Page 8 of Hansen (Mutants #7)
SOMETHING WEIRD WAS going on. Evan had first noticed it a few days ago, but it had been easy to dismiss. He had work, Hansen, Davey, and his family. His mother had been calling him every day, and they spent hours talking about what had happened while Evan wasn’t home. He’d missed so much that sometimes, it made him want to cry, but when that happened, he reminded himself that he had decades ahead to fix it.
But now that things were settling down, he couldn’t ignore the weirdness anymore.
He stared at the flour on the table in front of him. It was flour, nothing weird to find in a bakery. What was weird was the plant in the middle of it.
It hadn’t been there before Evan touched the flour. He was supposed to clean it, but as soon as he’d touched it, this fucking thing had sprung from it. Evan didn’t know what kind of flour Orion used, but he was pretty sure that it came from this plant. It kind of explained why this plant, in particular, was there, but that was all. Nothing else made sense.
He took a step back, and his feet tangled together. He reached out to grab the table so he wouldn’t fall on his face and pressed his hand against the surface. Orion had been baking with oranges, and he’d left the peels and seeds on the table for Evan to clean. Evan’s pinky brushed against one of the seeds, and a tiny sprout suddenly burst from it right in front of Evan’s eyes.
There was only one explanation. Evan had done it. He was the one who’d turned the seed into a plant that was still growing.
He snatched his hand away and cradled it against his chest. The plant stopped growing, but it didn’t vanish.
If Evan had to guess, he’d just found out what his mutant power ability was.
He had no idea what else he could do. He didn’t even know what this ability was. Did he make plants grow? Could he grow any plant, anywhere, or did he need a seed or something the plant had been before, like the flour?
“Evan,”
Orion said.
Evan jumped and squeaked. He turned to glare at Orion, whose head was cocked as he stared at the counter and the tiny orange tree sprouting on it.
“Do I want to know?”
Orion asked.
“I don’t think you do, but you probably should.”
“I’m listening.”
“I think I need to stay away from ingredients as much as possible. They seem to grow on me.”
“Does that mean you can’t pack up pastries anymore?”
Evan bit his lower lip. “I don’t know. I think that as long as I don’t touch them, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. Why don’t you go back to the front of the shop? We can talk during lunch break, but in the meantime, it’s better if you stay away from my ingredients. I wouldn’t want to walk into the kitchen and find a whole orange tree.”
Evan glared, but Orion wasn’t wrong, so he scurried back to the front of the shop, happy to forget about his mysterious ability and focus on the job.
He served two women and watched as they left the shop.
The shop was empty now, which meant he needed something else to distract him.
He grabbed cleaning supplies and went to clean the few tables that had been used since the last time he’d cleaned.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else to do, but as he walked past the potted plant in the corner, he noticed one of the leaves was turning yellow.
Without thinking, he grabbed it and pulled.
It turned green again.
Evan watched in awe as the leaf turned back to life.
He didn’t let go, which he realized was a mistake when more leaves started sprouting from the plant.
He swore and stepped back, finally letting go. He stared at the damn thing, sure it was twice as big as it had been before he touched it.
“That’s impressive,”
a voice said from behind him.
He turned to find Matthew, a friend of Hansen and Davey, standing there. The man was staring at the plant, which was still growing, albeit more slowly than it had when Evan was touching it.
“I don’t know how to make it stop,”
Evan confessed.
“I’m pretty sure you just have to wait. It’s slowing down.”
“I hope so because otherwise, Orion will have to deal with a jungle in his bakery.”
Which might not be a bad thing.
Davey and Hansen were on a raid, which meant that Orion and Evan were jumpy.
They were worried, but Evan had been focused on his new ability, while Orion didn’t have anything but baking.
Maybe creating a problem Orion had to solve would help him not obsess over Davey and what was happening.
“I’m surprised to see you here,”
he told Matthew as he took another step back from the plant, just in case.
Matthew scowled. “Moore said I was a little too trigger-happy with my electricity. He told me to think about it while I stayed back.”
