Page 77 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

“I promise you, it’s safe!” Sage says, but he also has the giggles.

I scoff and smack King’s hand away. He at least has the decency to hide his smirk.

Pix sits on a rock. “You know, I’m with her. You all suck. Do it again and do it properly.”

I point at Pix and nod my head emphatically.

“Shut up, Daega, you’ve been on heaps worse and loved every minute of the ride,” Sage teases.

I don’t know what makes Pix’s eyes get all sleepy or why he bites his lower lip and suddenly looks really sexy, but he is mesmerizing.

I shake my head and point to the forest, then using my index and middle finger, I demonstrate walking.

Sage giggles. “You are too cute.”

Cute? The outrage!

Blaze comes up beside me and looks down. I find myself staring up at him.

“I will keep you safe.”

My ridiculous heart flips in my chest, and I believe him. When he holds out his hand, I can’t say no. He walks me to the raft like I’m a queen and helps me on before sitting regally beside me.

“Come, peasants. You all get to row.”

Now, I get to laugh.

Blaze

We make it a few feet before she crawls into my lap; her face white and intent upon the water, the scent of her mixing with the damp air is alluring. Pix jumps on with a large stick that he uses to send the raft further into the water.

The others jump out of the water and onto the raft after pushing us out further. The river snatches us and drags us into the deep channels where we move quickly.

“See, not so bad, is it?”

She swivels her head around, giving me a look.

I love how sassy she is, even without words. I lean in close so my lips are beside her ear.

“Fancy a swim?” I whisper.

She scoffs and elbows me but doesn’t struggle too hard.

Sage starts singing a song about travelling on rivers. It’s cute and relaxing and reminds me of a whole heap of those lazy days we spent tangled up in each other’s legs and the sex-scented sheets.

Pix lays back on the raft, letting his fingers drag through the water.

Eventually, she relaxes in my arms, losing her death grip.

My thoughts wander back to last night. The beta who managed to slip into camp, who came as close as we would allow to hurting Merle. She was perfectly safe and surrounded. But I needed to be certain who the target was.

Merle, Pix, or us.

The fact that it was her wasn’t surprising but enraged me all the same. I may have gone into overkill while she was coddled in her drug-altered state, protected by Sage, who was the only person I trusted with her.

I had removed his skin. Piece by piece. By the time I was finished, he was a mindless lump of exposed nerves, moaning for his mummy. I don’t think he even remembered Merle’s name.

The temptation to string him up between trees and leave him as a warning to anyone else who might think they can bypass my benevolent care was hard to resist, but in the end, Rolly talked me into getting rid of the evidence.