"Yeah?"
"Seems to me that Elle has had someone at her back all these years."
The kid frowned in confusion.
"You."
"I can't do much to look after her."
"Course you can. And the best thing you can do if she has any trouble, is to call me. Got me?"
"I've got you." Brooks gave him a tentative smile. "Look after her. She's special. She needs someone to protect her from the bad so she can keep spreading around her good."
Damn. This kid was smart.
"Oh, and if she's already eaten her emergency jelly beans, you might want to get her some more. Jelly beans calm her. They make her happy. She especially likes the white and blue ones."
"Got it," he muttered.
With a chin lift that spoke of the man he would become, Brooks turned and strode off to where those deviants waited for him.
Christ.
W
