Feral Darlings

Chapter Seven

“ Alright,” I say quietly as I get to my feet and disregard the new round of banging at the door. “ You go on and hide somewhere. Under my bed, outside, anywhere—you just get wherever you feel the safest, and I ’ ll come find you after, okay?”

She nods, rushing forward to give me the biggest hug she can before she spins on her heels and runs toward the back of the house.

I wait a few moments, hoping that Clem is on her way to whatever hiding spot she likes best before I decide to go confront the knocker at the door.

I stop a few feet away from it as I roll my right shoulder painfully.

I slept in such an odd position that I seem to be paying the price for it now. That ’ s different, I tell myself as I rub my sore shoulder. But a lot of things about me are much more different than anyone else inhabiting this cesspool of debauchery and damnation, and at least it helps me know that I ’ m still alive.

No matter how dead I feel on the inside.

I finally pull open the door and arch an eyebrow when I find myself looking at the unmistakable frame of Sara Belle. Even though her Stetson is low over her eye, and her duster coat may look like the rest of theirs, that shape and damn near white-blonde, long hair gives her away each and every time.

“ To what do I owe the honor?” I ask her with a chuckle.

Sara Belle is as lethal as she is beautiful and also happens to be Silas ’ righthand gal. She ’ s next in line to head the Sun Down Mob if anything happens to him, but she ’ s also fiercely loyal. The angry scar on her face that goes diagonally from her hairline down over her right eye and disappears under her chin is a testament to how many brawls she ’ s gotten into to keep him alive.

I also find myself wondering from time to time where she came from because I know damn well that she wasn’t with Silas at the beginning of it all.

She tips the brim of her hat up at me, a grin dancing across her beautifully, mangled face as she slips a hand inside of her coat and waits for a reaction.

Last I knew, we were on good terms, but that ’ s usually a sign that she ’ s ready to draw, so I take a step backward, palms up. It ’ s my way of letting her know that I ’ m not armed.

“ Oh, relax, Boone,” she chastises me with a light chuckle. I ’ m a little nervous around Sara Belle, and for damn good reason, but the nerves switch to curiosity when I see her retrieve a folded letter from the inside of her coat.

She holds it out to me, and as I reach for it, she keeps a tight grip on the letter. I give it a gentle jerk, but she refuses to let it go, so we become locked in a small game of tug of war. When I realize that I ’ m not going to win this one, I give her a dirty look but refuse to let go of the letter.

“ Is this for me, or are we just going to stand here yanking it back and forth?”

“ It ’ s for you, but…” Her voice trails off as she looks away uncomfortably for a moment, then back to me. The black of her onyx-colored eyes has lost its shine, and I take a deep breath.

Taking another step back into my home, I gesture for her to come in, and she hesitates. With a shake of her head, Sara Belle stays put and looks me directly in the eye. “ You can ’ t tell Silas that I gave this to you. Otherwise, we ’ re both fucked.”

Suspicion grips me again as I let go of the letter.

I know how much her loyalty to Silas means to the both of them, and I want no part in causing a rift between the pair. Especially not when I ’ ve put myself into debt to him and haven ’ t even learned what he wants in return yet.

Sara Belle ’ s face darkens like an angry sea, ready to kick up hundred-foot waves just to drown the boat that dares to cross it, and I wince internally. I can ’ t show fear—even if I ’ m convinced that she can smell it. But the thing is, I ’ m not exactly afraid right now. I ’ m more curious than anything else, and while I desperately want to know what she risked her position with Silas over, I also know that it wouldn ’ t be right to go behind his back about anything.

“ Take the damn letter, Boone,” she snarls shoving it into my chest. “ And don ’ t tell Silas you got it from me.”

Before Sara Belle even has a chance to see the folded piece of paper flutter gently to the ground, she turns around and walks away. I can tell she ’ s angry by the way she stalks toward the town limits. She ’ s not used to being told no and clearly doesn ’ t take that response as an answer.

I let out a heavy sigh as I wait for her to disappear safely over the horizon before shutting the front door securely and glancing down at the letter.

Whatever it is can wait.

I have to find Clemmy first and make sure that she ’ s okay.