“What the hell?” he growls.
“You speak Russian?”
“Yeah. And Italian, Spanish, and enough Mandarin to get by.”
“And you didn’t know what the words ‘Dos Oruguitas’ meant?”
He blinks. “You’d be surprised how infrequently the word ‘caterpillar’ shows up in my daily business conversations.”
I stare at him. “We’re going to have a talk about all of this later.”
“That’s fine,” he says, like he’s already won. Teddy’s gone—thank God. I can’t deal with him too. Actually, the hallway has mostly cleared out.
“Um… Aunt Alana?” Ian whispers. I drag him forward. Then I kick open Grae’s door.
“What the actual living hell?”
He looks from me to Ian and smirks. “Nice job, kid.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Ian says proudly. “You’re buying the candy for my hockey team.”
“Done. Sign me up for twenty-four boxes.” What? How far does this little conspiracy go?
“That chocolate tastes like dust and chalk,” I snap. “What the hell is happening?”
Grae just grins at me. A full, shit-eating grin. He’s leaning back in the hospital bed like he’s on vacation—one arm tucked behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles. “Going somewhere?” he asks.
“You know damn well?—”
“Nope,” he cuts in. “Baby. Where are your car keys?” I pat my jacket. My pockets. My purse. Nothing.
“What the hell?”
He watches me unravel, amused. “You didn’t really think I was going to let you leave, did you? You walked past Lena and Amanda,” he says. “Whose job—literally—is to entertain and distract you.”
I replay it in my head. Nobody touched me. Nobody got close enough. The only one?—
“Son of a?—”
Grae lifts my car keys from underneath his pillow and rattles them. “Looking for these?” Ian snickers. “Kid, you can go,” Grae says. Ian beams and darts out the door.
“I don’t even know why you thought you were the only one with power and influence. You wouldn’t be able to leave even if you had the car,” he continues. “There’s a remote immobilizer in it. One click, and the battery’s done.” He taps his phone. “Thank you very much, Macie.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” Grae’s grin only widens. “And while we’re at it? Why don’t you go look out the window.”
I don’t move at first. Then I turn, and two things hit me at once. Every rooftop across the street is lined with Hunters. Every single one. Arms crossed. Watching. When they notice me at the window, they lift their hands and wave. I flip them off automatically.
Then I look down and that’s when I see it. People. So many people. They’re gathered outside the hospital entrance, packed across the sidewalk and spilling into the street. Holding signs and?—
“Are they… singing?” I whisper. Grae lifts his phone and waves it at me.
“You haven’t been on the internet lately, have you?”
My stomach drops.
The video is shaky as Amanda comes into frame. She smiles at the camera, “Hi my Chasers. I’m here at Medical East with a very special friend. Jasmine is nine years old and has terminal cancer.” The camera moves to a little girl in a hospital bed, deep circles under her eyes and not a hair to be found on her head. “Jasmine, can you tell everyone what you want?” Jasmine nods looking directly into the camera.
