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Marcus's sleep was not the most peaceful that night in Boston. His dreams were a mishmash of anxious nightmares and wild fantasy, ricocheting between visions of Adrian Lucas as some monster movie beast looming over him and idyllic life with his real mother and what he envisioned his father to be, of a life as a perpetual scapegoat for others' woes and a future wherein he'd been a hero to hybrids of all kinds. At one point his teeth fell out his mouth, which his adoptive mother told him meant... something about powerlessness, he hadn't been paying attention.

The point was that by the time Marcus Lewis awoke in Melody's pull-out bed, he didn't feel terribly rested. After all he'd been up to in dream land, he almost needed sleep again. A check on his phone said it was 7am. The day had barely started.

"I've been getting up at ass o'clock for so long I can't even sleep in when I'm allowed to," he muttered to himself, climbing out of bed.

Temptations was closed, not due to open until some time later that evening. Marcus had the whole place to himself. He crept out of his makeshift hotel room and made his way down the hall to the bathroom, stepping as softly as his socked feet could carry him. Even knowing the club was empty, he still found himself peeking around and expecting someone to pop out. He also realized all of his bathroom supplies were still back at the hotel.

"Okay..." Marcus said to himself, giving his face a quick wash. "Need a plan today. Get my shit from the hotel, go down to the adoption agency, and..."

He paused. That really was all he had. A whole trip out to Boston and the only thing he had on his docket was going to Heaven Hearts Hybrids, without a clue of what he'd do when he got there. Marcus shook his head. That was fine. He could figure it out later. The point was to get there. See if he could have a talk with Adrian Lucas, get something from him. Some kind of answer. He sighed, looking at himself in the mirror, remembering one other thing.

"...and get some fucking pants."

Marcus went back to the dressing room, to prepare for the day's journey (and send Melody a message to see what the Exo Club was up to), when he saw something stuck to the outside of the door. An envelope, with his name written on it. His brow furrowed, unsure, before plucking it away and taking a look inside. There was a note, written in faintly ornate lettering.

[Remember, pay it forward]

Also in the envelope, a small folded pack of twenty dollar bills.

"Aw, man, Melody..." Marcus said to himself, almost wanting to try and give it back. Then he remembered that, yeah, he really did need to get some clothing. Some breakfast as well.

As much as he wanted to get an Uber back to the hotel, he didn't want to burn through Melody's money any faster than he had to, so that meant another bus ride. After his previous experience, he made double extra special sure to know the bus he needed to get on and where he would be getting off. No more fuck ups. Today was going to go smoothly.

In a shocking turn of events, things actually did seem to be going just that way. A quick stop at the same cafe from the day before got him some breakfast, and he even got to the stop just when the

bus he needed was pulling up. Marcus did notice the eyes on him, but he kept telling himself it was just because he had part of his backside showing, not the normal reason. For that matter, if everyone's eyes were down there, they probably weren't paying attention to what was going on up top.

There was a bit of a backslide when he got to the hotel. The old bullfrog up front was none too happy to hear that Marcus wouldn't be staying any longer than that first night, much less that he'd lost the key to the room. After some arguing about the extra deposit he'd paid at the beginning being non-refundable and demanding a fee for key replacement, Marcus was able to convince the unhappy hotel manager to let him retrieve his things as long as he was gone by ten so they could get the room sanitized.

"Yeah, because you totally cleaned shit before I got here, asshole," Marcus muttered as he walked out of the front lobby.

He hadn't brought a lot into the room, but he did have his laptop, those ever necessary bathroom supplies, and the most important of all: fresh clothing. Marcus got himself a quick shower, freshened up his teeth, and put on one of the other counter-culture outfits he'd ironically spent far too much money on. Another pair of jeans, this one with no tears of any kind, and a more form-fitting white tee with generic graffiti on it, hoodie over top, and he was ready to go. Lacking a duffel bag, he decided to stuff everything into a pillow case. Fuck that frog.

"Oh yeah," Marcus said, walking out into the parking lot. "Kinda forgot about my car."

The teen's oversized Land Rover sat in its space, still with the remainder of his belongings inside, and still locked. After thinking a moment about either calling for some help to get the door open (or just break his way in), Marcus shook his head. He'd worry about that later. It was locked, the alarm was on, he wasn't planning on taking it into town anyway. Whatever. It was safe for now. He had places to be. Or one place, at least.

