Page 167 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

“I’ll handle it,” Knox says.

I laugh despite myself. “You’re going to?—?”

“I hadeasierways to deal with her. You and Mason were the ones who said?—”

“Fuck, yes. Okay.” I huff out an annoyed breath as I change lanes and indicate to turn into a side street so I can make a U-turn. “Text me the details. Just make sure?—”

“I told you,” Knox says in a steely voice. “Igotthis.”

Chapter 31

Mason

My shoulders sag when I see Knox standing near the clinic’s entrance. I grab my phone out of my Escalade’s console and stash it in my black-and-silver letterman’s jacket. Knox extinguishes his cigarette in a nearby public ashtray when he sees me approaching.

“Where’s Silas?” I ask.Fuck, my heart is already racing and I haven’t even gone through the front doors.

“He’s taking care of something for me.”

“Right now?” I rub a hand irritably through my stubble. I don’t bother shaving on weekends. By Monday I have a longer beard than some guys who’ve been at it for a week.

“Does it matterwhosehand you hold?” he snarks, a rascally gleam in his eyes.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I tell him, tugging hard at the lapels of my jacket.

“More than you, obviously.” He gives me a curious once-over. “Still working up the courage to go inside? You know you don’t need an invite, right? You’re not a vampire.”

“Fuck you,” I mutter, glancing up at the Divine Radiance Health Center’s sign. Who puts a burning mountain on a medical clinic’s front door?A frosted version of that same disturbing logo splits in half when I finally get the guts to go inside.

Knox remains surprisingly silent as I head to the circular information desk in the foyer. As soon as Sister Tracy sees me, she pops up behind the counter like a prairie dog. “Mason! I was wondering where you were.”

“He was afraid to come inside,” Knox says cheerily.

“Only because I was worried he’d burst into flames,” I tell her, faking a grin as I point my thumb at Knox.

Sister Tracy titters at this, and grabs a file out of one of the trays behind the counter. “Let’s get you set up before all the good seats are taken. We have a full house today.”

Knox stares around as Tracy leads us through a labyrinth of hallways. “Glad to see you’re putting my money to good use,” he says.

Sister Tracy almost trips over her Crocs. She turns, giving Knox a wide-eyed stare that slowly resolves into bright-eyed wonder. “It’s you!” she whispers. “You’re...you’re his son, aren’t you?”

Knox gives her a frosty smile. “I’m afraid so,” he says. “So, does it hurt when you suck the marrow out of his bones?”

My sour laugh draws more than a few eyes. God, why did Knox have to send Silas back to the Academy? He doesn’t know the first thing about this shit. I’m going to be spending the next hour explaining everything to him, aren’t I?

“I’m not donating marrow,” I tell him. “Just blood.”

“Blood? Sissa does that all the time, and she’sthirteen.”

Thank God a waiting room comes up ahead, because I might have punched him out if he’d said another word.

“You wait in there.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Sister Tracy says. “He’s more thanwelcome to sit with you like your other friend does.”

“Thank you, Sister,” Knox says. “I’d be devastated if I couldn’t hold Mason’s hand through this traumatic ordeal.”

“Dickwad,” I mutter, throwing Knox a hard stare.

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