"Of course I do," I said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly.
He took the penny from my fingers and laced his hand in mine. "I'm sorry for what happened to you. I wish I figured out what was going down sooner, like, before we were drugged, notafter." The regretful expression on his face suggested he'd be beating himself up about that for a long time to come.
"Yeah." I averted my gaze.
"What?" he asked, leaning in closer. "It wasn't you, was it?"
My gaze snapped back to his. "Of course not. Do you really think I'd drug myself?"
"No, I don't," he said. "But something is going on with you and I want to know what it is. How are we supposed to help you if you won't open up to us?"
He was right. I knew that, but Hypnos's words kept going around and around in my brain like a song on repeat. The kind of song you wish you never heard in the first place. The kind that stuck in your mind for days after, until you wished some other earworm would come along.
"Did Hypnos tell you who drugged us?" Cass stood behind Boner, a hand on his shoulder. The pair seemed to be getting closer. I loved that for them.
"Whatever he said, he's full of shit," Jules said. He was leaning against the fridge, his arms crossed like he was guarding the food. I didn't know why and from who. None of us seem to have much of an appetite.
"Maybe he was," I said, only offering him a glance, before looking back to Boner. "Maybe he wasn’t."
Jules pushed himself away from the fridge and stepped closer to the table. "What are you saying?"
"Boner came into the kitchen while you weren't there," Cass said, looking down at him like he couldn't believe he was saying those words.
"What the fuck?" Boner looked over his shoulder. "I was making sure you were okay. Do you think I slipped something into the food?" He looked back at me in disbelief. "Is that what that prick told you? That I did this? Do you think I'm working with him? I didn't know who he was until last night."
"People don't always know who they're working for," Jules pointed out. "If someone contacts you indirectly, you can?—"
Boner shoved himself to his feet. "You can fuck right off with that bullshit. I wasn't working with Hypnos. I wasn't working with anyone but the people in this room. I can't believe you'd accuse me of this."
He hesitated for a moment before pointing at Jules. "Okay, you I can believe. Not the rest of you." He flicked his finger around the room.
"No one's accusing you," I said. "Hypnos didn't say anything about you."
Boner stared at me for a moment, my words slowly sinking in before he sank back into his chair.
"Of course he didn't. I have nothing to do with what happened. If I find them, I meanwhenI find them, I’m going to stab them in the ass too." He nodded to punctuate the threat.
I managed a faint smile.
"Whatever he said, it put you on edge," Cass said, coming around to stand behind me and massage my shoulders.
I tried not to flinch.
"He did try to boil me alive," I pointed out. That would rattle the hell out of anyone. Last night was the closest I ever came to dying. I didn't want to repeat the experience anytime soon.
"Yeah, he did. But you're holding back on us," Cass insisted. If he was going to use his dominant tone to force the words out of me. I was going to be in trouble.
"I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're not letting you out of here until you tell us what he said." Jules moved a couple of steps to stand in front of the door, like he was now guarding the only way out.
He wasn't. If I wanted to, I could make a run for it and be out the fire escape before he could move.
I didn't. I closed my eyes and drew in a long breath through my nose and out again.
"It was gas," I said. "They left a canister that put us all to sleep."
"So they only gassed the people who were left at the end of the night," Archer reasoned. "How did they know we'd be staying?"
"Because Hypnos was right there watching," I said. "He saw me offer the coffee to Detective Getzoff. He knew we were staying, so he came back with a couple of his minions. They tied all of you up while Hypnos took me and Getzoff."
