Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 39 - WE'RE ALL LIARS

"Do you think he knows?" Liam asked.

Yep.

I turned my key in the door. "No. I mean, I'm not sure, but probably not, right?"

He didn't look convinced. He was filling up with nervous energy, and it was going to spell trouble if I didn't distract him soon. "What did he do after I left? Did he look pissed?"

He took it out on me. "Well ... nothing much. He just went back to the pack house."

I was a good liar. I knew that nonchalance was the key to it — if you didn't sound interested in what you were saying, they wouldn't be interested either. But it was Liam, and he knew me almost better than anyone. He paused a bit too long before answering.

"Really?"

"Really," I sighed. "I think you're the least of his problems right now."

We went into our room. It wasn't even lunchtime yet, but it had been a long morning, and I for one needed a break. I saw the bed, and I flopped down on it. Liam sat on the edge, bouncing his knee in that way he did when everything was getting too much.

"Eva," Liam said.

I made an indistinct grunting sound.

He'd gone very still, and his eyes were wide, which was a sure sign something was wrong. "The bed's made."

"So?" I demanded, burrowing deeper into the duvet cover. It was warm in here, and it was nice to take the weight off my feet for a minute. I was taking great care to keep the pressure away from my ribs and shoulder. They were still throbbing at regular intervals.

"We never make the bed."

I eyed the sheets beneath me. It was true — they were usually creased. "Huh."

"And those drawers were open when I left," Liam went on.

"Were they?"

"Someone's been in here."

I sat up sharply. Now that he mentioned it, the room did look ... tidier than usual. The clothes on the floor were in a single heap instead of strewn over and under the furniture. It looked like someone had searched the place and then made a lazy attempt to replace everything.

"Who cares?" I said eventually. "We've got nothing to hide. I didn't bring anything that—"

Liam pressed a hand over my mouth. I was so astonished that I shut up, and he left his hand there a moment longer to make the point. I was kinda tempted to lick him to make a point of my own.

"Sorry," he said through the link. "But we can't talk in here anymore. It's bugged."

Well, that stank of paranoia. I made a face at him and switched to the link, too. "Is it, though?"

He must have caught the teasing note in my voice, because he sighed heavily. "Yeah. They really do that. Especially when they think someone might be a sleeper. I helped sometimes."

He got up and went over to the coffee table, probably to start searching. I sat on the bed with my legs crossed and watched because I was still sceptical. It only took him a few seconds of fumbling under the rim before he swore.

I craned my neck to see. Sitting on his palm was a small plastic object-device-thing. It was only about the size of my thumb, and there was a blue light on the near side. So much for paranoia, then...

I swallowed loudly. "Okay. Now I believe you. Shit, Liam. Can we flush it down the toilet or something?"

For once, he wasn't listening to me. Instead, he had started shifting on the spot, and I closed my eyes tightly to be polite. By the time I opened them again, there was a rather large wolf standing in the living room where he had been.