The Tales of Flesh and Blood

Stones Can Be Human, Too

We spent the next thirty minutes driving back to town with Jaxon hauling ass in his poor car, and then another half-hour scoring through the highway until we were nearing dangerously close to downtown Gallin. I had my arms across my chest as I bit my lip, anxiously tapping my foot against the floor in Jaxon's car. He didn't say anything, although I caught him tensing once or twice when he glanced at me and thought I wasn't paying attention. He had this look on his face, as if he wanted to reach out to me just as he did on the car ride through the woods. I didn't ask him where he was going. 

I couldn't force the words past my lips without wanting to cry or strangle someone at once, so I instead focused on trying to regain a little bit of composure. Finding information about my biological mother was the first useful thing I could do to help Hadi. I didn't let myself think about what those twisted boys could be doing to her while I sat on my ass like a dumbfounded wrench who just got rejected for the first time. I didn't want to imagine her terror, or how Joey must be feeling watching his girlfriend getting handled -

Fuck. I clenched my teeth and dug my fingers into my arm. I hoped that that wasn't what they were doing to her, but this was Gallin, and if they were capable of torturing a small child, what stopped them from having their way with a beautiful young woman?

"The first meeting you had with Frenice," Jaxon suddenly said, snapping me from my thoughts. I blinked, then snapped my attention over to him.

"What?"

He kept his eyes on the road as we rounded a neighborhood that was tucked away behind a series of woods and well-tended community gardens. A wealthier section of Gallin, with a large fountain in the middle of a median and a stone sign that read, 'Welcome to Deamone's Ranch' as we got ready to turn on the wide, four-laned road.

"When you first met Frenice, it was at Dog's Brawl, wasn't it?" Jaxon asked, though he sounded as if he already knew the answer. Still, I nodded.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"You said that you were confronted by Fayette Jator and Rebecca Jorden."

I scowled at the reminder.

"That is where you're taking this case? We're going to interrogate Fayette?"

"Yep."

No. Freaking. Way. Hadi was in trouble, and Jaxon thought Miss Beauty Pageant was the best person to go to for help?

"I stopped by last night to question her," Jaxon explained, as if that would somehow stop me from punching him in the teeth.

"And?" I pressed, clenching my fists at my sides.

"I asked her what she meant by your mother paying a ransom for you."

"You did what?" If he wasn't driving, I definitely would have socked him. "You do realize that if you keep this up, then everyone's going to think that we . . ." I faltered, not wanting to finish the sentence. Keeping his eyes on the road, Jaxon's raised eyebrows was his only reply. I vigorously shook my head. "Fuck, Jaxon, I'm known for not telling people about everyone else. Do you have any idea-"

"Well, I got us someone from the inside."

"-what you're - what?" He'd said it so softly that I almost missed it. I stared at him. "Fayette's really one of them?"

"No. But her boyfriend's brother is."

Holy balls. I must have said this out loud, because a hint of a smile hinted at Jaxon's lips.

"Holy balls, indeed," he said seriously, "This guy likes to talk in bed. She just thought he was living over some sort of fantasy from one of his role-playing games."