“Hansen mentioned you kept shocking an unconscious hunter.”
“The guy was a hunter. Who cares that I was shocking him?”
Evan couldn’t say he disagreed. As far as he was concerned, no one should have any pity for hunters. After everything they’d done to him, he certainly didn’t.
But he understood why Moore was trying to keep Matthew under control.
Most hunters were evil, but some of them were probably like Orion and Perseus.
From what Orion had said, hunting—Evan would call it kidnapping and torturing—supernatural creatures was somewhat of a family tradition for hunters.
Sons hunted with their fathers and grandfathers, just like Orion and Perseus had been forced to.
They hadn’t been able to refuse because they would’ve been hurt or killed if they had.
They’d gotten out, but they’d been lucky.
Other hunters might not be, and it wouldn’t be fair to hurt them, even though Evan had no doubt they’d hurt people.
“Well, Moore is your boss. If you don’t listen to him, he’ll put you in timeout,”
Evan pointed out.
Matthew pouted. He was an adult, but he was short with blond curls and looked completely innocent. It was a stark contrast with the fact that he could fry people to death.
“Are you going to become one of us, then?”
Matthew asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Your ability.”
Evan glanced at the plant. It had stopped growing, but it was about twice as big as it had been before Evan touched it. “I’m not sure how useful that ability would be in a fight. What am I going to do? Hand hunters flowers?”
Matthew hummed as he tapped a fingertip on his chin. “You could make plants grow to trap the hunters like in the movies, you know, with roots and everything. You could wrap branches around the hunters’ legs and immobilize them.”
Evan couldn’t imagine himself doing that. He couldn’t imagine himself going on a raid. He was terrified that something would happen to Hansen, and he doubted it would be easier if he was there with his mate. “I think I’ll stick with the bakery.”
“That’s fine. Not all of us who’ve been changed want to hunt hunters.”
“I don’t think I can do anything like that.”
“No one will ask you to. You can work at the bakery for the rest of your life.”
Matthew grinned. “In fact, please do. I like it when you give me two cookies for the price of one.”
Evan glanced toward the back door. He doubted Orion would be angry, but just in case, he didn’t want his boss to hear.
Evan had a soft spot for Matthew, or rather, for the mutants Hansen worked with. He could see how important they were to his mate, and Hansen considered them family, so maybe he spoiled them a bit when they came into the bakery. He wasn’t planning on stopping. He wanted them to like him, and if he had to use a little bribery, he would.
Matthew’s phone started ringing. He took it out, frowned, and quickly answered. “Hey,”
he said. “Are you coming back already?”
Evan couldn’t hear what the voice on the other side of the phone said, but the tone sounded urgent. Matthew’s smile vanished, and his serious expression was more terrifying than imagining him shocking hunters with his ability.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll be ready to help if Moore needs me. Yeah, in front of Moore’s house.”
He hung up and stared at Evan for a moment. Evan wondered if he was going to have to ask. He hoped not.
“The raid went sideways,”
Matthew explained. “There were more guards and hunters than we expected.”
“Hansen? Davey?”
“I don’t know, Evan.”
THERE WAS ONE THING to be said about Hansen’s ability—it was helpful to spy on hunters and sneak into labs, but it was less useful when you had to fight a bunch of hunters no one had expected to be there.
He punched a hunter coming at him and ducked when another tried to stab him. He turned to face the second hunter, but Teddy was already there, exploding the hunter’s hand with his ability. The man screamed and clutched his arm to his chest as he stumbled back.
Hansen grimaced. “Was that really necessary?”
Teddy gave him an unimpressed look. “Would you have preferred getting stabbed?”
“It’s messy.”
“You’re jealous you can’t explode things.”
Hansen grinned. “I am.”
Teddy smiled back, but it didn’t last long. They both turned toward more hunters coming. Hansen wondered if they were ever going to end.
He didn’t know what had happened, but the people in the facility they were in had expected them to attack.
