Page 44 of Edge

“Raven,” Dash called.

She didn’t miss a step at the sound of her dad’s voice. “I warned her, Dad. I told her not to come here, and she did anyway.”

Before Dash could respond, Flint appeared with a look of concern on his face. “Raven, stop! I think she drugged him.”

The common room erupted in a flurry of activity at his words. Patch and Gabby sprinted down the hall toward Falcon’s room with Dash and Ember on their heels.

Phoenix calmly walked toward the girl standing frozen in Raven’s grip. “What did you do to my grandson?”

I could hardly believe what I was seeing when the girl hocked a loogie from her soul and spit it at Phoenix.

A sickening crunch filled the air as Blaze’s fist made contact with the girl’s face. She covered her face and fell to her knees with Raven still firmly gripping her hair.

Phoenix wiped the spit from his face and looked at his daughter and granddaughter. “Keep her where she is until the cops get here. If she spits again, cover her mouth with tape.”

“You can’t do this!” the girl screamed. “Let me go!”

He glanced at Carbon. “Gag her.”

Carbon grinned like a maniac and walked toward the girl with a bandana in his hand. “Don’t even think about spitting on me. I’ll slip and fall and break every bone in your body when I land on you.”

The girl’s mouth dropped open, and he had her gagged in seconds. Then he zip tied her hands behind her back so Raven could release her. “Go check on your brother. I’ve got her.”

Raven hocked her own loogie and spit it on the girl. “My papa has manners, but I don’t give a fuck.”

I looked over to see Evie watching the scene with wide eyes. Since the situation was under control, I made my way over to her. “You okay over here?” I asked quietly.

To my surprise, she waved me away. “Don’t worry about me. Do what you need to do.”

“There’s nothing for me to do right now,” I said and dropped into the seat beside her.

“I can’t believe she spit on Phoenix,” Harper said.

“Me either,” I agreed.

“I can’t believe he didn’t react,” Evie said.

“That’s what she wanted,” I said. “And he knew it.”

“Why would she want that?” Evie asked.

“To take the focus off her. If he hit her, that’s all anybody would remember. Not what she did.”

“Cops and EMS are at the gate,” Dice announced.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Evie asked.

“Right over there,” I said and pointed to a door near the corner of the room.

Harper gently smacked my arm. “Take her to yours. That one is gross.”

“You’re right,” I said and got to my feet. “Follow me.”

When I led Evie to my room and pointed to the bathroom door, she turned to me with the corner of her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. “So, I don’t actually need to use the restroom. I thought it might be a good idea if I was out of sight while the police are here.”

“Oh,” I said as realization dawned. “We can stay in here until they leave.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said and made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go find out what’s going on so you can fill me in later.”