Page 35 of Byte

“Do you?”

“Yes, but it’s—” he started, but was interrupted by someone knocking on the door, followed by Shadow barking.

He opened the door to reveal a smiling Harper. “I thought I heard talking in here. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Sorry if I scared you.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “I was a little worried, but I knew you’d come around. There’s breakfast in the common room if you’re hungry.”

I was hungry. I had barely eaten the day before and was ready to make up for it. “I am. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I entered the common room. Part of me thought I would be bombarded with people hugging me and asking if I was okay. To my surprise, everyone carried on as if it was business as usual.

I’d been pushing a piece of French toast around on my plate for a few minutes when Byte asked, “What are you thinking about?”

I exhaled heavily. “As much as I don’t want to, I really should go back to my house to help clean up and sort through things. I need to know what needs to be replaced, and I’m the only one who will know if something’s missing.”

“If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to,” Byte said. “Edge can send pictures for you to look through.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be okay. I can’t sit here doing nothing while they’re at my house cleaning up a huge mess.”

“Are you sure?” Byte asked carefully.

“There won’t be a repeat of yesterday.”

“If you want to leave, say the word, and we’re out of there. I don’t care if we’ve only been there for five minutes.”

“I will,” I promised.

When we pulledinto my driveway, Byte paused before getting out of the truck. I assumed he was going to ask me if I was okay again and was ready to assure him I was. However, that’s not what happened. Instead, he picked up his phone and started typing.

“What are you doing?”

“Letting the guys know we’re here. I didn’t tell them we were coming, and I don’t think surprising them is a good idea.”

“Yeah, probably not,” I agreed.

His phone buzzed with a message. “Okay, let’s go.”

Edge stepped out onto the front porch while we were letting Shadow out of the truck. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Gabby wanted to help with the cleanup so she could get an idea of what she needs to replace and make note of anything missing,” Byte explained.

Edge nodded. “We started with the kitchen. We threw out all the food that was ruined, as well as any broken dishes. Anything that isn’t broken is being run through the dishwasher before we put it back in the cabinets. But it’s good you’re here, because we don’t know where anything goes.”

“Thanks, Edge. I really appreciate your help,” I told him.

“I’m sorry someone did this to you, but I’m happy to help,” he said and looked at Shadow. “You might want to watch where he goes in the house. We haven’t gotten all the broken glass and ceramic off the floor. On that note, you both need to keep your shoes on.”

“Crap,” I mumbled. I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of Shadow stepping on glass shards. “Is there anywhere that’s safe for him?”

“The kitchen’s clear.”

“Okay, he’ll have to stay in there until we make more progress,” I said. Since Shadow had been with us, he hadn’t beenconfined in a room or limited space. I wasn’t sure how he’d react, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“He’ll be fine,” Byte assured me.

“All right, where should I start? I asked.

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