Page 61 of The Wrong Monster

Art holds my stare for a moment, then nods.

“Understood.”

I turn back toward Kevin.

The boy shifts again, breathing shallowly through his nose. My fingers twitch, wanting to wrap around the neck of whoever did this to him.

Everything is moving.

Mikhail’s case, Yuri, Semiyon, Matilda, Isla.

There are too many pieces in play right now. Too many variables.

And yet, somehow, the most dangerous one might still be the woman who has spent the last three days quietly proving that I can trust her.

* * *

I’m dozing in the chair a yard away from the bed Kevin sleeps fitfully in when the door opens hard enough to hit the wall.

Every muscle in my body tenses as I sit up.

Matilda is there, with Arthur directly in front of her looking thoroughly irritated.

“I told you I needed to see him,” she bites out, only her clenched fists visible from where I sit, simmering with anger. Kevin tosses on the bed.

“And I told you!”

“I don’t care what you told me.”

She pushes past him before he can finish.

Then she sees Kevin.

Matty stops so abruptly that for a second, everything about her goes still.

Her eyes move over the bruising on his face, the sling supporting his broken arm, the monitors beside the bed. Whatever argument she came prepared to make disappears.

“What happened?” Her voice is barely audible.

Before I can answer, Kevin stirs, his eyelids fluttering. He half-sits up on his good elbow, face twisted in pain and confusion, drugged and exhausted.

Then his gaze finds Matilda.

His entire expression changes to one I’ve seen on the faces of men in far worse situations than he’s in.

Fear.

Pure, immediate fear.

“Kevin?” Pushing myself out of the chair, I stand helplessly; what is there to protect him from?

He jerks backward, scrambling across the mattress despite the pain. A broken sound escapes him as he presses himself against the headboard, his good hand coming up defensively.

Matilda freezes with her mouth open. I look from the boy to her.

Something cold settles in my stomach.

Kevin knows her.