Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Makai talked some more, but soon Kaos let out another long sigh. “Okay. I’ll be back later. Yeah. Bye.”

“Emil’s okay?”

“Yeah, he had a flashback, but he’s fine now. Resting with the cats. Not blaming me. All that….” Kaos grimaced. It was obvious he blamed himself, even if Makai and Emil didn’t.

“Good. You shouldn’t be blaming yourself either. Accidents happen when people have trauma in their pasts. Triggers can be anything—you know that, right?” Padraig speared some chicken and half of an heirloom tomato with his fork.

“Yeah, I have mine… as you’ve noticed.” Kaos smiled wryly.

“This is why people need to communicate.”

Kaos continued to eat, too, and toward the end of the meal, he seemed to get tense again.

“What are you thinking?” Padraig asked when they got up to take their dishes to the sink.