Maybe they’d heard about other labs the mutants had raided, or maybe they were protecting something big they did here.
Either way, between the guards and the hunters, the mutants were in trouble.
It was a good thing they had tricks up their sleeves.
If they hadn’t been mutants, they would’ve been defeated.
As it was, they were holding their own, and if Hansen wasn’t mistaken, the tide was turning in their favor.
It was just happening a little too slowly for him to be comfortable with.
He grimaced when a hunter mummified in front of his eyes.
Davey used the water he’d stolen from the hunter’s body and wrapped it around a guard’s head, causing him to claw at his face to try to breathe.
Hansen turned away.
He’d seen this scene several times before, and it was never easy to deal with.
It was necessary, but it didn’t mean he wanted to watch.
His ability wasn’t going to help him in this situation, and while he was doing a good enough job in his human form, he’d have an easier time if he shifted.
He didn’t usually shift on raids because it made communicating with the others more complicated, but he felt that today was a good day to do so.
It would be easier for him to defend his fellow mutants and himself if he had claws and fangs.
He kicked a hunter in the back of the knee as he walked past, headed for the corner of the room.
He needed a few seconds to shift, and he didn’t want any of the hunters to attack him while he did so.
Olga nodded at him and punched a hunter.
Thankfully, the man didn’t get back to his feet after he slumped to the floor, so Hansen had plenty of time to let his lion out.
He didn’t bother taking his clothes off.
He was wearing one of the uniforms they wore on raids, so it wasn’t like he’d miss them.
Well, he probably would once he needed to shift back, but that could be easily dealt with.
In the meantime, he’d put his lion to work.
He roared as soon as he was shifted.
He saw a few of the hunters jump and grinned, pleased when one of them whimpered and lost control of his bladder.
That one wasn’t going to last long.
Frankly, it was a small miracle that he was still here and hadn’t run away screaming as soon as he’d seen the mutants.
Hansen snapped his teeth at the hunter, who screamed and turned to run.
Hansen disliked letting any of the hunters escape, but it would be better if he focused on the ones still fighting.
He caught a guard by the calf and pulled him away from Elsa.
The man screamed as Hansen’s fangs sank into his flesh.
Hansen disliked the taste of blood, but it was still satisfying to know that he was fighting hunters and avenging his mate.
There was no way to know if any of the hunters and the guards here had ever hurt Evan, but Hansen had decided that they might as well have.
These people were all the same.
They sacrificed human lives for money and their own interests, and that was enough for him to despise every single one of them.
Hansen lost count of how many hunters he dealt with.
He worked his way through the room, helping the other mutants who needed it.
He didn’t realize that meant he got separated from his group until he found himself stepping into a side room.
The room was lined with cages, most of them occupied.
He desperately wanted to free the people inside, but he couldn’t do it now.
They needed to take care of the hunters before they could help anyone because freeing them with so many hunters around would be dangerous.
Hansen forced himself to ignore the cries for help and turned to return to the main room when his gaze stopped on a guard.
The man was standing in the middle of the hallway between the cages and pointing his gun at Hansen.
He smelled like fear.
Hansen slowly faced the guard.
He was wearing a uniform, like the others, but he was sweating, and there was a long gash on his arm that had cut through his shirt.
He was bleeding, but he held the gun steadily.
Hansen was pretty sure that if he tried jumping the guy, he’d get shot, and if that happened, Evan wouldn’t be happy.
He stayed as still as he could, wondering what he should do.
He couldn’t talk the guard down in this form, and while he wasn’t looking forward to being naked as he tried to reason with man, it would be better than growling at him.
Hansen shifted back to his human form. He stood tall, not caring about his nakedness. He noticed the guard’s eyes widen, and the man quickly looked over Hansen’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
the guard asked.
Hansen raised his hands. “I just want to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re going to help me escape.”
“You could escape on your own right now. Everyone is busy fighting. They won’t notice you sneaking away.”
“I’m not going to risk it.”
