Page 68 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

“Is it possible for me to run up really quick and change before I head into town? It’s okay if I can’t,” Echo asked the twins.

“Be our guest,” Ravage said, waving up the stairs and backing up out of the way.

Echo walked up as swiftly as he could, grinning like an idiot at the lack of noise with each step. When he reached the top, he spun and smiled down at Mael—who stood watching him. And likely gauging his reaction. Mael blew a quick kiss and returned to work.

With a smile, he swept into his bedroom, overjoyed at his very sweet surprise. Being an only child, it brought him joy watching Mael and his siblings together. They all seemed so close. Echo had always wanted siblings. He was jealous of Mael’s big family.

And he’d have to give that away if he was exiled from his pod.

Echo flinched.

He couldn’t allow that to happen. No matter what Mael said about them moving on, he couldn’t rob Maelstrom of his family. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

He took a few deep breaths and pushed the worry aside as best he could. After petting and loving on Tilly and assuring her that her prison sentence would soon be over, he tugged on a pair of shorts… and Mael’s sweater. He was going to wear it out if he wasn’t careful.

In the end, it might be the only thing he’d have left of Maelstrom.

15

While Echo disposed of themanyempty pizza boxes outside, Mael slipped upstairs to shower off all the sweat, wood shavings, and dirt from the day. Echo waved to Ravage and Storm as they finished packing up their tools and gear.

“Thanks again,” Echo called out.

“Don’t mention it. See you tomorrow,” Storm said, offering a salute as he climbed behind the wheel of his heavy-duty work truck. Rav waved as they passed on the way out of the drive.

Echo smiled and waved again, watching them go. The twins had been hard to get a read on. They were much quieter than Mael’s other siblings, but they’d been polite and chatted with him while eating an ungodly amount of pizza. He’d picked uptwoextra pies, just in case, and only ate half of the pizza he’d ordered for himself—and there wasn’t a single piece left.

It was a tiny price to pay for new stairs, though he intended to pay every single one of them for all their hard work and the supplies. He’d said so during dinner, though all three had thoroughly ignored him.

Tilly stood waiting at the back door looking for her new best friend. She’d sat in Ravage’s lap during dinner, purring away contentedly as he’d rubbed her between the ears and along her back. She’d even spent a few minutes investigating Storm, allowing him to pet her, too. His antisocial scaredy-cat had given her near immediate seal of approval on three out of five Marino siblings she’d met.

That told him almost all he needed to know about the men.

While they were big and a bit overwhelming—the twins were almost as massive as Maelstrom—there was a quiet comfort around them. They were gentle souls, and Tilly could sense that. Echo also sensed they could be as deadly as Mael when pushed. How hard that push would need to be was the question only time could tell.

Echo entered the kitchen and noticed someone had brought Tilly’s things back down. He filled the water bowl and added a little food before remembering he’d forgotten to try Diego again. The line rang and rang—and Echo expected voicemail again—but Diego nabbed it before it had a chance to click over.

“About time. I was getting worried.”

Diego snorted. “The last time I was worried about you, I got my head bitten off—do I return the favor?”

“I’ve already apologized for that,” Echo said, sitting down on the arm of his couch. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just… out of sorts. I stared at the ceiling all night, completely unable to sleep. Likeallnight. I figured I’d crash at some point, but no luck so far.”

“Did I wake you now?” Echo asked.

“Nope. I’m still wide awake.”

“Have you tried some herbal tea?”

“I have. Chamomile. I also put on a boring documentary about the Civil War. I slipped out to the pharmacy this afternoon and bought some over-the-counter sleep pills. I got on my treadmill and ran three miles. I took a hot bath.Nothing’sworking.”

“I know you won’t see Havoc until the weekend, but maybe I could ask Mael to set up a meet somewhere.”

“Who said anything about Havoc?” Diego growled.

Echo paused, sensing it was far more tender a topic than he’d realized. He slid down the arm and plopped on the couch. “I…assumed… he was the reason you couldn’t sleep.”

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