Page 79 of Sloth
“I don’t know.”
She exhaled. It was fine. She was going to find him. She ground her teeth and kept working.
“But I can tell you why he was taken.”
Sloan’s fingers paused, clenched. She lifted her gaze to the man. “Elaborate.”
Don’t throttle him. Don’t throttle him. Put that anger in a box.
Goddammit.She was going to have so many boxes that when she worked out how to unpack them, it would be like the Grinch’s Christmas stash.
Barry took a deep breath. “From what we gathered, this mating bond was a failsafe. It was Gloria’s way of putting a Band-Aid on the mess she’d made.”
“Hey!” Tony waved his hand. “We’re standing right here.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean it like that. I mean, the modified beings—you all—couldn’t be controlled once matured. The mating bond would not only give you all the tools to survive and live rationally, but to flourish. Take that away… and Alcott gets his monsters back.” Barry shifted his tie, gentling his fingers around his neck. “As we’ve already witnessed.”
“Shi-yet.” Tony scrubbed his hand over his face. “You’re telling us… that those who’ve had their powers unlocked are ticking time-bombs?”
Realization dawned on Evan’s face. “You mean they might try to separate Grace from me? Just like they’ve done to Sloan?”
“Exactly!” Sloan said, voice raised and tight. “They’ve taken Max. Can we please get to the business of finding him?”
She rubbed her temples.
“Whatever we can do, Sloanie, you know that.” Evan’s chin jutted. “As soon as we’ve got actionable intel, it’s all hands on deck. In the meantime, I’m finding Grace. We need to alert Wyatt and Griff. And God knows what we’re going to tell Max’s team.”
Sloan jumped to her feet. “Max is a priority. Max!”
With a calm, patient tone, Evan spoke. “I know that, Sloan, but what’s worse than one of us unhinged?” He arched a brow. “All of us.”
Evan left the room.
Energy bubbled within Sloan, and she couldn’t contain it. Her jaw clenched so tight, she almost cracked her teeth. She had to do something. Holding her emotions in check took every ounce of control. Sounds warbled in her ears, and she fell forward to brace herself on the table. Deep breaths punctuated the conversation going on around her.
“I can’t deal with this.” Her eyes burned. “I need to find Max.”
It was an urge tugging deeper within her body, underneath the sin sense… it was Max, but where the sin-sensing gave her a direction to follow, the pain from losing Max was just a gaping hole spreading. It terrified her.
Seeing her struggle, Tony came over and placed a steady palm on her back. “You’re slipping Sloan. Rein it in.”
“Can’t.”
“You can.”
“No.”
“What would Max tell you right now? Think of him.”
She shut her eyes and pictured Max. His sunshine face and coconut musk. His winking smirk and his serious stare. His smooth breezy voice.
You got this.
Sloan calmed. Blood flowed in her body again and she sent Tony a small smile. “Thanks for talking me off the ledge.”
His lips curved slightly, eyes softening. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s coming down from a high.”
“That’s not true. You’re—”
