Page 18

Chapter 18

Caleb

I t was the strangest sensation; Caleb didn’t think he’d felt it in years. Maybe not ever.

He was whistling.

He had a spring in his step, and despite the fact that the weather was all wrong, it suddenly felt like spring. Sure, there was still snow here and there, and the ground was more wet and muddy than lush and green, but the snow was melting and the birds were singing, and by the gods, Caleb was in love.

He pulled two bags out of the back of his car, making sure one of them held the Oreos, and headed for the front door.

Jasper wasn’t in the main room of the cabin, though.

The bathroom door was open.

The loft window that led out onto the roof was closed.

Jasper’s clothes were gone. Not the shirts of Caleb’s he’d been wearing most of the week, but his own stylish jeans and brand new hiking boots, and...

It took half an hour for him to find the note.

There was a cliff half a mile from the cabin, overlooking a beautiful vista of pine trees and a distant snow-capped mountain. It was maybe fifty yards from top to bottom. Plenty far enough to kill a man if he fell off it.

Caleb sat on the edge, looking down.

He tore open the second package of cookies and tossed the first one over the edge.

“Enjoy the Oreos,” he muttered to himself, pulling another from the tray and throwing it as hard as he could. “I don’t even like Oreos.”

Far below him, a bird hopped out of the trees and circled the fallen cookie. It started to break pieces off in its beak, and Caleb spared a thought to whether chocolate was bad for forest creatures.

None of them would get that much of it—they’d be fine.

He threw another one.

“I.”

“Hate.”

“Cookies.”

“Oh, then can I have them?” Poppy’s bright voice came from behind him.

He whipped around so fast that he didn’t even think about it before loosing a cookie in her direction.

She, of course, caught it. “Thanks!”

“Really? Really? ”

With her most innocent expression, all wide eyes and smooth brow, she watched him and waited, peeling her damned cookie apart and licking the greasy white filling.

“You just happened to be missing for a week, and you show back up the second everything’s”—he looked away from her, ripping another cookie out of the bag and throwing it—“everything’s over.”

“Oh my gods, Cay, seriously? ‘Everything’s over’? Tell me this scene is for melodramatic for effect.” Seeming not the least bit bothered, she sauntered over and planted herself next to him, taking the next cookie before he could toss it. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“How would you possibly know what I’m being ?” He turned to her, glaring, and dumped the rest of the cookies in the bag over the edge all at once.

She frowned as she watched them fall, and looked back up at him, brows knit together. “That was just unnecessary. Pastry-cide?”

“Oreos are not pastries.”

“You should save the rest of those. You really should.” When he moved to grab the next package out of the bag, she threw up a hand in front of him. “Give the kid a break, little brother. He’s the son of a giant fucking douchebag who goes through humans the way some people go through underwear.”

That did give Caleb a moment’s pause. Jasper had said something about it. That his family wouldn’t help if called.

“His sister Sasha is a good egg, too, but she needs more help than him.” Poppy gave a dreamy smile, and the kind of help she wanted to give Sasha was readily apparent. “Really, though. Give him a break. I mean, he loves you , doesn’t he?”

Caleb glared at his sister. “Did you know every single thing that happened this week? I could have died, you know.”

She waved him away dismissively. “You can handle one dark forest spirit.” Hopping up, she leaned over and kissed him on top of the head. “You needed to defeat the big bad bear who had lost touch with his humanity. And now you can go forth into a bright future of sexing up your adorable little twinkubus.”

He stared at her, openmouthed, as she darted around him and grabbed the next bag of cookies. “Do you even hear yourself?”

“I do. I mean, there’s a reason I’m the social one. I say sensible things that people should hear. I don’t just growl and waste cookies.” She ruffled his hair. “I texted you his address. He won’t be hard to find.”

She left him alone with two remaining bags of cookies and his thoughts.

If Jasper really loved him, like he’d said, why had he run off? He had to know that he didn’t have to do what his father did. If one had to follow in their parents’ footsteps, Caleb and Poppy would have been wandering the countryside, kidnapping humans to use as slaves.

So Jasper had to know.

Didn’t he?