“Whoops,” he said, trying to sound light and flippant and probably falling short. There was just so much tension in the air, and Seth had no fucking clue why. “Haven’t done that in a while.”
The next few moments were pure, terrifying confusion.
One moment, Seth was looking at Riley, trying to figure out why his friend was so angry at his moms’ visit, and why his nostrils were flaring like that, and then the next moment Riley’s face…changed.
His dark eyes went even darker, the whites disappearing completely, and his lips twisted into a snarl, revealing two very pointed canines.
Fangs, Seth thought distantly. But there wasn’t time to dwell on it because Riley was lunging toward Seth from across the room, and then Riley’s moms were on him, holding Riley back.
Seth didn’t understand. For all that Sybil was tall and built, Seth didn’t see how the two womencouldhold Riley back, with his youth and his imposing size. Seth had tasted a sample of Riley’s strength the night Riley had tackled him, and it wasn’t insignificant.
But the women were managing, until suddenly they weren’t. And then Riley was leaping toward Seth again. But then Sybil was moving faster than anyone should have been able to, and she was behind Riley with her hands clutching the back of his head.
There was a horrible crunching sound.
Someone was screaming.
It was Seth.Sethwas screaming.
Because Riley was on the bakery floor now, his body limp and his neck bent at an unnatural angle, and Seth couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Could only scream and keep screaming.
What had justhappened?
9
SETH
Someone was still screaming.
It was Seth, of course, since neither of the women were uttering a sound.
The two beautiful, friendly women who had just…killed their son?
Or—or maybe Riley was okay, somehow. It didn’t look like he was breathing, and his neck was at the wrong angle, but also, how could he not be okay? He’d been standing at Seth’s front door only a minute ago.
He couldn’t be dead. Of course he couldn’t be.
Seth tried to steer away from the gaping chasm of despair that was opening up inside his chest, afraid to let himself drop in. His cheeks were wet. Screamingandcrying, then. He was fucking useless in a crisis, wasn’t he?
The police. Seth needed to call the police. Or—or an ambulance. He was out of his depth here. He still didn’t understandwhat had happened, but he knew it was bad. He knewsomethinghad gone terribly, terribly wrong.
Before he could even think of where his phone might be, two hands were on either side of his face, holding him in place.
Seth hadn’t even seen Sybil move. How had she gotten to him so fast? Was she about to twist his head off its axis too? Was it going to hurt?
Dark eyes bore into his. Black eyes. Like, completely black, without any white around the edges at all. They hadn’t been that color when he’d first met her.No one’seyes were that color.
No one except Riley just now, when he’d been trying to leap at Seth. And that first night too…hadn’t Seth thought Riley’s eyes were black? He’d convinced himself it was a trick of the light.
Seth wanted to ask him. He wanted Riley to get off the floor so Seth could ask him what the hell was going on.
Please get up, Riley. Please, please get up.
“You will remain calm,” Sybil told Seth sternly, her palms warm against his skin. “And you will listen.”
It was nonsense, what she was saying. Nothing on earth was going to quell Seth’s panic, his impending grief. And he sure as fuck wasn’t going to listen to the woman who’d just snapped Riley’s neck.
But it was like Seth’s body and mind were reacting without his permission. His mouth slackened, all his screaming suddenly done with. The horrible, constricting feeling in his chest loosened, his muscles unknotting without his say-so.
