Page 11 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

"Earlier today." My voice ached with sadness. "The men chasing me—they killed everyone. My dad told me to run and find Atticus. That's why I came all the way here and why I thought you wanted to catch me."

"Well, that settles it." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You'll be staying with me."

"I couldn't." I didn't want to be a burden. "That's asking way too much."

"First off, you didn't ask." He held up one finger then added a second. "And second, you have nowhere to go. You’re not inthe best of health since you almost drowned, and you have no money to your name. Not to mention, people are hunting you." He touched my arm. "And honestly, it gets lonely in the house, but I can't seem to get myself to move. You'd be keeping me company."

The wordyeswas on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't want to take advantage of him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He waved a hand in front of me. "Besides, you're soaking wet. You won't be able to go anywhere without raising some eyebrows."

He was right. I wouldn't be able to go anywhere unnoticed, not that I had money anyway. "Okay, but I don't want anyone to know about me or what happened to my family." If word of that got out, it could help whoever was hunting me locate me.

"Got it. You can trust me." He led me to the yard that had the large in-ground pool with a diving board and water slide. "This is our stop."

"You live close." His fishing spot on the riverbank was only about a mile from his home.

He walked past the pool and up some brick stairs leading to a covered back porch. Thankfully, the porch’s floor was cement, so I wouldn't ruin anything by dripping all over it.

"Let me grab you a towel, and I'm pretty sure my sister's clothes will fit you." He opened the door, which had been left unlocked.

"Your sister?" I cringed, thinking about wearing his dead sister’s clothes. "Are you sure?”

"Yeah. I mean, they should do someone some good." His shoulders sagged, and he smiled sadly. "I'll be right back." He slipped inside, leaving me alone.

A chill ran down my spine, and I turned to face the woods. I rubbed my arms and assessed my surroundings. I needed to geta feel for the area and devise an escape plan in case they found me here. I couldn't stay and put innocent lives at risk.

The house next door appeared to have the same layout as this one, but instead of the hunter-green color of Killian's, it was pure white. A large fire pit had been dug out back with beer cans scattered around. Whoever lived there must be a drinker, or maybe they had people over routinely. That could be a good thing though—it would mix my smell with several others and help to obscure it.

Killian's footsteps grew closer to the door, and I turned as it opened.

He had changed into a white shirt and jeans. After handing me a large beach towel, he gestured through a pristine kitchen, past the wide-open living room with a picture of him and his family hanging above the couch, toward a hallway on the other end of the house. "If you go to the second room on the left, that's Olive’s room. You can go through her closet and pick out something to change into. When you're done, come on out, and we'll get something to eat."

"Thank you." Even if I wanted to argue, I couldn't. He was being generous and helping me. I toweled off as best I could and hurried to the bedroom.

Inside, I shut the door and laid my head against it. I expected the grief to hit again, but numbness filled me instead.

Good.First step, get dry. I pulled off my clothes and walked toward the white queen-size canopy bed with a plum comforter, noting the matching white end tables and dresser. The walls were lavender, almost the shade of the purple of my eyes. The shaggy cream carpet felt amazing under my feet as I padded to the closet beside the bed.

As I surveyed the room, a picture on the end table caught my attention. It was of a younger Killian and a girl who must be hissister at the embankment, fishing together. They could almost pass for twins. Killian had his arm slung over her shoulders.

The fact that he’d lost his own family and now had found me had to be fate. We could both understand the pain of loss.

Choosing not to wear her underwear, I slipped on a thick black shirt and gray sweatpants. My stomach gurgled, and I grabbed my wet clothes and the towel then headed back to the kitchen.

Killian was nowhere to be seen, so I placed my clothes on the glass circular kitchen table and used the towel to dry the water I’d dripped on the hardwood floors. I’d squatted to finish wiping the floor when I heard him outside on the back porch.

"Hey, man," he whispered. "Yeah, I'm not going to make it tonight. Something came up."

Great, I was already interfering with his social life. I would have felt bad, but he had insisted on me staying.

After a moment, he spoke again. "Yeah, there's this girl I want to tell you about."

No. He’d promised he wouldn't tell a soul.

CHAPTER FOUR

It wastime to get the hell out of here. If he was already telling people about me, those men would find me easily. Leaving the towel on the floor, I gathered my wet clothes and moved toward the front door, my feet pounding on the hardwood. Then I came to an abrupt stop.

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