Page 91 of Awry
“She is not your mentor.Or your friend.”
Presh pokes him in the chest.“Leave her alone.Rought only does this creepy shit because you order him to do it.”
Rath snorts, but he’s struggling to take his eyes off the picture just as much as I am.
“It is creepy,” Doc says.“That picture looks … private, and …”
“Take it up with Reck,” Rath snaps.“He took the fucking picture in the first place.”Then he clamps his mouth shut, shaking his head just once, angrily.Yeah, he’s said way more than he intended.
Because Rath is still in denial about Zaya.Past and present.
“Oh …” Doc looks at the picture, then scans over my desk to the phone plugged into the hard drive.“Oh …” she breathes, as if she thinks she’s put something together.She hasn’t, though.Not completely.
“Check on the Outcast,” Rath says sharply.Not ‘our uncle.’Rath is attempting to cover his blunder with formality.“Take Presh with you.”
“But …” Presh protests.
Before Doc even gets her bag zipped, her back stiff and movements jerky — a response to Rath’s orders, I assume — the door to the interrogation room slams open.
Reck strolls out, grinning like a total fucking madman and casually tossing the tiny black box — hopefully disabled now — in his hand.His knuckles are bloodied.
We all stare at him for long enough that the heavy steel door swings shut.His gaze falls on his phone, still tethered to my setup, and his smile fades.
Rath is fucking growling.The voice of his beast is actually rattling through his chest.
Reck’s gaze snaps to our brother, then quickly takes in Doc and Presh, who’s now frowning again.
Doc grabs her bag, then tries to snag Presh’s shoulder.But our sister snaps her arm to the side, pointing at my screen with a single finger.“Why do you have that photo of Zaya, Reck?!”she screeches.Loudly.
Reck barely gets a chance to glance at the photo I’ve stolen off his phone before Rath’s fist is slamming into his jaw and he’s stumbling back.
Doc grabs Presh — who shrieks in vehement protest at being safely removed from the room — and darts toward the door to the hall.
Rath gets Reck in the gut with another juggernaut of a punch before Reck manages to lunge forward and wrap both arms around our brother, pinning Rath’s arms to his sides.They wrestle upright for a bit.Then they drop onto the coffee table, smashing it to pieces — Rath on top of Reck.
“Rath!”Presh cries.
I’m fairly certain Rath is mindlessly considering choking Reck out, but Presh’s shout pulls him back into his own head.He gains his feet, wiping some blood off his lip.I missed the hit Reck must have gotten on him, maybe while checking on Presh and Doc.Shifters of our power level move stupidly fast.
Rath shakes his head as if clearing it, stepping away from Reck and the splintered ruin of the table.He points down at our brother.“You fucking prick.”
“What else is new?”Reck says, exhaustion heavy in his words.He just lies on the ground, chest heaving.
“At least the pizza made it through unscathed,” I say.The box is upside down on the floor, but managed to stay closed.
Reck snorts at me, dropping his head back to blink up at the ceiling.
“Back up to the house, please, Presh,” Rath says, all gentle now.
Presh looks between us, still partially tucked behind Doc protectively.She chews on her lip.I can’t imagine how many questions she must have.
“You can help me check on the Outcast,” Doc says.
Shit.
Three weeks ago, the Outcast— our uncle— suffered a massive heart attack.He’s up and moving around now, but it’s possible that only his tie to the pack kept him in the land of the living.The club is keeping the info that its leader was ever anything but hale and hearty as ‘need-to-know.’Meaning Reck doesn’t know it, because we’re never certain he can be trusted not to blab to the Authority.
Confirming that we’ve managed to keep that info from him despite his surveillance, Reck’s head snaps to the side, eyes narrowing on Doc.“Why would that be necessary?”
