Page 254 of What We Bury

“It’s not an ask. It’s an offer.” I lean against the counter. “Look, the house is bigger than I need. Always has been. I bought it twelve years ago when I was twenty-four and an idiot who thought he’d have a wife and kids by thirty. Didn’t work out that way. So I’ve got a big-ass colonial with one occupied bedroom and a mortgage I should have refinanced three years ago.” I shrug. “It’s sitting there. Might as well fill it.”

“Four bedrooms,” Eli says.

“Don’t forget the guest room,” Milo adds. “That makes five.”

“Congratulations on your ability to count,” I say.

Eli lifts his hands. “I’m just saying . . . that’s . . . generous.”

“It’s practical. Knox can take the guest room—it’s got the biggest bed besides mine. The rest of you can fight over the other three rooms, I really don’t care.” I look at Sage. “You take the main. I’ll move my stuff to the den. It’s got a pull-out.”

“I’m not taking your bedroom.”

“You are. It’s got the en suite and a lock on the door. If you need space from five men in a house, that’s where you get it.”

She opens her mouth to argue, then closes it. I watch the fight leave her, not because she’s defeated but because she’s smart enough to know when stubbornness stops being strength and starts being stupidity.

“Okay,” she says. “But I don’t want you to move your stuff out. Not tonight, anyway.”

“Okay,” I echo.

The relief in the room is a physical thing—a collective exhale, shoulders dropping, jaws unclenching.

“I need to tell Amy,” Sage says. “She can’t come back here without knowing?—”

“Don’t tell her about the noose,” Eli says, sharp. “Not yet. If Tyler did this, we don’t want him knowing we found it.”

“But what if that puts her in danger?” Sage asks.

“I’ll get Dean to keep an eye on her. Maybe talk to Odin about round-the-clock surveillance. She’ll be safe.”

Sage looks at the rope and sighs. “What do you want me to tell her?”

“Just that you’re staying with friends for a while. Keep it vague.”

Sage nods slowly. “She’ll believe that. She already thinks I’m running a harem.”

“Youarerunning a harem,” Milo points out.

“Milo, I swear to God?—”

“What? I’m being supportive of our lifestyle.”

“Can we focus?” I cut in, but there’s no real heat in it. The bickering is good. It means they’re settling. It means the shock is metabolizing into action, which is where we function best. “Sage, pack a bag. Essentials. We’ll come back for the rest later. Milo, before we leave, I want you to take down the noose and bag it.”

“I’ll dust for prints first,” Milo says, already reaching for his laptop bag. “I’ve got a kit in the car.”

“Since when do you have a fingerprint kit?”

“Since always. Don’t worry about it.”

I decide I don’twantto worry about it.

Knox pushes off the wall. “I’ll do another sweep of the building. Fire escapes, entry points, anything I missed the first time.”

“Micah, you’re with Sage while she packs,” Eli says. Then he looks at me. “I’ll call Odin. He needs to know.”

“Agreed. And Eli—tell him it’s possible someone knows about us. About what we do. The noose might not be random.”