Chapter Thirteen
I find myself thinking about how I met Elyse.
I thought she was a wounded and slightly overgrown coyote, and I tried to tend to her regardless, but she wouldn ’ t stop snapping and biting at me. I came so damn close to putting her down because I thought she was mad with the disease that sometimes gets to them.
It only took a few moments of me wandering off, looking for a heavy enough piece of lumber to drop on her neck, for her to change.
A beautiful, small, fragile woman hiding in the guise of a ferocious animal.
The blood that ran down her arm when I got closer to her came from an angry, gaping wound, which prompted me to try and help her, only again to be met with resistance.
I chuckle as I lift the brim of my Stetson briefly to wipe away the sweat that ’ s forming on my brow. Elyse Danforth is a Moon Drunk monster, and I couldn ’ t care less.
I just wanted to love her until the day I died—I still do, and I can ’ t help but think that ’ s going to be the end of me one day.
But not tonight, I think as I clear my throat, tug the brim of my hat down, and square my shoulders.
In the distance, I can hear the sound of dull thunder approaching, which means that Silas is back with his outlaws, ready to make good on his end of the bargain.
My eyes narrow at the dots of fire that are starting to dot the landscape. It seems that he ’ s brought more than just the mob, which means he ’ s not taking any chances on me reneging.
Their hootin ’ and hollerin ’ gets louder the closer they get, the flames of their torches burning brighter and brighter.
The roll of thunder slows to a dull roar as they finally appear themselves, shadows of death on horseback, ready for a night of what they think will be an easy night to lie to me.
Should be fun, I muse to myself as I rub the bridge of my nose with a crooked finger.
Silas doesn ’ t know that he ’ s walking into an interrogation, but Mollie ’ s had my mind spinning ever since she told me to ask him about Elyse being gone, and I damn well intend to.
“ Sheriff Mason!” Silas calls out to me in an amused voice. I nod at him as his horse comes to a stop a few feet away from me. I reach for the reigns to steady it because I know it ’ s afraid of the monsters in the town.
All of the horses are, which means they won ’ t come in and allow this bunch of bastards an easy escape. Or at least, that ’ s what I ’ m counting on.
Sara Belle is the first to dismount, her eyes steady on me as she interlocks her fingers and cracks them in what I ’ m assuming she thinks is an intimidating manner. She doesn ’ t scare me, though, because I ’ m hoping that when the time comes, I ’ ll feel ten times braver than I do now.
“ You coming?” I ask him evenly.
Silas raises an eyebrow, a smirk on his face, then nods and hands his torch down to Sara Belle, who holds it while he dismounts. It ’ s only now that I realize she wasn ’ t holding one of her own.
“ So, you never told me what you wanted,” I say as he falls into step beside me, and I lead him to the border of the town.
“ What is it that we want?” he shouts as he turns around to face his outlaws and tagalongs. Silas walks backward, never losing step beside me as he riles them up.
“ Crescent Oak!”
They shout it in unison, and it sounds like another damn clap of thunder splitting the air.
I nod without hesitation.
Silas turns around again and claps my shoulder as we stop just short of entering.
“ And Elyse? Where is she?”
“ She ’ s waiting for you,” he assures me with a grin.
“ Where?”
“ We ’ ll take you to her once we ’ ve got Crescent Oak,” he snaps at me. It ’ s my turn to arch an eyebrow; only mine is in amusement at his sudden loss of temper. That ’ s new.
I glance into the town, which is unusually quiet, and then back at Sias.
“ Give me a few minutes. There ’ s something I gotta do before I invite you in.”