Back on the bus, Marcus headed into town, first to drop everything off at his new "hotel," and then off to Heaven Hearts Hybrids, and hopefully have a talk with Adrian Lucas.

Without the benefit of headphones, Marcus's oversized ears were forced to listen to the din of the crowd around him. Keeping his ears filled with music was his usual way of forcing a bit of distance between himself and everyone else, a piece of sonic armor he was now deprived of. Then again, after his experience the day before, he wasn't sure he wanted anyone to be able to be completely off of his radar. The bus rides were an uncomfortable affair, with the half-jackrabbit's focus darting from one sound to another, trying to find out if any of it involved him.

Karl's wisdom from the previous night proved true, though. Unless he was directly in someone's way, everyone seemed more interested in pretending they didn't see him at all. Brief catches of eye contact were immediately met with an averted gaze. It took three tries when he wanted get over to an empty seat on the other side of an old... well he was a canine of some kind, Marcus wasn't entirely sure what, but he seemed to be mostly made up of legs. Whatever he was, he seemed to be pretending he had headphones in of his own.

In a strange way, Marcus was missing the shit talking he got at school. At least they acknowledged that he was there.

By the time Marcus got to his final stop, he'd had to swap buses twice and was beginning to second guess his earlier decision about leaving his car behind. What would have been a fifteen minute drive turned into an hour's journey, and he was dreading having to repeat it all to get back. Still, he was feeling almost proud of himself. He'd gotten the hang of getting around Boston by himself. That was a small victory.

The address for Heaven Hearts Hybrids wasn't in Boston proper, but a ways up north. The buildings were spaced farther apart, there was more greenery, the wide road had fewer vehicles on it. It wasn't too different from Weston, truth be told. Marcus felt more comfortable walking around here, even if it was a long way from home.

"Okay... there it is," Marcus said, standing across the street from his destination.

Heaven Hearts Hybrids. He knew it from the photographs on the website, but it was still strangely underwhelming. A large-ish two story house, probably chosen because of the friendly, down-home image it evoked. Out front stood a surprisingly subdued sign for the agency, the name in block letters with a red heart in place of the word, and that was all. It definitely did not scream "we sell exotic hybrids for six figures each."

Walking through the front door, Marcus was again taken by surprise at how undramatic it all was. The front room was fairly wide open, a large countertop style desk directly ahead with several chairs along the walls, and a big table with newspapers and magazines on it. To his left, a closed door and a staircase leading to the upstairs. To his right, what looked like a kitchen. All told, it really did seem like he was in a house that had been repurposed for business.

"Um, hello? Anyone here?" he asked, leaning towards the stairwell, hoping to get someone's attention up there.

"I heard you, I heard you!" came a voice from upstairs, followed by some shuffling. A few moments later, a middle-aged rabbit in jeans and a button-up shirt came thumping her way down the stairs. She was wiping her hands off with a towel, her grey furred face rather grumpy.

"I wasn't expecting any appointments until the afternoon, are you sure y-eep!"

The rabbit stopped in her tracks upon seeing who it was waiting for her. The two locked eyes, with Marcus doing his best not to let on how anxious he was. She, however, was making no such efforts. Her focus kept going from his face to the antlers above it, as though it was taking her extra time to put the pieces together.

"Ah... um, did you have an appointment? I don't... recall there being any..." she said, quickly shuffling her way over to the front desk, clicking around on the computer so rapidly Marcus wasn't sure she was actually doing anything.

He shook his head. "No, uh, no appointment! I just happened to be in the neighborhood, and thought I might drop by," Marcus said. He'd been practicing his little speech on the way over to make sure he delivered it properly. So far, so good.

"Is Mr. Lucas here?" he asked.

The rabbit's eyes shot up from the screen. "Mr. Lucas? Oh no, no no, the only times he's here is when he's meeting with prospective parents and..." She cleared her throat. "Are you one of ours?"

Her question came out uneasily, as if she didn't know which answer she was hoping to hear.

Marcus, however, was ready for that. "I am! My name's Marcus. I thought maybe Mr. Lucas would want to know how things are going with one of his kids," he said, nodding. The jackalope's heart was going at double speed in his chest, but he was forcing himself to keep the act going. He was calm. He was in control.

"Um... can you just... give me a second?" the rabbit said, holding up one finger before making her way to the closed-off room by the stairs, shutting the door behind her.

