Page 64 of Starve
But even worse, I can’t stop thinking about the idea that he’s not only mimicking humanvoices. There was something in her words that stuck with me; about how he looks so human when he wants to, and how he can sound like anyone I want to hear, or no one at all.
Moro barks, making me jump, and I give her a guilty look. “Sorry, yeah. I’m being stupid,” I agree with a soft sigh under my breath. She woofs as if agreeing, and I walk away from the small parking lot of the local park, out of the cover of the trees. The rain isn’t bad. Even though I’m cold and almost regretting this little adventure of mine as water runs down under my hoodie, in the roots of my hair.
I don’tneedCairo to feel better. Even if feeling better means playing in the rain with my dog.
Moro barks again, but this time it’s different. There’s less of a playful note, and more warning. Confused, I turn to look at her,seeing her fur bristling as she looks toward the trees at the edge of the park. “What’s wrong?” I call, knowing I won’t actually get an answer. “Are you okay?” I lay a hand on her shoulders, surprised at her bristled fur and the way she tenses under my hand. As I watch, she peels her lips back from her teeth, and her eyes stay fixed on the small group of trees between me and the parking lot.
Surely she wouldn’t be doing this over another dog, though suddenly I’m worried about some local’s little toy poodle being eaten by my big, bad wolf dog.
Those fears are dispelled, however, when Moro barks again, and it’s answered by an unfriendly scoff. Footsteps crunch on the ground, and from the darkness of the trees appears a tall, lanky figure that I recognize instantly. Tyler leans back against a large trunk, arms folded over his chest and a lazy grin on his face. “I don’t think she likes me,” he remarks, not really seeming to care. “Strange, since she likes Cairo well enough. And I don’t remember her having a problem with Agatha.”
“She’s an excellent judge of character,” I say stiffly, curling my fingers in Moro’s fur. I’m afraid she’s going to lunge for him, and even more afraid that if she does, he’ll kill her. “Stay, girl,” I whisper, encouraged when she doesn’t try going for him, and stays where she is in front of me.
“That’s not very nice of you.”
“You’re right.” I blink at him, not offering anything else. He breaks our standoff first, displaying his boredom with a roll of his eyes. “You’re ridiculous, you know that? You’re supposed to be more afraid of me than this. But whatever.” Flicking a hand into the air, he pushes off the tree and inhales. “Cairo isn’t here.” It isn’t a question, which unnerves me. My fingers flex in Moro’s fur, and I decide to take a chance to satisfy my curiosity with someone whose opinion I don’t care about.
“Do you remember Dr. Radley?” I ask before he can keep talking. It’s clear he wasn’t expecting the question, and Tyler’s eyes narrow as he looks at me with his lips parted just enough so that I can see his fangs. “From?—”
“Yeah,” he cuts in. “I do. Why?”
“She knows about you. She knowsallabout you.” Belatedly, I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. I might feel a little bad if he goes off to murder her. “She always has, since way before you and the massacre last month,” I add hastily, just in case I can sway him.
“Oh, yeah?” He doesn’t seem very moved by the notion, and it gives me hope that he’s not planning Dr. Radley’s death, even if she isn’t my favorite person ever. “And what are you looking to achieve with this revelation?”
“Well, if you’d let me get that far?—”
“I’ve already let you get pretty far, Fern. Much farther than I should’ve. I tried to have Hattie protect you, forhim.”He sneers the word. “And what did I get out of it?”
Ignoring that train of conversation, I shake my head, heart fluttering in my chest. “She said her sister was killed by one of you. Not like”—I swallow hard—“not eaten. She said all of you are looking for someone to turn. Like you did to Hattie. Is that true?”
Unfortunately, it seems Tyler is a little smarter than I gave him credit for. His lips twist into an unfriendly smile, and he gives a soft snarl, sneering at me. “Oh,I see.You want to know if that’s what Cairo’s trying to do to you. If he’s laying the breadcrumbs on some trail for you to fall in love with him. What’s wrong, Fern?” His voice morphs, throat working unnaturally, so his next words come out in Cairo’s voice instead of his own.“Afraid there’s human flesh waiting for you at the end of that trail?”
“Shut up.” That’s exactly what I’d been worried about, and I hate how he caught on so quickly. I shiver at the unnaturalness of hearing Cairo’s voice from his lips, and my fingers curl more tightly in Moro’s ruff. “That’s?—”
“Well, you don’t need to worry about that.” I can see the bunching of his muscles, and Tyler’s grin widens until I can see his fangs clearly, shining and clean of blood. “Because I don’t intend to give him the chance to turn you.”
Before I can react, he lunges forward. In my shock, I trip backward, just as Moro surges forward, and with a cry I lose my grip on her. The wolf dog meets Tyler mid-lunge, snapping at any part of him she can reach. When she bites down on his leg, he snarls and jerks back from her, causing her fangs to tear through his skin, drawing ribbons of blood.
Unfortunately, without Cairo here to help her, Tyler’s attention is fixed fully on Moro. He grabs her when she lunges again, kicking at her and sending her to the ground. I scramble to my feet, but I’m frozen in place, unable to do anything but watch as she gets to her paws a little unsteadily, snarling and barking with her fur stiff and her teeth bloody and bared.
“No!”I shriek in protest, but it’s too late. He grabs her by the throat, causing her growls to turn into yelps as his claws sink past her fur, into the skin underneath, causing blood to stain her fur. Her cries make me move, and I stupidly throw myself at Tyler, who easily drops Moro to the ground where she collapses. He kicks her away and grabs me with his claws instead.
“Poorlittle bird,”Tyler sneers, barely panting with effort. “What will he say when I show him your head, hmm? And what will he do”—he drags me closer, my feet scrambling over the grass under me trying to get purchase as the rain picks up, and the thunder rumbles like an ominous herald of my death—“when I tell him Iatethe rest of you?”
His other hand comes up to stroke my face, and I shudder, trying to shove at him. I taste bile in my throat, and my heart races, as if it can somehow escape the gory, grisly fate he’s offering.
I don’t want to die.
Ireallydon’t want Tyler to eat me.
“I won’t make it quick,” Tyler assures me in a mockingly sweet voice. “I’m too fucking tired of this game to make it—” He stops and turns his head, eyes narrowed in a look of utter confusion as his nostrils flare.
I hear something, but I can’t even think of turning before something slams into Tyler, prying him off of me and sending him to the ground. For a moment, I’m sure it’s Cairo. Or maybe Agatha. But apart from them, I don’t know who would care enough to save me from the creature threatening to eat me slowly and show my head to my lover.
It has to be?—
“Hattie?!” I gasp when I look up from the grass where I’m crumpled. Wild-eyed and with her hair in knots, Hattie looks like a monster, or some witch who’s never seen civilization. She snarls at Tyler, pinning him down.
