Page 86 of Five to Love Him
All of the hivelings sighed. “He didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t do anything wrong, and neither one of you is stupid. How did you almost drown?”
I shrugged. “It was a frozen lake, and I thought it would be fine going on there. Well, guess what, it wasn’t. An ambulance picked me up at the shore, lying in the snow with hypothermia. They said I got myself out, but there’s just no way. I don’t remember much, but I remember my clothing and the shock of the cold water dragging me under, and I definitely didn’t call an ambulance.”
“Hmm. That would be traumatic.”
I shrugged. “I asked the hive, but he said if he’d saved me, he’d have known I was his gleaming one, and then he’d never have left.”
“Yes, that sounds right. We—wait. There are people walking up to the house. Do you have friends who are into cosplay?”
“Cosplay? What?”
The doorbell rang.
“Should we open? We’re here with six, so we can protect the two of you if that’s a concern.”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know who those people are. Let me look. Is it okay to leave them?”
“Yes. I’ll stay here and monitor him.”
I nodded and headed downstairs. Maybe not surprising, but on my way past the kitchen, I spotted two hivelings making food. Before I opened the door, I checked the peephole.
“What the hell?”
“You know them?” A blond hiveling stood next to me.
I snorted. “Yes, I do. Well, almost all of them.”
I opened the door because there was no way I’d be able to pretend I hadn’t heard them without making my white lie about the hive being sick worse.
Headprincipal Farrow smiled at me.
“Ah, Leopold! There you are. Why, it is so good to see your face. You know Xander and Mr. Coral—”
“Just Coral.”
I’d met the hive’s other boss only briefly, and at the Dazzle. He’d worn black slacks, a dress shirt, a tie, and bright yellow eyeshadow that contrasted well with his skin. Now he was dressed in a complex, layered outfit in all black that mostly covered him up, but the bright eye makeup was unchanged.
“Yes, my apologies. You know Xander and Coral. This mangy one here is Conrad, my manservant.”
Conrad was the scariest one among them, and not just because I didn’t know him. He was tall—taller than Farrow—and he had a scar on his lip. He wore those wide shorts and a sleeveless tee in all black with some fancy silver spray pattern, and I got the sense that messing with him was probably not a good idea.
“H-hi. Do you need anything?”
Farrow opened his mouth, but the big one, Conrad, had seen the other hive. He locked eyes with the hiveling, and in a dark voice, he said, “Hive. ‘S there a problem here?”
“You know him?” I asked the hive.
He shrugged. “We work together. Well, we sometimes run into Mr. Conrad. And no, we are not here for that kind of job.”
“What kind of job?” I asked. Any calm I’d regained over the past half hour melted away.
“Well, this is turning into such a lovely conversation, but I would much suggest we move it inside,” Farrow said, putting a hand on Xander’s shoulder and pushing the werewolf forward.
Xander gave me a sheepish smile. “Hey, Leo. Sorry, we were actually all really worried.”
“Obviously! Did I not say upon our arrival?”
Conrad growled at Farrow while I took a step back to let them all in. Gran’s house hadn’t been this full in…I wasn’t even sure.
