Page 123 of Tides of Fate

Mama-Frankie grabs his pant leg. “I blame your father for this.”

He doesn’t know whether she means his shorter stature, familiarity withthe courtroom, or even his general daredevil spirit.

“Sorry, Mama. I’m going to go…” Leo gestures toward the doors.

It’s not hard to slip away now, with everyone still occupied. He skirts down the aisle, muttering “excuse me” or “pardon me” when he steps on toes or bumps shoulders.

When he finally reaches the back of the room, he merges with a group of court reporters and exits into the hallway.

Lang and Carnell are gone, so Leo moves to the side, leaning against the wall near a large ficus.

Hidden there, he wonders where the sinister duo has gone.

Leo does what he’s seen Gideon do a thousand times—he closes his eyes and justbreathes.

Then, he feels it—somewhere deep in his chest. A nudge. A push.

It tells him to go right, down to the end of the hall.

So he does.

Past several open meeting rooms, then hard right—he stops like he’s hit a wall of air.

That’s when he hears them.

They’re in a meeting room, the door mostly pushed closed.

“Mr. Lang, you have your instructions, yes?” Carnell says, the oil in his voice as slick as the one in his scent.

Lang hesitates before saying, “…Yes, sir.”

“Good. He’s served his purpose.”

“Sir, are you sure? This is your—”

A squeak. Then—

“Spare me, you imbecile. Levi, we’re leaving. As much as I’d like to see my son and his little omega—anomega!Well, I had not planned for that, eh?”

“No, sir. They don’t exist, right?”

The high-pitched voice must belong to a henchman.

“Shut it, you idiot. I’m surrounded by idiots.HowI miss Alistair’s counsel in these matters,” bemoans Carnell.

How Carnell could miss the counsel of aten-year-old boyis a mystery.

Maybe Hayes isn’t the only one who’s lost his marbles.

“Let’s go before Rhodes gets free of my son’s infernal pack, and I have to show my hand in a courthouse.”

The sound of footsteps nears the door, and Leo realizes that Carnell isn’t the only one who doesn’t want to show his hand.

He scrambles across the hall into an empty room, pressing himself against the wall behind the door.

There’s nowhere to hide.

He can only imagine what damage Levi could do to Leo on Carnell’s command in an unoccupied meeting room, with most guards on crowd control elsewhere.

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