Page 48 of The Howl
“Oh my gosh! What’s wrong?”
My mind immediately went to the horrible, accidental feeding last night. It’d only been a mouthful, but he was so small. What if it had been too much. He’d been fine this morning, though, when he’d been showering in my runoff.
“Hungry,” he rasped.
I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten to feed him.
“I’ll be right back.”
Almost falling on the steps because of my stupid heels, I raced to the kitchen for some food. It was easy to find enough to feed Piepen, thanks to Megan’s supplies. I threw together a large salad, drizzled it with honey and granola for extra calories, and hurried back upstairs.
The noise from the entertainment room had changed from gunfire with intermittent talking to a whole lot of groaning. I didn’t want to know what Mom was watching now, and I sure didn’t want to hear it.
Closing my door, I hustled over to Piepen and offered him a honey-dipped spinach leaf.
“Here. Try this.”
He opened his mouth and flicked his tongue out, licking the honey. I had to look away. I was too hungry for hand-feeding a brownie and did not want to give the little guy any wrong ideas if he saw my eyes change.
When I’d offered to help Megan, I’d thought the brownie would be staying at her house. This wasn’t what I’d signed up for. Piepen needed to go. The sooner, the better.
“Any chance you’ve remembered anything useful about the guy who kidnapped Megan?” I asked him while studying the ceiling.
“Useful?” he said, still not sounding like himself.
“What he looked like? The color of his hair? His eyes? How tall he was? His name? Anything?”
“No. He always wore his hood when he talked to my grandparents. They liked him. He helped them find peace.”
The leaf was tugged from my fingers a second later, and I looked down to see him chewing with stuffed cheeks.
“So good!” he said around the food.
Already I could see some color returning to his cheeks. It wouldn’t take him long to be back to his old self. The thought was equally relieving and depressing since a horny brownie in my bedroom was only one of my many problems. I still had a chocolate-devouring Mom in my only other sanctuary. Then, there was Adira manipulating my schedule and throwing me with Fenris, the one boy who had a scent strong enough to break my will once I ran out of chocolate. Which, at the rate Mom was eating it, wouldn’t be long.
I set the bowl down on Piepen’s pillow and blindly watched him eat some more before grabbing my phone. My life was falling apart, and I needed help. Badly.
I tried Megan’s phone, but it went to voicemail. Desperate, I called Oanen. He picked up after the second ring.
“Please tell me Megan’s there. I need to talk to her,” I said.
“Hold on.”
“Hey, Eliana,” Megan said after a moment.
“My mom’s here, Megan.” Some of my panic and desperation laced my words.
“I know. And, I’m sorry for my part in that. Oanen and I have been telling the Council that we don’t think she has anything to do with what’s going on.”
I snorted.
“Of course she doesn’t. She doesn’t kill; she just destroys lives.”
A tiny squeal drew my attention to Piepen, who was no longer a wilted brownie in his drawer. He zipped around the room and landed spread eagle on my pillow. He immediately grabbed himself.
“Stop touching yourself when you’re on my bed. I saw that smear on my pillow this morning, and you’re lucky I didn’t kill you in my sleep.”
“Uh…Eliana?” Megan said.
