Page 150 of Dark Endures

He stays silent.

Maddox doesn’t play games. This isn’t a game. “Are you mad at me?”

“Yes, Mindy, I’m mad at you.” He enunciates each word slowly, like he’s biting his tongue the entire time.

“Why? When we last talked, everything seemed fine.” Weird, but fine. You even tucked me in like you always do. I don’t want to think about how good a small little thing like that makes me feel.

“The last time we talked, you didn’t run off without telling anyone where you were or what you were doing.” His fingers start tapping the wheel. “You just ran out. If security hadn’t been watching, I wouldn’t have known until I showed up with dinner and you weren’t there. Can you imagine how I would feel? The last time you were gone for three days. I didn’tknow if you were alive or dead. Could you imagine the fear going through my head when you ran onto the subway?” He hits the wheel and pulls over.

“No.”

“They said you got a phone call and left. Why did you up and disappear without telling me?”

Disappear? “I went to lunch. And what do you mean, security watched me leave?

“Security, you know Canyon and the other guys on his team.” Maddox raises an eyebrow at me.

“They watch your building. How would they know I got on the subway?”

“I thought Leonie explained this to you. On Willow Street, we protect dozens of children every day. That means a lot more security than one little building.”

“You watch everything?”

He nods. “But the question is, why did you run away without telling anyone?”

“Run away? I met my mother for dinner.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you? Why?”

“So that I don’t worry.”

Worry?

He stares at me for a long moment.

“What?”

“You really didn’t think to mention to me or to anyone where you’re going.”

“I’ve never had someone care enough to ask where I’m going.” Why did I say that out loud?

“I care.”

Two words. All it took was two words to crack my world.

“Are you going to cry?”

“No. I have makeup on.”

He reaches across the cup holder and brushes a tear off my cheek. “It’s okay to cry.”

“No. It’s not. Especially for the next few days. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Mom would kill me dead on the spot if I ruined my makeup at her wedding. Fake tears are fine…real ones…I shudder at the thought.

“What you’re going to do is rest, play with the snakes, and eat. That’s what you’re going to do for the next few days.”

Don’t I wish. “I need to go to my mother’s wedding this weekend.”

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