Suddenly, he spun, and splitting pain blinded her. She let out a shocked cry and stepped back, her hand covering where he had struck her. Once her vision returned, she glared at him with all her fury.
“Get out of here,” he growled at her. “Now!” He didn’t even look at her.
Without saying anything more, she turned and left the room. She stood outside the door and moved her hand from her face. She looked down to see red in her palm. He must have cut her with his fingernails when he slapped her. The skin burned, hot to the touch.
Alana took a deep, shaking breath and clenched her hand into a fist.
“Fine,” she muttered under her breath, inclining her head toward the office door. “But you’ll soon find out what you’re missing, Simon, and it’s not some fucking werewolf bitch.”
Chapter Nineteen
The drive was long. Jason sat uncomfortably pressed against the door in the cab of the truck. It hadn’t been designed for more than two people, and yet four were cramped together in the tight space. He was glad he wasn’t claustrophobic.
Aurora was seated next to Cheyenne, her arms crossed over her chest, and Rebel was on the other side of her, next to Jason. The air was tense and thick and finally warm once the heater distributed the air. Aurora had asked a question as to where they were going and Cheyenne had answered, “Out of town.” No one had said anything after that.
Jason watched Cheyenne from the corner of his eye. He didn’t trust her and he watched where she drove very carefully. His hand rested on the grip of his pistol, feeling it through the fabric of his wet shirt. Once or twice, she looked at him and her gaze was cold. He returned the stare with no emotion.
The drive seemed to take forever. The rain continued to pelt the windshield and the wiper blades streaked across, making a worse mess. He wondered how Cheyenne could even see to drive.
But she was driving fine, a little too fast for the curvy country roads, but she hadn’t gotten them killed. Yet. Jason still wasn’t sure where she was taking them. For all he knew, she was taking them directly to the hunters. She could be working for one of them. He had no real way of knowing if she was one of his kind or not. He couldn’t smell her. The kids didn’t seem perturbed by her, but he didn’t entirely trust them either. He shifted his position slightly, leaning more toward the door, in case he needed to jump for it.
Cheyenne turned the truck onto yet another country road and Jason stared out the window at the darkening horizon. The sun had set unnoticed in the midst of the storm and everything was darker and more miserable than before. He watched through the rain-splattered window as tree after tree passed him. They slowed down.
Jason sat up in his seat a bit and glanced over the kids’ heads to look at Cheyenne. She didn’t look at him, her eyes focused on the road ahead. They pulled onto a gravel road. The tires crunched over the gravel and Jason was able to see a green painted sign with faded gold lettering.
“Jade Hills,” he read aloud. Aurora turned her head to see, but the sign had passed. She stared out Jason’s window for a few moments then looked over to Cheyenne.
“Jade Hills?” She asked. “What’s that?”
Cheyenne took a deep breath. “It’s the name of my farm.”
“You have your own farm?” Rebel gawked at her with a look of incredulity. Cheyenne gave him a slight smile.
“Yes, I have my own farm. It was my parents, before they died.”
“What kind of farm is it?” Aurora asked.
“Well…” Cheyenne brought the truck through a gate.
Two large trees stood on either side of the fence, their large branches spanning overhead. Jason listened to the conversation without looking at any of them.
“It was a horse farm,” Cheyenne said. “My parents raised and bred them, sold them at auctions. Lately, I haven’t done much selling. I only have three horses now. And we used to have dozens.” She scoffed a little, never taking her eyes from the road.
Aurora peered through the windshield to see if she could get a glimpse of the said horses, but after a moment or so she sank back into her seat. “How come you only have three? What happened to them all?”
“I had to sell them after my family died.” She turned to Aurora briefly. “I can hardly afford Jade Hills as it is.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Aurora’s voice was soft.
Everything was silent again. Rebel moved a bit uncomfortably beside him. Jason kept his fidgeting to a minimum and stared outside. They passed barn after barn, all of them closed and forlorn looking against the darkening sky.
