Page 78 of Inhuman Nature

“But you’re already here,” Rake pointed out. “Which makes me think that you’re willing to take the next step, too.”

“What’s in it for me?” Kit asked.

“Revenge.” That assumption, Rake was confident in. “Neither of us intends for Lawrence to walk away from this. He hurt Shaun. He needs to pay for what he’s done.”

Kit’s lips pressed into a flat line. “You would take the risk of involving me on the small chance it would help Shaun?”

“Of course,” DJ said.

“Even though I might be as bad as Lawrence and drain you both dry in seconds?”

“Given how the relationship between you and Lawrence seemed to be, we didn’t think you would,” Rake said.

“And what do you mean by that?” Kit asked, his voice as sharp as the fangs in his mouth.

“We saw the photos.”

Kit’s jaw tensed, visible even in the flickering light of the streetlamp. “He kept those.”

“I’m sorry for what happened to you,” Rake offered, knowing the words were lacking even as he said them.

“Lawrence did similar to Shaun,” DJ added.

There was a flash of…somethingon Kit’s face. An indecipherable expression. Kit tucked his hair behind his ear, getting the strands stuck in the frame of his glasses. Rake wondered if he’d dressed in disguise specifically for meeting them.

Rake readied another argument, but Kit sighed and looked towards the sky. “I suppose I’ll help. If I must.”

Huh. Well, that had been easier than Rake expected.

“Thank you,” DJ said, effusive.

“So…” Kit said, wafting a hand in the air as he trailed off.

“So what?” DJ asked.

“So what’s your plan?”

“Plan? Our plan was getting you to agree to help us.”

“And then what?”

“You would tell us what to do?” DJ said. He looked at Rake. “That was the plan, wasn’t it?”

Rake rubbed at his brow. “Yes,” he said, somewhat abashed.

“If you’re relying on me as your last option, then you must be desperate,” Kit said.

“We are. Shaun told us not to risk going to Lynette in case she compelled us to forget about his existence. Well, he also told us not to go out at night. But we thought it was too important to meet you.” DJ rambled on, which is what he tended to do when nervous.

“Shaun told you not to go out at night?” Kit asked, eyes narrowing.

Rake grimaced. “He thought Lawrence might come after us.”

Kit looked around the car park, as if he expected Lawrence to jump out from behind the beaten-up Honda Jazz parked closest to them. “Why would he care enough to come hereto kill you?”

The fear that Lawrence had done exactly that struck Rake. “We broke into his house.”

“You broke into his house,” Kit repeated in a monotone.