Page 23 of Teeth To Rip & Tear

Kaleb blinked.

My breathing was choppy and full of unshed tears. “I can hide.” I was able to say it, so it wasn’t a lie. “Get help.”

Kaleb bared his teeth, unhappy with the idea, but he put his paws on the couch and pulled himself up. I didn’t even wince when his claws pieced the upholstery.

I put my hands together and prayed. To Christian God and the old gods my grandmother called on in times of trouble.

Lugh.

Brigit.

Tuatha Dé Danann hear me.

I needed to get Joel away from the back of the house. I climbed out from my hiding spot, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. Kaleb turned toward the doorway, and I nodded towards the back door.

He didn’t move, and I waved my hands, gesturing wildly.

Another bullet sounded, and we both froze as if waiting for blood to sprout from our bodies. When we remained bullet-free, both of us breathed a sigh of relief.

I reached for the clay pot by the door. Grandmother Eva had called it her ‘chamber pot’ as a joke more than I could count. We’d once attended a pottery class at Fortune Favours when Melly had gone through a phase and bought a kiln.

I grabbed the pot and flung it across the room, shattering the pot into a hundred ceramic shards. I used the momentary confusion to race to the coffee table and climb under like a turtle with a wooden shell.

The voices grew closer, and I pressed my lips so tightly that the muscles in my face hurt. I held my breath, frightened of making a sound.

The quiet flick of the dog door assured me that Kaleb had managed to escape.

He’d get the wolves.

He’d get help.

A stranger climbed in through the window. I knew his face, barely. One of the masses who attended the First Baptist church on East Street and Olive. His wife always looked exhausted and on the verge of tears. A member of Locket’s police department.

Though I was looking right at him, his gaze passed over me, but I didn’t dare loosen my breath.

The intruder’s gun was big, which explained the bursts of gunfire. Some kind of semi-automatic. I felt the iron in the air, repelling everything that made me Fae. My head swam at the mere presence of the gun. If a bullet hit me—even in a non-fatal place—I’d still die.

I had to be patient.

The intruder walked over to the pot, picking up one of the shards. He spotted something among the debris, a necklace,and slipped it into his pocket. I pressed my fist to my mouth and stifled any protest.

I had no idea if Kaleb carried a phone. If he could communicate telepathically with the other wolves or run the whole way to the Chug on the other side of town.

The intruder started pulling down furniture. The coat rack by the door and the side table. Senseless violence. He pointed the gun, searching for a target, and marched to the kitchen.

Another round of gunfire outside, followed by silence, and then a short and sharp scream punctuated by a gurgle.

“What the—” the intruder cursed from the kitchen. “Joel! What the heck is happening out there?”

“It’s a fucking monster, Dave!” My ex-husband called back, fear making his voice high-pitched and whiny. “The damn thing is invisible.”

“Just shoot it!” Dave barked.

“Easy for you to say! I can’t see the darn thing!” Joel called back.

A single gunshot.

A loud curse.

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