Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 32 - TURN FOR THE WORST

"Thought I recognised you lurkers," Will said as he sat down beside us. The grass was sopping wet, of course, but he was already soaked through, by the look of him. "What's up?"

Lin's answer was lost to me. I was too busy making eyes at Liam, who came to lie flat on the grass beside me. He looked exhausted already, and it wasn't even lunchtime. I reached out and tangled our fingers together.

"Alright?" I asked him.

His answer was a yawn. "I'm ... yeah."

"That good, huh?"

He stifled another yawn, but I could see the corners of his lip twitching. I thought I might have successfully cheered him up until he went still, all of a sudden, and I saw him sniff the air. He was catching his brothers' scents, no doubt. It clung to my clothes and skin, and Mason's was the strongest, given that I'd been sat on his bed.

Liam pushed himself up onto his elbows, his eyes wide. "Eva, is that—?"

"Yeah," I said. "We've got some catching up to do."

He tapped his forehead, throwing a pointed glance at Will and Lin. They were too wrapped up in each other to give a shit what we were talking about, naturally, but I switched over to the link just to be safe.

"I don't work in the kitchen anymore."

Liam groaned. "What did you—"

"And you have a niece," I added through the link. "She's only about two."

He stopped breathing. By the time he started again, the shock had settled on his face. He swallowed a few times before he managed to ask, "Mason?"

I nodded.

"Oh," he murmured.

"Oh," I agreed. "You don't think he'd hurt her ... do you?"

Liam seemed to wince. "Honestly, I don't know. He saw Dad beat the shit out of his mother on a daily basis, and he got himself beat trying to stop it, so I was hoping he might be better with his mate. Kids ... yeah, I just don't know."

We had a visitor. The Delta for Liam's patrol unit had come across the lawn to talk to us, and we both snapped to attention. I had known his name at some point, I was pretty sure, but it was lost to me now.

"It's cool if we hang out here, right?" I asked nervously.

He grinned at me. "Hell yes, it's cool. The boys work twice as hard when there are chicks watching. No, I just came to ask if you'd mind helping us with a little demonstration. We'll be gentle — I swear."

Like I was going to turn down a chance to humiliate some flockies. I wasn't sure why he needed us — we were supposed to be defenceless, and it wasn't like he didn't have a small army of people who had to do his bidding. So ... why us?

"We'll get soggy, but whatever," Lin muttered. "Let's do this."

The drizzle was turning into a proper downpour, and every single one of the fighters was drenched already. Normally, I wasn't the sort of person who worried about getting dirty, but our supervisor would throw a fit if we trekked mud into the pack house.

While I chewed on my lip and tried to decide if a few minutes of violence was worth being yelled at, Liam took his hoodie off. He helped me pull it over my head. It was long enough to protect my top and most of my trousers. I was swamped, to say the least. It was damp, but it was also warm and smelt like Liam, so I didn't mind too much.

"No, no," Lin said before Will could do the same for her. "I'll say I slipped on the grass. Susan will have to let me change, and then I can just take a nap in our room."