Chapter 25
Worse for Wear
Tara
Ablue truck screeched to a halt in front of me. My legs quaked beneath me, my lungs burning.
I couldn’t run anymore.
A figure leaped from the passenger side, ponytail swinging as she screamed, “Down!”
I dropped to my stomach seconds before the rifle in Cady’s hand went off. Once, twice, three times. I covered my ears, muffling the ringing.
I didn’t want to get up—didn’t want to see what was so close behind me that she fired at that range.
“Got ‘em!” Eli hurried around the side of the truck, handgun raised high.
“Don’t hurt your shoulder!”
Eli grinned at her, like this was just another Tuesday for him. “What shoulder?”
Cady lowered the rifle, extending a hand to help me up. I accepted it, surprised by the strength of her grip as she heaved me from the ground.
“How are you here?”
“You gave Saul the address. We carpooled.” She wasn’t looking at me, staring ahead where Eli was approaching a panting beast on the ground.
It wasn’t Isaac. I don’t know how I could tell, but I could.
“This him, darlin’?” Eli asked, his gun pointed directly at the beast.
He whined, trying to rise. Eli planted a boot on his chest, his friendly face twisting into an inhuman snarl.
“No,” Cady answered calmly.
“It’s your lucky day, son.” Eli turned the gun in his hand, gripping the barrel and swinging it at the beast’s face.
He stopped moving, his breathing slowing into a shallow rhythm.
That monster had been chasing me only two minutes earlier, but the violence still had bile climbing my throat. I wanted to cover my eyes, to curl up into the fetal position and hide.
The panic must have shown on my face because Cady was suddenly inches away, gripping my chin and telling me, “You and me are going to need loads of therapy after this. But you can’t go there right now.”
“But I—"
“Shove it down,” she ordered. “Imagine a big ugly box and stuff it in there. You can open it later.”
I sucked in a breath. “How are you so calm?”
“I had my mental breakdown yesterday. Now, I’m pissed.”
“Where’s Isaac?” Eli was beside us, handing his gun to Cady and undoing his belt.
I averted my gaze seconds before he dropped his pants. “He was behind me, in the woods. There were so many of them.”
“How many, you reckon?”
I blinked, counting every face and figure I saw. “Twelve, at least.”
“Shit. I’m going to get Isaac, then I need to find Saul before he gets himself killed.” Eli gave Cady his shirt, belt, and jeans. I stared at the rust on the wheel well of the truck. “You two get gone. I’ll catch up to you.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” Cady argued.
“No, you’re not.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re just getting a head start. I can’t focus if I don’t know you’re safe, darlin’.”
“Fine.” Cady tossed her load into the back seat of the truck, accepting the keys and waving me toward the front seat. “But you listen, Elijah Barbeaux. If you die out there, I’m going to be real pissed at you.”
Eli stepped in front of me. I turned my head as he scooped Cady into a kiss that had my heart pounding. “I love you too, darlin’.”
A howl sounded somewhere nearby, and Eli’s demeanor instantly shifted. His body shifted too, his form swelling and rising to tower over the truck.
I hurried to the passenger seat, sliding into the truck and fastening my seatbelt.
Cady hopped into the driver’s seat, setting Eli’s gun in the cup holder. “You buckled?”
“Yes.”
“You know how to fire a gun?”
“No!”
“Well, now might be a good time to learn,” she said, adjusting the rearview mirror and staring into it a second too long. “You think twelve was accurate, or were you underestimating?”
“My mom always said I exaggerate.”
Cady pressed the gas pedal, jolting us forward at alarming speed. “After today, you can let her know she was wrong.”
I couldn’t stop myself from glancing into the side mirror. There was a beast tearing down the road, eyes bright and mouth open.
“That’s not Eli?”
“No ma’am, it’s not.”
I twisted in my seat, searching every crevice of the truck for a weapon. My fingers found the handle of a long, black umbrella under the seat. I gripped it tightly, pulling it to my chest like it was going to make a difference if that beast caught up.
Cady sped up, knuckles white on the steering wheel. The headlights cut through dust as it swirled around the front of the truck, illuminating the trunks of trees just enough to make them look menacing. Each of them appeared otherworldly, another beast waiting to spring.
She swerved with the curve of the driveway, turning sharply around one corner then another.
“I didn’t realize this driveway had so many turns,” I said, my voice sounding calmer than I felt.
“Maybe I should’ve let you drive,” Cady grunted, slamming the brakes as the left side of the truck lifted off the ground.
“No, you should definitely be driving.” I glanced in the mirror again. The beast was gaining on us, reaching for the bed of the truck. “Um, Cady.”
“I see him.”
Another shape appeared through the windshield, stepping onto the road and blocking us. Cady braked, twisting the wheel until the truck turned sideways, one beast on either side of us.
“C’mon!” Cady growled, lifting the gun from the cup holder and pointing it out the open window.
The beast on her side charged. Cady fired, hitting him square in the chest over and over until his steps faltered, and he fell to his knees. The fur receded on his arms, slowly revealing a pale, bleeding man.
