Page 80 of Caged Bird

But Fawn ignored her. “He had nothing to do with it. He’s only been here a few days, and he’s been trying to help me.”

Scythe’s gaze flicked to mine. Absentmindedly, he rubbed the handle of his blade over the small scythe-shaped birthmark on the back of his hand. “He’s Eddie’s brother.”

Didn’t I know it.

But Fawn’s eyes flashed with protective anger. “And they’re about as similar as you and I are.”

Scythe finally drew his death gaze away from me and focused a much softer look on his sister. “We’re similar. We both eat Froot Loops for breakfast.”

Ophelia crinkled her nose. “Disgusting.”

“Hey!” Scythe complained, offended. “They’re a source of four vitamins!”

But Fawn’s mouth flickered up at the corner. “I haven’t had Froot Loops in what feels like a lifetime.”

“Then we’ll fix that immediately after I gut and dismember this asshole’s brother. Where is he?”

“Gone,” I muttered.

Scythe shot me a look. “Did I ask you to speak?”

Fawn frowned at him. “He’s telling the truth. He took Otis sometime last night—”

“Who’s Otis?” Ophelia squinted at her younger sister.

Fawn let out a long breath. “Your nephew.”

Ophelia’s eyes rounded until they were the size of dinner plates. “My…my what?”

“Bet you really want a bowl of Froot Loops now, don’t you?” Scythe asked smugly. “All those vitamins would have made you smart enough to know a nephew is your sibling’s child…wait.” His eyes bugged out. “You have a kid?” He glanced at me. “Oh fuck, please tell me you’re the baby daddy?”

I wished with all my heart I was.

If it were possible for Scythe’s eyes to get any darker, they did. “We need to go somewhere where I can get something way stronger than a bowl of fruit-flavored circles.”

22

FAWN

In a crappy roadside diner, empty of anyone but us and a bored-looking waitress, we spilled everything to Ophelia and Vincent. He’d swapped back into the dominant personality as soon as Scythe had calmed down, though Vincent was no less deadly. He just let his emotions out in a quieter manner, listening to every word of my story, while quietly stabbing his blade into the padding of the seat beside him.

None of us stopped him, the waitress too busy scrolling on her phone to even notice, and by the time I’d finished speaking, the cushion was nothing but fabric ribbons and a pile of fluffy white stuffing.

Ophelia simply threw an exorbitant amount of money onto the table as we left, more than enough to cover the cost of the damage our brother had made of the booth.

In the car again, I wrung my hands until they were practically raw, only stopping when Zane covered them with his.

Vincent eyed him touching me. His jaw twitched, but he said nothing.

“I need my son, V,” I whispered. “Please.”

He gave a curt nod, like it was already done. “I’ll get him. You don’t need to worry. Ophelia—”

She raised an eyebrow. “Ophelia is coming with you.”

Vincent shook his head. “No.”

“Excuse me? No isn’t part of my vocabulary.” She held a hand up, one finger raised. “And don’t try switching with Scythe to get your own way. That won’t work either.”

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