Page 84 of Blood Moon
I told him I was fine, and as we approached his car, he patted down his pockets in a frenzy, realizing he was missing something. “What is it?”
He squeezed his eyes shut, mumbled an expletive.“God,”Seven breathed, and he looked to the building. The stillness of the night was long and thin like a silk web. “I think I left my keys with Jak. I’ll have to go back inside and get them.”
Oh.“I can go with you. I don’t mind.”
“No, I’ll be quick. Swear. I don’t want you to make the extra trip if you don’t have to— especially since you’re not feeling too well.” I bit down on my teeth, so annoyed with myself for that lie. “I’ll be right back,” he promised, and I let him go. He ran, and seeing him run alleviated some of my fear. He was fast, much faster on the field. He’d return in no time.
Deep breath out, and I tried to remain calm while I leaned against his Mercedes.It will be fine,I thought, crossing my arms against my chest.
A tap of my heel against the asphalt. The night felt like a void, no crooning of bugs or whispers of wind. Even the stars seemed muted, dulled out somehow—that was, except for the moon.
It was large and distinguished. A red tint made it appear as though it’d been dipped in thick blood. Almost identical to an image I’d seen once … one that was pinned to the center of Bobby’s wall.
My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out of my bag to coincidentally find that Bobby was calling. My chest tightened, fingers fumbled to answer. Bobby only called in moments of urgency. This could mean he discovered a break in the case, or perhaps it was something more detrimental.
Upon answering, the call dropped. Simultaneously, I sensed a break in the stillness. Something moved nearby. I glanced slowly around the lot, looking for the source. There was only fog caressing the hoods of cars, the trunks of trees.
I called Bobby. While the line rang, I heard a heavy thud. Then, the quick pace of shoes slapping against the pavement. My body stiffened, and I recoiled into myself, squeezing my phone tightly, hoping thering, ring, ring,would turn into the sound of my dad’s voice on the other side. But it went to voicemail, and as I looked and looked into the shadows and between the cars, I couldn’t see anything.
Could onlyhearsomething coming closer and faster.
Could onlyfeelmy breathing accelerate.
My heart raced as I tucked my phone into my bag. A voice in my head told me to run, to go, to not look back.
But in the night, a boy I’d seen before was coming toward me at full speed with his brows low and a maleficent sneer painted on his face.
CHAPTER41
And after, that suffering will embed itself in us like flowers.
Article VII, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
No sound came out when I tried to scream.
My next instinct told me to get in the car, but I only had enough time to pull on a single handle, hoping it would give, before I realized it was locked.
Behind me, the boy was still coming.
Faster now, with ravenous eyes, and I remembered where I’d seen him. He was one of the football players, one of Sev’s friends. Now here he was, coming for me, and with a laugh. Like this was some sort of game.
And for him, it probably was …
I took off, running down the parking lot, Seven’s suit jacket flinging away from me. I hit the sides of cars with my hand, hoping someone would be inside one of them and hear me, but the motion only slowed me down, and the person behind was closing in with unbelievable speed. It pushed me to run faster, until my heel turned inward, causing me to fall and slightly twist my ankle.
A cry came with the pain, and I gritted my teeth as I pulled my heels off and threw them at him. He laughed, dodging them effortlessly, and I was back on my feet, limping as fast as I could, knowing he was moments away.
My vision blurred at the realization that when he caught up, something awful was going to happen. But above, in the trees that lined the lot, the leaves rustled. Someone jumped from branch to branch, and I felt enclosed. There was no way I could escape them both.
The person in the tree landed on the path before me. To my disbelief, it was Julian.
His fists were balled, and he had on no shoes, only the white dress shirt remaining from his tux. Julian was planted in a stance, a snarl slipping between his teeth. I flinched, but he let me pass him like I wasn’t there at all.
“She’s ours!” The guy yelled, and then I heard a collision of some sort. Dumb as it was, I paused to see what was happening. What did he mean byours?
Julian pushed the football player in the opposite direction, but the football player pushed Julian back harder. He fell and should have landed on the ground, but instead, his clothes shredded, and before me appeared a larger-than-life gray wolf.
Still, it was miraculous. There was a wolf,a wolf.I scurried behind a nearby car and ducked. Someone smashed into something, and when I looked, I saw two wolves fighting.Two.The football player was larger with bigger claws and red fur, almost identical to the sketch of the man I’d seen transforming in the folklore book. Julian was smaller in size but much stealthier.
