Where would she go? Towards town, but she might be lost. Sick. Scared. And if Odessa had dragged her out here, shoeless, she wouldn’t get very far with bare feet. The terrain was rough, littered with sharp stones and broken branches.
And he would have seen her if she’d managed to find her way back.
Cal spun away from town, heading in the direction opposite from sunset. East, towards the forested area that lay beyond the back reaches of Ravensgate, where the pines grew fully entangled, knotting together in full view of the sunless sunroom like a natural barricade.
He ran into his sister—nearly literally. She had her gun pinched under one arm, a bottle of Champagne in the otherhand. She was trying to twist the cork off, working it back and forth until it exploded with a foamy pop that had her letting out a whoop.
Her eyes met his as she lifted the bottle to drink right from the mouth. “Baby Cal!” she said, looking far too pleased to see him. “What a surprise!”
“Where. Is. She.”
“So possessive.” She laughed, and he found himself wanting to kill her. “Don’t look at me like that. You should be thanking me. Ben wanted to kill her straight off but I convinced him it would be more sporting to deal with her the old-fashioned way.”
“Don’t make me ask you again.Whereis she?”
“God, you’re no fun. Fine, I left her in your stupid precious glade like a little present for you to unwrap.” She took a sip of Champagne, unbothered. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
“She isn’t there.”
“She’s not?”
A crack sounded from the direction Cal had just come from. Then there was a scream—loud and piercing. Female.
Odessa’s smug smile slipped slightly. “Uh-oh.”
“If something happens to her—” Cal headed for that direction, his mind already churning with thoughts of violence.
When Odessa grabbed him by the back of his shirt. he only just managed to not strike her.
“Let go of me.”
“Don’t.” She tightened her grip when he struggled, swearing when the stitches popped with an audible rip. “Dammit, Cal, I’ve never seen Ben like this. There’s something wrong. He’s got the bloodlust and he’ll only shoot you, too, if you get in his way.”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” he growled. “Besides—”
“Besides,” she said, raising her voice. “She’ll be running this way if it is her.”
“And if he hits her?” Cal twisted, undoing his buttons. There was a series of audible snaps as more seams forcibly unraveled, leaving his sister holding an empty shirt. He stepped back, holding his gun in front of himself. “If he already has? She could be bleeding out, for all we know!”
“It’s Ben,” she said flippantly, balling up his shirt and tossing it at him. “He couldn’t hit 21 if he had a winning hand of blackjack. Wait over there and I’ll send her to you. He might shoot you without a thought, but he’d hesitate before shooting me.”
Cal knotted his shirt around his waist. “Why should I trust you?”
She didn’t answer right away. “Did she really give herself to you? After everything?”
“Yes,” he said shortly.
“Then you’ve done everything by the book and it’s all signed and sealed, isn’t it? Just like great-grandfather wanted.” She took another sip of Champagne. “Besides,” she said in a dry tone. “I think I’ll like having a little sister.”
Cal shook his head, watching her flounce off into the woods. Playing this off like it was one of her artist retreats when it was a matter of life and death. All around him, he could hear the chatter of crickets, the cries of nocturnal insects and beasts. Smaller rustlings indicated the presence of animals, revealing themselves with the crunch of leaves, the snap of a twig.
And then—something louder. A rhythmic susurration with percussive weight.
Nadine crashed through the underbrush with the subtlety of a stampede. He could hear her ragged breathing, hitching with desperate sobs. One of her arms was wrapped around her own waist—guarding, he thought, stepping closer, concerned. She was wounded.
And her head was turned, looking over her shoulder in pure terror.
“Nadine,” he said.
