He never saw my claws. But, he felt them. With a grunt, the mutt fell to his knees and clutched his middle. His pained sounds weren’t the only ones. The other two men were moving, trying to drag themselves into the trees. The fourth had already shifted to his skin. The three who were wounded wouldn’t last much longer. Our healing could only do so much.
The back door opened, and Henry climbed out. Behind him, Aden and Liam clung to each other, their little faces pale and their eyes wide.
“I’ll grab some clothes from the trunk for both of you,” Henry said.
Paul shifted back to his skin in the bloodied snow where he lay. I shifted as well, the cold winter air giving me goosebumps. Kneeling beside Paul, I felt along his leg for the break.
“Want me to try to straighten it?” I asked.
“Yeah. I don’t want it to heal funny.”
He grunted as I gripped his leg and did my best. Our healing gave us an advantage, but it needed help sometimes. I hoped what I’d done would keep him from walking with a limp in the future.
Henry tossed clothes at us then went to the car again to hold the cubs.
As much as I want to see them suffer, we don’t want them communicating our location to anyone,Henry sent me.
I lifted my head to see the one near us trying to use his phone.
“Get dressed,” I said.
I stood, leaving my clothes in the snow to approach the dying Urbat. Knocking the device from his fingers, I swiped my claws across his throat on the backswing before moving to finish the other two. I left them where they lay, thankful that the falling snow and the pre-dawn hours had kept the road free of any traffic.
“We need to move,” Paul called.
In the distance, I caught oncoming lights and regretted my thankful thought.
“Damn.”
I picked up the first body and threw it into the ditch, followed quickly by the second. The blood in the road would be hard to see with the falling snow. A naked man would be easier to spot. Sprinting around the car, I tugged on my pants then lifted Paul into the front seat.
We were back on the road before the car passed us. With any luck, they hadn’t noticed anything.
Henry spoke soothingly to the cubs in back while Paul panted beside me.
Winifred, Paul’s been hurt. Broken leg. He’ll live, but we need a place to hole up so he can rest and heal until you get here. Oh, and you need Michelle to buy the rental. We can’t return it.
Seven
OLIVIA…
I opened my eyes to the light of the third morning away from Blake and shivered with fear. This was taking too long. I’d need to end it this afternoon. Any longer than that and the Others would demand more than I could afford to give.
“I think that’s the first true emotion you’ve shown,” Winifred said from somewhere in the room.
“Is that why you don’t trust me?” I asked as I sat up. “Because I hide my emotions?”
“It’s hard to trust someone who seems to be hiding so much.”
I nodded and eased out of bed. The Others were busy dancing around objects. A few clung to Winifred, like they did when someone was in pain or grieving.
“Why are you upset?” I asked. “Did something happen overnight?”
“Why would you think that?”
“The Others are fascinated with you right now. There are only a few times they do that. One is when a person is truly, emotionally upset.”
She considered me for a moment, her stillness reminding me of Blake whenever I’d upset him.
