Read Fox Rematch (The Madison Wolves Book 10) for Free Online

Think.”
    “Michaela,” said Angel. “It’s the middle of the afternoon.”
    I stared at her. “You were all asleep when this started.”
    She nodded. Then she took the phone from me. “Lara, she doesn’t remember. We’ll bring her to you; it will be a little time. We’ll turn the video feed back on in a little while, after we’ve cleaned her up, so you can see her, then we’ll bring her to you.”
    “Thank you, Angel,” Lara said. “I love you, Little Fox. I’m sorry, but I can’t let this go on any longer.”
    Then they hung up. Angel set the phone aside.
    “It was 4:30 in the morning when the first dagger was taped to your foot,” Angel said. “It was 2:00 in the afternoon when we removed them. It is now about 3:30.”
    “Only one day.”
    “How long did I hold your silver knife in my hand last year?”
    “But you can’t heal it,” I said.
    “How long did Elisabeth hold one, and then it took how long to heal?”
    “A minute, and about thirty minutes, I guess. But Angel, I zoned out and let all the damage happen.”
    “No, you didn’t. Elisabeth kept begging you to tell. You would take a minute or two, but say no, and ask for more food. You ate it. Elisabeth would order you to tell, and you would scream no, and then there would be a burst of healing — we could see it around the tape. Karen ordered you to tell. I begged you. Scarlett begged you. We all came down and begged you. You responded slowly, but you kept saying no.”
    “I don’t remember.”
    “We kept begging you to tell. Then you started to talk about Flora and Fauna, and how you were protecting them.”
    “I don’t remember. Did I scream?”
    “Sometimes. You whimpered and thrashed a lot. You seemed incoherent when you talked about Flora and Fauna, but you told them to run to Lara, that she would protect them. But when we begged you to tell, you would say after a while, quite clearly, no, you will never tell pack secrets. We asked what secrets, and you told us clearly we wanted to know about the chopsticks and belt, and you weren’t telling.”
    “Water?”
    Angel held it for me.
    “Shortly after noon, you sat straight up, opened your eyes, and stared straight at Elisabeth. You said, ‘I can hold the poison back a while longer, Elisabeth. I love you.’ And then you were out of it again.”
    “I begged Lara to pay the ransom. We’d been dropping our demands for hours. I begged her to let us stop. I did it on camera, and then I called her. She refused. Scarlett led a revolt. She and the other girls dragged Gia away from the computer and adjusted the ransom. I called Lara. She refused.”
    Angel caressed my face. “Scarlett tried to turn the revolt on Elisabeth. The other girls weren’t ready to follow her against the head enforcer. Elisabeth told Scarlett to talk to you.”
    “Was I coherent?”
    “It took a few minutes. You opened your eyes, and you said, ‘Oh Scarlett, I’m not going to die. I love you all. I promise, I will make Elisabeth stop in time. How can I pay all your favors if I die? Now, you girls go outside and have a nice run. Later, we’ll play more poker. I probably won’t play as well as I did last night.’ Then you asked them all to hug you.”
    “Are they all right?”
    “Scared out of their minds. I don’t think any of them will volunteer to become enforcers.”
    “It’s the wrong job for them. It might be the right one for you.”
    “You think so?”
    “Yes, maybe. You’re not as big as Elisabeth, but you have a cool, clear head. But go to college first. Promise me.” She nodded. “What happened at 2:00?”
    “You opened your eyes again. You hadn’t for a long time, but you kept telling us no, you wouldn’t tell, and when Elisabeth asked about the silver poisoning, you said you had it under control, but not much longer.”
    I shook my head. I didn’t remember.
    “What happened, Angel?”
    “You looked straight at me, and you said, ‘Tell Lara I loved her.’ Not love. Loved.