Page 63 of Enspelled

Ten years ago, Amos Wolfe owned half of Madden Grove, and it looks like Liam hasn’t been sitting on his ass and frittering the money away. This pack has money.Seriousmoney.

A well-beaten track, easy to follow in the early morning light, threads through a forest that must extend for acres, and I can believe Liam owns all of it. We trail Liam deeper and deeper into the forest until we stop at a tiny wood cabin.

Liam doesn’t say a word. Just pulls open the door and stands to one side.

I don’t move. But when Briar takes a step toward it, I grip her arm, forcing her to halt.

Liam raises his eyebrow. “It’s a homey cabin, or the basement with the barred door. What would you prefer?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to demand to know why he would even bring us here. Just in time, I stop myself because it’s going to be easier to break out of a cabin in the woods than from a guarded basement. So I tug on Briar’s arm and we head toward him.

The closer we get to him, the more it hits me that we’re alone in this forest. Liam might think he can take me on in a fight, but I know I could beat him.

A faint smile curves his lips. “Try it,” he murmurs, “and Briar Fenix will learn the sort of damage a pack of wolves can do before they kill.”

Her heart rate spikes at his soft threat.

“I doubt you’d let such a thing happen,” I reply. “Especially after you gave her such a pretty dress.”

His smile widens as he points at the inside of the cabin. “Perhaps not. But are you prepared to risk her life to test a theory?”

I stop at the entrance, eyeing him for a long moment.

“Keane,” Briar says into the silence, “if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not be torn apart by wolves.”

Aiming a dark glare at Liam as I pass him, I step inside a stark cabin, empty of everything but a narrow bed pushed up against the wall, tugging Briar along with me.

The door slams shut behind us, plunging the room into true darkness.

19

BRIAR

Itake in the stiff line of Keane’s back. “Keane?”

He doesn’t look away from the cabin window, and he doesn’t respond.

Lifting my legs from the floor to the hard bed, I wrap my arms around them in a vain attempt to protect them from the chill in the room. I’d have thought the cabin would be warm, but maybe it’s the skimpy dress that’s making me feel cold in a way I rarely am. “Keane?”

His back tenses just enough that I know he’s purposely ignoring me. Why, I have no idea. “Keane, we have to talk about what we’re going to do,” I say, and then I remember my weird vision/dream… thing.

The gray wolf was Keane’s dad. I’m sure of it.

“And I had this dream, but I don’t think it was—”

He swings around so suddenly that I stop talking. Then I say, “What?”

“You and Liam Wolfe.” That’s all he says. But his jaw is so tense, and there’s a dangerous light in his eyes that makes me nervous. With the dried blood on the side of his head, he’s looking more than a little intimidating.

“What about me and Liam?” I ask.

His jaw tenses further. “Why did he give you a dress?”

Is hejealous?

“Uh, I don’t know. But it’s not important. I had this—”

“I’d say it was very important. I’d say it plays a large part in why he’s moved us to this cabin in the woods, and not back to the basement cage.”

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