Page 15 of Above All Else

Vail

Elevation 8,150 ft.

They say Vail had a way of turning mean this time of year. The elevation marked on that weathered sign wasn’t just anumber—it was a warning. Like clockwork, the population took a nosedive every ten years, dropping faster than flies on a frosty night.

Murder and mayhem had a way of sneaking in, and by the time anyone noticed, it was too late. People packed up and fled, leaving behind empty houses with darkened windows. And here I was, driving straight into the heart of it as if I’d been invited to the dance.

The hillside belched plumes of smoke into the air as a raging fire devoured the pine trees and sagebrush. By the winding river, another house smoldered, its frame barely visible through the thick, choking haze.

Take the exit and turn around.

With a heavy foot, I veered to the right and took the first exit, my vision narrowing. To the left, a woman stood her ground against two menacing masked men, a knife gripped in one hand, a pistol in the other, a dead body at their feet. One bore a gold bird clutching a metal bat in his bloodied hands, while the other hid behind the dark threat of a black wolf’s mask.

It’s starting...

My stomach lurched, bile searing the back of my throat, my head turning into a static TV as I turned away from the deadly scene.

Why the hell can’t I feel my fingers?

My car kept going, the road blurring as my hands slid down the steering wheel, numbness creeping from my fingertips up to my wrists.

A heavy weight settled in my skull, dragging my head forward. The seatbelt snapped tight as the car slowed, jumped the curb, and slammed into a tree on the water’s edge, stopping me from plunging into the shallow river. My head hit the steering wheel, causing my tunneling vision to tighten.

What did…he…give me?

I groaned and held my head with the back of my wrist, my hand flopping and useless. The dark water called to me, the silence broken by my thudding heart.

Car lights beamed into the darkness as I sat back, my head flopping against the headrest.

My thighs sunk into my seat, and my feet refused to move as though suctioned in heavy sand at the ocean when the tide recedes.

Then, out of the shadows, he appeared—the beast at my door. His horns curled back like twisted branches, and with a deliberate tap on the window, he made the darkness come alive. “Unlock the door, June.”

My shoulder rocked toward the door, but my hands remained in my lap, unmoving, my tongue heavy in my mouth, my jaw numb.

What’s happening to me?

Carter huffed and bent over. When he straightened, his arm swung up—the rock in his hand crashing through my window, shattering glass into a rain of sharp shards.

A screech locked in my throat as he reached through the crumbling remnants and unlocked the door, swinging it open.

“The hunt is the best part of all of this, so don’t forget to fight me.”

His voice dropped, taking on an eerie quality as if he’d recorded it on a vinyl and played it backward. With a cold efficiency, he reached inside, unclipped my belt, and dragged me out of the car—my legs like rubber beneath me.

His voice reverberated in my mind, echoing and pulsing with a maddening intensity, then fading to a distant murmur as if he’d sprinted miles away and shouted from a valley’s edge.

My eyes rolled to the sky as I slumped against him, his powerful arms wrapping around me, the darkness eating away at my consciousness.

“Right on time.”

Chapter 5

Carter

Her limp body puddled into my arms, falling against my chest, her cheek flattening as her mouth fell open.

God, why did she have to look like an angel?

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