Page 7 of The Blood Witch
“Who was the first boy I kissed?” Tad questions suspiciously.
“Brennan Skeen,” I answer, approving of his test.
“Okay, and what did we make for Halloween when you were eleven?”
I smile at the memory. “Poodle skirts.”
“Who was the first guy to break your heart?” Tad challenges, and I close my eyes and swallow the emotion his question conjures.
“My father,” I answer with a pained whisper.
I hear Tad’s relieved sigh before he asks again, “Are you safe, Leni?” The concern and tenderness in his tone makes my eyes prick. I suddenly wish I were at home on my Aunt Hillen’s couch with a pint of ice cream and aHunger Gamesmarathon queued up on the TV. I would tell Tad all about how Rogan hurt my heart, wrapped up in a soft blanket, with his advice and jokes to cushion my fall.
“I’m safe,” I reassure him, filling the pummeled cracks in my heart with resolve and determination.
“Okay, now put me on speaker phone, please?” he asks, and I pause, not expecting his request.
“What?”
“Speaker phone, please?” he chirps, and after staring at the phone for a second, I do as requested.
“You’re on speaker phone,” I announce curiously.
“I don’t know exactly what you’re about there in the Order, but I want you to listen closely,” Tad practically snarls, and I look over at Prek. “You may think I’m just some Lesser, some simple human who could never pose a threat to you, but I want to tell you that you’d be wrong. You fuck with Lennox, you fuck with the entire Osseous clan, and you should know we are skilled and we are relentless.Youcan be gotten to. Your family can be gotten to. Am I clear?” he asks, and a smile pulls at the corner of my mouth. Of course Tad would go fullour family will beat your ass, I’d do the same for him.
I’m surprised when, instead of rolling his eyes and saying nothing, Prek answers. “Very clear.”
“His name is Prek,” I insert, just in case.
Prek shakes his head at that but goes to sit back down on the stool by the kitchen.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I assure Tad, ready to grill my new Order babysitter for some answers.
“Okay, Lens, but if I don’t hear from you, shit’s going to go down,” he states louder than he needs to. “Oh, and tell Rogan if I ever see him again, I’m going to fuck him up.”
I chuckle, picturing average-sized Tad trying to fight the muscled skyscraper that is Rogan.
“Don’t you laugh at me, Lennard. It’s always a fair fight when the little guy has a taser,” Tad chirps cheerily, and I crack up.
“I love you,” I tell him, my heart aching with how much I wish I were there with him.
“Love you, Leni, keep your head up, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I hang up and blink back the tears of longing and helplessness that try to breach my lids. There’s always something about talking to family that makes you feel vulnerable as fuck. I feel that so much in this moment, like I’ve been grated raw and now I’m exposed. Prek clears his throat as though there’s any way I could have forgotten about his intrusive presence already. Without looking at him, I hold my hand out with the phone, and he takes it.
“Ready for questioning?” Prek asks casually as he pushes to his feet.
“As I’ll ever be,” I snark, rubbing both my hands tiredly over my face and sighing.
He moves to the door, and I prepare myself. Time to get some answers, one way or another.
3
“Okay, Prek, tell me what the hell I’ve landed myself in the middle of,” I ask as I follow him down a corridor, away from my quarters to an elevator. The carpet and walls are almost the same color of gray, and it feels a tad too claustrophobic for my liking. We pass dark wood doors, and I wonder which one Rogan is staying in. I tell myself it’s so I know which one to avoid and not because I’m looking for him, but I’m not sure if it’s all the way true.
“I don’t know what Rogan told you, but we’re not the bad guys you think we are,” Prek answers as he presses the button to call the elevator a little too hard.
I scoff and shake my head, annoyed. “Rogan is irrelevant. I don’t think you’re the bad guys because ofhim, I think you’re the bad guys because you blew a carIwas in off the road and could have killed me,” I inform him.