The brief wait gave Marcus a moment to exhale and lean against the big wooden countertop, gathering his energy for when she re-emerged. When she did, he quickly put the ruse back on and made sure to look as casual as possible.

"Hi! Okay, so... I called Mr. Lucas, told him you wanted to see him, and he told me to tell you to just wait right here and he'll be here as soon as he can."

Marcus swallowed, forcing the tension in his throat back down. "Great! Do you have any idea when that'll be?"

The rabbit shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know where he is right now. But you can wait here for him. Do you... want something from the kitchen? Coffee, soda?"

Marcus could feel his breathing going slightly off-rhythm. He was struggling to maintain himself, but he was too close for it to go wrong now, so he just shrugged absent-mindedly, looking back at the stairwell again.

"Could I take a look around? Been a while since I was here, y'know? Might be fun to get a look at my old room," he said. Marcus had no reason to believe he even had a room that he'd stayed in up there, but the jackalope wasn't about to break character.

Before he could start making steps in that direction, the rabbit got in between and shook her head. "Sorry, the uh, the little ones upstairs are sleeping now, you know how it is. It takes forever to get them to take a nap. We don't allow tours of the house, strict policy. It's for their sake, you understand."

Marcus nodded. He didn't actually understand, but what he did know was that if he tried pressing that point he was likely to get escorted outside, so he didn't put up a fight. Instead, the teen went over to the row of chairs and casually dropped down in one of them, slumping back as comfortably as he could manage.

"I'm fine, thanks."

Without his headphones, Marcus was more acutely aware of the silence in the room, particularly because the rabbit stayed right at that desk rather than heading back upstairs. He felt like she was watching him, as if she thought he might start looting the place or snoop around where he wasn't supposed to if she left him alone. She was completely right to think that, but he still didn't appreciate it.

"What's your name?" he asked, after he decided the quiet in the room was too much.

"Whitney," she replied.

Marcus nodded, making the effort to put a smile on his face. "Good to meet ya, Whitney! How long you been working here?"

Whitney didn't seem to be particularly enjoying the small talk, but she went along with it nonetheless. "Oh, about six years now."

The short answers were rubbing Marcus the wrong way. There he was, trying to be friendly and reach out to her, and she kept swatting him down. It wasn't fair. Impolite, even.

Still, he kept his composure, chuckling and crossing one leg over the other casually. "You must like it here. You watch the little kids? Do they all live here?"

The rabbit took in a breath through her nose. She was growing impatient in her own right, wishing Mr. Lucas would hurry up and get here. "No, they don't. We have a few upstairs here, but there's only so much room in this little house," she said, her voice having an edge that Marcus wasn't a fan of. "We're very busy, you see. We don't normally get surprise visits."

Sensing that their chat had run its course, Marcus busied himself by browsing the magazines and pamphlets lying about. Most of them were standard fare, no different than what might be found in a doctor's office waiting room, but there were a few that were specific to the business here. One on Heaven Hearts Hybrids that mostly repeated what was on the website, and one with the title "Adopting a Hybrid" in big letters.

[So you want to adopt a hybrid!

First of all, thank you for your selfless offer. In our world, these beautiful children are often not given the care and love that they deserve. Be prepared, though, because there are some things you need to know...]

From there it was a bullet point list about dietary needs, potential behavioral issues, a warning about social problems both for the child and the parents. Past that, a second list of why raising a hybrid is more rewarding than a purebreed. Marcus snorted as he read his way along. It was all so hollow, like they'd cobbled it together from a grab bag of slogans and greeting card messages.

"Has it always been here?" Marcus asked, earning a tiny flinch from the rabbit.

Whitney looked up from the computer. "Far as I know, yes."

The jackalope flicked through the pamphlet a bit more, re-reading parts of it. "Just kinda crazy that in all this time he's never upgraded, you know? Gotten a bigger place? More room?"

"Yes, well, Mr. Lucas wanted to stay humble, close to his roots. This was his house before he turned it into Heaven Hearts Hybrids. I think it's admirable that he doesn't want to make it into some big thing."

Marcus paused a moment, thinking that over. "But, you said there are more kids than what you have here? Where are they?"

The rabbit let out a sharp breath then, and put a smile on her face, "You sure you don't want something to drink? We have just about anything. Non alcoholic of course," she said, offering as pleasant a laugh as she could.

