Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
“I told them I added shrooms to the stew,” Joker said, but as silly as that sounded, he wasn’t smiling for a change. “I think they believed me.”
“Knight, get Jake some food,” Beast said, but when Jake was about to protest with a helpless whine, Knight had already gotten up and even patted Jake on the head. The same kind of gesture he sometimes used to express appreciation for the human Jake.
Knight turned around and suddenly went stiff before storming off toward the counters that divided the space. “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” He shouted, making every single person in the room focus on Vars, who had Elliot pressed tightly against the fridge.
Seeing them so close together was wrong on so many levels Jake stilled, with his jaw dropping.
Vars laughed. “Boy looked like he needed a hug.”
It sounded somehow false after the talk they’d had in the woods. Nor was Vars particularly fond of Elliot.
Elliot pressed at Vars’s chest to no avail. “Christ, you creeper, get off! What the fuck is wrong with you? Knight, he’s touching me!” he finished with a whine.
Knight barged into the kitchen, his hair moving in the air like a cape as he ran to Elliot’s rescue.
Someone called out for both of them to stop, but when Vars grabbed Elliot’s jaw and kissed him, there was no turning back. Knight tossed Vars at the nearest wall. Vars grunted, when his head hit the cupboard instead, but he was right back on his feet, facing Knight, whose neck was so tense all of the veins in it looked like they might explode.
“Don’t you fuck him in public all the time? Can’t I have some if I’m to be a patch soon? I bet his ass is real nice if you fuck him so often,” Vars said, provocatively opening his arms.
Jake crawled closer, completely shocked by the sudden change in Vars’s behavior and all the same enraged that everyone else just sat on their asses and watched. Knight screamed out in fury and smashed Vars against the fridge before landing a punch that had blood spurting from Vars’s nose all over the front of his shirt.
Jake hardly recognized the growl coming out of his own throat, but Beast put his hand on Jake’s shoulder, pressing down. “Stay back, he’s in on it. Just to the first blood,” Beast whispered, but when Knight landed another punch, and blood stained his knuckles, Beast hurried to the kitchen and tugged him back just in time to keep him from smashing his fist into Vars’s head again. From the sound of it, he still managed to kick Vars before Beast got him out of range.
“It’s done, brother. Now go feed your stones.”
Knight stilled in Beast’s arms, staring at his knuckles before laughing out loud. “You motherfuckers! Were you in on this, Elliot?”
Elliot spread his arms. “You wouldn’t fight me no matter what I did, and time was running out! I’m not having you suffer just because the fucker who was supposed to be here after midnight got a little frightened of Jake.”
Knight freed himself and pulled Elliot in with a hard tug. “Because I wouldn’t hit you. You’re insane if you think I would. Don’t do this again.”
Vars pulled himself up, and the red stain on his face was as prominent as the spray on his dress shirt. He walked past Beast, who thanked him with a pat on the back, and stuck his head under running water.
Jake stood up and moved his way, trying to keep the wings and tail close, so that they wouldn’t wreck anything, but he didn’t fit behind the kitchen island, so he just reached out for Vars, managing to scratch the back of his jacket.
Joker snorted. “You know what? He’s kinda cute.”
Vars turned around, and his beard sent droplets of cold water Jake’s way. He faced Jake, roughly drying himself with a paper towel. The cut on his lip was prominent, and Jake was sure swelling would follow, but he seemed fine otherwise.
Knight patted Vars on the back, approaching him with Elliot under his arm. “So you took one for the team, huh? I like that.” He then looked at his brothers, already pushing past Jake to leave the kitchen. “You guys will fill me in later. We need to do our job.”
Jake returned to the fire with a low sigh. Laurent followed him with the first aid box but didn’t seem to know if he wanted to use bandages or not.
Beast took a seat in an armchair across from Jake, even in the damp suit looking like a king on the throne when Jake was just a measly subject at an audience.
“S-s-so... rry,” Jake managed to say. He didn’t dare meet his president’s gaze. A nuisance to everyone. A freakshow.
Beast sighed, as if he’d somehow overheard Jake’s thoughts. “It’s not your fault. If anything, it’s ours, because you didn’t know what hides in this building. We should have told you. So sit back and don’t worry about speaking. Just listen, because this will take a while.”