FABLE

Chapter Thirty

"Your guess is as good as mine," says Alastaire as he pokes at a pancake with his fork.

"He went out for a bit," Lyall says in between mouthfuls. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. Don't stress 'bout it Kit."

"He went out?" says Kitty, her eyebrows knitting together in worry.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Alastaire says. "He's just out doing loner junk in the forest. Typical."

Kitty shakes her head, looking gloomily at the counter.

"You worry too much," says Ben as he pats her on the back. "It's not like he's gonna get run down by a rabid pack of bloodthirsty fangirls this deep in the woods. Unless you told your buddies about us, Ashling."

He winks at me, and I almost choke on the bite of pancake I was busy swallowing.

"My friends would never do that," I say while trying not to cough or choke. "And I didn't tell anyone where I was going. No one else knows where you are."

"Good," says Kitty, acknowledging me for the first time. "It needs to stay that way."

She focuses her attention on her pancakes again, slicing them up with quick, precise movements. Even her manicure looks expensive - long, perfectly filed nails that look like they're covered in a thin sheet of actual mirror - more reflective than you could achieve with only silver nail polish. They must be stick-ons or something. A row of cute rose gold rings are stacked on the middle finger of her left hand, linked by a delicate twisting chain. Even with her makeup all smudged, she's like rock royalty. She could easily be gracing the fashion pages of Vogue right now. So on point.

She's the most perfect girl I've ever met. Like if Instagram and Pinterest had a love child. 

Jamie would absolutely hate her.

She catches me staring and shoots me a withering glance.

I notice for the first time that her eyes are an intense greenish-goldish-brown, the hazel of cats' eyes. That, along with the aloof attitude, ivory skin against dark tousled hair...

Kitty and Felix.

Could they be...

"I don't remember saying you could wear my clothes, Kitty," Felix says. He's in the doorway, arms crossed in front of him as he leans against the doorframe.

"Serves you right for stealing my eyeliner all the time," Kitty retorts. "Anyway, I saved you some breakfast. I promised mum I'd make sure you eat properly."

I feel an instantaneous rush of something. Relief? No, that's stupid. Who cares if she's just his sister? Not me.

"I don't think she had pancakes in mind," says Felix as he settles down on a barstool opposite me. "Anyway, how's your head doing?"

"Yeah, you got kinda carried away with the merlot last night," Ben says. "How many bottles did you down?"

For the first time since I arrived, I notice a half empty bottle of red wine on the kitchen counter.

Kitty just lifts one perfectly manicured nail in response, flipping him off.

"Guys, let's get back on track," Elliot says, rising and gathering up our empty plates.

"Ashling, the fact that you're here means you've considered our proposal," he continues. "So - have you made up your mind?"

"Good question," Ben says. "Are you going to help us or not?" 

Once again, all eyes are on me. There's a moment of expectant silence as everyone waits for my response.

I hadn't really made up my mind before heading here. I hadn't even thought about whether I was going to say yes. I thought things would be clearer once I arrived, after I'd spoken to the whole band.