Marcus hummed, then nodded. "Sure. Whatever you got. Diet, if you have it."

He got his drink, and sat uneasily in the front room of Heaven Hearts Hybrids with Whitney, abandoning any attempts at making conversation. Seconds ticked by with an agonizing lack of urgency, like the big clock on the wall was struggling to force its hands to move. Marcus's foot bobbed over top of his other leg, pulling his phone out of his pocket to tap mindlessly at the screen. There was a big red number showing his unread messages, one that he definitely did not want to try and knock downwards just then.

Then the sound of the door opening caught his attention, and a voice immediately came in through it.

"Wheeeeere's Marcus?"

The chimera's voice filled the room. It was husky, heavy, like the words started in his belly and had started running out of air before they came out. A low pitch, but not overly booming. A touch of rasp, but not so scratchy as to be haggard. The first thought that crossed Marcus Lewis's mind was that it was how he always imagined Santa Claus's voice sounded.

"Mr. Lucas! Yes, here he is, we've been waiting for y-"

Adrian Lucas emerged from around the door, holding up a hand to cut Whitney off in mid-sentence. "No no no, I want to hear it from him!" the old hybrid laughed.

Marcus immediately stood up, seeing the owner of Heaven Hearts Hybrids in the fur and flesh. He didn't know exactly what he expected, and was both impressed and let down by the image Adrian cut. He wasn't terribly tall, perhaps a half a head above Marcus himself, nor was he broad in the shoulders. The goat part of his genes were the most apparent in his body, though his eyes lacked the horizontal pupil in favor of golden rounded ones that were behind a pair of spectacles.

Up top, Adrian Lucas's head showed the goat and lion in him the most readily, with a pair of large, curved horns that turned back and then down, their tips coming dangerously close to jabbing him in the shoulders if he whipped around too quickly. In between and extending down onto his neck and chest was a thick mane, its tawny color standing in only faint contrast to the grayish color that covered the rest of his face and most of his arms. His hands had what looked like hoofed nails rather than claws, and there was an undeniably serpentine tail that came out from beneath his blazer at the rear. The last bit was shorter than he expected, less of a big slithery appendage and more like his goat side was given a coating of snakeskin.

"Um... hi! Mr. Lucas?" Marcus said, anxiously stepping up close to introduce himself. The rehearsals he'd done in his mind en route were beginning to fade from his memory. "I'm Marcus Lewis, I was hoping we c-"

"Of course you are, son!" the chimera boomed cheerily, quickly taking Marcus's hand in his and giving it a shake. It was a powerful one, and when Marcus looked at the hand wrapped around his, he saw hints of more scales at Adrian's wrist.

The older hybrid chuckled and put his hands on Marcus's shoulders. "Oh my goodness, Marcus. Let me get a good look at you. Wow. Wow! Feels like just yesterday we were putting you down for naps and changing your diapers upstairs, and look at you now! You've grown into one handsome young man, let me just say. Of course, that was obvious from day one!"

Marcus grinned lopsidedly, laughing, his ears going warm. Adrian Lucas had a disarming charm to him, and it left the jackalope feeling sheepish for the pride he got out of the chimera's praise.

He didn't get much time to think about that, though, because a second later Adrian was waving his hand over at the rabbit at the front desk. "Whit! Get over here, take a picture of me and Marcus here. Not too often one of our graduates comes by for a visit!" He leaned towards Marcus then. "Wish it was more, honestly. I love seeing how my boys and girls are doing now!"

Whitney nodded and shuffled over, taking Adrian's phone from him and holding it up to snap a photo of the two hybrids.

Marcus fidgeted uneasily as Adrian nudged him towards one wall, so they could stand by that big mural. The old three-way hybrid slung an arm around Marcus's shoulders and turned for the pose.

"Really, you don't gotta ta-"

The teen was silenced by an alarmingly strong grip on his far shoulder, the chimera's fingers pressing down hard enough to make the muscle ache lightly.

"Come on, son, give us a big smile!"

He did, and after they'd gotten their picture taken, Marcus found himself getting guided rather swiftly towards that closed door, with Adrian all but pushing him inside.

"Whit, you can get back to work, Marcus and I are gonna do some catching up! I'll give a holler if we need anything!"

