his life. I’ve heard of men being nicknamed such a moniker after a brawl or battle, but not intentionally by their caregiver. The teasing he’s going to suffer runs through my mind.
“Are you sure that’s gonna be his given name and not a nickname?” I blurt out the question without further thought.
“Yes! There’s nothing wrong with it,” she vehemently protests.
“If you say so,” I mumble underneath my breath, not sure with how defensive she seems to be acting on how she’ll react to my non-agreement with her choice of name.
“Do you have something you’d like to share with the class, Mister Sheriff Man?” Shyla asks me with venom thickly laced on her tongue, which lets me know she doesn’t really wanna hear what I have to say.
“Nope.” I turn and look at Vaughn to see if she has anything to add. She looks up at me and with a slight shake of her head lets me know it’s in my best interest to keep my trap shut… so for once, I follow the silent command and walk over, then behind my desk and sit in my chair. This should be far enough away from the potential firing squad. “Anyway, I was just explaining to Vaughn that the council members are on their way to help me with this investigation and to examine Emmaline. They wanna know how it’s possible that she can communicate with Vaughn and myself at such an early age. They should arrive within the next day or two, so be prepared for their invasion. They’ll have someone with you two at all times while searching for answers.”
“Fun times,” Vaughn snorts out. “I’m looking forward to someone being glued to my side for an undetermined amount of time. I have to find someone to care for Emmaline while I work. I still have active caseloads and a missing lion cub to locate.”
“I’ll need to find someone to take care of Scar as well,” Shyla announces and it takes everything I have not to give her a nasty look when she says the name. It’s a shame he’ll be shackled with that for eternity. Forevermore known as Scar, poor kid. I make a mental note to make sure and teach him self-defense when he gets older. The least I can do is make sure he can defend himself when the bullies of the world decide to tease him over something he has no control over.
“What about Glorianna?” Gaia asks as she leisurely opens the door and strolls into my office without knocking.
“The door was shut for a reason,” I say with a raised voice. She’s been taking some advantages with her position, something I need to nip in the bud quickly. She waves her hand through the air dismissing of my words, and for the second time in a matter of minutes, my mouth gapes open, but I’ve got nothing. I’m so shocked that no words manage to escape me.
“Anyway, back to Glorianna, she’s looking for something she can do from home and this would be perfect,” Gaia excitedly says with the clap of her hands.
“Glorianna would be the perfect candidate,” Vaughn replies with a hopeful look sent at Shyla.
“I agree. If she wants the job, it’s hers,” Shyla states with an exaggerated nod of her head.
“Oh, she just loves babies, I know she’ll take it.” Gaia accepts the offered position on her sister’s behalf.
“Lord help us all,” I say through a sigh. If Glorianna is anything like Gaia, I feel sorry for these kids’ mental well-being.
Eight
Trigger
I’ve taken some time away from the women and am once again dredging my way through the woods behind Echo’s residence. Something about this whole thing isn’t sitting right with me. There’s a nagging in my chest that says something isn’t as it appears to be with these friends. All evidence is clearly pointing in their direction, but it’s too easy, too clean, and nothing is ever this easily solved.
“What am I missing?” I ask myself. “Echo is a fucker, I get that, but even he couldn’t pull something this massive off on his own. He has to have someone with more power pulling the proverbial strings. There’s a puppet master I’m missing. There’s no evidence of such a thing, but it’s a gut feeling I can’t seem to rid myself of.”
Looking around, I see some sort of residue on the ground and several of the trees surrounding the area. Lifting my nose, I smell an acrid, burnt scent that has a sense