Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty Three

Kitty and Jade are a few feet away, huddled under the cover of an ancient pin oak on the corner of Byleth Park.

Felix winds down his window, leans out and shouts over the din of the falling rain "GET IN!"

Kitty and Jade make a dash for the car, sliding onto the backseat and slamming the door behind them in seconds.

Kitty practically growls as she shakes droplets furiously off her leather clutch.

"What the freaking hell Felix?" She snaps, leaning forward. "Whatever it is, this better be good. You just made us run through the rain all the way from the Indian foods tent at the back of the park. I'm bloody soaked now. Why did you call me? And how the hell did you know where we were? Were you following us?"

Before Felix can answer, Jade interrupts.

"Where's Cameron?" he asks.

Felix turns around in his seat so that he's facing Jade, and although his expression is perfectly calm and unruffled, I can hear the icy fury in his voice.

"If you mean your would-be-rapist friend, he's having a nap at the back of an alleyway," Felix says.

"Rapist?" Jade repeats, confusion written across his face.

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence, and Jade's face transforms as the realization dawns, changing from confusion to shock to rage. Kitty gasps, her eyes going wide.

"Where is he?" Jade asks, leaning forward and grasping the back of my seat, his knuckles white and his eyes wild with anger. "I'll kill him."

"There's no need for that," Felix says coolly. "He'll never touch her again."

"What the hell happened?" Jade asks me, his eyes boring into my own. "Where did you go? What did Cam do? He didn't... didn't... did he?"

I shake my head, looking down into my lap. I feel an overwhelming mix of emotions right now, tumultuous and confusing. Anger at Cameron. Horror at the thought of what might have happened. Gratefulness for being saved. And an immense, fathomless sorrow at the realization that this happens every single day, in so many ways, to so many girls and women.

"But he tried to?" Jade says more softly.

I nod, not wanting to meet his eyes right now.

"Felix stopped him before... before he could..." I let the sentence hang unfinished.

Jade leans back, breathing heavily, before slamming his fist into the side door.

"Where is he?" He asks, his voice shaking with anger.

"He's passed out," Felix says.

"I said... where is he?" Jade repeats.

Felix is quiet for a moment, before turning around and pointing down the road.

"He's down that alley next to the ice cream parlor," he says.

Jade opens the back door, and Kitty reaches out and places her hand on his arm.

"What are you going to do?" She asks.

"I don't know," Jade says, before his voice softens. "I'm sorry the night ended like this Kitty. Maybe we can do it over?"

Felix clears his throat loudly in irritation, and Kitty says, "of course, text me," as she leans into Jade and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You look really familiar," Jade suddenly says, staring at Felix's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Have we met before or something?"

Oh damn. He recognizes him.