I was so distracted by the scene, I hadn’t realized the other beast was coming. A clawed hand smashed through my window, sending glass flying as he sliced at my legs.
I reacted without thinking, lifting the umbrella high and stabbing the tip through the window. It struck bone. Pain lanced through my thigh. I jerked the umbrella back and stabbed again.
The truck rocked sideways. Another beast was on Cady’s side, tearing at the driver’s side.
“I’ll kill you, asshole!” Cady shrieked, dropping her empty gun into her lap and slamming the truck into reverse.
The beast on my side slipped, grappling for purchase on the metal of the door. I saw my chance and took it, drawing the umbrella back one more time and aiming straight at his face.
He howled, falling away with his hand cupping his eye.
We were driving again, flying recklessly along the last stretches of the gravel drive as the third shape tore after us.
“Did you just stab a werewolf with an umbrella?”
“I guess I did.”
Cady whooped loudly and I shrieked, startled as she pumped her fist in the air.
“Come at us!” she shouted out the window. “I dare you!”
I leaned across the center console, gripping the steering wheel with my free hand. “Are you crazy?”
“After this week? Hell yes, I am. You’ll get used to it.”
There was a thump in the bed of the truck. I whirled around, umbrella held high.
Cady slowed the truck as the smooth asphalt of the county road glided under the wheels. “It’s okay, that’s Eli.”
“How do you know?” I ducked my head, trying to get a look at the beast through the back window.
“I just know.”
We drove ten minutes down the main road before Cady pulled the truck over. She fished a pile of clothes from the backseat seat.
“Here,” she murmured, handing me a pair of jeans. “Isaac’s going to need these.”
I scrambled out of the truck faster than my legs could handle, almost losing my footing in my haste to get to Isaac. I hadn’t seen him with Eli, but as soon as Cady said it, I knew he was here.
Eli stood in the bed of the truck, stuffing his legs in his jeans and glaring down at a mass by his feet.
I gasped when I recognized what it was, setting the jeans to the side and heaving myself into the truck bed.
Isaac was a mangled mess—ten times worse than how I found him before. His skin was caked in blood, his eyes swollen shut.
“Isaac?” I whispered, not daring to touch him.
He groaned, his hand lifting and falling back to the truck bed.
“Help me get him dressed. We need to get out of here.”
I grabbed the jeans from the side of the truck, sliding them carefully over his legs. Even with the gentle movement—Eli lifting one knee, then the other—Isaac hissed in pain.
“I’m sorry,” I said, tears falling freely. “I’m so sorry, Isaac.”
“I’m fine.” Isaac moved his head, searching for me blindly. He tried to smile, his lip bleeding profusely. “You should see the other guy.”
I met Eli’s eyes. He looked worried.
“Hang on for me. We’ll be home soon,” he said.
Isaac didn’t respond. He barely moaned as Eli lifted him into the backseat, gingerly reaching across his lap to fasten a seatbelt.
I climbed in beside him, putting my arm around his neck to cradle his head.
“What do we do?” I asked hoarsely, failing to hold onto my composure.
“We go back to the bayou. He can heal there.”
The truck engine started, Eli holding the wheel with one hand. The other stretched across to the passenger seat to rest on Cady’s thigh.
“It helps if you touch him,” she told me softly, resting her hand on top of Eli’s.
I scooped his bruised hand up in mine, carefully brushing my thumb over the knuckles.
“Where’s Saul?” Cady asked, looking at the road behind us.
“He was being stubborn about leaving. He’ll find us when he’s ready.”
The wheels of the truck bumped over the edge of the road. Our pace was fast, but not so fast it would draw attention. Fifty-five miles an hour never felt so slow, the road stretching before us endlessly.
Isaac needed help. I knew we couldn’t take him to a hospital. How did you explain these kinds of injuries? And what if he woke up, eyes glowing, and tried to bite the nearest doctor?
Brakes squealed as the truck lurched to a stop. I threw my body in front of Isaac’s, bracing him. He flopped heavily onto me, barely breathing.
This was bad. So bad. The bayou wasn’t going to help him. Nothing was going to help him. I righted him in his seat, smoothing the seatbelt across his chest.
A figure was standing twenty feet in front of the truck, shaggy hair illuminated by the headlights. My heart still hadn’t come down, jumping rapidly in my throat as I realized we were in for another fight.
But Eli didn’t react, hand still resting calmly on Cady’s thigh. She clicked open the glovebox, tugging out a pair of jeans. The door to the backseat opened, Saul climbed in beside me.
He accepted the jeans from Cady with a grunt that might have been gratitude, slipping them on awkwardly in the small space as Eli resumed the drive.
Silver-blue eyes snapped to me, studying me as I curled protectively around Isaac. As if I could protect him from any of this.
“Eli,” Saul said, still looking at me, “drive faster.”
Drive faster.
In the pit of my stomach, dread became a churning storm. Isaac wasn’t going to make it.
And none of them seemed to care.
“Welcome to the family,” Saul added, finishing the button on his pants and turning to stare out the window.