“Fates, trouble, are you okay?” Dex asked, panic rising in his tone. “Clearly, I need to start watching you shower.”
“You mean you weren’t?” I frowned.
“No,” he denied with a pout. “But I will if you don’t mind it.”
“He’s been with us in the other room,” Hunter told me as he grabbed the towel and wrapped it around me strategically, as Chaos wouldn’t move.
“Oh.”
The chaos manifestations turned their heads toward the opened door before Chaos carefully got off me and stalked into the bedroom, with Demo following behind him.
“Why do you ask?” Reed asked as he and Hunter helped me to my feet.
“I feel like I’m being watched,” I muttered as Skel came back in with a nightgown in hand.
“What do you mean?” Dex growled lowly, his tail flicking behind him.
“I can’t explain it,” I rasped.
“Try, princess,” Skel murmured, slowly releasing the towel from my grip and letting it drop to my feet. Then, he slipped the nightgown over my head. The silky fabric slid against my skin as it fell into place.
“I don’t know where to start with it all,” I admitted, glancing down at my feet.
“Start at the beginning, dream girl. We’re here for you, and we want to help make you feel safe.” Reed grabbed the towel and started soaking up the water from my hair until it was more damp than wet.
“We don’t want you to be hurt, and if you’re feeling like you’re being watched, I wouldn’t put it past Dark Veil to be watching you,” Hunter told me, his white eyes shining with raw concern. “Why don’t we go sit down and talk more about it?”
I nodded as they ushered me into the bedroom. Chaos and Demo were lounging on our bed, and Chaos took up almost all of the extra large mattress.
“What’s going on with you lately?” I bit back a giggle and plopped down next to Chaos, rubbing his belly.
“My guess is that Bram just wanted to see you naked,” Skel teased, sitting down next to me.
Comet meowed at him, climbing into his lap and flicking her tail at the chaos manifestations like they annoyed her.
“I know, Comet, but they’ll de-manifest soon.” Skel chuckled, petting her.
Gumdrop rolled his eyes as he stared at us from the tank.
“You good, buddy?” Reed asked.
Gumdrop frowned, staring at Bram.
“Don’t glare at me.” Bram grabbed an earthworm out of some container and dropped it in for Gumdrop, who absolutely loved it and gave Bram a smile. “There you go,” he murmured.
Gumdrop no longer looked at Bram with disdain. Instead, he looked at him with excitement.
“Keeping up the bribery, huh?” Reed chuckled.
Bram blushed. “I just wanted him to like me.”
“Well, it definitely worked,” Dex commented, sliding next to me and putting his head in my lap.
Nebula manifested, and his disembodied voice rang out around us. “The chaos manifestations are sensing something. How many times have they alerted? Don’t let your guard down when they act like that. Regular animals can sense magic, but magical manifestations of animals are even more sensitive.”
“What do you mean by that?” Bram asked, his voice strained. “Do you mean they’re possibly sensing someone watching Pandora?”
He sighed as if the question was ridiculous. “Yes, clearly. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
