Yeah, she didn’t look like someone who ate her vegetables.

“I’ve done this kind of thing before. I fought warlords,” Narwhal said. “I helped the villages after. I delivered supplies to isolated settlements. A lot of people want this to have a happy ending, and experience tells me that ending is possible.”

A guy called out, “The only happy ending I want is the kind you use your hand for, bitch!”

There was some raucous, tense laughter from the group.

I felt such disgust, looking at them. It wasn’t the joke—I could imagine Chris or Rain saying something like that and it being something that pushed the envelope. They wouldn’t have said ‘bitch’, though.

I couldn’t understand them.

My phone buzzed. I flew to the ground, off to the side of Narwhal, and brought my phone to my ear.

“Tattletale here. Can we talk?”

“Standoff with the remaining Mathers Fallen and Narwhal,” I said. I assessed the situation. “I think Narwhal has it handled.”

“I’d think so. I’ve found the Crowleys, they covered their retreat, and now they’re on the move. They borrowed a fleet of cars from a town north of here, and they’re heading east.”

“East? Boston? New Brockton?”

“I’m betting the Boston district of the Megalopolis,” she said. “They’re taking a route using roads that are barely roads, they’re so rustic. If you take the major highway, you could get ahead of them with time to spare. Give me what I need and we’ll help.”

“We being?”

“Undersiders. I can twist Prancer’s arm, promise to help him bounce back if he’ll lend me people. I could also give you the information for March. She’d help, but it would have to come from you, not me.”

“Do I want her help?”

“She’d do the job and she’d do it well, if she thought it would help Rain.”

“But?” I asked. I was still keeping an eye on the situation with Narwhal and the Fallen.

“You know the Graeae twins? They’re part of her group.”

“A bit. They helped Rain out.”

“They were two of three, originally. They had another brother, and they’re triplets and cluster-mates at the same time. Big bro went off the deep end. Kiss and kill are messy enough when you’ve got family bonds, but the brother went full kiss, full kill, at the same time, like where the venn diagram overlaps.”

I felt my skin crawl, and darker thoughts bubbled up, as I drew some parallels. I kept my voice level as I said, “I’ve read about that.”

“Whichever order that goes in, it’s… it’s not good, Victoria.”

“Thanks,” I said, my voice curt. “Let’s speed along to the explanation.”