Page 45 of Fangs
He looked so angry.
“Bones,” his voice had dropped to a terrifying, quiet tone, “is that true?”
“Yes,” I whispered, realizing I didn’t want to lie to him.
Sparks flashed in his eyes, and his jaw flexed. “Did you think we wouldn’t come for you?” he demanded.
“I didn’t…I don’t…” My voice trailed off, leaving a heavy kind of quiet.
“Bones,” Mac murmured, his voice pained, “I’ll always come for you.” His gaze was locked on me, and my throat tightened. “Always,” he repeated.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered because I had no idea what else to say.
“Don’t give up,” his voice didn’t waver, but it had an edge.
“I tried, Mac, I promise.” My voice wobbled. “I tried to escape first.”
He squeezed my hand and then took a deep breath like he was trying to calm himself. His exhale sounded shaky. “Sorry, gods. You want some broth? Neena sent me in with this today. I think it’s still hot.”
He held up a large metal thermos, and I took it gratefully. I rested my head against the headboard and shakily unscrewed the top. The logs shifted in the fire, popping loudly, and as I looked at them, I realized I still didn’t know where I was.
“Where are we?”
“Nemo’s house.”
“Why?” Of all the places I thought we might be, that would not have been one of my guesses.
“Well, your brother and his crew are in the clinic, and we sure as hell weren’t gonna leave you there with them. And he pitched a fit about you staying in our bunkhouse, so Nemo offered his spare room as a neutral third party.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to think about my brother and his crew staying inmyclinic. I took a drink of broth, my hand trembling. I felt shaky and weak, but I vividly remembered the feeling of power running through me. I felt unstoppable. I’d never felt anything close to that before. I wondered?—
Wolf knew about my powers.
Vaguely, I was aware Mac was calling my name, but panic held me in a tight fist. I didn’t know what to do. I’d just handed Wolf even more ammo against me. Now, he had multiple reasons to drag me back to Carth. The Ministry would probably reward him for bringing them not just a murderer but a murderingwitch.
The memory sucked me in before I could even try to fight it.
“You can’t ever tell anyone,” Dune’s face was grave.
“Why?” I was still beaming, watching the dog that had been almost dead a few minutes ago run in circles around us.
“Emmy,” Dune grabbed my hand and squeezed hard.
“Ow, Dune, that hurts!” I cried, trying to pull away.
“Listen to me,” Dune hissed, his sandy blond hair blowing across his face. “You can’t ever tell anyone. Not Wolf, and especially not Pa.”
“But—”
“Promise me.”
“Dune, I don’t?—”
“Emmy, they will kill you!”
My smile fell away. He had to be joking, but this wasn’t very funny.
“You know those special meeting nights that the council has on the full moon? The ones Pa goes to and comes back smellin’ like ash? Those nights, they take girls and women who they think might be witches, and they burn them alive.”
