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Scrambling into the car with the rest of my friends, I didn’t turn back until Ben had reversed down the drive faster than Angie booking it to waffle night in the commons.

Riss gripped the back of my seat to hold herself upright with white knuckles. “What was his deal? That guy’s insane!”

“He wasn’t like that the last time I saw him,” I said, every word shaking like I was five again and Dad was yelling at me for accidentally tracking mud in the house. “He was helpful, and kind. He seemed like it at least.”

“Must have been a show for the cops,” Riss said with a derogatory snort.

Ben said calmly, “I don’t think it’s that big a deal.”

“Uh... Did you miss the guy yelling and brandishing an ax at us? Were you there? Did you black out?” Riss scoffed.

“No,” Ben retorted as he smoothly turned the car around to drive forward the rest of the way to the connecting road. “But I’ve seen crazier reactions to trespassing and heard stories of guys getting shot at. People are serious about private property and unsanctioned hunting around here. He was probably just sick of people scaring off all the game on his land and mucking it up. I bet it was pretty untouched before this weekend.”

While I could agree with the reasonableness and logic of Ben’s explanation, it didn’t stop the shaking. I huddled close to the little heat vents, fiddling with the tabs to make sure it was blowing straight on me at full power.

“He still gave me weird vibes,” Riss grumbled.

“Me, too,” Angie echoed. She cooed gently to the dog in her lap, praising Maple for being such a good protector.

“And me,” I added weakly. “He and Fox both act like they’ve got something to hide in those woods, and I don’t like it.”

Ben let out a sigh, blinker on as he stalled at the intersection of the dirt road and main road. “We’re going back, aren’t we?”

I didn’t have to answer, for Riss gave a resounding, “Hell yeah, we are.”

Chapter 10

My thoughts turned over and over again. One memory haunted me all night so that I tossed and turned so aggressively that Riss was forced to break out earplugs and an eye mask.

The eyes.

The haunted, bruise-color glow of eyes in the distance, standing tall, lurking in the trees not far from the house. I didn’t want to assume a beast was what took Everly, but I couldn’t leave a single stone unturned.

The Winters had something to hide in those woods. Something that would drive them to paranoid frenzies whenever people showed up unexpectedly.

The next day, I didn’t call. Again.

I wanted to see what Arthur’s reaction would be when I turned up unexpectedly for the second time. I was building a case of my own, and I needed to find out just what type of person Arthur Winter was when he wasn’t in host mode.

My friends and I skipped one more day of classes. Though I missed an inexcusable lab that would kill my grades early in the semester, it wasn’t like I was going to do phenomenal if my sister was missing all semester anyway. I wasn’t the sort of girl to throw myself into schoolwork to distract from the pain. I faced the pain. I beat it up and made it bend to my will, no matter the cost.

It wasn’t like this was a sort of pain to be ignored either way.

A few minutes out from Winter’s Teeth, my phone buzzed, and I shifted Maple in my lap to read it.

Sperm Donor: Where are you?

Sperm Donor: Why haven’t you called?

Sperm Donor: No news, but you should call. It’s the right thing to do in times like this.

I rolled my eyes heavenward, groaning silently in the back of my throat.

Luckily, I had the excuse of no cell service as soon as we turned up the familiar gravel drive, and I pocketed my phone to deal with that mess later.

It didn’t matter what the circumstances were. Happy or sad, deadly or calm, Robert Bennett would always hold a severe level of disappointment in me. Though he had compared me to Everly for years, his attempt to drive a wedge between us and isolate me further for easier breaking failed spectacularly. His constant comparing became our inside jokes, and his attempts to pit us against each other only strengthened our bond. It had hurt for a bit, but Everly made sure it didn’t scar. She took care of me, and now it was my job to take care of her by any means possible.

We found Arthur’s truck already parked at the cabin when we pulled in.