Page 51 of Fangs
Relief made me shaky as the memory of Zip hitting Apple played through my head.
“We went after you, but they were movin’ too fast, and we lost the tracks after a bit. We had to return to the hold, and Nemo got out some old maps of Madame’s and found a few places he thought they might use for shelter. Nemo divided everyone up into three teams, and everybody armed up and went out after you. We got lucky that you were at the place we went.”
I stared at the floor, my brain piecing together the resources and time Nemo must have used. Would he expect me to pay him back for that?
“What?” Mac asked, and I glanced up to see him studying me.
“That’s a lot,” I muttered.
Mac frowned, “A lot of what?”
“Resources he used.”
“And?”
“Now I owe him for that.”
His frown deepened. “You don’t owe him. He used all those resources cause someone fuckin’kidnappedyou.”
I raised my eyebrows, my lips twitching with the insane urge to smile again. “What,you’rethe only one allowed to kidnap me?”
He looked surprised, but then a smirk crossed his face. “Yes.”
A hoarse laugh escaped my lips, and his grin widened.
“I didn’t realize jokin’ about kidnapping you was the key to making you laugh,” he said, those golden sparks in his eyes warming.
“I have a weird sense of humor.”
“I like it.”
My cheeks heated, but a tiny bit of warmth seemed to seep into the empty hole in my chest.
“See, now that’stwonice things I’ve said to you,” he teased.
“Careful, I might get used to it,” I warned.
“Good, but like I said, we’re always gonna come after you if somebody takes you by force, Bones. And not just our crew. The whole damn hold was ready to tear apart the forest to find you.”
I blinked, hoping I didn’t look as off balanced as I felt.
“People here care about you,” he added, nudging my shoulder.
If he kept being nice, I would lose it again. I seized another question to use as a distraction. “How’d you get Wolf to come back here?”
“We didn’t give him much of a choice. We had the advantage of not being shocked by you healing us, so we got the upper hand pretty quick.” He hesitated for a brief moment. “I’m guessin’ the whole witchcraft thing is why he didn’t know about your powers?”
I nodded, my panic spiking again. “Has Wolf…said anything about me healin’ him?”
Mac shook his head, frowning. “No, but he hasn’t said much.”
That did not seem like a good sign.
“The others have asked questions, though. ‘Specially Sable.”
My stomach churned, and I screwed the lid back on the thermos.
“He’s been fillin’ in for you at the clinic. You sure you don’t want more broth?”
