Page 131 of Fangs
“Flux.”
We all jumped and looked at the ladder where Lee was casually lounging, his elbows resting on the loft floor again.
“Will you stop fuckin’ doin’ that?” I snapped…again.
“Doin’ what?” he asked, eyes widening with fake innocence. “Remembering things you forgot?”
“Fuckin’ sneaking up on me!”
He grinned in a way that made me want to throw something at him.
“What does that mean?” Clarity asked.
“Flux?” Lee asked, and she nodded, biting her lip. “I always knew it as meanin’ somethin’ flowing. Like a tide.” He fixed me with a pointed look. “Or an icy river current.”
I glared at him.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Clarity murmured.
“No offense, but nothin’ you said made sense,” Lee replied, still grinning.
“I’ve been seein’ so many shadows lately,” Clarity continued, ignoring him.
My skin crawled. Shadows hungering for me? That was easy to interpret. I glanced at Sam and caught him giving me a questioning look. He didn’t know about the shadows part, but I wasn’t sure he needed to in order to put two and two together.
“What’s that look for?” Lee asked.
Why did it seem like Lee never missed a thing?
“Nothing,” I snapped. “Go away.”
Instead, he pulled himself fully up into the loft. I felt Sky tense beside me, and I gently touched her hand. She glanced up at me, and whatever she saw in my face seemed to make her relax a little. She shuffled closer and leaned into me, so I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Clarity also said, ‘I see her path,’ and ‘she is the ember who ignites the pitch,’” Lee continued like he was a part of our little group. “You think she meant Freckles?”
Sam glanced at me but, to my dismay, nodded.
“Could this be tied to whoever vandalized the clinic?”
Sam’s eyes focused on him, and I could practically see the gears in his head turning. “Could be.”
“Any progress on that?”
“Wait,” Clarity interrupted, frowning, “someone vandalized the clinic?”
“Someone wrote ‘murderer’ on the wall in blood,” Lee answered.
They all looked at me expectantly, and I hated being the focus of everyone’s attention. “For the last time, I don’t know who did it. Stop askin’ me.”
“Not any progress, no,” Sam answered. “Mist was missing a few bottles of scent, but she’s not sure when they disappeared. And Sierra Crane was outside gardenin’ most of the evening and said she didn’t see anybody go in or out.”
“Who?” I asked.
Sam frowned at me. “The older lady who lives across from you.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. I had no idea who my neighbors were.
“She’s gettin’ up there, so I don’t know how reliable a witness she is,” Sam continued.
