Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter sixty-three. house of imposters

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The last time we thought one of us betrayed Sibuna, it was Amber, and then, we thought we had every reason to believe that she had betrayed us. Alfie saw her giving the bracelet to the adults. There wasn't an explanation we could see. It was only later that night that we realized that she tricked them, one final act of Sibuna deception before she started at a fashion school in New York.

KT tries to give us a smile as she sits beside me at the breakfast table, and it only makes all of the tension between the six of us even worse. But even worse than the tension between us—everyone who's not in Sibuna noticing that we're not talking to KT, specifically. The only people who aren't here are Willow (I assumed she'd already gone off to school) and Mara, who was still getting ready when I came down.

Breaking the tense silence is Jerome, who I notice share a strange look with Joy before he says with a semi-polite-ish smile, "Good morning, KT." I silently grab my glass of orange juice as no one but him speaks. "Look, everyone, it's KT." Still nothing. "Huh? This is awkward."

"I'd shut up if I were you," I advise him.

And of course, he doesn't listen, because KT and Patricia reach for the cereal at the same time, with KT retracting her hand. He goes again, "If you want your breakfast, Patricia, you just have to ask nicely. And maybe at the same time, you can tell me why suddenly no one's speaking to KT."

"Leave it, Jerome, okay?" Eddie snaps.

"Fine."

Trudy comes in, her happy tone a stark contrast from, well... everything. "Okay, who's for seconds?" Joy seems to get that something's up with us, because she gets up and makes Jerome go with her, using the play they're both working on as an excuse. Trudy offers more breakfast to KT. "Come on, love. Help yourself."

KT's voice is barely a whisper. "No, thanks, Trudy. I just lost my appetite." KT leaves, too, and Trudy frowns before going back into the kitchen.

I lean forward and tell the others, "This is insane. Maybe we should hear her out."

"Why are you so eager to believe her?" Patricia inquires. "Fabian matched her fingerprints."

"None of it feels right," I say. My gut is telling me that KT's innocent and I know what I said yesterday about not being sure if I have an extraordinary track record with that kind of thing and wondering if those feelings I've been getting were because of her, but... "KT betraying us? Something's off and none of you can tell me you can't feel it, too."

Again, it's Patricia who responds. "Uh, actually, we don't. It's her, Ashley, just accept it."

I glare at her. She's awfully convinced that it's KT, way more so than anyone else. She's the only one who's acting like she isn't hurt by what's happened—it's more like she's... happy. I get she has jealousy issues about KT and Eddie, but this is different. Everyone is convinced that KT's our traitor, and they believe that unequivocally.