Page 104 of Hollow

“No, you know it’s not him,” I say, grabbing hold of his coat, trying to keep him with me as he gets up. “Don’t hurt him.”

He ignores me, a vein rigid in his forehead.

“He’s here,” he says, looking off down the road, eyes narrowing.

I follow his gaze and see Brom and Daredevil galloping right for us, a force of darkness and evil rushing on the wind.

“Crane,” I plead. “We need to get out of here.”

“No,” he says, pushing me back behind him. “You need to get out of here. Take Gunpowder. Cut through the fields and go into town. To the constable. I’ll handle Brom.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“He’s after you, Kat,” he practically growls.

“And he’ll kill you,” I tell him. “He’s just as possessive as you are. He doesn’t want to share.”

At that, he tilts his head, and for the first time, I see a real darkness in Crane’s grey eyes. It makes my blood run cold. He opens his mouth to say something, and I know he’s going to ask if I’ve just been intimate with Brom. But he presses his lips together and takes in a deep, shaking inhale as he looks over my nightgown.

But there’s no time for Crane to recant on his own feelings about sharing me with Brom because he’s almost at us now.

We both turn to face the galloping black horse.

Stop, I say inside my head, directing the command at Daredevil. Stop now, stop!

But though the horse lets out a whinny, Brom kicks him forward. And he obeys his master.

Meanwhile, Crane reaches into his coat pocket.

He pulls out a gun.

“Crane!” I cry out, shocked to see a weapon in his hand.

“Salt doesn’t work much on him,” he says as he points the gun out at Brom as he approaches.

“But this is Brom, not the horseman now. You’ll kill him if you shoot him!”

“God forgive me, then,” Crane says solemnly.

Then he pulls the trigger.

I scream as the bullet fires in a blast of smoke. It grazes Daredevil’s black ears, hitting Brom in the shoulder.

He yelps and lets go of the reins, flying off the stallion’s back and tumbling onto the road in a heap. Daredevil gallops forward and then turns toward us, rearing on its hindlegs.

“Down!” I command, throwing my arms out at the horse while Crane runs forward to Brom. “Easy now!”

Daredevil snorts wildly but listens, coming to a standstill, breathing hard with foam on its flanks, the reins hanging by his side.

Now that I know he’s not going to try and kill us too, I run over to Brom on the ground.

“Brom!” I gasp, collapsing on my knees beside him, ignoring the rocks in my shins.

Brom is lying on his back, blood seeping through his white shirt at the shoulder, gasping in pain.

“Shhh,” Crane says, cradling Brom’s head in his hand with disarming tenderness.

Brom’s eyes pinch shut, and he cries out, back arching in agony.

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