Page 8 of Echo (A Monster’s Prey #2)

I stayed outside all day working on things, rather than going into the house to breathe the air Mark had tainted.

I’d ran my mind through the ringer trying to figure out a way to get him out, but ten some-odd projects later, which included painting the door, cleaning the coop, and a body removal, I wasn’t any closer to a solution.

Once the sun dipped behind the mountains, I couldn’t avoid the house anymore. I wasn’t getting stuck outside with the bear that mauled that deer.

After a shower, I was cooking myself dinner, and I could hear him watching TV in the living room.

“Why are there only ten channels? What’s the Wi-Fi password?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I rolled my eyes.

“What’s for dinner?”

“I’m having a chicken stir-fry.”

“I don’t like stir-fry.”

“I don’t care,” I grumbled under my breath. That was such a stupid thing to say, too. He didn’t even know what was in it. But it wasn’t what he wanted, and he was the only person who mattered.

Ranger barked as I stirred what was in the pan.

“Shut that fucking dog up.”

Deep breaths. In and out.

I shushed Ranger for him to bark again. I finally looked up to find he wasn’t in front of the door, like I expected him to be.

“Ranger?”

He barked again, and I realized he was on the other side of the door. My heart lurched into my throat.

“You let Ranger outside?” I scrambled to open the door, and Ranger bolted between my legs as soon as the door was cracked.

“I didn’t touch your damn dog.” Yeah, right. He grumbled, “I wish I would have known he was outside.”

Maybe he was right. If he’d known Ranger was outside, he’d have taken the chance to get his hands on me.

Ranger was covered in dried… mud? I hoped it was mud.

“What did you get into?” I grabbed a hand towel and rubbed it over him, but the brown crust was not going anywhere. How the hell could it be that dry? I’d seen him twenty minutes ago.

I sighed and sat on the cold hardwood. “Not anymore than what I’ve gotten myself into, that’s for sure.”

I put both hands on each side of his face to anchor myself to a calm I didn’t feel, closing my eyes, so it was only me and him. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get rid of him. I don’t know what to do, Ranger.”

He stepped into me, and put his head onto my shoulder, as if he were comforting me.

I hugged him. “Don’t let him hurt me, okay?”

A deep growl rumbled in his throat as if to threaten anyone who would dare to threaten me. I sniffled. “I’ll do my part too, and shut the fuck up for once in my life.”

His growl grew as if he didn’t like the idea of me burying pieces of myself.

“Just until we figure out how to get rid of him.” I pet him, and realized his fur was silky soft, not crunchy like I would have expected. But his coloration was definitely off. I tilted my head to get a better look as I ran my fingers through his fur.

If anything, his fur was softer than normal.

Footsteps came into the room behind me. “You’re burning the food.”

The smell of burning finally hit me, and I jumped up to turn off the burner and stir the food. “Shit.”

“Honestly, Madison, it’s amazing you haven’t burned the house down.”

I gritted my teeth. “I cook every single day, and I haven’t started a fire yet.”

“Because you’re lucky.” He scoffed. “Everyone knows you can’t take care of yourself.”

I eyed the knife block at the end of the counter.

“Remember what I said, my love.” He chuckled into my ear. “If I die, you spend the rest of your life in a padded cell.”

His fingers glided over my shoulders, and I wanted nothing more than to yank away and press his face to the burner.

“I’ll get all the fight out of you, eventually.” He backed away, and I shook my body, hoping to get his touch off of me. “I want chicken parmesan, and you don’t need that much rice.”

“Tough titty.”

He grabbed my hair, but Ranger was already running up, nipping at his leg, forcing Mark to retreat. “Stupid fucking dog.”

Ranger barked, and something about the sound made my blood run cold. I stared at him as he gave two more warning barks.

It almost sounded like there was a slight echo in his throat. Like he was barking through a microphone. It plucked at somewhere deep inside of me that made me suddenly too aware of everything.

Ranger sat and looked up at me with knowing eyes. His stare seared into me in a way that made my skin too small and sweat to gather at the back of my neck.

“This isn’t Ranger, Mark,” I breathed out. I could swear amused approval filled the dog’s brown eyes, and his muzzle lifted into a fucking smirk. My heart pounded in my chest. “It’s not my dog.”

“This is the shit I’m talking about, Madison. You’re fucking crazy. That’s your damn dog. I know. He has only bitten me a hundred times.”

“And this is what I’m talking about. You aren’t even looking,” I yelled back.

“You let that giant imagination fucking take over, and you lose grip on reality.”

“Look at him.”

He made a show of coming around the corner, gluing his gaze to this dog for a whole two seconds, then glared at me. “It’s your dog.”

I turned my focus onto pouring my food onto a plate.

“Honestly, Madison.” Mark’s voice went soft and gentle. “I’m worried about you. I know I’m a dick, but your stories are getting more and more out of hand. You need therapy and probably drugs. When you took off, you scared the fuck out of me.”

He never listened to me. I gestured to the dog. “That’s not my dog. You have to see that. Please. Please.”

He sighed and kissed my forehead, as if I was the most precious thing in the world. “We’ll get you the help you need. But you’ve got to stop lashing out at me.”

“You put me in the hospital.” I shoved his chest.

“No I didn’t.” He shook his head. “You freaked out and threw yourself into that glass table. I didn’t do that.”

“Then why did Ranger attack you?”

“Because you said his attack command and sicked him on me.” His fingers caressed my face. “You know a lot has changed since your grandmother’s day. Maybe they can help you in a way they couldn’t help her.”

I narrowed my eyes at his mention of my grandmother. “She had Alzheimers.”

“I’ve heard the stories, Madison. She was ill before that.” He kissed my forehead again, and it made my skin crawl.

“What was the command?”

“What?” He chuckled.

“What was the command I gave Ranger to attack you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t remember what I yelled to make him attack you?”

“You told him to attack.”

“You’re a big shot lawyer, Mark. I assume you know what plausible deniability is.” My dad drilled it into my head. If you’re going to commit a crime, don’t be stupid about it. Always have a way to weasel out.

The smile wiped off his face, knowing I caught him in a lie.

“What did I say that made him attack you?”

“Fine, the dog attacked me of his own accord.” He threw his hands up and left the room.

“That’s what I thought. You lying sack of shit.” I rolled my eyes. I was not crazy. I looked to where the strange dog was only to find he wasn’t there. I clicked my tongue and whistled for the dog to come back.

I heard the paws clicking on the hardwood upstairs, and I waited until the sound reached me. Ranger trotted into the room with his bright, kind eyes and tail wagging. The energy was so different; it was amazing that I hadn’t realized the other dog wasn’t him sooner.

I pet him and he sniffed at my hands, like he wanted to inhale them. Then gave a little bark, before going back.

“I didn’t mean to cheat on you, buddy. He looked like you.” And I needed to find him. I couldn’t have a wild dog in the house.

I searched high and low and found no evidence of the other dog.

Maybe this place was fucking with me. Either way, I had bigger problems than a stray dog in my house.