Bad Bloods Read Online Free Page B

then,
when he stopped stroking his bear, his cheeks burned red. “Daniel
wouldn’t kick you. That’s mean. He doesn’t kick anyone.”
    Kally lifted the five-year-old up into her
arms. “That’s right, Blake,” she said, adjusting him as if she had
forgotten how big he’d gotten. “Kicking is mean.” She looked at
Michele for guidance, and she gestured to the hallway where we all
knew Calhoun was hiding. No one wanted Blake involved any more than
he already had been. It was upsetting him too much, and Kally was
taking over the situation. She hurried down the hallway before
Blake could continue, but the entire time, Blake’s blue eyes
watched over Kally’s shoulder.
    The silence that followed was too familiar,
too lined with aggression. When Floyd sucked in a breath, I
expected the worst, but he shrugged. “No one wanted to kick me
out.” He chuckled, as if laughter would make it a fact, but Maggie
huffed.
    “I did.” The redhead locked eyes with him,
but I averted mine to see Adam’s reaction. He was focused, watching
her every move, and by the time I glanced back at Maggie, she was
standing a foot away from Floyd. “I never wanted you in this flock
in the first place.”
    Floyd’s upper lip twitched, like he wanted to
scream, but his eyes glanced over Maggie’s shoulder—directly at
Adam—and Floyd shrank. It was only then that I realized he had
stretched out previously, trying to appear taller than he actually
was. This time, though, he folded his arms and slouched against the
wall like that explained his change. Before he could create a
clever response, Maggie shook her head at him.
    “You don’t get it,” she said. “You had a
family—a fiancée—until two years ago. I’ve never even been on a
date.” She waved her hand over the others. “Most of us hardly had a
family. We had the streets. We had—” She choked. “You think this is living on the streets. It’s not. And the rest of the
flock understands that, but you don’t.” Her voice rose an octave.
“You couldn’t save one of us if it came down to it.” As she raised
her voice again, it cracked and her eyes watered. “So, please.
Please stop trying to ruin the only family I have.”
    “Hey.” Adam’s voice was soft as he reached
out to take Maggie’s arm. Instead of pulling her back, he stepped
up to her side and took her in his arms. His right hand rested on
top of her red curls, and his left hand stroked her back as she
began to shake. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
    In two seconds, I saw them as children—seven
years younger—as Adam dragged her inside our house and begged me to
let her join the Northern Flock. Whatever had transpired for him to
get her out of the gangs, he hadn’t just traded my knife. He had
fought, and they were both covered in muck and grime. Next to one
another, with muffled up hair—his black hair and her red hair—they
had looked like fire and ash—burning with desperation. I couldn’t
deny her membership. She joined right away, and she saved Ryne
shortly after that. Now, standing in the room, Ryne stepped up next
to Adam.
    “You understand, don’t you?” he spoke calmly,
like the events in his life muted his emotions. “We can’t fall
apart now. We have to be together in this. And without him”—Ryne’s
head tilted my way—“we won’t be a flock.”
    “He’s what brought us together,” Michele
added, her voice quieter but firmer than the rest of them. “In one
way or another, he’s the reason we are all standing in this
room.”
    Floyd’s face flushed as red as Maggie’s
curls. “But he’s never here—”
    “Floyd,” I finally spoke up, saying his name
as sharply as I could. When he looked my way, I forced a smile,
still exhausted from the day. “Go home.”
    His eyes widened like I had kicked him out,
and everyone waited for my clarification. I allowed my pause to
linger, just to allow him to feel the possibility grow inside of
him, and then I added, “Take