Page 45 of Gavin

Dropping to her knees next to him, she put shaking fingers on his throat to find his pulse. As it beat against her fingers, tears blurred her eyes. “Gavin, please wake up.”

“Sadie! What’s wrong?” Gavin’s dad asked as he ran toward them. He grunted and hit the ground clutching his shoulder as blood spread under his fingers. His brother grabbed him as he tottered, and something whizzed past him and embedded in the house.

“Sadie, we’re under attack. Get in the house!” August’s shout of alarm was cut off when he was shot too.

Sadie blinked as panic overwhelmed her.

Someone was shooting at them?

She scanned the area as she tried to lift Gavin, but he was too heavy. She screamed for help when an eerie feeling settled over her. Something dark was pulled over her head and she was jerked off her feet. A pinch in her neck was followed by a chill that swept down her spine. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. Her ears rang and her body went limp. Darkness enveloped her and then there was nothing, just the remnants of panic that she was being taken from Gavin and he was severely injured.

She never should have left the house.

Chapter

Eighteen

“Gavin. Gavin.”

The voice was echoing like he was walking through a tunnel. He couldn’t figure out who was calling his name.

And fucking everything hurt, especially his head.

“Gavin!”

He realized it was his mom. Forcing his eyes open, he winced at the bright overhead light.

The light faded a bit and he saw his mom leaning over him.

“Oh, honey! You need to wake up, please. Sadie’s been taken.”

He bolted upright and his head felt like someone was nailing railroad spikes into his skull. He gripped it with both hands and groaned. “What happened? Where’s Sadie?”

“Son, she was taken,” his dad said. “We’ve been trying to wake you for an hour.”

He breathed through the pain in his head which ebbed away after what felt like an eternity, but worry for Sadie made him push through it.

He looked at his dad. There was a hole in his shirt sleeve and dried blood. “You were shot?”

“So were you,” he said. “And your uncle August, but he’s okay.”

His dad offered his hand and rose to his feet, pulling Gavin with him. His head swam for a moment and he touched his temple where it was particularly tender. “Ouch, damn it. I got shot in the head?”

“Sniper,” Ryan said, coming into the room that Gavin recognized as the family room of Midas’s home. “We followed the trajectory of the bullets and found evidence of where he was hiding. Outside Whisper Creek, a half mile from here.”

“Damn, that’s some shot,” Gavin said. “Was Sadie shot? What happened?”

He was trying not to panic. His head hurt as his natural healing was working to fix the wound, but it wasn’t working as fast as he would have liked. If he shifted, he’d be able to heal immediately, but then he wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone for several hours.

“I’ve got the footage here. We don’t know who took her, but we’re assuming it was Hawthorne or whoever of Brent’s people he’s working with.”

Gavin had to blink to clear his vision when he stared at the tablet screen. He saw the security camera footage from the side of the house. He saw himself running down the side of the house and turning the corner. The footage switched to the back of the house and he saw himself get shot and hit the ground like a ragdoll.

“There was some kind of disturbance?” Gavin said. “The alarms went off?”

“Yeah, masked people purposely triggered the security cameras at the furthest point from here to get our team as far away as possible. You were shot first, then when Sadie ran out to you, she called for help and your dad and uncle were shot, then Sadie was taken.”

Something covered with leaves seemed to rise from the ground and grab Sadie, then disappear with her.

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