Shelly walks over to us. “The kids are all going for a walk down by the creek to look for frogs. Do you want to come with us, sweetie?”
Mila hops off my lap anxious to go with the other children. I stand too, but Shelly shakes her head. “I’ve got her. Why don’t you wait here for Rage?”
I look back at the building. “Oh, yeah. Are you sure?”
She takes Mila’s hand, and I feel panic rising up inside of me.
“We’ll be okay, won’t we?” she asks, and Mila nods.
I give her another hug. “Have fun. I’ll miss you,” I say, choking back tears.
Shelly pretends not to notice, and that should tell me everything I need to know. The Bastards are going to ask me to leave. It’s just a matter of how they do it.
I stand and watch them walk away with tears streaming down my face.
It’s only a matter of minutes before Cub steps up behind me. “Come with me.”
My heart sinks, but I follow him inside.
“Wait here,” he says before leaving me alone.
I glance around the empty room, slowly lowering myself into a chair at the table. A few seconds later, Carver walks in, pointedly locking the door behind him.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he says, dropping into the chair beside me.
He kicks his feet up on the table and relaxes back. When he pulls his knife from his pocket, I try to push my chair away from him, but he drops his feet to the floor and wraps an ankle around it, keeping me in place.
“Why so jumpy?” he asks, sitting forward.
“Where is Rage?”
He tsks. “You shouldn’t have taken advantage of my brother like you did. Now you’re left to deal with me.”
I don’t say anything because in a way he’s right. Rage has done nothing but take care of me, and I haven’t given him much in return.
“So, why did you lie to him?” he asks.
Lie? What did I lie about?“I haven’t.”
He laughs, and it makes me scoot farther back into my chair. The man is truly frightening.
“Let’s talk about your brother.” He tips his head to the side.
Rage asked about him too. Why?“What do you want to know?”
“Let’s start with his name and why you told us he was dead.”
“His name is Silas.” I shake my head, slow to register the second part of his question. “Are you telling me he’s not dead?”
“I think you already know the answer to that.”
“I only know what my mother told me, and she told me my brother was dead.”
The feeling of doom I was experiencing earlier today returns with a vengeance.
“Is Savage alive?” he asks.
Carver taps his knife over my thigh, and I freeze. “As far as I know,” I answer, my voice trembling.