Page 18 of Under an Endless Moon

Except they weren’t alone.

Some guy who wasn’t more than a kid was standing all kinds of antsy where the three of them surrounded him.

Otto started in that direction, and it was Theo who heard him. The tall, lanky motherfucker turning around and cutting him off midway as Otto aggressively crossed the floor.

“The fuck is going on here?” Otto demanded below his breath.

Theo roughed a hand through his black hair, his voice just as low. “Don’t freak out, man. Dude is in trouble. He’s got his little sister with him. Both of them are hungry and clearly without a clue how to handle themselves on the street. Couldn’t turn an eye.”

“Fuck,” Otto spat.

He wanted to be a dick. Tell Theo to get them the fuck out of there before things went bad. Instead, he met the eye of the kid across the room. Probably fifteen or sixteen.

Hopelessness radiated from him, the kind of desperation Otto had seen a million times on these streets. But it was undercut in ferocity. In a severity that promised this guy was going to do whatever it took to make it.

But what really got him was when his attention traveled, and he caught sight of the little girl who was sitting on one of the dingy mattresses in the corner.

Wrapped in a blanket and rocking.

Scared as all fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Otto scrubbed a palm over his face. None of them could afford to get sentimental or soft. But God, had he devolved so far that he’d become a monster? Gone so depraved that he’d been stricken of his humanity?

What if it washislittle sister sitting over there?

His chest fisted, and he supposed that was when Theo felt the shift because he reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Somethin’ tells me we can trust this guy.”

Otto gave him the slightest nod before he followed Theo over to the group. Otto sized up the kid who was wearing expensive clothes that were dirty as shit.

Instantly, he pegged him as a runaway.

“Name’s Otto,” he said, still gauging.

The kid lifted his chin. “I’m River.”

“And what are you doing here, River?” He wasn’t pressing him to be an asshole. He just needed him to be straight.

River’s throat bobbed as he peeked at his sister. “I’m making sure her piece of shit father never gets to her again. Whatever it takes.”

Otto’s stomach bottomed out, sickness pulsing. It was easier to ignore those around you when you kept walking right on by. Their business none of your concern. Not so easy when it was right in your face.

Otto blew the strain from his nose as he looked at hiscrew. “We need to vote.”

Otto slowly edged up to the little girl who still rocked in the corner, curled into the blanket with her face completely concealed. He could feel the fear roll through her when he got close.

Bile prowled his throat, rage rolling through him at the truth that someone could hurt a child this way. The things that River had told them, the horrors he’d confessed.

Vote had been unanimous.

“Hey there.” He kept his voice as soft as he could as he carefully knelt in front of her.

She flinched, still keeping her face hidden.

“I’m Otto.”

“I’m Raven.” Her voice was tiny and tremulous.

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