Behind the closed door was... an office. That was it, really. Just an office. It was clearly Adrian's, judging by the framed portraits on the wall and various pictures on the desk. Another computer there, clearly newer and more expensive than the one in the front area, some filing cabinets, it looked like a smaller version of Marcus's dad's office. The chimera sat on the big chair behind his desk while Marcus took his place on the one in front of it.

Adrian Lucas looked him up and down a bit more, leaning back with his hands folded in his lap. "Well my goodness, that was quite a surprise phone call!" he said, chuckling once again. Marcus noticed the way his esses had a hiss to them, though his tongue wasn't long and forked. "What brings you all the way out here?"

Marcus swallowed, shrugging, still trying to put on that unaffected shtick. "Hey, you know, I was in town on a little vacation, I thought while I was here..."

Adrian laughed, leaning forward, putting his elbows on his desk and crossing his arms. "Yeah? Just happened to swing into Boston in the middle of the week?" he asked, with a look that seemed, for a moment, like he was cutting straight through Marcus's act. Then he snickered. "Well, I'm glad ya came by! How've you been? Things going well with the uh... the..."

"The Lewises!" Marcus said. "And uh... yeah, things are, y'know... goin' great!"

Adrian's smile went wider than ever, enough that it seemed to take up his entire face. "Damn I am happy to hear that. You know we try everything we can to make sure you kids get matched up with parents who will take the best care of you. It's tough, I'll tell you. We go through an awful lot of applicants, and it hurts turning a lot of them down, but all that means is we're doubly sure that who you go back with is who you're meant to be with."

Marcus should have felt uncomfortable right now, but he didn't. Talking with Adrian Lucas was easier than he expected. He felt at ease around the old chimera. Like he was visiting his actual father after being away for too long.

"Yeah," he replied, unsure what to say next. "I mean, they're great and all."

"You out of school yet? Goin' to college? You know there's a real fine university right here in Boston if you wanted to stay in the neighborhood! Hell, I could get you some pamphlets, put in a good word if you like..."

Marcus's eyes went wide, and he put up his hands quickly. "No no, heh, that's okay! I still got another year left, and um... I dunno what I'm doing for college yet."

Adrian nodded, closing a drawer he'd just opened and waving a hand right back. "Ahhh, yeah, you got time. I don't wanna push you into anything. You got the whole world ahead of you! No sense in sticking to one place just because you were born there. Follow your heart! Long as you don't think your parents would get too home sick. Mom might not want an empty nest, right?"

He laughed, and Marcus did, too. It wasn't even a pretend laugh. He was starting to like Adrian Lucas. Maybe things weren't what he thought.

"Hey, Mr. Lucas? Can I ask you something?"

Adrian nodded, holding his arms out to either side invitingly. "Of course! I'm an open book, my boy. What do you wanna know?"

Marcus paused, mulling over how to word his question. "How did, um, how did you get into all this? You know, adopting hybrids out?"

The chimera blew out a big breath, his browline popping upwards. "Boy if that ain't a question I get a lot," he said, in as good humor as ever. "Well, having grown up a hybrid myself, knowing how tough the world is out there for us, I wanted to do my part to try and give our kind... a little bit of a boost. A leg up, if you will. With everyone out there ready to call us mutants and freaks and talk about how we're this, that, and the other, I wanted to make sure that any little hybrids, especially the exotics like us, have all the advantages I can provide. I can't have kids of my own, but in a way, you're all my kids. and every parents wants their kids to have a good shot at a happy life, you see what I'm saying?"

Marcus nodded then, looking down at his lap a moment. He was beginning to feel guilty for coming by at all. Like he'd run in accusing Mr. Lucas of stealing from him only to find the missing item in his own jacket pocket.

There was one thing left, though.

"And uh... one more?" the jackalope asked, his voice unsure.

"Fire away!" the chimera answered.

Marcus took in a slow breath through his nose. "Is... there any way I could get in touch with my real parents? Like, my actual mom and dad? I know that might seem kinda weird..."

Adrian Lucas winced, sympathetically. "Oh, son. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be able to make that happen, I really would," he said, the chimera's voice lower than before. "That kinda thing is up to the birth parents themselves, but unfortunately... I don't know who yours are. I couldn't get hold of them even if I wanted."

