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Lynx cuts his eyes to me. “You love Sasha?”

“No, you, dummy.” JJ waves at me. “No offense. But I was talking about Lynx.”

“No offense here.” Lynx has given everything for these kids, so I’m not surprised that they love him. He’s not a hard man to love.

But Lynx just looks confused. “Where’s Antonio?”

“Both of them are tied up inside. Wilde’s waiting for you.”

Lynx goes to walk inside, but I grab his arm before he can leave.

“Don’t you have something you want to say to them?” I turn to the seven young faces, and Lynx follows my gaze.

“Ah … thank you? And also, next time if I tell you you’re not helping, you’ll goddamn have some sense and listen to me.”

Matt smirks. “I think that’s as close to an ‘I love you’ as we’re going to get.”

Lynx huffs and stalks toward the building, but not before I catch the way his ears go red. I guess he doesn’t need to say the words when he shows those kids every day. I catch up before he can go in.

“I’m still shocked you let them help.”

“I didn’t let them do anything,” he snaps, expression turning murderous. “But it’s confirmed what I’ve always thought. It doesn’t matter what age I was. I should have done more to help my family.”

Anger spikes through me. “No.” I turn him to make sure he catches every word. “It’s like Sammy said. It’s what you trained them for. You weren’t trained, you didn’t know any better, but you gave them that. You made them fearless and capable. That’s something you should be proud of.”

I know my words are only words and can’t make him magically think differently, but some of the regret clears from his expression. Without saying another word, he pushes through the front door.

“Finally,” Wilde says under his breath when he spots us. His gaze hovers over Lynx’s sling before settling back on his face. “How are you?”

“Wounded.”

Even a bullet won’t change him.

Wilde swallows the small amount of concern he was showing and points at where Antonio is leaning against the back wall beside Jeffrey, eyes closed. “I spoke with Hudson, and we figured it was best to take them both to Old End. We can call the authorities from there.” He turns to me. “You said you had footage?”

I nod. “It’s in my car. A USB in the glove compartment.”

“Good. I’ll collect it and turn that in as well.”

“That all?” Lynx asks.

“No.” A willowy person named Nox answers him instead of Wilde. “We’ve had a visitor.”

I swear I see Lynx’s brain explode. “Another outsider?”

“This is one we were waiting for.” Nox waves toward a man behind Wilde. He’s got dark hair with gray at the temples and is wearing black boots, jeans, and a T-shirt under a beaten brown leather jacket. “We have our mechanic.”

I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew this was coming. But it being a hypothetical concept is different from him being a real person.

The mechanic tips his head my way. “Gage.”

“Nice to meet you.” The manners are automatic, but it’s a total lie. A mechanic means my car will be fixed, and if it’s fixed, I’ll have no reason to stay here anymore.

“Fucking outsider,” Lynx spits his way.

“Fucking Ender,” Gage slings back. “Show me this car. The sooner I can get out of this shithole, the better.”

Wilde snorts and crosses his arms. “That’s rich, coming from someone from the Dale.”