The man waved his gun. “If I take you hostage, they’ll be forced to let me go.”
“Do you really think that’s the best idea?”
An explosion made both of them jump. From the sound of it, it hadn’t been very big, but it had been close. Hansen hoped that Teddy had caused it. He didn’t want to have to deal with explosions not caused by their side. They never ended well for anyone, not even the hunters.
Hansen moved toward the guard, only to find himself facing the gun again.
“Stop moving,”
the guard snapped.
“I’m not going to stop you from leaving,”
Hansen tried to reassure the guard. He knew how to deal with hunters, but guards were always a little more complicated. He was sure that some of them had taken the job without knowing what they’d have to deal with. They’d probably been horrified, but they’d stayed. They’d gotten paid to guard shifters and humans who were being hurt by their bosses.
Something moved behind the guard, but he didn’t notice. Hansen did his best not to look in the direction so he wouldn’t draw the guard’s attention. He sucked in a breath when that something moved closer and revealed itself to be another guard. He was wearing the same uniform and had a gun in his hand, too.
Shit. Hansen really was in trouble.
The first guard started to turn when he realized there was someone there with them.
Hansen didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t for the second guard to raise his gun and hit the first guard in the face with it.
Someone in one of the cages whimpered, but Hansen kept his focus on the second guard.
He was looking down at the first guard, who was unconscious on the floor.
The guard didn’t stay still for long, though.
He quickly put his gun away, then grabbed the first guard’s arms and dragged him toward one of the cages.
He hesitated, but instead of opening the cage, he grabbed handcuffs from the guard’s belt and used them to tie the man to the cage.
He pulled on the handcuffs to be sure they wouldn’t open, then finally turned to face Hansen.
“I think you should either shift back or find some clothes,” he said.
“I’ll shift back. Why did you do it?”
“Because the only reason I’m here is to find my siblings.”
Hansen supposed that was as good a reason as any other.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU don’t know?”
Evan asked Matthew.
“Exactly what I said. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You just got a call that explained it to you.”
Matthew shook his head. “I got a call from Olga telling me that things had gone sideways and that I needed to be ready to get picked up if they needed me.”
“Well? Are you ready to get picked up?”
“I need to go to Moore’s house. That’s where they’ll pick me up.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Matthew was already shaking his head again. “You can’t come with me.”
Evan had never threatened anyone seriously. Today, though, he put his hands on his hips and glared at Matthew. “You know that thing you told me to do with roots?”
“The one where I thought you could immobilize hunters by using your ability with plants?”
“That one. Do you want me to use it on you?”
“I know you want to help, but getting yourself hurt and putting yourself in danger isn’t going to do anything. Hansen is just going to be even more worried if he finds out you’re there.”
“I need to do something.”
Evan understood that he’d be a liability if he went. He couldn’t fight, and he had no idea how he’d react if he was forced to enter a lab again. That didn’t mean he was willing to stay at the bakery and stare at the wall while his mate was in danger.
“As long as that something isn’t putting yourself in danger, I think we can compromise.”
Evan wouldn’t have taken no for an answer, but he was glad he wouldn’t have to fight Matthew. He quickly took his apron off and threw it onto the counter, only to stop moving when he remembered that Orion didn’t know that something was wrong. “We have to tell Orion. Davey is in that lab, too.”
Matthew grimaced. “Olga and Moore are going to kick my ass when they find out about this.”
“Do I look like I care?”
Evan snapped. He liked Matthew, but if he had to choose between him and Hansen, he wouldn’t hesitate. He needed to know that Hansen was okay, and the only way to do that was to stick with Matthew.
He glared at the man and hoped that Matthew wouldn’t take the opportunity to leave while he talked to Orion. Even if he did, Evan would find him. He knew where Matthew was going.
Evan burst into the back room, making Orion jump. He was working at one of the long tables and turned to frown at Evan. There was a spot of flour on his cheek, and his hands were dirty, but when he saw Evan’s expression, he grabbed a towel. “What happened?”