The jackalope blinked, thrown by that answer. He furrowed his brow, head tilted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I don't have any elephant in me, Marcus, but I do remember just about everyone who comes through here, and I remember the day we got you," Adrian said, shaking his head sadly. "Not everyone contacts us the normal way, you know. One night me and one of my old nurses were cleaning up for the night, gettin' the kitchen all put together and putting everyone's dishes away, when I hear a ring at the door. That ain't too common for us, especially not at night, so I took a look through the peep hole to see who it was."

Marcus listened intently, leaning forward, while the chimera continued. "Well, damned if all I see is a shadow of a bunny girl running back to her car and driving off. I thought maybe she got the wrong house, but when I opened the door, there you were all wrapped up in a blanket in a cardboard box. Just left there on our doorstep, not so much as a note."

The jackalope's mouth went dry. He couldn't even force a swallow. All he could do was stare blankly at the chimera.

Adrian's eyes stayed right back on him, that sympathetic expression unchanging. "I know, it's hard to hear that you got abandoned like that, and I don't like bein' the bearer of bad news, but I figure it's best to be honest right up front. I don't like feeding anyone some line just to spare their feelings. It breaks my heart to say that you're not the only one we've had dropped off just like that. It's a shame, it really is, but that's why we do what we do here. To make sure that you get a better life than with a mom who'd just leave her child and not even wait around to make sure someone answered the door."

Marcus was feeling that band wrapping around his midsection, squeezing him, holding his chest down and making it hard for him to breathe. He flexed his muscles as hard as he could, forcing his lungs to take in some air.

"You're saying... my mom just abandoned me? And you never met her?"

Adrian nodded his head. "I'm afraid so, son. I'm sorry. Truly am, bottom of my heart. But that's what happened, I remember it clear as day. If I had any way to get a hold of your parents, I would absolutely see if they wanted to contact you, but I can't. Once again, I'm sorry."

For a few moments, Marcus Lewis had no idea how to respond to what he'd heard. He was shellshocked. He'd met his mother. He went to her house, saw her family. He saw her name on his birth certificate, the one that they'd provided for the Lewises. What in the hell was the chimera talking about?

Before he could even finish processing, Adrian sighed and looked at his watch. "Ah, hell. Marcus, I really hate to do this, I do, but I've got somewhere that I absolutely need to be."

The older hybrid stood up, gesturing at Marcus to do the same. The teen did just that, his body moving on autopilot. "Uh... yeah, okay."

Adrian put his hand on Marcus's back, gently guiding the younger mix out of the office and towards the front door. "I know, that was a lot of information all at once, but hell, you're doing great now! I promise, you got the best upbringing possible. Sometimes that's just how it works out. The fates put us where we need to be, even if it's not where we want to. Be glad you got a chance with a family you loves you, don't think about the one that left you. That's their loss, not yours, right?"

Marcus nodded, already outside before he realized it. He turned to look back at Adrian Lucas.

"Yeah, uh... thanks," he said lamely.

Adrian's big smile returned. "Atta boy. Now like I said, I hate to rush you, but I do have to take care of some important business. But don't be a stranger! Give us a call the next time you're in town!"

A second later, the door to Heaven Hearts Hybrids closed in front of him, and he heard the deadbolt lock sealing it shut.

Marcus's head was at sea. He stood, unmoving, just staring at the door in front of him, everything that happened inside feeling less like something he'd experienced and more that he'd seen it happen to someone else. It didn't seem real. The door was going to open any minute now and it would turn out the last fifteen minutes hadn't actually happened, he was just arriving. He'd imagined that conversation.

When it became clear that he hadn't, and that he wasn't going to be let back inside, Marcus turned and started his walk back to the bus stop. Back to Temptations, where hopefully he'd find some idea of just what the fuck to do now.

Inside, Whitney took a few steps down the stairwell, peeking at her boss. "What did he say?"

Adrian Lucas was leaning on the front door of his old home, like he was half expecting the teenager outside to try and ram through it. He took a deep breath and spun on his heel, looking up and the rabbit and putting his big smile back on his face.

"Nothing much! Just a little chat about life. Kid wanted to say hi, so we did, and Whit? One last thing."

The rabbit looked back at Adrian. "Yes, sir?"

Adrian Lucas's smile faded. "I told you this door is always, always to remain locked. If you ever leave it open, and I get another phone call like that, I will personally make sure it's the last mistake you make. Do you understand me?"

Whitney nodded rapidly, scurrying back upstairs. The chimera went back into his office and dropped heavily in his chair, rubbing his face and scratching at his mane. He was going to have a few phone calls to make.