Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 27 - FOUR'S A CROWD

"Hey, Eva," Bryn called. "Can we come in?"

"Mm..." I wrinkled up my nose. "I guess. Is there a reason we've got to babysit them?"

"Yes, actually," he said cheerfully. "Glad you asked. There are two reasons. Firstly, they tried to escape again. This time they ran smack bang into your mother. It was very funny - well, for me, anyway. Not so much for them."

"What?"

Bryn grinned at me. "Mm-hmm. You missed a lot. The second reason is that they ran a test on Hannah, and apparently her blood is way too sugary ... but like, in a chronic way."

"My HbA1c results were elevated," Hannah corrected irritably.

"Yeah, yeah. Same thing. Anyway, it's bad, apparently. She needs to eat flockie food for a while, and you've got plenty of that."

"But we've only had you ... what? Two weeks?" I demanded. Sure, she was up and down a lot, but she could use Hayden as a personal sniffer dog, so we hadn't killed her yet.

She made a face. "Really? It feels like a lifetime."

"We're not that bad," I said. "And yeah, we'll keep you. Whatever. Go straight through, and don't touch anything."

"This is my house," Hayden complained, but he did do as he was told. Liam could watch them for a minute, I decided, as I wrapped Bryn in a bruising hug.

"Eira's not with you?" I whispered.

He shrugged at me. "No. She ... uh, she's been having a lot of absences in the last few days. It never lasts long, but my mother said she'd better stay at camp. I only came to drop the flockies - sorry. I gotta go back and keep her company."

"That's cool. I get it. You want to say hi to Liam before you go?"

"Hell yeah. Where is he?"

I gestured to the kitchen. And we walked through together, blinking at the sudden brightness. I was left to stand in the doorway while Bryn went to bump fists with Liam and steal some of his cider.

Hayden was surveying the room with narrowed eyes. We hadn't exactly been keeping the place tidy. Why bother washing up when the flockies had ten of everything? It sorta looked like a bomb had gone off in there, and the open windows had been letting the rain soak patches of every room in the house.

"I'm cleaning this up," he told me matter-of-factly. Clearly, he'd waited for me to come back before saying that because Liam was still sat at the table looking all wary and intimidating. "And I'm closing the windows, too."

I coughed to get his attention. "No, leave the windows."

"Why?"

"Because ... you know ... the air."

Behind me, Bryn nodded vigorously.

Hayden closed his eyes and huffed out a breath, looking for all the world like he had given up on life. "What if I promised you that you won't suffocate?"

Bryn and I had a conversation of glances and facial expression lasting approximately ten seconds, which ended with both of us in firm agreement.

"Sorry," he said. "The committee has spoken. Windows stay open."

Hayden muttered something unrepeatable. He went hunting for cleaning supplies soon afterwards, only to get distracted by the discovery of a packet of biscuits. We did have biscuits in our camps because we weren't savages, but I doubted that anyone had bothered to waste any on the hostages.

So he had sat himself on the kitchen counter to eat them before anyone could take them away. I wouldn't have paid him the slightest bit of attention had Bryn not prodded me and looked pointedly in his direction.