“The raid went sideways.”
“Davey?”
Evan shook his head. “I don’t know anything else, but Matthew is here, and he’s supposed to go to Moore’s house in case they need to pick him up to help with the fight. I’m going with him.”
“I’m coming, too,”
Orion said, already reaching for the oven.
He and Evan quickly worked together to turn off everything that needed to be turned off. Orion didn’t need to come back to a burned-out bakery.
It only took a handful of minutes, but Evan was relieved to see that Matthew was still waiting for them when they walked through the door to the front of the shop. He was on his phone, typing something, but he quickly put it away when he heard them.
“Come on. I don’t want to waste time.”
Evan wasn’t offended. He didn’t want to waste time, either.
They didn’t run through the streets of the village so they wouldn’t alarm anyone, but it was a close thing. Evan wanted to scream at the people going about their day as if nothing was happening. How could they not be worried about the people who’d saved them?
He swallowed and told himself to stop being a dick. These people didn’t know what was happening. They probably had no idea that the mutants were out on a raid. They’d been freed, and they deserved to live their lives without fear, which was what they were doing.
The door of Moore’s house flew open as soon as they reached it. Moore’s mate, Jolyn, waved at them to come in. “Rikar’s already here,”
he said as he led them through the house.
Evan had heard about Moore’s mate, but he’d never met him before. He looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly, but his expression was fierce, as if he was ready to find his mate and kick ass to save him. Evan felt the same, even though he and Hansen weren’t bonded yet.
They would be. After today, there was no way Evan would allow Hansen anywhere without him if they weren’t bonded. He needed to know if Hansen was in trouble. He needed to be able to feel that something was happening to his mate. If it hadn’t been for Matthew, he would still be at the bakery, working as if everything was fine.
They walked out the back door in the kitchen. Evan had no idea where they were going or what was happening, but he didn’t care because Matthew seemed to be on board with it.
As Jolyn had said, Rikar was already there. He was pacing the space between the backyard and the forest. He looked up when he heard them, nodded at Matthew, then cocked his head as he watched Evan.
“You can’t go with Matthew,”
he warned.
“I can do whatever I want,”
Evan snapped. He wouldn’t let anyone keep him from his mate.
Orion grabbed Evan’s shoulder and squeezed. “Calm down.”
“How can I calm down? Hansen is in trouble, and I can’t do anything to help him. What am I supposed to do? Get back to work? Stare at the sky and pray?”
“You need to breathe. Come on, Evan. Hansen wouldn’t want you to freak out, especially when you don’t know what’s going on.”
“I’m freaking out because I don’t know what’s going on. If I knew what Hansen was doing, I wouldn’t be.”
“I don’t know either,”
Rikar explained. “I got a call from Moore, so I know something’s happened, but he didn’t give me details. Matthew?”
“Olga called me. She said to be ready to get picked up, just in case.”
“People can’t shimmer in the village,”
Evan pointed out.
Rikar shook his head. “That’s not exactly true. There are designated spots, including this one.”
Evan frowned and looked around. He couldn’t see anything different, but they wouldn’t be here if Rikar was lying.
“We didn’t want the villagers to be alarmed at people shimmering in and out during raids, so we designated a few spots in the village to be private shimmering areas,”
Rikar explained. “This spot is one of those. Now, we just need to wait.”
Evan raked a hand through his hair. “How can we do that? We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know if someone was hurt. How do you expect me to wait until someone comes back?”
“We don’t have a choice,”
Orion murmured. “I know how hard it is. It’s not the first time Davey’s been on a raid, and I have to stay back. They’ll be fine, though.”
Evan wrapped his arms around himself. “You can’t know that. You can’t know anything for sure. Hansen could be hurt, or worse, and I wouldn’t know.”
“Davey is fine,”
Orion offered.
Davey and Orion were bonded, which meant that Orion could feel Davey. He’d be panicking if something had happened to Davey, and strangely, knowing that did help Evan relax.
