Tainted Butterfly (Tainted Knights 2)

Right then, Mrs. Sinclair looked frazzled, her hair falling from its ponytail on one side, her face gray and tense.

For a minute, I wondered how Sin’s parents were going to afford the trip to the hospital. They didn’t have insurance because Mr. Sinclair had been laid off from the factory in Abingdon, where he had worked since before Sin was born. Money was even tighter at his house now, but he had tried to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

Now, with the look on his mother’s face so tight, I wondered if it was a bigger problem than he had made it sound.

The paramedics moved fast, as if they thought Sin would change his mind. Knowing my friend, he might have, but I doubted that his mom would have let that happen with the mood she was in right then. One paramedic closed the door on Sin, his mom, and the other paramedic before climbing into the driver’s seat. As soon as the emergency vehicle was out of sight, I looked at my aunt.

“Sin’s dad got laid off,” I told her, hoping she could do something to help them out.

She lifted a hand and rubbed it over my hair before smiling. “I know, buddy. Don’t worry about him though. As soon as I get finished with the dog’s owners, they will be putting him through Ivy League college. Okay?”

If anyone could do that, it was Alicia. She wasn’t the assistant district attorney anymore, but the actual district attorney. The dog’s owners were going to pay for not containing their dangerous animal.

“Miss St. Charles.” One of the cops cautiously came up to us. “The dog catcher is ready for us, ma’am.”

Alicia’s smile disappeared, her eyes growing cold when she looked at the house. “Gray, honey, take Kassa home. I don’t want her to be anywhere near that dog when they bring him out.”

For the first time since I had gotten there, Kassa lifted her head from my shoulder. “What’s going to happen to him?”

Alicia pressed her lips together, and instinctively, I knew what was going to happen to the dog. He had bitten someone, had drawn and tasted blood. That would make him even more dangerous now.

I felt cold inside when I remembered how much blood had been soaking through Sin’s bandage. What if the dog had bitten Kassa? Would he have only bitten her on the arm? Or would he have gone for her throat? Would she have even survived if the dog had attacked her?

What if she had been alone?

I tucked her head back down onto my shoulder. “Don’t worry about the dog, little caterpillar. He’s not going to ever bother you again. Okay?”

“But what’s going to happen to him?”

“That’s up to a judge, sweetie,” Alicia told her. “But I think the safest thing for everyone is if he is put down.”

“What does that mean?” she whispered, but I felt how tense she was, so I knew she suspected the truth.

“It means he will be given something to make him go to sleep forever,” I told her, trying to explain it in a way that wouldn’t scare her.

“You mean kill him,” she whispered, a small catch in her voice, tears spilling from her blue eyes.

Alicia bent to press a kiss to the back of her head. “Yes, sweetie. That’s exactly what it means.”

“Miss St. Charles,” the only guy not in a cop’s uniform called over to her. “We’re just waiting on you, ma’am. You have the court order?”

She nodded as she stepped back. “Just give me a moment, please.” Turning back to us, she gave me a smile and sighed tiredly. “Go on home now, you two. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

Kassa

I didn’t want to do my homework when we got home, but Gray made me. I couldn’t concentrate on it though. All I could see was the dog biting Sin, refusing to release him, tearing his arm, and causing blood to drip onto the ground.

He had been in so much pain by the time Gray had come that the paramedic had offered him a shot of morphine, but he had said no. He was so brave; he hadn’t even cried, even though it had been so scary.

And, now, the dog was going to die. I didn’t know how I felt about that. I didn’t like the thought of anyone dying, but he was a dangerous dog. And his owners weren’t exactly great pet parents. I didn’t want them to kill the mutt, but I was scared he might bite someone else—that he might bite me next time.

I was so confused about what I was feeling that I just sat at the kitchen table, staring down at my spelling homework but not seeing the words I needed to learn to spell. From the family room, I could hear Gray talking to someone on the phone. He said he was going to call Kale, but they never talked for long, yet he had been on the phone for nearly half an hour.

The back door opened into the kitchen and Jace came in, tossing his baseball gear into the mudroom off to the side of the kitchen before going to the fridge for something to drink. He was still in his baseball uniform, his hair was sweaty, and he had dirt on his knees. He was smiling, though, when he sat at the table with me.

“Hey, Kas,” he said with a tired but warm smile, putting his bottle of water and a bag of apple slices on the table. When I didn’t respond, his smile slowly faded. “You look upset. What’s wrong, baby sis?”

I dropped my pencil onto my notebook, unable to hold my tears back anymore. “The neighbor’s mean dog bit Sin, and now, they are going to kill him!”