Page 176 of Fangs
Mist frowned and shifted slightly in her seat, “I haven’t spoken to Hawk in a couple weeks.”
Nemo looked surprised. “Oh, I thought the two of you were close.”
Mist glanced at me, her expression twisting, and my stomach sank. “We were, but we had a bit of a falling out. What is this about?”
“We have reason to believe he might be involved in an attack on Ember last night,” Nemo said gravely.
Mist’s gaze snapped to me. “What happened?”
“Someone got into the clinic and dumped a large volume of blood mixed with Madame’s soap scent over Ember’s head.”
Mist’s eyes widened. “Blood from where?”
“It’s gotta be animal blood,” Wolf answered. “Unless you’ve found some dead bodies.”
We all swung our gazes back to Nemo, who shook his head.
“Wait, more of Madame’s scent?” Mist rested her elbows on the table and massaged her temples.
“Have you noticed any missing?” Nemo asked.
Mist grimaced. “No, but I packed up that scent and put it in my storage shed.” She glanced at me again. “I can’t stand smelling it, either.”
My stomach churned.
“I hate to pry into your business, Mist, but did your falling out have anything to do with Ember?” Nemo asked, his tone regretful.
Mist sighed. “Partially, I guess. I’ve just needed some… space.” Her eyes glimmered with tears. “I broke and gave Madame his name when she was torturing me.”
The pain in her voice made my throat ache, and shame swallowed me.
“When Bo—I mean Ember wasn’t there, it was… so hard to keep from breaking. I always thought I could withstand something like that, but you don’t know until it’s happening.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Hawk wanted to fix it, but I have to figure it out by myself. He made a few negative comments about Ember, and I got angry and told him he had no idea what she did for me in that room.” She looked at Nemo with a grim smile. “You know.”
Nemo nodded, his eyes sliding to me, but I glanced at my brother. He didn’t look confused or shocked, so maybe they’d already talked about this while I was unconscious.
“I can’t imagine him doing something like that to Ember,” Mist continued. “But I don’t know… he’s hurting, and what happened in that room… it changed us.”
“He grabbed her arm the other day, grabbed it hard enough that he left big purple bruises.” Wolf crossed his arms over his chest.
Mist looked from him to me, her eyes widening.
“Do you have any idea where he might be?” Nemo asked, his voice gentle. “We haven’t been able to find him.”
Mist frowned. “I don’t, but I can help you look.”
“That’d be great, Mist,” Nemo said, then he looked back at me. “I’ll let you go, Ember. The breakfast bell should be ringing soon.”
I stood, and Wolf, Lee, Sable, and Kai stood, too. My head was full of thoughts about Mist and Hawk.
“Em!”
Wolf’s call startled me back to the present. We were outside, and I’d started toward the clinic, but the four of them were standing on the path, watching me.
“Where are you goin’?” Wolf asked, a familiar edge to his voice.
“The clinic.” I furrowed my brow. Why was he talking to me like I was trying to get out of my chores? It made my hackles rise, and I tried hard to keep from reacting.
“No, it’s breakfast time.” His eyes narrowed into a glare. “You need to come eat.”
