Page 19 of Fangs
“Well, not here in this cave, but yes.”
All of me was shaking, now. “Don’t let him see you.”
“Why?”
“I can’t…I can’t watch him hurt you.”
“He’s not gonna hurt anyone,” he said, his brow furrowed.
I pushed away, and he released me, but when I started trying to get to my feet, he caught my arm again.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“We gotta get the kids somewhere safe.” The fear was making me nauseous.
“What kids? Your brother would never hurt a kid.”
“It might not be enough.” I struggled to focus. This was important.
“What might not be enough?”
“Killin’ me.” My voice wobbled.
“Freckles, he’s not gonna kill you, and he’d never hurt a kid.”
“You don’t know that,” I argued, trying to pull my arm free.
“I’ve spent the past ten years with him, so I think I can pretty confidently say I do.”
I blinked at him in confusion, and he stared back at me. His warm brown eyes looked troubled, and I wanted to see them glowing with sunshine again. I shivered, my teeth clattering together.
“C’mere,” he said softly, tugging on my arm.
I let him pull me back into his lap and wrap me in his arms again. I tried to remember what we’d just been arguing about, but it was gone.
“Why do you think Wolf is gonna kill you?” he asked in a soft voice.
“Pa said so,” I whispered, trying to press even closer against him as chills wracked my body.
“What’d your Pa say?”
“He said Wolf was gonna come after me and tear me apart.” My whispered voice shook. “He said Wolf wants me dead.”
He stared at me, studying my face without a word.
“Please, Trey, I can’t…if something happens to you—” A sob cut me off.
“Hey,” he slid his hands into my damp, tangled hair to grip the sides of my head and tilted my face up to meet his eyes, “nothin’ is gonna happen to me.”
“Please don’t leave me,” I sobbed. “Don’t leave me alone. I can’t do this. I can’t…”
“I’m not gonna leave, Freckles,” he murmured. “I promise.”
I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, clinging to him as I cried. He was right here, so why did it feel like my heart was breaking?
He hesitated momentarily before wrapping me in his arms and pulling me tighter against his chest. A burst of chills made me shake so hard it felt like my brain rattled. The pain that stabbed through my head was enough to make me suck in a breath and squeeze my eyes shut.
“You’re not alone,” he said into my hair. “You’re not alone, Freckles.”
