Aftg react

Part75

Book4 chapter17

The screen started again, and they waited to see what would happen and to get answers to their questions.
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That wasn't a conversation he
wanted to have anytime soon, especially not on the tail end of Grayson's unexpected visit. Jean swallowed hard against his roiling stomach. "Zane shattered when left to his own devices this summer, so Grayson assumes he
is next in line by default. I am the only one left who can vouch for him, but I won't do it. I refuse."
"He sounds unhinged," Neil said. "What kind of person bites people in a fight?"
"Drake was not a biter, then."

They flinched, although they knew it still got to them wenn it was said so bluntly. They were of course angry, even if they didn't know Jean that's something that no one should live through. Kevin looked sick hearing it, the nest was never a good place for anyone, he lived through it maybe not a strongly as others but he knew, he had seen things, he had seen how Neil had came back to them, he was fighting back a gag and clasped his hand together and put his head on his hands. Andrew scratched his wrist, the scenarios similar, although Jean got away with only a beating and thankfully nothing more, they both had someone bring their abuser to them just because, Andrew had a itch to punch someone but he grasped the armchair in a death grip for now.
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Jean heard the creak of the
steering wheel beneath Neil's fingers. For a moment it sounded like
bedsprings. He thought about a door left unlocked on purpose and Zane
turning his back on them as Grayson shoved Jean down on his own bed. He
dug his fingernails into his lower lip and prayed for the courage to just rip
his mouth off before he could misspeak further.

"Jean" whispered Renee she got a few glances, they had seen her and Jean talking, how they felt for each other and how they parted, Alison wrapped a hand on Renee's shoulder and gave a light squeeze.
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"Out of everyone and anyone you could have compared him to," Neil said, quieter than Jean had ever heard him, "you chose Drake."
Jean pressed his injured arm to his stomach, as much to hide the bruised
marks as to try and squeeze away that hollow ache in his gut. "It doesn't
matter. He will be out of the city this weekend and back at Edgar Allan."
"You wouldn't be barricading your door if he wasn't still a problem."
"He believes I live on campus. That's just—precaution," Jean finished, even
as his mind supplied fear, panic, horror. He swallowed hard against a rush of nausea. If he stayed on this line of thinking he would lose his mind, so he willed Neil to have an ounce of humanity and said, "Stay out of my business and tell me why you came."
Neil drummed a restless beat on the steering wheel for a few moments, then allowed the change in topic without argument. He gestured to the side of his head as he said, "Word is someone at the FBI finally asked why and when I did this to my appearance if I did not want to be found, and they tracked it back to my stay at Evermore. People are starting to ask questions, and we're supposed to get ahead of it to clear things up."

Neil always attracted trouble, now the FBI was asking questions, but it didn't make sense why was he with Jean?
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"We cannot," Jean said as Neil turned into a parking garage.
Neil didn't answer until he'd gotten a ticket from the turnstile. Only when
his window was closed again did he say, "We cannot name him. "
He left it at that, waiting for Jean to piece it together. Jean stared at him as
Neil sought a parking spot, ticking through every possible connotation.
When it clicked into place, he felt his stomach bottom out. If they couldn't
point the finger at Riko, and Neil's entire defense hinged on his fear of
getting caught, there was only one person left who could take the fall.
"They're burning my family," he said.