Page 131 of The Wild Charge

Fox couldfeelhis gaze narrowing. “What did she do?” The whiskey he’d downed burned off in an instant, and left him far too sharp and sober.

“I’ll let her and Raven tell you. And who knows: maybe we can turn this around and use it in our favor somehow.”

Albie started to ask something, but Axelle pressed the handle and led them into the room.

Cassandra was sitting on the bed beside Raven; they weren’t touching, but Raven projected that cool, steady aura of support that reminded Fox so much of Phillip. Cass had been crying, and fresh tears welled up in her puffy eyes as she told them about her chat room, but she didn’t flinch away and she kept her head up through the telling.

Albie kept muttering, “Christ, Cass.”

Fox stood still and silent, hands in his pockets. When she was done, and had saidsorryfor the fifteenth time, he shook out a cigarette and lit up.

“You can’t smoke in here,” Raven said.

“Stop me.” He turned and left the room.

“Fox!”

He went back through the sitting room, ignored Ian and Alec’s inquiries, and snapped his fingers at Tenny.Follow me, he said with a glance, and for once, the brat didn’t argue.

He already knew that Ian had rented out the entire floor for them. At a glance, a security thug let him into an empty suite, and a moment later, Tenny followed – with Reese in tow. Fox thought about sending him away, but those two were basically one conglomerate creature these days, and Reese could keep Tenny calm like no one else, so…whatever.

Fox took a deep drag off his smoke as Reese eased the door shut.

Tenny folded his arms and said, “What did that stupid little bitch fuck up?”

Fox took another drag, then set his still-smoking cig aside in a crystal bowl on the nearest table. He spun his rings around, so the fat Dog stamps were inside his fist, took two steps forward, and swung at Tenny.

Tenny dodged, because he was a fast little fucker, and Reese sprang up between them immediately, a hand on each of their chests.

“Stop,” he said, and then turned to Tenny and said, “stop calling your sister a bitch.” Back to Fox, he repeated, “Stop.”

Fox read it as a plea.

“Fuck you,” Tenny spat, but turned away and raked fingers through his hair, mollified for now.

Fox went back for his cigarette. “So,” he said, placidly, “Cass has been chatting with the other clinic kids, and posting photos. Eden thinks that’s how Abacus knew where to find them.”

Tenny still had his back turned, stone-still.

Reese frowned and said, “Abacus is running the clinic?”

“We don’t know yet,” Fox said. “But I think it’s safe to say that’s the only way anyone found them here. We need to…fuck.” He rubbed at his eyes, exhausted suddenly. There was a chair behind him, and he slumped down into it. “We need to look into this clinic. I wasn’t gonna let her go, given what’s happening, but it’s clearly not a coincidence.”

Slowly, Tenny turned back around, arms folded again, expression blank. “Some family you have there.”

“Yours too, asshole,” Fox said, without any real heat. He was too tired for this; too…done. “Okay, so, we’ll adjust tomorrow’s plans. Someone has to go to that fucking art center and check it out.”

Reese nodded.

Tenny scoffed.

A light rap sounded at the door, and when Reese opened it, Eden stepped through. She glanced between them all. “Everything okay?”

“Brilliant,” Fox and Tenny said in unplanned unison.

Tenny frowned and glared off into the corner.

Eden stepped farther into the room, hesitating; if they didn’t have an audience, he thought she would have come all the way across the carpet and sat in his lap. As it was, she planted her hands on her hips and said, “I think, in some ways, this is a good thing. This is an in of some kind. We can exploit it.”

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