Page 29 of Knot Your Pawn

Mathew frowns slightly. “I don’t know if that’s the best idea, security and all.”

I give him a disbelieving look. “You’re sending Derrick and most of your best security people to pick them up, even though, as far as we know, Erika and her pack are in no danger at all.” I think for a moment. I don’t need to be there at the arrival gate, I just want to spend time with her…

“What if I promise to stay in the car? Nobody will notice me if I’m in the car waiting for them. I don’t even have to get out. I can just stay hidden.”

He gives me a look but then nods slowly. “But you’re not going alone, I’ll go with you. I want to meet the lady who manages to run an organisation even more complex than mine. And who helped keep you safe for years.” He kisses my cheek, looking all excited.

Wait, wouldn’t that make the security needs even stricter?

Me going with them to pick Erika up requires maybe one or two extra people, but if Mathew also goes… That’s going to require a lot more people.

Which means we’ll need more cars and that means more of a hassle coordinating everything, which will all fall on Derrick.

I’m sorry, Derrick, I hadn’t really expected Mathew to also want to go, and now my selfish impulse is going to create a lot of extra work for you.

Whoops.

12

Luca

The room next to the one where the kids are staying in, the one furthest away from the stairs, now has a bunch of tables and chairs. So my family, the kids and Vera’s pack can all eat in here without getting in anyone’s way and without hearing or seeing things they’re not supposed to.

I’ve never been in a house this big before. This place has so many rooms and most of them aren’t in use, which feels strange. But, what I’ve understood from Jorge, that’s mainly because their pack is still very new and they’ve just redone basically this whole floor. They simply haven’t gotten around to filling up the rooms yet.

Which explains why the paint is still so perfect and why they have perfectly usable rooms available for so many people to stay in at such short notice.

Though, no furniture, so my family is sleeping on camp-beds and everyone has a mix of sleeping bags and blankets to sleep in or under.

I noticed that Vera and Caleb’s pheromones are a lot weaker now than earlier today and that someone put a diffuser that attempts to mask pheromones in the corner of the room.

It seems to make things easier for a lot of people, not just me, but no matter how considerate they’re trying to be, it doesn’t solve the issue with my brain.

“You should eat something.” Mum hands me a plate with a salad and some potatoes on it. It looks and smells really good, but even though my stomach is grumbling, my throat feels too tight to swallow.

“Thanks.” I accept the plate, holding it awkwardly in front of me. I’m not near a table or something else stable and flat enough to secretly put it aside. So, awkwardly holding it is.

“Let’s step outside. The fresh air will help.” She puts her hand on my back and pushes softly.

I follow her guidance, stepping out onto the balcony, finding a table there to put the plate, before I lean against the railing, looking out over the fields.

I know that Mum wants to ask me a lot of questions, wants to know what happened, where I was in the last years. I’ve been able to avoid the questions all day by always being busy or finding excuses to get away.

But with everyone here, having dinner, finding excuses is much harder.

“Can I ask something?” She keeps her voice quiet as she leans next to me, her familiar pheromones soothing, but also making me tense, because I don’t want to bring her more pain than she’s already been through. And with the look in her eyes, I’m sure her question isn’t going to be a fun one.

When I don’t say anything, not really sure how to reply, she goes on, “what these people, these packs, are doing isn’t exactly legal, is it?”

I shake my head.

No, most of what they’re doing is definitely not legal.

And before I learned about the Hearts and the whole Suits Syndicate, I would have condemned them for what they’re doing too.

Now? ‘Legal’ and ‘right and wrong’ are two very separate and much more complex concepts. The world is not as easy to define as ‘legal is good’ and ‘illegal is bad’.

Mum thinks for a few moments, before turning to me more, her eyes on my face, ready to read my every reaction. “Are they good people?”