Page 206 of Fangs
“Sorry, hope I didn’t overstep,” he said, frowning at my tear-streaked face, but I threw my arms around him and hugged him again. He squeezed me tightly back.
“Thank you,” I whispered hoarsely.
“Anytime, Emmy,” he murmured.
We stood there for a few seconds before returning to the couch. I didn’t doubt that any of my crew would stand up to Mac in a situation like that. I also knew Mac would never, but while these realizations were comforting, they also hurt. I couldn’t stop remembering Lee just turning away from my pleas and leaving me behind. Vulture had always deferred to Juck and had followed Juck’s orders, even if it actively hurt me. I wasn’t going to be with someone like that again.
Sam sighed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders again. “I don’t think your brother meant to hurt you, but the fact is he did, and now he’s gotta deal with it.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Can I stay here tonight?”
“Of course,” he answered immediately, then added in a lighter tone, “You wanna squeeze into my top bunk with me?”
“I might.” A smile tugged at my lips.
The door opened again, and Mac, Griz, and Raven came in, their faces grim. My heart lurched.
“Did you find him?” I asked.
“No,” Griz muttered.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the attack?” Mac asked, crossing his arms, his gaze fixed on me.
“I was going to,” I explained. “Just, a lot of shit happened, and then you had to talk to Nemo.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Well, that’s true.” His eyes went distant, and his jaw flexed. “If Hawk knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay gone.”
“We have good news and bad news,” Sam announced. “Which one do you want first?”
Raven sat heavily on the couch next to me. “Good news.”
Sam grinned. “You’ll like this, Raven. Shortcake convinced Clarity to move in here.”
“Really?” Mac asked, his face brightening.
Raven twisted to look at me, and the fragile hope in her eyes made emotion well in my throat. “She’s movin’ in?”
“Jax took her to go pack,” I said, smiling.
Raven grinned, glancing up at Mac. I followed her gaze to see Mac grinning, too.
“How the fuck did you manage that?” Mac asked.
“Just a little emotional manipulation?” I wrinkled my nose.
“I’ll take it,” Raven said.
“What’s the bad news?” Griz asked.
“The bad news is the Mental Menace has been pretending to be Trey in Shortcake’s dreams.”
Three pairs of horrified eyes snapped to my face.
Wearily, I recounted both dreams, though I didn’t get into the details of what Menace had said about Trey. When I finished, Sam, Raven, and Griz angrily went off, raging about what they wanted to do to Menace. Mac, however, was still quiet, leaning against the wall, his eyes on me. Feeling guilty, I met his gaze.
“What’d he say that you aren’t tellin’ us?”he finally asked in my head.
I swallowed.” I don’t think I can say it.”
