Page 11 of Birds of a Feather

Lyla looked to the books. Her face lit up. “That’s one of the things I read about.” She clasped her hands together in excitement. “Maybe we can work on a puzzle together after you move rooms.” She flicked her eyes to Gabby, waiting for her response.

Gabby hadn’t considered that it was a thing she could do with others. The books seemed like a solitary thing—a lonely thing—for her to practice. Something to pass the time when she wasn’t in an appointment or screaming into her pillow. An activity that bordered on the idea of fun but could never be fun since they were all word puzzles and Gabby struggled with language. But to have someone helping, or even just sitting nearby for company, that did sound enjoyable.

“What’s that?” Lyla pointed to the toy crow Phin had given Gabby earlier.

“Present from brother.” Gabby paused in between each word, concentration honing her mind. Her words were finally starting to come together, but everything seemed easier somehow with Lyla around. “Crow shifter.” She pointed to herself.

Lyla beamed up at her. “What a thoughtful gift. You’re a crow shifter, so he bought you a toy crow.” She eyed the present, her face glowing with happiness. Lyla had such a warm personality that it was infectious. Gabby caught a smile forming on her face. Lyla was her hope.

And maybe with the help of the word games, she’d be able to finally talk about what had been on her mind: Dr. Grimm.

“Where are you moving to?” Lyla’s tone sounded chipper, though her dark hazel eyes seemed troubled.

“One eighteen.” Gabby glanced at her sparse belongings. At least she had someone to help. Though if she didn’t have a friend, she was sure one of the staff members would have assisted her.

“Let’s get stared then.” Lyla beamed a toothy smile at her, the remnants of concern leaving her eyes.

Before Gabby picked up her pile of word puzzle books, she glanced back to the hole in the screen. With an intruder on campus, she’d have to be careful. Despite campus security and Agent Stone, looking for said intruder, thinking it was random, Gabby was certain this was linked to her case. There was no doubt in her mind it had something to do with the evil doctor who’d held her captive. And if the map was, in fact, connected to him, it was only a matter of time before he’d come looking for her. If the intruder started in her room and was attempting to capture her, why had they left? They could’ve sat in wait somewhere out of sight in her room. And by the look of the tiny slash in the screen, the creature could have easily hidden anywhere. So why had it wandered off?

8

Lyla watched the shadow of worry cross her friend’s face. Gabby flicked her gaze from the books in her lap to the window and then back. “Penny for your thoughts?” Lyla wanted to know if there was anything else she could do to help. Changing rooms didn’t appear to be the only thing on Gabby’s mind. And who could blame her? Someone had broken into her room. At least Gabby wasn’t there when it happened. Lyla was thankful for that. She didn’t want to think about anyone kidnapping her friend. She wanted to protect her from going through anything like that again.

Gabby brushed her long, wavy hair behind her shoulders, exposing the growing look of concern. She sighed, looking up at the ceiling, probably to find her words. Concentration etched deep lines in her pretty face. “D-doctor Grimm.” Her lips puckered as if tasting something sour and repulsive.

“Doctor who?” Lyla had never heard the name before.

“Grimm. Looking. For. Me.” The phrase seemed to take all of Gabby’s energy, but a look of triumph, with a smile, flashed across her face.

“Was he at the lab with Sandy?” Lyla couldn’t recall a Dr. Grimm at her lab, though she was kept in a different location from where Gabby was being held—if Gabby’s chart was correct. How the baddies were funding all these labs, Lyla didn’t know. But there seemed to be a lot of them.

Gabby paused before nodding her head. Normally Lyla would take a hesitation to mean the other person was hiding something, but in this instance, she knew it took a lot of time for Gabby to focus on what she wanted to say, for it to come out in the correct order and with the correct words or gestures.

Lyla rubbed her chin. “Why do you think he’s looking for you? Because the map was in your room?”

This time, Gabby shook her head. Lyla was about to ask if she meant to nod when Gabby tried to explain. “Said… was… favorite… his.” Long pauses punctuated each word, but Lyla waited until Gabby finished to piece it together.

“He said you were his favorite?” Gabby nodded to confirm Lyla translated correctly. “That’s ominous.”

Gabby sighed, leaning back against the wall behind her.

“That’s… That’s really shitty.” Lyla didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t often that she found herself at a loss for words.

The memory of the worm flopping around the corner in the hall popped into her mind. Was that somehow connected? “I need to tell you something.”

“What?”

“Remember when I told you I was at the library?”

“Nnyes…” The two words blended together in a long, drawn-out mix of both.

“Look how good you’re getting! You corrected yourself mid-word. And you haven’t confused your nods or head shakes since I’ve seen you today.” A bright happiness blossomed inside of Lyla. Her six months in hell had been rough, and the healingafterward wasn’t much better, but watching Gabby improve seemingly overnight was priceless.

“Focus.” Gabby seemed to have other things on her mind than her progress. Lyla could understand why. Someone might be here to recapture her.

“Right. I was leaving the library when I thought I saw a worm flop around the corner at the end of the hall. It was so weird to see that I convinced myself I was having a low-sugar hallucination.” The works tumbled out. The fast speech was a sign her energy reserves were filling up and almost back to normal.

“Flop?” Gabby raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Worm?”

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