New Moon Summer (Seasons of the Moon)
Page 5
“What did you find?” Seth asked, leading him a few feet down the hallway.
“Isoba’s body, and a note written in blood. It said, ‘This is for you, Rylie.’ And it was signed by someone named Cain.” Abel kept his tone level, but he didn’t miss the Biblical implications of the name—Cain had killed Abel, after all.
Seth didn’t miss it, either. “You think that’s really the killer’s name, or is that a direct threat?”
“No idea. But Isoba was shot with a silver bullet.”
“There’s way too much silver flying around today.” Seth turned off the phone and clenched it in his fist. “A hunter tried to shoot Rylie outside the hotel today. And someone sent her a silver bullet at the ranch.”
Abel felt his eyes widen. “When?”
“She said it was a couple of weeks ago.”
And she hadn’t told him? A low growl rose in his throat.
How the hell was he supposed to protect Rylie from hunters if she didn’t tell him when she was in danger?
Seth blew a breath out of his lips. “I don’t think she needs to know about the note from this Cain guy. It’ll worry her too much. But we have to get her somewhere safe.”
Abel nodded sharply. “The ranch isn’t good enough. We should stay on the move. We should—”
“Rylie’s not the only one we need to protect,” his brother interrupted. “We should go home and fortify.”
“And risk Rylie? They know where she lives.”
“They haven’t attacked the ranch yet.” Seth glanced back at the hotel room. “Not until today, and I think that was an accident. Pagan didn’t know she was going to stumble on Rylie here. She must have been looking for me. No—something else is going on.”
Abel wanted to argue further, but the hotel room door opened, and Rylie’s head poked out. She was wearing a bathrobe. Which meant that she had gotten undressed at some point.
Anger surged through Abel, sudden and powerful. He knew that Rylie and Seth had sex. Lots of it. Their bedrooms at the ranch shared a wall, after all, so it was hardly a revelation. But he couldn’t shake the mental image of throttling his little brother.
“What’s going on?” Rylie asked, glancing between them.
“We’re going back to the ranch,” Seth said, joining her at the door. “Get your bag together.” She disappeared, and Seth tossed something to Abel. He caught it. It was the shirt he had given Rylie. “I think that’s yours.”
He closed the door and locked Abel out.
NINE
Surprise
The drive from the airport to the ranch was silent and tense. Rylie wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not, but Seth and Abel weren’t looking at each other. They didn’t speak—not even once—the entire time they were in the car.
Gwyn met them by the Chevelle. She hugged Rylie first, but she embraced Seth extra tightly, too.
“What’s the word?” she asked.
Rylie didn’t bother sugarcoating it. Not for someone like Gwyn. “We found Isoba dead. There are hunters after us, and we need to prepare for the worst.”
Her aunt didn’t even blink.
“Possible war, huh? I’ll haul out the spare lumber in case we need to block the windows. Dinner is cooking. Check on it in five minutes, unless you want your meat burned.”
She headed down to the shed, and Seth followed. “I’ll help you.”
Rylie suppressed a smile. If she had been the hunters, she would have thought twice about attacking anywhere that Aunt Gwyn was protecting.
After a moment, Abel and Rylie were alone aside from the bees and the summer heat. He stared at a fixed point on the horizon, expression unreadable.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
He didn’t look at her. “Don’t get all worried. I’m sure Seth will look out for you.”
Abel vanished into the house.
“But who will take care of you?” she whispered.
Rylie was too wired to sleep after dinner. She kept thinking about the bullet she had gotten in the mail, Pagan attacking her under the tree, and Isoba—poor Isoba.
She decided to put her energy to good use and check for holes in the outer fence one more time. Their barbed wire helped contain the werewolves on full and new moons, but would it be enough to hold off an attack by hunters?
Hunters. Rylie shivered. It had been a long time since she had to fight for her life.
Indentations in the mud on the other side of the fence caught her eye, and she crouched to take a closer look. They looked like tire tracks—deep ones, like those a semi might leave behind. And there was also a set of footprints.
Rylie sniffed. The faint hint of perfume lingered around the mud. Even though it was starting to fade, the odor of flowers was cloying and sweet.
That was Pagan’s perfume. She must have followed them—it smelled like she had been there just hours earlier.
Rylie straightened, half-expecting to come face-to-face with a gun. But the terrain was empty as far as she could see. The clear silver light of the summer moon showed her that.
A dark figure moved in the fields behind her.
Unease crept over Rylie, and she briefly considered running. But then the breeze carried Seth’s smell to her.
She waited for him to join her. “What are you doing out here alone?” he asked, eyes scanning the fields around them.
“Look at this.” Rylie pointed at the tracks. “I smell Pagan. She was here this afternoon.”
“She’s checking us out.” Seth shook his head. “You shouldn’t be out here.”
“I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been worrying.”
He squeezed her hand. “Nothing is going to hurt you. I promise. I won’t let it happen.”
“But it’s already July. You’ll go back to school next month—and then what?” Rylie’s voice trembled. She took a deep, steadying breath. “I mean… it’s fine. But it’s easy for you to tell me not to worry when it won’t be your problem soon.”
“Your safety is always my problem,” Seth said, pressing her hand to his chest. “You fill my mind and heart. I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”
She wanted to say, What about Abel? But she kept her mouth closed.
“We should go inside,” she said instead.
“Wait a second.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “You never asked about the surprise I have for you.”
She had completely forgotten about it. Mortal peril was pretty distracting. “Oh—what is it?”
“Well, I wanted to wait until we could go somewhere special or something, but since it sounds like things might be getting crazy soon…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About our relationship.”
Rylie hung her head. “Yeah. Me too.”
“I want to be with you more, and I just worry we don’t have enough time. You know? And with everything happening now—this Cain thing and missing werewolves and silver bullets…”
Cold fear washed over her. “You’re not breaking up with me, are you?” she asked, cheeks heating and eyes blurring.
Seth’s chuckle stopped her before she could start crying. His smile made her heart skip a beat. “Are you serious? I would never let you go, Rylie. I’d have to be stupid.”
“Then what?”
Without letting go of her hand, he dropped to one knee.
He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it. A slender gold ring was nestled inside.
Rylie’s heart gave up beating entirely. She couldn’t breathe. She could barely even stand up straight.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“Rylie… will you marry me?”
She searched for words and found none. But then motion on the hill caught her eye.
There was somebody watching Seth’s proposal.
The night was bright and clear enough that, even at that distance, Rylie could see the stricken expression on Abel’s face.
And she also saw w
hen someone stepped up behind him and raised a gun.
Pagan.
“Abel!” she yelled, but it was too late.
The gun fired.
THIS ISN’T THE END OF THE STORY!
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
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