Feral Darlings

Chapter Sixteen

Silas is watching us—rather, Clemmy—with careful eyes.

He ’ s afraid of her, I realize as my eyes shift from him to her, then back again. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Silas would be afraid of anyone, let alone Clem, but the fact that Sara Belle isn ’ t with us seems to make him nervous.

I ruffle Clemmy ’ s hair, then lean down and, in a soft voice, ask her, “ You wanna do me a big favor?”

She emits another low growl as she keeps her eyes locked on Silas and the mob.

“ I need you to go talk to Mollie. Tell her to make sure that Sara Belle is locked up somewhere good and tight. Somewhere she can ’ t get loose from and get into this. Tell her that I ’ ll be by to collect her after this is over.”

Clemmy runs off without a second thought, and it makes me proud to know that she ’ s still in there somewhere, even though her monster clearly wants to come out.

“ Now that we ’ ve got some privacy,” I say evenly to Silas as I glance at his gang of bastards. “ You never did tell me why you want Crescent Oak.”

“ You didn ’ t ask,” he responds with a smirk as he crosses his arms over his chest. “ And even though it ’ s none of your damn business, I ’ ll play along.”

He nods to his left, then right, and I watch as his outlaws break out into a line on the town border. They ’ re ready to run in and raze it to the ground the second I give them the go-ahead.

“ That place used to be called Crimson Bend,” he says, nodding past me. I know. “ And it was ours—mine, really, but your little girlfriend and the rest of the dogs came through one bright, sunny morning and forced us out when they knew we were at our weakest. Couldn ’ t fight back then, but we can now. Plain and simple, I ’ m here for revenge.”

“ You mean to tell me that you couldn ’ t stand your ground?” I ask in incredulous amusement.

Silas grinds his teeth together, and I shrug.

“ Anyway, you said you ’ d take me to Elyse after this is over…”

“ I did.”

“ And I have your word on that?”

“ You do.”

I run a hand tiredly over my face, then glance up at the high Flower Moon.

“ And she ’ s alive?” I ask him quietly, my eyes still on the sky above me.

“ You really don ’ t remember, do you?” he asks with a grin.

Behind me, I can hear the quick, small footsteps of Clemmy approaching, and I square my shoulders. For some reason, having that little girl around makes me feel so damn brave.

“ Who did it?” I prod him.

Her hand slips into mine, and she grips it tightly. Her palm is slick with sweat, and the heat emanating from her body is enough to cause a drought.

“ Who did it?” I bark at him again.

Before Silas has a chance to answer, he raises an eyebrow as his eyes fix on something behind me. I don ’ t bother turning around, though, because, for all I know, this is more than likely a distraction.

“ Heard you might need an extra pair of hands, Mason.”

Mollie.

She dusts off the front of her corset, then rests an elbow on my shoulder to let me know that for the first time since I ’ ve come to Crescent Oak, she ’ s on my side.

“ I ’ m going to ask you one last time, then—”

Silas cuts me off with an impatient wave of his hand.

“ You did.”