Page 29 of Bear With Me
Red grins. “That silly old side-winder? Not a match for me, boy.” He peers around me at Sully standing by my side. “Is this the girl you’ve been chasing after? My, isn’t she sweet?”
They shake hands and Sully freezes, her eyes wide and I curse under my breath. I forgot about her gift. She excuses herself to peek around while I talk shop with Red. “Have you heard?” I ask him.
“About the other one?” When I nod, he frowns, his salt and pepper mustache twitching. “Yeah, the police were by earlier to let us know we should probably close up until they know more about whatever’s getting those girls. He’s a sneaky bastard, that’s for sure. They didn’t have any leads and couldn’t even decide if it was a human or an animal that was attacking them.”
“This is so fucked.”
“You got that right.” I hesitate before asking what I really came here wanting to know. Red was the only other one to make it out alive that day. When both of my parents died, he was there for me. He’ll have answers to calm my fear. Plus, he’s the only one close to me that knows about my ability to shift. “Sully and I were talking and think that it might be another shifter attacking these people. Have you heard anything?”
Red’s eyes shutter closed, like the do any time that I’ve brought up my connection to that night. “I haven’t heard anything, but I’ll keep an eye out.” He wipes the sour look off his face and slaps a hand on my back. “You take that girl back home and I’ll finish closing up here, okay?”
“Thanks again. Give me a call if you hear of anything.”
“Oh, I will do that, Dec,” he says cheerfully. He smiles at Sully as we leave, but I can feel his heated, accusing stare on my back.
chapter thirteen
SULLY
By the time we make it back to Declan’s cabin, we’re both sick with worry. Just a few weeks ago, we had our life-changing date in the forest. It was a safe place, his haven. Even looking at it feels like a threat, now that I know what lurks in its shadows.
Nonna was fine, thank God. And she even managed a few sentences with Declan. There may be a beast or man stalking Hillsborough, but at least I have a future with him, a future with my family, to look forward to.
I know as soon as we pull up to Declan’s drive that something is wrong. His front door is wide-ass open and the car that Nonna gave Sam to use is still in the drive.
Declan puts the truck in park and I dive out of the door, my feet pumping through the gravel to his front door. He reaches me before I’m able to go in to make sure it’s just my overactive imagination and that the rock in my gut is for nothing.
Instead, he pushes me behind him and knocks the door the rest of the way open. It slams against the wall to reveal his empty living room. Or what’s left of it.
I gasp, taking in the destruction. Glass from lamps and dishes litters the floor. His rug is scrunched to one side and his TV flickers with snow. A hole mars the wall in the dining room. Streaks of blood arc away from the depression and drops of it dot the hardwood floor underneath.
I don’t feel my knees buckle, I just find myself hitting the floor hard enough to knock my teeth together.I can’t lose him, is all I can think. I lost my parents, I lost my future. I can’t lose my brother, my twin, too.
Declan investigates his room and the bathroom, but I can feel it in my gut that Sam isn’t here. I take a few deep, calming breaths and try to pull myself together. When I’m reasonably sure that I won’t faint, I get back to my feet and head to the dining room. The sight of what must be Sam’s blood makes me sick, but I choke it down. I don’t have time to be sick now.
The drops of blood paint the floor from the hole in the wall to the front door. I follow them down the steps and across the gravel until it disappears in the grassy trail which leads to the forest.
I feel Declan’s presence behind me. “He’s in the forest,” I tell him without turning around. “I have to go after him.”
“The hell you are,” Declan says, then grabs me by the arms. I kick and scream, but he doesn’t let go. He leads me to the gardening shed behind his cabin.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I seethe.
“There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you go. Not when I just found you. I’ll go find your brother and I’ll bring him back, but you’re going to sit your sweet ass here until I do.”
My eyes go round and I screech, “You’re not leaving me here Declan Cain.”
“If I asked you nicely would you stay here while I go find your brother?”
“Fuck no!”
“Then you leave me no choice.” He unlocks the shed and shoves me inside before I’m able to squeeze passed him. Then he slams the door in my face. I hear the padlock click shut before I start screaming bloody murder. His protective side isn’t looking so hot right about now.
When I finish describing all the ways in which I’m going to eviscerate him when I’m free, I manage to get my anger under control.There has to be a way out of here.
Light filters in through the cracks in the boards and I hope there aren’t any spiders or other creepy crawlies as I wade through the junk on the counters. I come across a small lighter and give a little cry of victory.
I cup the lighter in my hands and flick it to life. The light doesn’t do much, but it’s enough to see a few inches more than I had and that was going to have to be enough. The plywood counters are jammed full of fishing crap, which won’t do me any good. I find a bottle of some kind of accelerant and I stick that in the back of my pants in case I need to burn my way out of here. I’d rather go down in a blaze of glory than be stuck here while my brother is in trouble.