Page 30 of Shadow of Death

“Since we’re already having a weird conversation anyway, did you happen to see someone in a dark cloak on the beach the day we left?”

He laughed. “Yeah. Of course I did. Can’t tell you who it was, but he wasn’t of this world. Sure seemed fixated on you, though.”

“So you’ve seenothers? Like, things not from this world?”

“Yes, but I try to stay under the radar. No good comes from catching their notice.” He gave me a knowing look, since clearly I already had.

“And what do you do if you have?”

“From the stories I’ve heard? You give them whatever they ask for.”

He grabbed the bottle, refilling my glass. I didn’t fight him and threw it back as soon as he did. After this conversation, I needed another. I now had two beings from the beyond watching me. One had already been too many.

Chapter Fourteen

I steppedonto the rocky shore of the Scottish coast, wind blowing my hair into my face. The coastline was rugged, with the hills rising in the distance. It was beautiful. I used to think I’d come here as a tourist one day. I’d never imagined being here like this.

The crew of the boat were already rowing the dinghy back to the main ship. I wanted to go with them.

Kicks turned to me. “Do you know where about in Scotland we have to go? Did she give you any information?” He was speaking like a man of infinite patience.

I blew out a long breath. My patience was gone. All I wanted to do was call Death and then strangle her. Could you kill something that was already dead? Maybe I could make it a thing? It was worth a try.

“Death hasn’t shown her face since we left Georgia. I’m sure she’ll tell me whenshe’sready. I guess we’ll wait until then.” The waiting, which had never been a lot of fun, seemed worse now that I was so close to my target. When I was in Arkansas, it had been easier to push this from my mind. The closer we got, the heavier it grew.

Kicks nodded. “Let’s get off the beach for now,” he said, scanning the horizon.

There was no one in sight, but that didn’t mean there weren’t people watching us from the buildings. We couldn’t take anything for granted.

I followed after him, not sure where we were headed other than out of sight.

“How far is this from where your family’s from?” I asked, watching the buildings as we got closer to the small town.

Kicks’ steps slowed for a second before he kept going. “They live in the top northeast corner of Scotland.”

“They’re still here?”

“Yes. My father, half-brother, and aunt, along with the rest of the pack.”

I’d assumed they were all dead because he never spoke of them. Turned out they were all just in Scotland? I waited for him to say something—anything—else.

Well, this was a little awkward.

“Since we’ve got some time on our hands, want to go see them?” I asked.

“Not all of them are friendly to humans,” he said.

Maybe I should stop talking. But how could henotsee them if we were here? He was here because of me. He should get something out of this. Although maybe they werethatbad.

“How ‘not friendly’ are we talking about?”

Kicks looked over his shoulder at me. “Enough that it might make it uncomfortable.”

That wasn’t so bad, and I refused to be the reason he didn’t see them.

“Since Death doesn’t seem to be forthcoming with any details, we’ve got nothing else to do. We could be hanging out here for a while. You sure you don’t want to see them?” Even ifthey weren’t the best, it had to be better than holing up in some abandoned building waiting for Death to call.

He stopped walking and turned to me. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? I’m not joking when I tell you some of them aren’t pleasant.”

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