Wrong Side Of Dead by Kelly Meding Page A

would he want them?”
    Phin shifted positions so he was sitting next to me on the couch, one hand still on my knee. “He wouldn’t have been so precise with his choices if it was merely for experimentation.”
    “True.” But it didn’t make me feel any better about the idea of a small child in the hands of a madman. Or anyone else at his mercy. “He can do his experiments and fuck with me at the same time.”
    “You believe this is personal?”
    “Don’t you? Thackery chose people connected to me, connected to the Watch, when he could have snatched any of hundreds of other Therians in this city. The bastard doesn’t do anything randomly.”
    Phin nodded, thoughtful. “Another bargain, perhaps?”
    I shuddered at the thought. His last two bargains hadn’t gone well for any of us. The first had been the trade of inanimate objects—two of his experimental serums for the crystal housing a demon. The second had been me for the safety of the city. “Both times, Thackerycontacted us almost immediately to make his demands,” I said.
    Eleri entered the living room, her expression impassive. “We followed two imprints of new tire tracks down the lane,” she said, “but they disappeared once the vehicles reached the main road. Depth and spacing indicate a van or a utility vehicle, but we cannot ascertain more than that.”
    A van or a utility vehicle was used to spirit away three kidnapped Therians—duh. If ever information could be more useless … “Thank you,” I said.
    “You are welcome. My squad is returning to the Watchtower. Do you require transportation?”
    “Yes, thanks,” Phin said.
    I didn’t want to leave, but we’d do no good here. Aurora, Ava, and Joseph were gone, and we weren’t likely to find them unless Walter Thackery wished it. Two months into her life and I’d already managed to fail Ava, just as I’ve failed almost everyone else I’ve been responsible for.
    Some fucking
Aluli
I turned out to be.
    On the trip back, I somehow got stuck in the rear bench seat of the SUV between the window and Paul Ryan. Phineas had shifted into osprey form—to save seating space, he said, but I was jealous of his clever way of avoiding conversation—and was perched in the small rear compartment with his pants and shoes.
    I gazed out the window at the passing mountains, and then the outskirts of the city, trying to ignore Paul. We’d managed to mostly avoid each other these last few months, and for good reason. He’d been a one-week rookie in the Triads when I was first resurrected, and his twitchy trigger finger had gotten Wyatt killed. Granted, a gnome healing crystal had brought Wyatt back, butthat wasn’t the point. And he’d helped out at Parker’s Palace and fought hard at the Boot Camp slaughter, but I still wanted to dislike Ryan on principle.
    And he was still twitchy. He shifted on the crowded seat, hands tapping on his thighs, like someone in the middle of a sugar high. Or someone who wanted to say something and kept changing his mind. I resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs. Hard.
    Lucky for him, I dozed off for the last half of the trip. I jerked awake as we pulled into the parking area. As soon as the side door slid open, Phineas flew out and away. I was the last one out of the SUV. The cold cement floor sent a shock through my bare feet, reminding me that I needed to find shoes and a change of clothes.
    “Stone?” Paul’s voice stopped me short.
    I turned and shot him an impatient look.
    “I’m real sorry about your friends,” he said. “Not just Felix, but the Therians, too.”
    “Um, thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say. We were in no danger of becoming BFFs or anything, but the sentiment was a pleasant surprise.
    He nodded, and then followed the rest of his squad out of the lot.
    I cast around for Phin. He’d gone off on his own, probably to calm down before going back to work. I kind of liked the idea. I could use a little relaxation, too, so I didn’t