apologized. "I just got thinking. Please let me know if anything else happens. And keep an eye on him."

"Of course. Have a good night."

With that, they disconnected, and Amara looked at the hills she called home and wondered when this would all be over—all the questions, all the mysteries, all the chaos.

At least, a huge step in that direction had just been taken with the finding of Luna. Though she'd told her mother valid reasons, she sensed that Dante had another reason for wanting to bring her here first.

"We'll talk later."

The"We'll talk later"was their undecided code for"there is a lot more that I can't talk about right now but will discuss when I see you."

Amara was curious as to what it could be. Knowing they would be in the air and that she had time to kill, she pressed the video button for one of her favorite people.

The call was picked up, and a sight she was not expecting greeted her.

Zephyr, sitting with her hair in a transparent shower cap, the disposable kind, some kind of creamy product slathered onto her head and contained in the cap. It was already dark in Shadow Port, and from the light in the penthouse, Amara could tell Zephyr was on one of the stools around the kitchen island. A glitch at the corner of the screen marred the video.

"What happened to your screen?" Amara asked, laughing.

"Long story," Zephyr sighed. "But good news is that Xander fixed it for me enough that it's functioning."

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