Page 30 of What the Hex
Left alone to his own devices, it took Storm a bit more effort to get his pants on, but he managed it after only three tries. Despite the socks being fairly intuitive, they didn’t feel that great on his feet. He was still trying to figure out where he’d gone wrong when King returned, sans his phone.
“Priya suggested getting some rest and seeing how you feel in the morning.” He didn’t sound overly convinced by this, but he also didn’t offer an alternative. “What are you doing?”
“My socks feel weird.”
King knelt at the foot of the bed and inspected the garments. Then, without comment, he twisted them around so that the seams rested on the top of Storm’s toes instead of the bottom.
“How’s that?”
Storm grinned. “Perfect. Just like you.”
“You really have to stop saying stuff like that.”
“Why? It’s true.”
Sighing, King rose to his feet and held his hand out to pull Storm up from the mattress. “Look, I don’t want to freak you out, but I think something’s wrong.”
“With you?”
“No. With you.”
That didn’t make any sense. He had never felt better. “Mmm, I don’t think that’s right.”
“Do you remember what happened with Cyrus in the ballroom?”
He understood the words, but not necessarily the context. “Who’s Cyrus?”
“The security guard.”
“And we were in a ballroom?”
King chewed the corner of his bottom lip for a moment before speaking again. “What are you sisters’ names?”
“I don’t have any sisters.”
“What about your parents?”
“I don’t have those, either.”
Okay, technically, that wasn’t correct. He hadn’t just sprouted out of the ground fully formed, meaning he must have had parents at some point. Only, he didn’t have any recollection of them.
“It doesn’t bother you that you can’t remember your parents?”
“A lot of people don’t remember their parents,” he argued.
“Fair enough.” After a long, awkward pause, King took both of his hands and gripped them tight as he adopted an indulgent smile. “You said I’m perfect, right?”
Finally, something they could agree on. “Absolutely.”
“And you trust me?”
“Of course.”
King squeezed his hands. “Then I need you to trust me now that something is going on around here. People are acting strange.”
“Including me?”
“Yes. Including you.”