Page 78 of Enspelled

He sits up, resting his chin on his palm, and peers into my face, eyes intense. “Do I need to kill someone?”

I blink at him in surprise. “What?”

“This guy, it doesn’t sound like—”

“Oh, no. It was okay. He wasn’t mean or horrible, just, you know?”

He peers down at me. “Just what?”

“Disinterested.”

“Withyou?” The shock creasing his face makes me warm inside. “Was he an idiot?”

Maybe I was wrong, and this is a dream, because this guy looks like Keane Destin, but there’s no glower on his face, and there’s a softness in his eyes that doesn’t seem like him at all. “Did you fall out of bed while I was asleep and hit your head?”

His brow furrows in confusion. “No, why?”

“So you don’t think you have a concussion?”

“No, why would—” He stops talking so suddenly that even before he jerks his head to the cabin door, I know it’s time to go. “Looks like we’ve run out of time.”

He’s on his feet a beat later. After pulling his pants up, he reaches for my dress.

I hold out my hand for it, but he slips it over my head himself. Once I’m fully covered, he dips his head and gives my lips a hard kiss before snagging my hand. “You ready?”

Nodding, I let him pull me out of the cabin. “Where are we going? And will we make it?”

“I heard a howl, but it was far enough away that I think we have about a thirty-minute head start. If they move too fast, I might need to carry you.”

“And if they catch up?”

Will you leave me behind?

He darts a glance down at me, his face stern. “Then I go back and deal with whoever has decided they want to die today, while you go on ahead.”

“And if it’s the entire pack?”

To my utter shock, he shoots me a quick grin. “I thought you were supposed to be the positive one.”

I gape up at him. “Uh… I…”

He tugs at my hand. “Come on. Time to pick up the pace.”

So I do, wondering all the while what the hell happened to the gruff and snarling wolf that is Keane Destin.

23

SERA

“Why do you stay?” Bodie suddenly asks me.

I jerk my gaze from the dark cottage with its curtains drawn and turn to face Bodie in the passenger seat. “What?”

“Other than your haunted friend, I haven’t heard you say you like anything about Madden Grove. If anything, I get the sense there’s more you don’t like about the place than you do.”

Frowning, I look away. “You’ve spent less than a day around me.”

“I don’t need to spend weeks or months around a person to know how to use my eyes. I’m observant.”

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