The drive came to an end. Ahead of them, Jason could see a rich, two-story white ranch house. Cheyenne brought the truck to a stop right in front of the porch steps. She put it into park, her elbow at an odd angle so she wouldn’t hit Aurora in the face.
“Well, this is it. Hurry up inside. This rain isn’t going to let up anytime soon.” Cheyenne opened the door and climbed out. She held her hat to her head with one hand, holding out a hand to help Aurora down from the cab. Together, the two females ran for the porch. Rebel was soon after them, having crawled across the seat to Cheyenne’s open door. Jason lingered in the car.
He could still taste the whiskey on his tongue and he enjoyed the sourness of it. He closed his eyes as he let his head rest against the seat. He listened to the rain as it pounded the roof and reopened his eyes to watch as it ran in rivulets down the glass.
He ran a hand through his soggy hair and let out a huge sigh. He turned his head to see the porch light snap on. Cheyenne ushered the kids inside. Rebel worked on unlacing his sneakers. Their muddy shoes were left on the front porch.
Cheyenne turned toward the truck and Jason felt their gazes connect for a moment. Her eyes seemed both harsh and kind as she stared at him. She turned her head toward one of the kids and said something. Aurora glanced toward him, but Cheyenne turned her away with a hand on her back. They all disappeared inside. The screen door slammed behind them. The porch light remained on.
He sighed yet again, listening to the rain fall heavily. It was really coming down now. He mused on his confused thoughts a moment longer, then opened the door. The rain pelted him hard as he jogged to the porch.
He took a cue from Rebel and unlaced his mud-caked boots. They joined the pile of dirty footwear beside the door. He took a deep breath, not really wanting to face them, pulled the screen door open and pushed the heavy wooden door.
It was warm and bright inside. He turned his head to the right and surveyed what looked like the dining room. He could see cabinets against the far wall with expensive, decorative china on display. A long wooden table with several chairs gleamed elegantly in the middle of the room. From the looks of it, it appeared more for show than actual use. He peered around the corner. Yellow light poured from the open door to the kitchen. Cheyenne moved around. Rebel stood somewhere Jason couldn’t see. The shadow he cast was long across the floor.
To his left was another room. There was an atrocious brown couch and a yellow-flowered love seat with matching chair that were perhaps remnants of the seventies. The wallpaper was just as hideous. There was an entertainment center with a large TV that made up for it all and took the focus away from the ugliness of the room.
He remained in the front hall, not wanting to move from where he stood. Cheyenne’s voice rose and fell as she spoke with Rebel. He heard the clanking of plates and silverware as they were placed on a table.
“You’re right,” he heard Cheyenne say. There was a tired tone in her voice.
“How did it happen?” Rebel asked. Jason leaned against the doorway into the dining room to listen without intruding. He had only known Rebel for a short time, and had not known the boy to be very inquisitive. It made him wonder just what he was asking.
“It was a few years ago. There was something spooking the horses at night, and I was getting fed up with it. I went out one night to search the farm and took my shotgun with me.” There was a pause, then a sigh. “It was a we
rewolf. He tried to attack me, blindly. He felt threatened. He tore a huge gash in my leg with his teeth before I shot him. He went down and became a man right before me eyes. I panicked. Who wouldn’t? I didn’t believe in anything like werewolves up until that point.
“Anyway, I took him home, feeling bad for what I did, feeling terrified at the same time. It didn’t take long for him to heal and that’s when I found out the truth. Our blood somehow mixed and I became a werewolf.”
“It’s something like a blood transfusion,” Rebel answered. “Like a disease. That’s what our parents had told us. The blood can affect others if they have even a little bit of the werewolf DNA.”
“Yeah. It’s something like that. I don’t like to think of it as a disease, but yeah, you’re right. They call my kind ‘changed-blood’.”
“Can you shift?” There was a suspicious tone in Rebel’s voice. Jason listened carefully.
“No, I can’t, not yet.” Jason could see Cheyenne’s long hair and a tanned arm from where he was. He moved back a bit so he wouldn’t be seen. “But that doesn’t bother me.”
