Page 26 of Inside the Wicked

“You live here?” I ask timidly.

“Since the beginning,” she answers cheerfully.

“I don’t mean to pry ... but why?”

“Oma is a retired trauma therapist. Well, should be retired.” Rix casts her a playful pointed look. “She refuses to be fired and live out her days in complete relaxation above ground, spoiled by us.”

I add one cube of sugar and watch it dissolve with the swirl of my spoon.

Oma says, “I still have a mind and ears and knowledge. I’ll retire when I’m dead. My grandson likes to fuss.”

It makes sense. Though I wonder with a heavy heart if Rix and Jeremy still have parents.

“Oma raised us.” Rix answers the question that must be written on my face. “Then she happened to find out about Xoid when Rhett and I met up and began setting it up and she decided her soap operas weren’t keeping her entertained enough.”

“You’ve never been good with secrets,” she says.

Rix adds milk to her tea, no sugar. She takes a sip.

“So you help the people working here ... or the victims they save?” I ask.

Rix answers for her. “Sometimes both. Though mostly our people. They’ve been through some dark shit?—”

“Language, boy,” Oma scolds.

I bite my lip at his sheepish look.

“Sorry. Darkstuff,and when they choose to join us, they know what they’re signing up for. For many, getting to help others out of similar situations and shut down bad guys helps them heal, but everyone needs help. Oma is an absolute credit.”

I’m completely awed by her selflessness. She waves off his praise as if what she does isn’t all that much. But it’s lifesaving.

“I can’t imagine what Rhett’s going through,” I whisper. What kind of torture is Alistair inflicting on him? My panic starts to rise fast, terrified of the awful conjurings of my mind.

“We’ll be here for him,” Rix says. “You’ll be here. I’ve known Rhett far longer than I’ve been in Xoid. We met because ofAlistair, ironically enough. My dad was a drug dealer, far lower in the chain than Alistair. He was basically his footstool. Rhett frequented our house for a while to drop off new street drugs. We were twelve.”

Despair fills my chest for the young boys who were exposed to far more than any child should be.

Rix continues. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’ve known every dark shade of Rhett Kaiser. He’s the most resilient fucker—shit, sorry Oma—manI’ve ever known. He lives to get things done, push through hardships, and pull others out with him. He lives to save people. But he’s never lived for himself. He’s never let anyone savehim.Until you.”

I’m so sick of crying, but I can’t help it when his words make my heart too big for my chest. It’s painful. “I miss him,” I whisper. “So much.”

“Me too, dear,” Oma says, reaching a hand over mine on the table.

We sit with Oma for a half hour before heading back into the main room.

“If you ever need to talk, dear,” Oma says warmly.

“Thank you,” I say.

I thought I’d feel out of place when I finally got to come here, but I feel at home. I feel so warm and welcome, and this is leaps closer to Rhett. No one looks at me like the president’s daughter who doesn’t possibly belong here. They don’t watch me with distain for my wealth or status, and I’m so relieved that I wish I knew how to show it.

“It’s been more than a week since I saw you,” I say as we wander around and Rix tries to explain what happens at some of the stations.

“Sorry. We got caught up in stopping a possible trafficking target. It took longer than I thought. Rhett would be livid if we let all of Xoid’s work slip to save him.”

I think so too, but it doesn’t make it easier to want to fight Rhett on his selflessness when he isn’t even here.

“I took the liberty of making these,” he says, swiping up a card-size, deep red metal wallet.

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