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Tarquin didn''t say a word, but that didn''t mean he didn''t notice.
Evan missed White-a lot.
White stuck out his little tongue, stared at Evan for a moment, then hopped down
from his hand and scurried into the tent.
He made a beeline for Evan, nuzzled his tiny head against Evan''s cheek, and
curled up right beside him.
"Back again? nning to leave me again?" Evan''s voice came out of nowhere,
making White jump a foot in the air.
He bolted like a startled squirrel, only to see Evan''s eyes open and— yep, there
was that tongue again.
Evan''s eyes were red, rimmed with tears.
"I thought you''d gone off with them and weren''ting back," he said quietly.
He''d known White was sneaking out at night. He''d watched him these past few
days, pretending not to notice, but how could he not see? Those strange
creatures had been lurking around, obviously trying to take White away.
White slunk over and ducked his head.
Evan, blinking back tears, stuck out his fist for a bump.
"Look, I don''t want you to go, but if you''ve got some secret reason, just say it. I''m
not unreasonable. Worst case, I''lle visit you every now and then."
White shook his head and stuck out his tongue again.
Suddenly, Evan sat up, scrubbing at his cheeks with both hands.
"Wait—they''re not your family?"
White shook his head, and Evan just stared.
"But... didn''t you say you had family business to take care of? I thought they were
your folks!"
White gave another tongue-flick, and Evan''s jaw dropped. "They''re... enemies?!"
Not wanting to wake Elliot and the others, Evan scooped up White, bolted out of
the tent, and didn''t even bother with a jacket.
Tarquin and Big Mike—his face a patchwork of old scars—looked up in surprise.
"What''s going on?!"
Evan shot them a re. "Private matter! No eavesdropping!"
The two exchanged a look and just shrugged.
It wasn''t until the sun was up that
Evan and White finally came back.
White was back to his usual self,
curled around Evan''s wrist, fast
asleep. Evan, on the other hand,
looked seriously ticked off.
Tarquin had a hunch it had to do with White. He couldn''t help but ask, "What
happened?"
Evan gritted his teeth, lips twitching. "None of your business!"
Then, ring into the woods, he muttered, "One day, I''ming back. They''d
better be ready!"
Tarquin just stared,pletely lost.
No clue what just happened.
"Evan, what are you mumbling about?" Elysia yawned, stepping out of her tent.
When Evan spotted Elysia, his eyes welled up and he ran straight into her arms.
"Mommy, hold me."
Elysia instantly sobered up. Evan almost never acted like this.
She bent down, scooped him into a hug, and looked worried. "Sweetheart, what''s
wrong?"
Evan clung to her neck, silent.
Elysia nced around and saw only Tarquin. She shot him a look. "Did your dad
upset you?"
Tarquin froze, then hurriedly denied it. "No way! Not me! I swear!"
No way he was taking the me for
this. Elysia loved him, but everyone
knew he was at the bottom of the
family pecking order. If he took the
rap, she''d never let it go—and he
valued his marriage too much for
that.
Elysia kept her arms around Evan, giving Tarquin a suspicious re.
"It''s just you two here. If you didn''t upset him, then who did?"
Tarquin hesitated. No way he was getting into the whole White saga—Elysia
would only worry more. So he made something up.
"We''re getting close to the new development area. Maybe Evan''s just missing his
great-grandparents."
Elysia eyed him, half-convinced, then turned back to Evan. "Is that it?"
Evan nodded.
She quickly soothed him, "Don''t be sad. We''ll visit again soon, okay?"
Evan just sniffled and sobbed, tears and snot everywhere.
Tarquin watched, frowning with
concern. He still had no idea what
was really going on—but seeing his
son so upset broke his heart.
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