Page 11 of Cold Heir

I should’ve known this experience would be … interesting.

The first clue was Levi’s careful search for beartraps and landmines on the surrounding property. He passed me a cautious smile as the large stick he sacrificed was forcibly snapped in two by the giant, metal jaws that lurched from beneath a pile of leaves.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?”

I clung to his arm when asking, unashamed at how apprehensive I felt about moving forward. Anyone who took such drastic measures to keep people away, clearly didn’t want company.

“It’s fine. Glenn’s harmless. Just a tad eccentric,” Levi insisted as we took another step.

Scanning the ground carefully, I searched for more traps. His Ianite eyes were definitely sharper than mine, but my parents had trained me well.

“Wait!” I whispered, gripping Levi’s arm tight when I pointed. Roughly six inches in front of him lie a well-hidden tripwire. He stared at it a moment, maybe imagining what would have happened if I hadn’t noticed it.

“Thanks,” he whispered back, taking his next step even slower than the last.

There should have been a sense of relief when we managed to make it to the house of someone he was familiar with, but I hadn’t gotten that yet. Whoever this‘eccentric’Ianite was, he’d gone all out with his security measures. Either he was extremely paranoid, or he had good reason for all of this.

Both those options made the concern within me grow.

A small, shack-like house came into view and I swallowed a breath. Inside, several lights were still ablaze, so I guessed that meant this Glenn person was still up and about despite the late hour.

Lucky us.

The closer we got, the more intrigued I became.

More of the colorful paintings we spotted on the trees at the edge of the property hung from wood slats. They’d been tied to the overhang of a dilapidated, wraparound porch. Near the steps, a bench swing moved with the breeze, its chain screeching against the braces from which it hung. Just above it, a macabre art piece, a ‘windchime’—if it could be called that—had been crafted out of bones and teeth. The sound it made when the wind blew was ominous, sending a chill scurrying down my spine.

“Are those …human?” I dared to ask.

Levi peered down on me when he shook his head, doing his best to reassure me with the nonchalant expression he wore.

“Nah, of course not,” he asserted. “At least … I don’tthinkthey are.”

My heart sank, but I hid my nerves. “Fair enough, I guess.”

We took the stairs lightly, but it didn’t matter. The aged wood creaked and groaned beneath our weight anyway.

“If he’s as skittish as I think he is, shouldn’t we maybe call out to him first? To avoid spooking him?”

Levi stood in place for a moment, considering my suggestion. “We should be fine. Once he sees it’s—”

That sentence was cut short by the menacing click of a shotgun being pumped from behind us. The barrel of it pressed to Levi’s spine and we froze.

“You’ve got three seconds to tell me who you are and why you’re here.”

The strained rattle of his voice gave away his age, but I didn’t for one second think that meant he was feeble. The few elderly who had been turned usually weren’t. In the very least, hisgunpacked power, and that was enough for me.

“Glenn, it’s … it’s me. Levi. I’ve visited heremanytimes with Julian, your grandson.”

That explanation filled me with so much confusion, I nearly forgot the weapon that had been drawn on us.

This man was Julian’s grandfather? How did someone of his status end up in a place like this?

There was a brief stint of silence while the man seemed to process what Levi shared. The next second, the steel barrel was lowered, and I breathed deeply.

“What onEarthare you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” The old-timer asked through a choked laugh.

Levi turned to meet my gaze, discreetly moving me behind him before addressing Glenn.

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