A panting sound. Something whipped by the ground just in front of the landing. Fast. Too fast. A big, warm arm came around me. I would not acknowledge that Damon’s presence felt a little comforting just then. No way, no how.
This was just a kid.
My heart is strong—
“Marcus, I need to know if you know anything about the ′glades.”
A strange little growl came from below my feet. I looked down. Through the metal grate, I saw him.
Fur was sprouting on his face. Melting in. Growing back. An endless, odd little wave that was disturbing as hell to look at. Muscles rippled, bulged, out of place on his still-skinny frame. It was freaky as hell.
But in the dark, dank light of the room, I saw one thing clearly enough.
His eyes were still scared.
Sinking to my knees, I smiled at him through the metal grate. “Hey, kid.”
“Nugget.” His lips peeled back from his teeth. “You wanna come down here and keep me company?”
“Can’t. I’m still looking for Doyle.”
Damon sank down next to me, the caged energy of his presence wrapped around me, too close, too close—
Marcus closed his eyes and I watched as his nostrils flared. Breathing in the scents. “You don’t smell just human,” he said abruptly.
“That’s because I’m not. Doyle, Marcus. I need to talk to you about him,” I said gently. “Can you help me?”
“He had to run,” Marcus whispered. “Had to.”
Then he started to shake his head, fear entering his eyes as he darted a look at Damon. And the fear grew.
A knot settled in my gut.
There was something he wanted…maybe even needed to tell me, but he wouldn’t, not while Damon was there. And Damon wasn’t going to leave me alone with the kid. I knew that as well as I knew my own name.
“I’m going to hazard a guess,” I said quietly. “You don’t have to say if I’m right or if I’m wrong. You don’t have to say anything, and you’re not in trouble for this, because it’s just some stupid half-human running her mouth.”
I felt Damon’s body tense.
“He didn’t feel safe at home, did he?”
Snarling flooded the room and the blur tearing across the room didn’t stop until he was lost in shadows too thick for me to penetrate. “Okay, okay,” I said quietly as fear rose up thick enough to choke even me. “We don’t have to talk about that. But the ′glades. Marcus, I need to know if he ever told you about the ′glades. I think he’s in danger there. Other kids have gone missing.”
There was no answer.
Not in words, anyway. Not for a long, long time.
But he did start to whine. Low, weird noises, like a sob trapped in a throat that just couldn’t cry the way a human needed to.
“You’re walking a dangerous line,” Damon whispered in my ear as I unlocked the car.
“Had to ask.”
“And when Conley talks?”
Blowing out a breath, I jerked the door open. Or tried. I couldn’t back up enough to open it because Damon was still right behind me. “Why in the hell do you have to hover three inches away from me all the time?” I dropped my head against the car. “Don’t you people know what personal space is?”
“Yes. And I have this weird fascination with invading yours.” He brushed the hair off the back of my neck and I tensed as I felt the pad of his thumb slip over one of my scars. “You haven’t answered. What are you going to do when Conley talks?”
“He won’t,” I said shortly. “It serves him no purpose and the boy is already too scared to say anything. It would only risk his son getting hurt if he said a word about the boy suspecting the ward of the Alpha being unsafe in his own home. And if most of the cats really are protective of their young, I suspect it would be…frowned up…for her to be abusive. Would be bad if he ran away from home because he was afraid of living with her, huh?”
“That’s not what the deal is.”
I snorted and turned around. “Like hell.” Glaring up at him, I said, “I don’t know whether you feel obligated to lie like that or if you really believe it, but she hurt him.”
The storm in his eyes spread over his face as he lowered it to growl at me. “I don’t lie, baby girl.”