Page 115 of All Your Bloody Lies

“How are you feeling?” Sydni is wiping her face against my chest, squeezing me tighter.

“Great,” I sigh, “though I could have slept for a bit longer.”

As she leans back and looks up at me, concern is licked across her expression. I pull my brows together in question. “Phiny, you’ve been asleep for six days.”

My eyes widen, “What?!”

“Yeah, we tried a few days ago, but you were so gone we just decided to let you be until you naturally woke up.” Shefinally releases me and drags me by my arm over to Mister. I hold no hesitation to pet him; I truly am glad he is alright.

Now that I really assess it, my body does feel stiff, even though internally I feel wonderful. That would explain the changed bedding and Kairhyse’s absence from the bed with me.

“Where is—“

“I’m here,” his deep voice filters in from the kitchen. “Just enjoying the adorableness that is my little demon hugging her cotton candy princess.”

Weirdo… I glance over my shoulder at him; he’s leaned against the wall, a smirk across his face.

“When I heard you shuffling upstairs,” he pushes himself off the wall and strolls toward me, “I started breakfast. You’ll eat and we will catch you up on what has been happening.”

I cock an eyebrow, “I’ll eat huh? So demanding.”

He only stops when there is barely an inch between us, “I am; your stomach has been growling in your sleep.”

“Your obsession with feeding me is strange.” I take a deep breath and lift my hand to his chest. Sydni is giggling beside me, and I immediately groan and drop my hand. I can’t do this.

The moment I am about to walk around him, he grabs the back of my neck and pulls me to him. “Good morning, little demon.” He places a kiss on my forehead and then releases me. “Butterfly, your plate is ready too. I’ll get Mister his food.”

His cooking is getting significantly better, and while I make fun of it, I appreciate his effort. I truly hate cooking; I’d rather eat my own flesh than have to spend more than ten minutes in the kitchen.

After Sydni and I devour our plate of eggs and pancakes, she dives into the news that came out of my little massacre.

“They are calling it a dispute between the Hauses’, which is incredible. Apparently, and I’ll let Rhysie-poo tell you more about it, you weren’t the lead that the Ansford’s had. Kit Morrison had been apparently stalking you since your first date with him.” I giveKairhyse a long, dry, irritated glance. If he hadn’t interrupted my date with him, odds are I would have killed him that night.

“His obsession with you and what happened with Clay, who was like his brother, pretty much collided. When he saw you at the party, he followed you out with the twins.”

“How do you know all of this?” I interject, and while I’m surprised, I shouldn’t be. This is my Sydni that is talking. She’s equally as much a prowler as the rest of them, and I’m so proud of her.

Her mischievous grin makes me smile. “The laptop we found, he sent an email to whoever owned the house. He had connections with The Clektic somehow and knew of their means.” She hesitates, but I urge her to continue.

I look up at Kairhyse, who is quietly cleaning up our plates and waiting for his turn to speak. When he catches my gaze, he gives me a wink.

“I’m still trying to get into the encrypted files on the computer. They did an incredible job protecting them, not their web programs. They have a lot of correspondences, but none I recognize. A lot is written in code too, which I’ve started trying to decipher but it will take some time.

“That being said, as far as them taking you, it was a terrible coincidence that Kit had connections to The Clektic.”

“It wasn’t,” I step in, “two more are dead. Doesn’t matter how it happened.”

His groan is low, and I see at the corner of my eye his shoulders tense. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps putting the dishes into the dishwasher. I won’t further the comments, I don’t want to upset him.

“All that is left is Lars. I have this feeling he will be the most difficult to get to…”

She nods in my direction, and then looks at Kairhyse. “Do you want to tell her about Achille?” When he turns and uses his foot to close the dishwasher, he gives her a nod.

“Clay’s body was found, but by Ansford. Achille wasn’t happy about that but he can eat a fat shit for all I care. I can only assume that is where they got your scent. I’m just shocked, truthfully, that they didn’t give up your name.”

“I’m not.” My tone tinged with irritation. “If they would have given me up to Ansford, it would have been more trouble for them to enact this grand plan to bury me again. Which… I just don’t understand!” I have to stand up and take a deep breath, or else I know my anger will get the better of me. The last thing I want is to explode on them.

“Sorry, continue.” I gesture for us to walk into the living room.

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