Page 32 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple

A corner of Damien's mouth tipped up, though he didn't seem to have the energy for more words.

"Ask like a gentleman and say my name. You know I always loved it when you did."

Blaze let out an exasperated huff. "Always playing stupid games. Please get the cuffs off, Eugene."

"You know that's not what I meant,Bailey." Shudder frowned as Damien slid back down the wall to lie on his blankets. "He really doesn't look good."

"He needs to eat."

"Gah! Why didn't you say so? You're the worst partner ever!" Shudder leaped up and strode out, leaving Blaze gaping and speechless.

Some things never change.

Only a few minutes passed before their captor and host returned, all smiles again. "I know this will sound odd, but it's better than it sounds, believe me." He settled by Damien again and held out a sandwich on a plate. "Peanut butter and jalapeño jelly."

Hesitantly, as if every nerve ending ached, Damien sat up and took the plate. He tried a tentative bite and abruptly transformed into Damien the Human Piranha as he inhaled the sandwich.

"Glad you didn't eat the plate," Shudder murmured.

Damien looked like he could have used another, but his eyes had brightened. "Could you let Blaze go, please? I don't think he'll start a fight."

"Blazey's always starting fights. It's his best thing. Don't you like him all trussed up? So many interesting possibilities."

Damien made that odd, strangled sound that passed for a laugh. "You know each other."

"Oh, yes." Shudder reached over and patted Blaze's ankle. "We went to school together. I was his boyfriend."

"For a short while," Blaze growled.

"You wound me. For our entire senior year." Shudder's expression fell, approaching a nearly convincing wounded. "We disagreed on… a lot."

"Great. Now he's gonna get all soppy."

"Won't. I'll make a deal. The pretty not-fed tells me why you're here, and I'll consider unfettering Blaze."

Damien shifted toward the wall, his expression shuttered and blank again. "There are children missing."

"Oh? Yes?"

"Variant children."

Shudder tipped a hand in ago-ongesture.

"Their trails lead here."

"Ah. Is that all? That's nothing unusual."

In all the time he'd been following Shudder's stupidity, Blaze would never have suspected him of stooping so low. "So it's not good enough doing dangerous dumbass protests anymore? You're going after the kids now? You're kidnapping vari kids to prove some fucking point?"

Shudder's bright-blue eyes widened in apparent shock before they narrowed in anger. "That's low, Emerson. Even for you. I have a lot of vari kids here but they came to me. Runaways from group homes. Throwaways whose parents didn't want them. Unregistered kids running scared." His voice rose to the screech of righteous indignation Blaze knew so well. "I take them in and protect them. Care for them. Give them a better home than they've ever had, and you want to accuse me of kidnapping them?"

Blaze looked to Damien instead of answering. "The trails end here?"

"Yes."

"All six of them?"

"Yes."