Page 44 of Claws and Feathers

Daphne twirled one of her rings on her index finger as she glanced in Abby’s direction. “Just Maya. Why? Do you think he has some weird fetish for helpless victims?” Daphne spared her a humorous grin, but her smile quickly faded when she noticed that Abby wasn’t sharing in the mirth. “Oh, shit. Youdothink that.”

“I – I don’t know. Henry made a comment that night we all went out. I can’t get it out of my head.”

Daphne seemed to ponder the assessment before she replied. “Look, you know I’m not a McAllister fan. If I had any dirt on Cooper that could steer you away from him, I would. But the truth is, he’s not a bad guy. His biggest fault is that he’s Kate’s brother.” She slowed her steps and linked her arm with Abby’s. “Maya’s case was different than yours. She was involved in a hit-and-run accident. Cooper was still tracking down the guy who hit her when they got together. It’s a small town, and people gossip, so he got kind of a bad rap for it.”

Abby let out the breath she’d been holding in for the last two weeks. She could live with that. The story wasn’t as scandalous as she’d made it out to be in her mind.

Daphne gave her arm a squeeze. “Besides… I never saw him look at Maya the way he looks at you.”

Abby’s steps came to a sudden stop at Daphne’s words. She ducked her head, unable to hold back the smile that was bursting at her lips.

But before she could respond, a middle-aged man approached them. Abby slunk back as he leaned in close to her, his breath smelling like tobacco and cheap liquor. He had wrinkles on his face and a salt-and-pepper beard. He was wearing a dark baseball cap.

“Hello, Little Bird.”

Abby’s legs weakened and her airways tightened. Gruesome memories came rushing to the surface, forcing her heart to explode with undiluted panic. She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t breathe.

Abby latched onto Daphne, clutching at her arm, desperate for something to keep her from crashing to the pavement.No, no, no.He’d found her.

The Man had found her.

“Abby? Shit, Abs, are you okay?”

Daphne’s voice was muddled and murky. Abby felt her knees give out as she crumbled to the sidewalk, clawing at her chest, demanding oxygen.

She couldn’t breathe.

“I’m calling 9-1-1,” Daphne said, lowering herself to Abby’s level and rubbing her back.

The man crouched down along with them and his face seemed to change. “She’s having a panic attack. Give her a minute,” he said.

Abby stared at him, her vision becoming clearer.

It was not The Man.

No, this was someone else. He was middle-aged, but he had no beard and no baseball cap. He had dark hair and eyeglasses.

Abby tried to regain control of her breathing, gulping in huge swallows of air. She felt tears sting at her eyes. “I – I’m sorry. Why did you call me that?” Her words were trembling and unsteady. Her body was still shaking.

“What? I was just asking for directions,” he said.

Daphne pulled her in for a hug as they sat on the sidewalk. Passersby began to crowd them, curious and nosy, whispering amongst themselves.

“Abby,” Daphne said gently. “He asked you how to get to The Dirty Bird. It’s a sports lounge around the corner.”

Abby sat there frozen and depleted. Her mind was playing tricks on her. The Man was still haunting her, day in and day out. He was never far.

He had made his home inside her.

He was a part of her.

She feared he always would be.

Chapter thirteen

Cooper sat at his kitchen table the next day, sipping on a late morning cup of coffee and watching the ducks swim along the lake. He enjoyed his lake house. It was a small bungalow, only two bedrooms and one bathroom, but he didn’t need anything more than that. It was just him. It had been just him for over a year. He used to spend the majority of his summer days out on the lake with his boat, but work had eaten into most of his free time. Abby’s case had swallowed him up. He was content with that – in fact, he wouldn’t want it any other way. As long as The Withered Man was out there, Abby wasn’t safe. And as long as Abby wasn’t safe, Cooper would dedicate his every waking hour to protecting her.

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