Page 175 of Nicky and the Night Owls, Part One

Gabe and I helped her into the water. She sank into the peach-scented foam, and we climbed in after her, the others joining us a moment later. Tony tied up his locs and assisted Billie in tying their own hair into a bun, then helped them climb into the water. Jasper took over primary Nicky cuddles, but I tucked in on her other side, lacing our fingers together beneath the foam.

“Baby girl,” said Tony. “Are you up to having a conversation, or would you rather wait until you’re feeling better?”

Nicky squeezed my hand. “Can we wait a little bit?”

“Of course.”

“It’s nothing bad,” I told her, hoping it would soothe her anxieties.

“Oh,” she said quietly. “I’d still like to wait, if that’s okay? Good or bad, I need more rest before I can handle complex thoughts.”

I settled in, relieved to have this small reprieve. It didn’t take long for Nicky to fall asleep, propped between Jasper and I.

“Do we have a plan?” Gabe asked quietly.

“I definitely don’t,” I replied.

But I would have to think of something. She was too important to let things slide. We needed to make it clear how important she was to our pack so she didn’t get any ideas in her head that we didn’t love her as much as we all loved each other.

53

TONY

“Holyshit.”

“What is it?” Billie asked.

“Councillor Harvey went completely unhinged in my voicemail.”

I had ignored my phone during the heat. Everyone knew not to bother me while on heat leave. HarveyknewI was away from work for Jasper's heat, and apparently she had taken the opportunity to go absolutely hogwild.

I went back to the beginning of the messages and put them on speaker so my encroaching pack could hear the vitriol she had spewed at me.

“How dare you? Reporting me to the mayor for embezzlement when I’ve spent the last twenty years in service of this community? You’ve got a lot of audacity, Agani. I’m going to ruin you for this. We’ll see how long your career lasts with me as an enemy.”

“I won’t say the words that I want to you because, quite frankly, they are too crass to belong in my mouth. You’re a twisted snake. A stalker. I can’t believe you wasted your time being so focused on me that you would dig back through two decades of records!”

“If I had known that you were as morally corrupt as all of those night workers at that facility, I never would’ve given you those measures to edit. You’re just like the rest of them.”

“Enjoy the fruits of your labour. If I can’t save people because of your intervention, then I’ll find another way. Consider yourself fired.”

The words in her last message slugged me in the gut. Maybe I didn’tlovemy job, but it was mine, and I felt like it was valuable. Billie had always been insistent that none of us had to work if we didn’t want to, but that alpha compulsion to provide had kept me firmly employed. Now that had been ripped out from under me.

“Wow. What the fuck? What the hell does she mean about saving people?” Billie asked

“Oh my god.” Nicky clapped her hand over her mouth. “You don’t think she's the one that set fire to the facility? I thought maybe it might’ve been Alphonse, but she had some kind of vendetta against it, didn’t she?”

The air froze in my throat. Had Harvey torched Nicky’s precious library because of me? The idea of it made me nauseated.

“Uh, yeah, she did,” I agreed. “I never thought she would go that far.”

“Send the voicemails to the lawyer,” Billie said. “Add it to the case.”

“My poor library.” Nicky sniffled and slid into my arms. “Can she really fire you? Does she have that power?”

“If the others don’t vouch for me, then absolutely.” I sighed. Fucking Harvey.

“Would this be a good time to tell people my idea?” Billie asked.

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