“I can’t shift yet, either,” Rebel said. “Neither can Aurora. We’ve been trying though, and can only partially shift. Dad always said—” He went silent, his voice wavering a bit. He didn’t say anymore.
“You’re parents are dead, too, I take it?” Cheyenne spoke softly. “Well, looks like we have something more in common.”
“Jason?” Aurora’s quiet voice startled him and he spun to face her. She was stood on the bottom step, looking at him with her wide eyes. Her hands and face were clean of the blood and dirt. “I wanted to say something.”
“What?” Jason said in a snappish voice. He suddenly regretted it when she looked slightly taken aback by his response. She blinked a few times before speaking.
“I just wanted to thank you, for helping us. Even when you didn’t have to, you still stuck with us.” She smiled faintly.
Jason stared at her for a moment, comprehending her words finally. “It was no big deal,” he managed to croak out. His throat locked up suddenly. Aurora’s smiled widened.
“I think you’re really a good person,” she continued.
Jason gave a shake of his head. “You don’t know me, kid. Not really.”
Her smile faded. “I think you’ll find your girlfriend.”
“Thanks.”
There was an awkward silence between them now. Aurora looked as if she wanted to say something more, but didn’t. She gave a tiny smile, then moved past him and into the dining room. Jason took a deep breath and followed.
Cheyenne moved around the kitchen minus her cowboy hat. She removed pans from beneath a counter. “I’m not that great at cooking, but I have some spaghetti and sauce in the cabinet. I figured you guys need a good meal.”
“I’m starving.” Aurora said. “Can I help?”
“Sure.” Cheyenne handed her a small pan and the sauce. “Open that up and put it in there, set it on the stove on medium heat.” As Aurora set to do her task, Cheyenne looked at Jason. “You look like you could use a shower and some clean clothes. All of you do, in fact,” she said, looking toward the kids.
“I’ll be right back,” she told Aurora. “Come on,” she added to Jason and brushed by him on her way out of the room. Rebel lifted an eyebrow at Jason, but Jason’s sullen expression wiped it from his face.
Cheyenne lead Jason up the stairs and stopped once at the second room on the right. She pulled out a key from the pocket of her jeans and unlocked the door. It opened with a creak, revealing the darkness inside.
She flipped on the light and the room was suddenly bright. It was a bedroom, immaculately clean. The bed was made, the blankets unwrinkled. Several posters of rock stars and bands from the eighties papered the walls. Cheyenne stepped inside and he followed.
“This used to be my brother, Tommy’s room. He’s dead, so he’s not using it anymore.” Her boots were loud upon the hardwood floor as she walked across it to a closet. She threw open the doors and looked inside.
“These are all his old clothes. They’re might be something in there that’ll fit you. Have a look around…” She trailed off and looked at several pairs of jeans. She pulled one out of the closet. “These might fit the boy.” she said, as an afterthought. She glanced toward Jason.
“I know you were listening to our conversation in the kitchen.” She gave a bit of a grin when Jason felt his heart drop. “And it’s fine. I was going to tell you the story anyway. Now I don’t have to repeat it.”
Jason merely stared at her for a long while. Most people grew uncomfortable under his stare, but not Cheyenne. She met his gaze and held it until it was he who finally had to look away.
“Just find something to wear and eat a bite of food. We can talk about all this later, after the kids go to sleep.”
“I don’t want to talk about anything.”
Cheyenne considered. “All right. I’ll talk, and you listen. How does that sound?” When Jason didn’t say anything, she grinned again. “Just think it over.”
She moved past him. She carried the jeans for Rebel in her arm. She closed the door behind her and Jason listened until he could no longer hear her footsteps.
He peeled off his dirty and wet clothes and threw them onto the floor. He stood in the nude as he searched through the closest. He soon was dressed in a pair of leather pants and a black muscle shirt. Tommy had been roughly his size. The pants were a little big, but Jason found a belt to remedy that.
