The smelly one they called Billy Bob came shuffling into view, his every step displacing bursts of gravel. His hands were half pulling, half dragging one twin in each.
“I tol’ them I’m not shy about hittin’ them if they kick me.” Billy Bob grinned. Jordy trailed behind him. Her fish mouthed face was bright pink from either anger or exposure to the sun. Or both. And two dark marks were blooming on her shins, right above the top of the knockoff DMs.
“Please don’t hurt them.” Lily begged. Maybe being polite would work on Cadmus. Both twins’ heads jerked up at the sound of Lily’s voice. Her gut twisted, they were still crying underneath the duct tape over their mouths.
She kept her voice carefully modulated, in hopes that might help calm them down. “Please…remove the duct tape from their mouths. I am worried that they can’t breathe.”
“Oh, I’m happy to do that.” Jordy stomped up, and with a cruel smirk, viciously yanked the duct tape off of Clover’s face. And the girl promptly bit down, hard, on Jordy’s arm.
Jordy screeched, and lunged at the little girl, but Billy Bob blocked her, moving himself in front of the little girl. Maybe there was a shred of decency underneath the odor after all.
“Remove the boy’s gag, and perhaps if you are gentle about it, you might avoid being bitten.” Cadmus’ tone was impatient, as if he was anxious to get to the main event. “Can you manage that?”
“Yes, boss,” Jordy said sullenly. But she peeled back the tape from Brady’s mouth with considerably more care than she had Clover’s.
“Katie!” Brady wailed. Clover chimed in, and Cadmus winced. He addressed them directly.
“Silence at once! Or the tape will be put back on both of you!”
The twins immediately went quiet, their eyes wide with fear.
“So, is it Katie? Or Lily?” Cadmus arched an eyebrow.
Lily said nothing, as her fingers worked frantically behind her, feeling for the knots that Billy Bob had tied.
“Ask her why she has an ID with another name on it.” Her head snapped up at Jordy’s high pitched voice. How did she — so Jordy had searched through her belongings, and found Lucie’s ID. She was painfully aware of the two little kids nearby, otherwise she had a few choice things to say to Jordy.
Cadmus lifted one eyebrow —the one that wasn’t over the black eye— staring intently at Lily. “Does the ID have anything to do with the large men that you were seen with?”
So he was interested in the boys. But at least she could answer this question honestly.
“No, that’s my best friend’s license.” She glared at Jordy. “That has nothing to do with anything.”
“Tell me about them.” Cadmus said, his voice filled with menace. Lily’s eyes flicked nervously at Jordy. She didn’t know what that little shit had already found out.
“What do you want to know?” Lily said. “They’re new arrivals to this country, so I was hired to help them smooth over their rough edges, in terms of how they interact with people.” She prayed that this was consistent with what Jordy had told him.
“Arrivals, eh?” Cadmus’ eyes narrowed. “Are theymagickalin any way? Can they turn into animals?” Jordy’s head now jerked towards Cadmus. So that was news to her.
But before Lily could figure out how to answer, she didn’t have to.
“Doggies!” One of the twins blurted out. The other one repeated it.
Cadmus bared his teeth in a soul-chilling smile. “Doggies the size of bears, perhaps?
“They see a lot of cartoons,” Lily said frantically, her fingers behind her back scrabbling, trying to dig into a knot that she had found. She prayed that Billy Bob’s ability to tie knots tightly was the same as his propensity for taking showers: minimal.
“At that age, they have vivid imaginations, and can’t tell between make-believe and real.”
“Nice try,” Cadmus said. And the back of his hand came slashing across, striking Lily’s face. The twins shrieked and started crying. “Did I mention that what I abhor more than poor manners, is being lied to?”
His hand swooped up and squeezed her jaw. Lily’s eyes filled with tears as his fingers dug into her. “Care to try again?”
She couldn’t give them up. She wouldn’t give them up. She had endured far worse from Rey. And still her hands kept working at that knot, feeling progress as one of the strands gave way, allowing her to loop in a finger, wiggle and loosen it a tiny bit more.
“Or should I make the children suffer instead? I know that Jordy in particular would be pleased to exact a vengeance on the girl child.”
“No!” Lily’s cry was filled with anguish. The choice was clear now. “Please, let them go, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” Too late, she remembered she needed to keep her voice calm—
