Page 153 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

You won’t leave me?Her silent question, thrown with a single glance of her eyes, is a desperate plea that’s impossible to miss.

“Never,” I promise.

“I’ll be right here,” Jay whispers.

“Always beside you,” Kestrel murmurs.

Raven puts her hand on her shoulder and stands behind her and to the left. “Ready?”

Dove starts to cry in tiny, pitiful sounds, hiccuping. We ignore her.

“You’re going to save them,” I whisper, and then she slips into the space, taking our body, while we fade from the room, going back to the dark where we belong.

Sage

Merle curls up in my lap, silent and still, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this quiet or sad. I have tried to coax a smile out of her, but she has just clung to me. I stroke her hair and whisper things about what I learned. How to stay safe, how to cook when you don’t have anything. I tell her all the things that might help to keep her safe.

I don’t really have anything else to give but my knowledge.

My phone rings. I answer it reluctantly. I listen to the short, sharp message from my father and growl. Of all the times for this asshole to invade my world, this is the worst. I’m tempted to tell him to go jump, but he threatens to go to Vale.

Merle tenses and looks up at me, her eyes searching my face. I stroke her hair, silently telling her it’s not her, it’s these idiots on the phone, and they are idiots.

I ring his assistant back and wait while she giggles and prattles on about the old days while I get more and more irritated.

“Tell Dad I will meet him in Cherry Vale in three hours.”

I gently lift Merle up and try to put her down, but she clings to me.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to come with me?”

She nods.

I hesitate. The last thing in the world I want is her around my dad.

“Okay, you can come, but you have to stay in the car. I do not want him to see you.”

We get ready, and then, in the blink of an eye, I’m standing in front of my dad, while my pack is hidden in our car in a carpark down the road.

My dad looks like me, except when he smiles, he appears kind and nice. It’s a mask, the only thing he cares about is himself. There are people walking around, but no one is paying us any attention.

“Why did you call me out here?” I ask sharply.

“Wanted to see if you were alive. I have a job for you.”

“A job?” I ask in shock. Has he lost his mind?

“I need this person taken care of.” He huffs in irritation and shoves a folder into my hands.

I flip it open and look at the picture of Daega.

Fury rips through me faster than I can even think. Faster than I can blink. I swallow it down, forcing it gone. Blanking my expression like I’ve been taught.

“Why? Who is he?”

“You don’t ask why; you do as you're told.”

The urge to laugh in his face is so hard to resist, but I’m not ready to destroy him quite yet, and this might be a fun game to play.