But he couldn’t help but wonder about Hansen. If something happened to him, Evan wouldn’t know. He wouldn’t be able to feel it. He’d still be here, waiting and hoping.
How was Evan supposed to deal with that knowledge?
He looked down at his feet. He’d been relieved to find out that his ability would be useless to hurt people, but now, he wished things were different. He wanted to hurt people. He wanted to hurt the hunters who were attacking his mate.
But the only thing he could do was wait.
HANSEN DIDN’T STRAY far from his new friend, the guard. He had no idea why the man was helping him and the other mutants beyond what the guard had said, but he didn’t trust him. Maybe the guard was here to find his siblings, but Hansen had no way of knowing who these siblings were and why they could be there.
He’d assumed they’d be in a cage, but he might be wrong. Maybe this guy’s siblings were doctors. Maybe they worked in this facility. Maybe the guard was lying. Whatever was happening, Hansen would make sure the man didn’t hurt anyone.
“This would be easier if we could talk,”
the guard said as he stepped over a fallen hunter. He’d taken his gun out again, but he hadn’t used it yet.
He showed the guard his teeth. He wasn’t trying to be intimidating—okay, maybe he was trying to be a bit intimidating—but he wanted the guard to know he was listening.
The man didn’t look impressed. “Yeah, I can do that, too.”
He grinned at Hansen. It wasn’t a nice smile. “But I get it. You don’t trust me. I’m a shifter, too, just so you know.”
Hansen pressed his nose against the man’s leg, only for the man to push him away.
“I’m wearing one of those sprays, just in case. I didn’t want anyone to realize I was a shifter. You know what they do to us in this place.”
Hansen did, so he understood why the man would have used one of those sprays, but he still had dozens of questions. He couldn’t ask them in this form, but he would as soon as the fight was over.
Hansen noticed Olga fighting with two hunters. When she punched one of them so hard that he stumbled back and hit Hansen’s side, Hansen twisted his upper body and grabbed the man’s wrist. The man screamed, so Hansen gave him a good shake. Blood spurted in his mouth, so as soon as he dropped the hunter’s wrist, he spluttered and rubbed his muzzle with his paw.
“Aren’t you wishing that you could shoot them instead of biting them?”
the guard asked as he raised his gun. Hansen glared at him. The guard didn’t seem intimidated because he grinned and added, “I’m Franklin.”
Hansen hadn’t expected to get a name, and he couldn’t give one back, so he just blinked. Franklin rolled his eyes and turned. Hansen watched as he shot one of the hunters who had been fighting Davey.
Impressive.
As much as Hansen wanted to focus on Franklin, he couldn’t. He tried to stay as close to the man as he could as they fought, but he lost sight of him a few times. He half expected Franklin to be gone by the time the last hunter fell to the floor, screaming, but the man was still there.
It was as if everyone still standing in the room turned to Franklin. He quickly raised his hands and dropped his gun, kicking it away so he couldn’t pick it up again.
“I know you can’t smell it, but I’m a shifter. I’m here because I’m looking for my siblings.”
Hansen hoped he wasn’t lying because if he was, it wouldn’t end well for him.
Hansen shifted back. No one said anything about his state of nudity, and while he didn’t care, he also didn’t want to drag unconscious hunters around with his dick flopping around. He crouched next to one of the doctors, who was watching him with wide eyes, and forced the man to give up his white coat. He slid it on, closing all the buttons before looking down at himself to make sure everything important was covered.
“You have nice legs,”
Franklin said.
Hansen glared at him again. “And you have a big mouth that you can’t seem to keep closed.”
“My mother always said that.”
“She was right.”
Franklin’s expression turned wistful. “She was, wasn’t she?”
From the way he was talking about her, it was clear that she wasn’t in his life anymore. Hansen wanted to ask if she’d died or if something had happened to her, but it was none of his business.
“Hansen?”
Moore asked as he stepped between the fallen hunters.
Right. Hansen was chatting with a guard. Everyone was staring at him because they didn’t understand what was happening.