By the time he had finished dressing, found a bathroom to wash in, and made his way downstairs, the spaghetti was finished. He sat with the others and ate quickly and silently. He avoided questions and avoided looking at anyone.
Cheyenne found clothes for Aurora and the young teen looked even smaller in an overlarge country music T-shirt and pants that were rolled up at the cuffs. Rebel wore the jeans Cheyenne had brought down and a red long-sleeved shirt. He continuously pushed the sleeves of the shirt to his elbows to keep them from trailing into his food.
It was early evening. The clock on the kitchen wall told the time to be nearly seven-thirty. The kids were drowsy once their stomachs were full. Cheyenne didn’t let them linger too long at the table.
“Come on, guys. I’ll take you upstairs to the bedroom. You look like you could use a very long sleep.”
“Thanks,” Aurora said, amid a yawn. She covered her mouth with her hand until it passed. Both kids looked exhausted. Rebel said nothing but followed the both of them back up the stairs. Jason stared at the tomato-streaked plate before him a long moment before he stood. He went to the fridge and opened the door. Cheyenne had beer stocked in the back and he took one and popped the lid of it. He drank from it thirstily until half the bottle was gone before closing the refrigerator door.
But he didn’t sit down at the table to finish. He rummaged around in the cabinets above the sink, searching for something. He found what he was looking for on the highest shelf—a nearly full bottle of Jack Daniel’s brand whiskey. He finished the beer off in another large gulp before opening the whiskey. He took a drink straight from the bottle and made a face as it burned his throat.
“I thought I told you to take it easy with that stuff,” Cheyenne said from behind him. She stood in the doorway and watched him. Jason glared at her and took a defiant drink.
“And I said I don’t care. I want to get drunk. I want to forget all the fucked up shit that’s happened to me.”
Cheyenne took a seat at the table, pushing back dirty plates to make room for her folded hands. “You don’t want to do that,” she said calmly.
“Why not?” Jason asked her. He turned to face her. He leaned his back against the sink. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.”
“I would if you would tell me.”
Jason scoffed and took another drink of the whiskey. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Cheyenne watched him from across the table, but her stare was not harsh or cold. Her words were.
<
br /> “So you would drown your troubles in whiskey, forget they ever happened? Leave your girlfriend to her fate because you feel sorry for yourself and can’t do jack shit to save her?”
Jason felt the rage build in him and he tightened his fist around the bottle. “How did you know?”
“About your mate? The kids told me. And don’t be getting pissed at them because of it. They didn’t tell me everything, because you didn’t tell them everything. All I know is that she was kidnapped and you are trying to get her back.”
“It’s none of your business,” Jason said. His words slurred slightly as he spoke into the whiskey bottle. He took a very long drink from it as Cheyenne watched him.
“I think it is my business. I’ve had my share of problems with hunters, and I know you won’t last two seconds in your state of mind if you try to go after them now.”
Jason tried not to listen to her words. He kept drinking. The bottle was nearly half empty and he already felt lightheaded. He would drink until there was nothing left and he couldn’t even remember his name anymore.
“The last thing you want to do is hurt yourself further by drinking that awful stuff. It won’t help you get rid of the pain and it won’t help you forget. It will only make it worse.”
“That’s what you think,” Jason said. His words were suddenly painfully loud.
“It’s not what I think, it’s what I know.” Cheyenne stood and moved over to him. “You heard what I told the boy about how I became what I am, but I didn’t tell him everything.”
“Are you going to pour your heart out and tell me your life story? Save it. I don’t want to hear it.”
“You’ll want to hear this, Jason.” She wrenched the bottle from him before he had a chance to react. “Now, sit down, and listen to me.”
For a moment, Jason considered not listening to her. He thought about stealing her keys and taking her truck. He had wasted enough time here. He needed to find Rose. He took a step from the sink and felt dizzy. He grabbed the edge of the table and eased himself down into one of the chairs. Cheyenne grabbed the cap to the whiskey and screwed it back on, staring at the half empty bottle.
Blood Moon Page 18
