Page 91 of Cryptic Curse

“I need to see you,” I say.

“At this time of night?What for?”

“I’m on my way back from Austin, and this isn’t something I want to talk to you about over the phone.”I instinctively look over my shoulder, even though I know I’m alone in my car.

“Damn.You don’t sound like yourself.”

“It’s serious.If you’re still awake, I can be there in an hour plus.”

“Yeah, sure.You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.At least physically.I’ll tell you about it when I get there.”

The highway stretches out in front of me like a dark ribbon, the kind that could unravel if I let my grip on the wheel slip even a little.The stars are out but the sky doesn’t offer much comfort tonight.

I’ve made this drive a hundred times.From Austin to the ranch.An hour and a half if I push it, which I always do.It used to feel like going home.Now it feels like I’m headed straight into a storm.

I crack the window, let the cool night air hit my face.It doesn’t help.My mind’s too loud—spinning with everything I didn’t want to think about until now.But there’s no running from it.Not anymore.

The ranch comes into view just past the ridge.Down several roads.

Then Falcon’s place peeks over the horizon.

I slow down as I turn into the gravel drive.Dust kicks up behind me like a ghost.

And I brace myself.

Because tonight, the truth is coming with me.

I’m just not exactly sure what the truth is.

The front lights are on at Falcon’s place.I park my truck in his large driveway and walk to the door.

I knock, and Falcon and Savannah’s two dogs, Sydney and Sammy, wag their tails through the window on the side of the door.

A moment later, Falcon opens it, shooing the dogs away.

“Hey,” he says, holding the door open for me.“Give me a second while I put them outside.”

“Is Savannah up?”I ask.

He glances up the main staircase.“She’s in bed reading.You need her?”

“No.”I frown.“I mean, I know you don’t have any secrets from her, but I think it might be better if I just talk to you for the moment.”

I follow him into the kitchen where he opens large French doors and lets his two mongrels outside.Sydney and Sammy are mother and son.Falcon and Savannah adopted them together not long after they first met.

Once the dogs are running outside in the back, Falcon turns to me.“It’s a nice night.You want to sit out there?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Sitting outside makes sense.Something about the dark of the night, the stars shining overhead on the ranch, strips everything down to what’s real.No walls, no distractions—just the hum of crickets and the weight of what I haven’t said yet sitting heavy in my chest.

Out here, there’s nowhere to hide.The land doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve done.It justis.Honest in a way people rarely are.Maybe that’s why I always end up out here when the truth gets too big to carry.

I look out past the fence line, where the land fades into shadows, and I wonder how I’m going to start.How I tell my brother something that might change everything.Out here, it feels like the stars are listening.Maybe that’s good.Maybe I need someone else to hear it before I can say it out loud.

“You look like you could use a drink,” Falcon says.