“This is Franklin. He says he’s a shifter and that he’s here to find his siblings.”
Moore looked Franklin up and down. “Do we believe him?”
“I don’t know. He took out a guard who was threatening me with a gun and wanted to take me hostage, and he helped me take down a few more hunters, so I guess I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Does that mean I can go?”
Franklin asked.
Moore arched a brow. “So eager to get away from us.”
“Because neither of my siblings is in the cages I found.”
“You could probably use some help to find them. Why don’t you stick around for a bit?”
Franklin looked like he wanted to argue, but he glanced around the room and seemed to think better of it. If he was lying, it wouldn’t do him any good to try and run. Considering the dozens of people standing there, poking at fallen hunters and dragging them into piles, he could probably tell how that would end. And if he was telling the truth, he’d want more people to help him find his siblings.
The only option he had was to stay.
“Any survivors?”
Moore asked as he turned his attention to the rest of the room.
Hansen leaned against the wall and watched. Most of the hunters were dead, which hopefully meant the other hunters would stop supplying the labs with people for a while. Hansen had no idea how many hunters were out there, but from the little he’d learned from Orion, he knew they weren’t as organized as they seemed from the outside. Hansen hoped that what had happened today had given their organization a massive blow.
And not only because they’d tried to kill him.
“You’re not going to help?”
Franklin said as he leaned next to Hansen.
“I can’t.”
“I’m not going to run if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
Hansen eyed him. “How am I supposed to trust you? You don’t smell like a shifter, and you’re wearing a guard’s uniform. As far as I know, you lied to me to save your ass.”
Franklin nodded. He didn’t look offended by what Hansen had just said. “You’re not wrong.”
“I know I’m not. I’m going to keep an eye on you, Franklin.”
“I’m not planning on sticking around.”
“Whatever you were planning, it’s going to have to change. There’s no way Moore’s gonna let you leave.”
Franklin opened his mouth, possibly to argue, but Moore beat him to it. “Hansen’s right. I’m not letting you go.”
“I already told you that I was here to find my siblings.”
“It could be a lie.”
“Or maybe your siblings are doctors,”
Hansen offered.
“They’re not doctors,”
Franklin snapped. “They were taken, and I know they’re in one of the labs. I need to find them.”
“If you’re telling the truth, we’ll help you,”
Moore offered. “It’s kind of our specialty. If you’re lying, though, you’re in trouble.”
Franklin shook his head. “I’m not lying. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”
“Yet you shot several people today.”
“Hunters. I shot hunters.”
The way Franklin spat out the last word told Hansen everything he needed to know about how Franklin felt.
He believed the guy.
He wasn’t sure what would come out of it, but it was clear that Franklin despised the hunters and probably wanted all of them dead.
It made sense if he was telling the truth and his siblings had been taken by hunters. Of course he’d want all hunters dead. Hansen did, too, with only a few exceptions.
“Hansen, shimmer back to the village,”
Moore said, turning his attention back to Hansen. “You need clothes. I want you to take the wounded with you, along with Franklin.”
“What village?”
Franklin asked.
“The village where we live. I’d like to talk to you about your siblings and what you were doing here today, if that’s okay with you.”
Franklin hesitated. “I bet that if I say it’s not, you won’t be happy.”
Moore smirked. “Our village has a small jail. You can choose between ending up behind bars and talking to me.”
Franklin sighed. “Fine. I’ll talk to you.”
“Good. Now help Hansen.”
Teddy, Elsa, and Leon were working on the worst of the wounded. As soon as they were stable, Elsa and Teddy would start shimmering them back to the village, and it looked like Franklin and Hansen would go along for the ride.
Hansen turned to Franklin. “It won’t be long.”
“I’m fine waiting. My siblings aren’t here, anyway,”
Franklin answered.
Hansen could only imagine what the man was going through. If he’d really lost his siblings to the labs, he had to be in hell. It sounded like he’d been looking for them for a while and had probably visited several labs.
He still hadn’t found them.