Page 99 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

I let my hold on the body go, and someone pushes past, claiming the spot as I go into the abyss.

Kestrel

Istumble and almost fall.

“Ugh! What happened?” I look up and see the guarded look on all their faces. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Blaze asks curiously.

I scowl and run my fingers through my hair. “No,” I snap in irritation.

“Come on, let’s go get some food and find a bedroom for you to claim,” Blaze murmurs and leads me into his house. The dilapidated house, because from the outside, it looks amazing, but inside it is a nightmare coated in three inches of dust.

“You’re not going to tell me what happened, are you?”

“Nope.”

I grumble. There’s only one person who could have caused this kind of reticence, and that’s Jay. I’m not going to ask what he said. That’s between them. There are boundaries you have to respect with alters, and one of them is not babysitting what the others do. It’s disconcerting, though, having this feeling that I’ve missed something important.

Jay is entitled to have his time and say what he wants to say and do, and he needs no one’s permission. Those are the rules we’ve established. As long as what we dodoesn’t end up getting us hurt, imprisoned, or in a dangerous situation, we have a right to our privacy.

The house is a one-story large layout, almost cottage. It’s got wood log walls, a massive fireplace, and five bedrooms.

I wander around, opening and closing doors, investigating each and every room. It’s very contained, very practical. There’s no personality to this place.

I whirl around, studying Blaze.

“It’s very boring,” I say flatly.

“It is. I own it, but I’ve never stayed here.”

I make a sound that is perfectly neutral and slip past him, heading back to the kitchen, which is almost primitive. I stare at it and look at the hand pump. All the horrors of the world can’t beat this.

I’ve fallen into my very own horror movie, and there’s no way out.

“We aren’t staying here.”

Blaze puts a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t tell me you're scared of a little work?”

“No, I’m scared of whatever disease we might catch from drinking whatever metal that thing is made out of. It’s probably full of some ancient toxin. Plus, you know, where’s the toaster?” I whine.

“You can cook toast over a fire.”

“Do you have bread?”

“No.”

“I have to make bread from scratch and somehow cook it in that ancient old can just so we can toast it on an open fire?”

“Breathe, Omega.”

A low, angry whine comes out of the back of my throat. “I can’t survive in these conditions.”

“But I will be here with you.”

I stop mid freak out, twisting to stare up at him. “You’d better have a really big dick because that is the only thing that’s going to make this kitchen okay.”

Blaze tosses his beautiful mane of black hair back and laughs. He is gorgeous, but not enough to make this okay.