Page 28 of Bloodline Unbound

She lifted her feet out of the water and I scampered out of the way of the falling droplets. I couldn’t do much, but if I could get Caden back on Logan’s good side, that seemed like a decent start.

The forest woke me. I didn’t know how, but I felt the trees reach for me. I slid out of bed and it was a testament to Caden’s exhaustion that he didn’t wake at my first movement. Seth was awake in the living room. His hazel eyes locked on me when I emerged from the bedroom.

The pull towards the window was stronger than the pull to him, so I walked right past him and pulled open the curtains and then the patio doors. Outside the voice of the forest was louder.

It’s coming.

Goosebumps skittered over my flesh. I’d felt the forest before but I’d never heard it speak to me. Their cry reverberated through my bones, sending a surge of panic leaping up my spine that made my stomach clench and my breath squeeze out in a soft moan.

The hunter, what I’d dubbed the strange entity, was close.

I turned to Seth and he’d already gotten off the couch, his body frozen and trembling not far from me. He was looking at me like he was starving and I was a meal freshly set before him. Heat pulsed through my core and my clit throbbed. His nostrils flared and his muscles tightened further. I could have reached out and touched him if I wanted to, and want I did, but I wouldn’t hurt Caden like that.

Instead of pulling Seth close, I stepped back. “We need to leave.”

My words seemed to break the spell holding him immobile.

“Caden,” I called. He appeared in the doorway a second later. “The forest is warning us. It’s time to go.”

“I’m going to need to ask some questions,” said Caden.

“In the car,” I insisted, dragging the curtains closed.

Most of our things were already packed, so getting ready didn’t take long. We returned our key through a slot in the door and as our car pulled away, I saw it. Emerging from the trees like a disease, the hunter was amorphous—black sludge, smoke, and shards of blinding sunlight brought to life. It rippled at the edge of the forest, smashing flailing arms against the trees that tried to hold it back. Energy burned through me, revving like an engine until I was sweating and unable to look away.

“Drive,” I whispered, my attention focused on the beast. Caden tore out of there and the hunter shrieked. It ran at us but thankfully it wasn’t nearly as fast as we were. I stared out the window until it disappeared from sight. Caden drove as fast as he could.

You saw it? Caden’s voice filled my head.

I nodded.

How close did it get?

“Too close.”

We drove in uncomfortable silence for another hour. It took that long for us all to settle. My body still tingled from the panic and I couldn’t forget the way Seth had looked at me. Forbidden ideas crept through my head.

I shouldn’t want both.

But I did.

I forced down a shiver at the thought of them, one pressed to my back and the other to my chest. I squirmed in my seat. They were so much nicer to think about than a monster wanting to kill us.

Caden’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel and Seth let out a low whine in the back seat.

“Sorry,” I whispered, embarrassment turning my cheeks hot. “I got scared.”

Caden reached out and took my hand in his. It was a comfort even if it made me think about that hand wrapped around my throat. That would be way more fun than running for our lives. At least if we were running west we would hit long flat stretches that would let us get a lot more distance between us and that creature.

Lo, can I sit with you?

I turned to the back seat, where Seth was sitting in his smallest form, looking at me with saucer eyes. I absolutely shouldn’t let him while I was riled up, but I nodded anyway. He slunk through the seats and sat his little booty on my lap. Caden glared at him but Seth blinked back innocently and curled into a ball. His tiny feet made biscuits on my stomach when I pet his soft fur.

Why were cats so damn relaxing? I’d used Caden in the same way before, each stroke like a calming mantra that chilled us both out. Having Seth in his house cat form also helped temper my recalcitrant lust.

We zipped down I-79 through West Virginia, hauling ass towards Kentucky. We were about five hours from Lexington and thankfully I’d peed before we left because I knew none of us wanted to stop too soon.

“I vote we drive as far as we possibly can. Switch off every few hours, stop for food and bathrooms, regroup, and have a proper overnight.” Caden’s hands were locked in a death grip around the steering wheel. “It took that thing a little over a day to get to us. If we drive through the night, that should give us at least a few days of reprieve to figure shit out.”

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