Hell's Menagerie Read Online Free Page B

safe. I just came from your city, see? Where do you think I got this incredible hat? I have contacts everywhere. No matter where you hide them, no matter what protection you put them under, my guys will find them and . . .” He left the rest of it unspoken, left it up to her imagination.
    The jinn put the pup back with the others and took the cage to where Rex lay. Rex was coming around, sitting up with a loud groan and rubbing his hands down his face.
    â€œGo ahead, child,” Baasîl said. “Ask him. Give him the choice.”
    She couldn’t think. She didn’t want to make this decision,didn’t want to ask Brim anything. She loved him. God, she loved him. She couldn’t let him go, couldn’t let him do this.
    The ringmaster was taking advantage of her, she knew. A lot of adults she’d come across underestimated kids her age, always thought they couldn’t think for themselves, couldn’t figure things out, couldn’t see the flaws and loopholes . . .
    Brim could kill Baasîl right now. They even had a good chance of escaping—if Rex could shake off the tranquilizer, Brim made it to the jinn by the exit in time, and her power was strong enough to take care of the other guards.
    It was. She knew it was.
    But it wasn’t her choice. She had to leave it up to Brim to take the risk. It was his family, after all.
    She turned to him and slipped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. Her eyes closed, her nose went stuffy. “I love you,” she whispered against his warm skin. I love you so much, Brim. He turned his big head toward her, eyes staring right into hers. She held his face, pressed her forehead against his, and sank into his thoughts . . .
    â€”
    THE FOG WAS almost gone from Rex’s mind.
    It felt like he had just been body slammed by a fucking elephant. He rubbed a hand down his face and remembered where he was and what was happening. A surge of panic went through him.
    The gray wrinkly pups were next to him in their small cage, all huddled together, staring up at him with huge, innocent eyes. And there was Emma, sitting in the box across the arena, posture straight, face pale, talking to the ringmaster—the dead man; Rex was going to kill him.
    Quickly, he took stock of the situation, put a few things together in his head, and then made to lunge for the jinn nearby. ButEmma stood suddenly. Rex paused. The jinn guarding the box stood aside, and she walked around the curve of the arena toward the exit. Brim stayed behind.
    What the hell?
    He struggled to his feet, swaying slightly as a wave of nausea nearly sent him down again. Emma finally reached him. She was white as a ghost, eyes rimmed in red, and she looked so small and so goddamn broken, he wanted to hit something. His fists clenched. But instead of striking the nearest wall, he pulled her to his chest and held on tight. He set her back from him more harshly than he intended and looked her over. “Tell me you’re okay. Did he hurt you?”
    Tears filled her eyes and slipped out in long streams. Her lips had gone thin and trembly. She nodded, sucked in a deep, gasping breath. “Not on the outside,” she said. “We have to go now.”
    He blinked. But Brim . . . He glanced from Emma’s devastated face to where the ringmaster stood with Brim obediently at his side, and Rex knew.
    Oh, hell no. Hell fucking no.
    Shaking from the shock and the tranq, Rex bent slowly and picked up the cage. The flap was lifted for them, and they left. Just . . . left.
    He could barely keep up with Emma as she marched through the crowded square, head up, tears streaming. The pups licked his fingers through the wire cage. Once they reached a quieter area, Emma stopped, swiping angrily at the wetness on her face.
    She struggled to regain her composure, and it killed him. He wasn’t sure what to do, what to say. Slowly, her expression morphed.