Page 107 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

“Beetroot on burgers is the best,” Kestrel says happily as she bites into hers.

“How can you say that? Beetroot is the food of the devil!” Rolly growls and picks his out, throwing it with perfect aim so that it sticks to the side of the sign.

I snort a laugh, surprising Rolly and Kestrel both. I lean into the side door, staring out the window and take an absent bite. The ache in me isn’t going away; in fact, it’s getting worse.

Leaving my scent matches over and over should be easier.

Why is it getting harder?

“Okay, Aaron, talk to us,” Blaze says with his calm command.

I turn back and find that they’ve all finished eating, and everyone is waiting.

“Right. Um. So, what do you know about Father?”

Rolly snaps his fingers. “Highest body count of known victims, suspected that there are heaps more. Is genius levels of evil.”

“Yes, all that. Sadistic, cruel, a true psychopath. His techniques are both mental and physical. It’s important he breaks the mind of his victims first; that’s part of his MO.”

I do not look at Kestrel, I don’t dare. I don’t know for certain how she ended up like that, it’s all speculation.

“Interesting. How did you get mixed up in all this, Aaron?” Sage asks, and when I look up, there is a fury in his eyes that is matched only by a deep concern. A car turns into the car park, and I tense, watching until it drives through the drive-thru line.

“I was given a case to investigate and found a witness. It wasn’t any big thing, it was just part of the job. But it went from there. I kept getting pulled in: another body, another clue, another sign. Eventually, I accidentally stumbled upon the serial killers Unknown, Vengeance, and Marrow all by accident, but that brought me into your world. I didn’t care about them, but I had to check everyone out. Prince, Pix, the Sandersons. Then I found that I was being followed. Hunted. I tried to shake them off, but I couldn’t. So, I went to my boss, and I told him I was being followed. Suddenly, I was off the case, my badge taken from me. Suspended. Then fired. My house got broken into, they started paying more attention to Pix. A tip-off reached me that he was coming after me, so I snatched him up. I was taking him somewhere safe when Merle ran into my car.”

“Fortuitous.”

“I don’t believe in coincidence,” I mutter, glancing at Kestrel.

“Well, Raptor and Raven may have been looking for you, so maybe it wasn’t entirely accidental,” Kestrel admits.

I blink at her easy capitulation.

“I stayed because I was worried about Merle and Pix ,and you have a damn underground bunker, but then those cops showed up and were killed.”

Kestrel winces. “Uh.” She lifts her hand in the air. “So, Raptor was a bit angry, and she made a mess.”

I blink and blink again. “That was Raptor?” I choke out.

She shrugs. “She’s got rage issues; we are working on it, though therapy is expensive. And before anyone asks, I know that Father wants me back and that he trained me, and we escaped somehow, but I don’t remember the specifics.”

“All right, but you left us,” Sage interrupts, giving Kest a look that says they will come back to that soon. “In the forest, you said you were going back?”

“Yes, except when I got to the car park and found the car, things felt off. I checked, and there was a bomb on it, and someone waiting for me.”

“Mmm, it took us a while to kill the three of them,” King admits. “They had some expensive hardware.”

I rub my jaw.

“Why not keep Pix with us? Why send him off?” Blaze asks in a cold, angry voice.

“Because he’s not involved, and he has a chance at a normal life. Don’t you want that for him?” I almost shout. “Shouldn’t at least one of us survive?”

“No, I want him with us. To live or die with us. That is how we should be. You made a call for all of us because you are the one he’s closest with, but you shouldn’t have. We are a pack. We make the choices together.”

I stare at him. “A pack?”

“Clearly, Aaron Roseland, we have been acting as a pack for weeks now. We are just a bit dysfunctional, but it was all coming along nicely until you sent our omega off. It’s time you stop thinking as a you and start thinking as a we.”