If the situation wasn't so dire, Rae might have taken this as a ringing declaration of how important she and EJ were to Topher. And there was a tiny voice in the back of her mind, behind all the anger that was currently muddling her mind, marveling at how this proved her thought of how he'd make such an amazing father, and that he was the father, the protector, that EJ needed. But this was hardly the time to bring that up.
She watched as Silas shook the man and felt her fists clenching at her sides. This must have been what her mother always talked about; the protective instinct that came naturally with being a mother.
The man fumbled for an answer and came up with a half-assed one—Rae felt her anger spike when he said that he was going to take blood from EJ—and she stepped forward, losing control of her temper and getting in the guy's face. "Why in the hell did you want blood from my son?" she snapped, clenching her fists as she looked him straight in the eye.
He swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. "I... I don't know."
Something about his answer seemed honest, but Rae had the feeling that there was something that he wasn't saying, and that was why she didn't stop Topher growled and moved his grip. "Sent from who?" Rae's voice was still dangerous, still angry.
When he didn't answer, Rae felt her anger mounting. She knew the answer, sure, but that didn't mean that she was a hundred percent right. And that made her angry. Someone wanted blood from her son and she didn't know who. "Tell us now!" she seethed, stepping forward again and yanking the ski mask off the man's face.
"I can't," he responded, sounding desperate.
Rae didn't even think about her actions, before raising her fist and punching the man in the jaw, with all the strength that Charlie West had helped her realize. She felt her fingers pop and heard his teeth clack together harshly—she wouldn't be surprised if he cracked one—but she didn't care. "Who. Sent. You.?" she asked furiously, dangerously.
The man looked desperate, but still didn't answer, and Rae couldn't stop herself from hitting him again. EJ, alarmed by the clatter, whimpered and started crying, and Rae turned away from the man, doing the best she could do ignore the burning pain of her mending fingers as she turned to go tend to her son.