Page 131 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

“Sorry, Kest.”

“You’re going to be.”

She flings herself at me and cuddles into me, purring. I kiss her head and feel a part of me relax.

I must be paranoid. I’m relieved but uneasy. Something doesn’t feel right about what happened today.

“Why did they take you?”

“Just a misunderstanding,” Blaze says lightly, brushing it off.

“Oh?”

“It’s all sorted now. All right, what is for dinner?”

He meets my eyes over her head, and I know he feels it, too.

I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. There’s just something about what happened today that is freaking me out. It keeps bugging me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

“We should leave,” King murmurs.

I glance up at him. “And go where?”

He grunts. “I don’t know, but we should go.”

I think about it for a moment, and then I agree. If he is uncomfortable, too, then we should go. The whole pack has been on edge since we got back, and we’ve been sitting around quietly.

“Let’s go!” I say out loud to the house.

I walk into the lounge and find Rolly and Blaze sitting beside each other, eating popcorn.

“Let’s go, now, leave early, hit the road.”

Blaze looks at me, and he looks unusually tired. But he stands up, yawning. Rubbing his eyes.

“Bloody cops. They need to come at decent hours. Okay, but let’s eat first.”

He makes ramen for all of us. We sit at the table, each of us quiet, just pushing our food around. A yawn grabs me, and my jaw cracks, startling me.

“I’m just going to go have a nap,” Kest whispers. She stands up and staggers away, walking until she disappears into the bedroom. Her steps dragging.

Weren’t we meant to be doing something?

What is wrong?

King who is the only one still eating, looks like he’s falling asleep at the table.

Shit. Something’s wrong.

I stand up, and the room tilts violently.

“What is this?” I say, and my heart pounds, fear clearing my head just a little bit.

I grab the wall and go into the lounge where I find Pix on the floor.

“Pix? Get up, are you okay?” Even me shaking him doesn’t wake him. He’s exposed. I have to hide him.

I strain, trying to lift him, but I almost pass out. This isn’t working. I shove him under the couch, but I can’t get him under there, so I pull down a blanket and cover him.