Page 5 of Blood Ties
If it was just me alone, or me and May, I’d fight to find some other way, any other way, rather than going home with a strange man. But we’ve got the boys, too. There’s four of us and one of him. Surely Knox wouldn’t risk pulling anything sketchy, even if he wanted to.
“That’s mighty kind of you,” Felix says, before the silence can linger for too long. He waits, with a subtle glance in my direction, and I know he’s waiting for me to step in if I have a problem with this.
Despite my reservations, I bite my tongue. Felix turns to Knox, and our fate is sealed.
“I’d hate to be an imposition, but if you really think it wouldn’t be too much trouble... we don’t have a lot of other options right now,” Felix says.
Knox only grins. “‘Course,” he says. “You’re more than welcome.”
?Chapter Two
Kai
It’s a rare thing forthe house to be this quiet. I sink into the living room couch and cherish it. The feeling of being out in the open without listening hard for footsteps, or bracing to hear my name. No sound of Dad slamming doors, or Uncle Frank messing with his gun. No screaming from the basement. Not even Knox. Just me and the house and the quiet. Plus Momma, I guess, but she’s asleep in the attic, like usual.
I can’t even be bothered that Knox took off without telling me where he’s going. Whatever. He’s not my responsibility. If I’m lucky, maybe he’ll shack up with some townie. Be gone till morning. That could come with its own set of problems, of course, but he’s not gonna do something risky without Dad around to clean up his mess. He and Frank will be gone all weekend visiting their brother.
A whole weekend of peace. I can hardly believe it. I don’t even turn on music like I usually do in my free time; I just enjoy the silence.
Then the front door slams open and shatters it. I sit up instantly, every muscle in my body tensing as I listen, hard, for footsteps coming through the mudroom. When I hear the familiar thudding rhythm of Knox’s boots instead of Dad’s heavy tread, I relax. I’m about to sink down into the couch again until I hear an unfamiliar voice.
He brought a girl home. Of course he did. But then — there’s another voice. And another. What the fuck?
Torn between the desire to investigate and the urge to flee to my room, I end up frozen in place until Knox bangs through the door into the living room. His grin fades when he meets my stare.
“Kai,” he says. “Thought you’d be asleep.”
I push up from the couch. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve got company.”
“What?” My gaze flicks to the doorway behind him. Four strangers step through the door from the mudroom. Two girls — one dark-haired and sharp-eyed, the other smiling and blonde — and two guys, one lanky with glasses and the other big and square-jawed.
“You didn’t say there was someone else here,” the dark-haired girl says. Her eyes lock with mine. I have a sudden, mad urge to say something weird enough to stoke her suspicion, to get them all to leave. Yet I can’t bring myself to speak. I’m not used to talking to strangers, especially not pretty girls like her.
Knox is never lost for words. He throws an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, sorry, should’ve mentioned. This is my little brother, Kai. Kai,” he gestures with his free hand. “Our guests for the night.” He glances at me. “Now I know you’re not that fond of company, but their car broke down and they’ve got nowhere else to go. So...” He squeezes my shoulders hard enough that I suppress a wince. “Be friendly, alright?”
