Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Sleep is evasive, interrupted by the roar of my father’s snores from the opposite side of the house and the low groan of the wind rustling through the pines.
The shadows crawling across my curtains take on the sinister form of the half-man, half-goat cryptid Elanor told me about a few days ago, its spine hunched and horns twisted skyward to skewer the stars. The rational part of my brain knows there’s nothing out there, that the dark is playing tricks on me, but legends have to come from somewhere, right? If a cautionary tale about a murderous goat-man stealing virgins from their beds at night exists, something must’ve occurred to inspire it.
My mind wanders to the day of the eclipse—the way the dying light almost made the hooded figure look like he had horns or antlers… Beneath the comforter, a shiver slides up my legs. This is exactly why I wish there was a way to turn my brain off at night. I just can’t help but?—
A floorboard creaks on the porch, and this time the silhouette that crosses over the curtains is suspiciously human shaped…
Having tortured myself enough, I roll away from the window, my blood freezing as a looming shadow takes shape on my armchair in the corner of the room. I blink, trying to force the trick of the light into something less sinister, but a flash of silver catches my eye, and the shadow rises.
My muscles tense, and even though I should run and scream, I can’t seem to move.
The shadow takes a step closer but—trapped somewhere between fear paralysis and a silent scream—all I can do is draw in a shaky breath. I’m about to die, I know it, and I still can’t find the strength to move…
Rain-soaked pine hits my nostrils and my rigid shoulders instantly soften.
“Ryker?” I breathe out in a rush.
“When the fuck did someone break into this house?” he growls, stepping into the thin stream of moonlight seeping through a gap in the curtains while flipping the silver trinket in his hand—which I now recognize as his boot-shaped lighter.
“I thought you were at Marco’s with Noah?” I whisper, clutching the comforter to my sweat-slick chest. “How long have you been sitting there?”
“Answer the damn question, Willa,” he says, voice low and dangerously calm. “When the fuck did this happen? Did someone hurt you?”
My hands shake as I sit up and draw my knees to my chin. “No, of course not. It wasn’t like that. There was a noise when I was in the shower, and then I found a note in the living room and an egg carton full of seedlings. It’s not that big of a deal. I’m fine.”
“When you were in the fucking shower ?” Ryker’s chest heaves, his shadow growing larger with each rapid breath. “When was this and why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“It happened the afternoon Noah left,” I stammer, baffled and slightly terrified by the rage radiating off him. “I didn’t want my dad to freak out, so I only told Isabel… She still has the note. I swear it’s not a big deal. It was just someone messing with me. ”
He growls again, the sound so deep and threatening my body trembles in response. For some reason, it feels as though I’ve been caught lying, and all I want to do is kneel at his feet and beg for forgiveness.
What the hell? Where did that thought even come from?
Confused by the unexpected heat stirring in my belly, I look away, only to have Ryker close the distance and force my gaze to his with a hooked finger under my jaw. “Do you have any idea who it was?”
“No.” I rise onto my knees to ease the strain in my neck, and the comforter slips from my body. My nipples instantly pebble under the cool rush of AC while the sliver of moonlight perfectly illuminates my thin tank top and lacy boy shorts.
Ryker’s breaths turn ragged as he takes me in. “I like you keeping things from me about as much as I like you pretending I don’t exist,” he says, digging his rough fingers into the soft flesh of my hip and taking a step closer. His mouth is only a centimeter away from mine now, my face still firmly in his grip while the smell of pine curls around me like smoke.
The pulse between my legs gives a painful throb. “Maybe you should remind me what happens when I do something you don’t like?”
Ryker rumbles, the sound resonating deep in my stomach before he abruptly drops my chin and storms out of the room.
I stay there, slack-jawed and frozen in place until an engine roars to life in the driveway.
What the hell?
I scramble out of bed, tearing open the curtains in time to see a spray of rocks and dust as Ryker peels onto the dirt road and heads toward town.