“She sent no one. You’re on your own, Logan. Skyla doesn’t care about you anymore.” He flexes a wry smile, and I can’t for the life of me tell where this is going.
And then it hits me. Skyla’s strange behavior…
“Oh shit.” It seethes from me. “You’ve done something to her.”
Gage examines me for a moment—he examines Jaxson and gently lays a hand over his head before his entire body sags.
Instinctively, I turn Jaxson away. “Sorry, man. For all I know, you’re launching an attack on his mind through that meat hook of yours. Now tell me, what did you do to Skyla? Why is she acting so strangely?”
Gage purses his lips as he stares vacantly behind me, the way I’ve seen him do a thousand times when the shit hits the fan and things aren’t exactly going the way he has planned.
“I really don’t care about Skyla’s behavior.” His dimples flex. “Outside of the kids, and the Factions, Skyla isn’t my concern.”
“Liar.” It comes out with a dull laugh as I start to take off. “Enjoy your breakfast. Since it’s too much to hope you’ll choke on it, maybe you can choke on the fact you’ll be eating alone for the foreseeable future. Or maybe you can choke on your infamy and power instead. I think I like that better.”
“Logan?” he calls after me and I turn around. “Rumor has it, Chloe has been acting strangely, too.”
“I don’t give a crap about Chloe.” I collect Jaxson’s bag and head on out to my truck when I spot Cooper Flanders coming up the driveway. The clouds up above are dark and heavy, and the threat of rain is a real one. “Hey.” I nod over to him. “What’s going on?”
Cooper looks as if he could be my brother with the same dark blond hair, same serious eyes, and he happens to be wearing the same scowl I am. But Coop softens as he offers Jaxson a pat on the back.
In a strange roundabout way, Coop and I are related via Dudley. And as much as I’d like to punctuate that with a smart-aleck remark, I defer from doing so. The truth is, I’m feeling a heck of a lot more grateful to the surly Sector as of late.
“I just came from Whitehorse. Ezrina let me know what was happening.” His brows bounce. “Glad to see you’re home where you belong.”
“Thanks, man, I’m glad to be back. What can I help you with?”
He glances to the house. “Nothing. I’m actually here to see Gage.”
“For what?”
Coop’s chest widens with his next breath as he glares at the house behind me. “Just buttoning up some unfinished business.”
“All right, well, if you decide to clock him, sucker punch him once for me, would you?”
“Will do.” He starts to jog toward the house. “Oh, and Logan? I almost forgot. Chloe stopped by the house. She was frantic, looking for you.”
“Chloe?” I glance back to the kitchen that houses that monster I grew up with. He mentioned she was acting strange. “Thanks for letting me know.”
Jaxson squeals with delight as I strap him into his car seat. And no sooner do I hop into the truck myself than a deluge pours down from the sky. It’s almost as if Paragon was waiting until Jaxson was safe. I’d like to think it was Candace keeping an extra eye out on my little guy.
But why isn’t she keeping an eye out on Skyla?
Maybe later I’ll ask Dudley if he’s up for a ride to Ahava. But right now, it’s about Jaxson, keeping him warm, dry, and happy. I bypass the turnoff for the Landon house and head for Whitehorse instead.
It’s time both Jaxson and I take a nice long nap in peace.
* * *
Whitehorse is lit up like a jack-o’-lantern, and I cover Jaxson’s car seat with a blanket as we head into the house.
“Geez,” I grumble as I work off my soaking wet jacket before freeing Jaxson from his restraint and pulling him to me.
It’s toasty in the house. Michelle and Lexy are firmly planted on the sofa with their eyes glued to some reality dating show on TV.
“Hey,” they call out in a zombified chorus, their gaze never leaving the screen.
Lexy sneezes. “Close the door, would you? It’s freezing in here.”
