“Wow, that’s a fancy room,” Gavric said, his voice tinny. He had leaned in to scrutinize Ottis’ background; Ottis turned sothe fancy guestroom wallpaper and carved headboard were no longer visible behind him.
Crush frowned. “Are you sleeping naked? Is that safe?”
Ottis rolled his eyes. “All you can see are my shoulders.”
“Where are you?” Papa asked with a frown. “You were here just last night.”
“I’m in a safe place,” Ottis said.
“Where?”
Ottis hesitated. “If I tell you, are you all going to check on me?”
“Yes,” his brothers chorused.
“Then I’m not telling you.”
“But how did you get such a fancy room?” Gavric asked. “Everything looks nice in there. Those sheets are a thousand thread count, aren’t they?”
Ottis didn’t know how anyone could tell that through a video chat, but now that he was more awake to notice, the sheets felt amazing. Soft and silky like he was lying on a cloud.
“I’m staying with a friend,” Ottis said, wriggling against the sheets. He tried not to moan.
Everyone looked suspicious immediately.
“You’ve never mentioned any rich friends,” Dad said mildly, eyebrows raised.
“I don’t need to. Crush is the one who knows all the rich people. And the rest of you too.” Ottis tried not to accuse his dad ofjumping ship back to his brothers’ side—Dad sometimes sought out harmless excitement since his life was so calm now.
“Wait. I just had a thought,” Crush said. “Are you with a friend, or did someone kidnap you and put you in some fancy hotel?”
Someone coughed downstairs, in the kitchen. Ottis narrowed his eyes. OfcourseDoc was listening in.
“No one kidnapped me,” Ottis said. They couldn’t hear the skip of his heart over the phone.
“You look shifty,” Vigil said. “Like you’re covering up for someone.”
And now everyone was peering at Ottis, trying to read his secrets from his face.
Ottis scowled. “I promise that I’m safe. You’re all being overprotective. Leave me alone!”
His brothers looked at him. The ones in the same room looked at each other. Then a few disappeared from the chat.
Ottis sighed. “Please tell me you’re not up to something.”
“We’re not,” Gavric said innocently. Then he too signed off. Presumably to plan some kind of intervention.
Ottis sighed, staring at the remaining people on his phone: his dads and Titan.
“You’re safe, though?” Titan asked.
“Yes. I’m staying with someone safe. You trust him.”
Titan’s eyebrows shot up; he was definitely going through his contact list now.
“It’s not a kidnap,” Ottis said, but maybe something gave him away, because his dads frowned. “There’s a Butler Brother here. We’refine.”
Titan raised his eyebrows even higher; they were going to fall off his face. “Well, keep that information away from the rest. They’re going to hunt you down like sharks. Or wolves.”
