screamed. Judge barked as he lunged toward the window. Blake grinned, winked, blew her a kiss, and ran, disappearing into the darkness.
Chapter 14
The area around Clint’s front porch was cluttered with cars that had pulled into the yard, once his small parking area was full. A handful of pickup trucks and a couple of compact cars, the one and only Mystic Springs police car, and one motorcycle. The living room was just as crowded. The Benedicts, the Franklins, Susan, and of course the Maxwells. Even that odd Lovell guy was on hand. The motorcycle was his.
Marnie had made coffee and tea and had scrounged up more cookies, as if this were an impromptu social gathering rather than what it truly was.
A war council.
In the past a few of those present had expressed a desire to be done with the rest of the world and embrace what had once only been the possibility of Brigadoon. The reality of isolation was different from a vague concept, for him and for others. If the time ever came, Springers should be given the opportunity to choose. Stay or go? Isolate or take their chances in the real world?
Silas had been a loner for so long, it was a shock to realize that if it came down to it he’d give up his gift to live in the real world with Gabi. He’d still have his love for animals. He’d still be capable of training them, it would just take a bit more work on his part.
As he explained what he knew, and how, the expressions of those around him changed. They’d been curious to be called here, now they were angry, afraid, confused. Sometimes all three at once. In the end, anger won out. How dare Jenna and the Milhouses choose for the entire town?
And then the anger turned on him, as he’d assumed it would before the night was over. It was only fair.
Ivy glared at him and asked, “How long have you known about this?”
He wouldn’t lie. Any lie would be too easy to disprove, if not tonight then tomorrow, or the next day. The facts were not on his side. “A couple of weeks.”
The ensuing assault of chattering voices was enough to make any man, loner or not, want to flee.
“I admit it,” he said, interrupting the chatter, “at first I saw the appeal in the plan, as many of you have in the past.” Might as well tell it all. At this point, what more did he have to lose? Everyone was already pissed. “Jenna asked me to get Gabi Lawson out of town. She wants all the Non-Springers gone before she casts the spell.”
“Hey!” Marnie said, her indignation clear. She and Cindy Benedict, the two Non-Springers in the room, shared a censuring glance.
“You two are safe, since you’re carrying Springer babies. The few others… most are already gone. A couple of others soon will be.”
“I get it,” Nelson Lovell said in a low voice that still managed to grab everyone’s attention. In the months the newly-discovered Bigfoot shifter had been in and out of Mystic Springs, he’d given up the phony British accent and cut his hair. His clothes were more casual than they’d been in the early days. He still wasn’t one of them, but he was getting there. Or trying to. “You were hot for this Jenna’s plan until you fucked the hairdresser and changed your mind.”
Silas sprung. He couldn’t help it. His fist connected with Lovell’s jaw twice, before someone pulled him off. Clint, judging by the force that was used to get the job done.
Lovell didn’t respond in kind. He didn’t stand or swing out or even look angry. He remained amazingly calm as he rubbed his jaw and said, “Maybe it’s more than that, given your response.”
“It doesn’t matter why Silas changed his mind,” Clint said as he released his hold. “He came to us so maybe we can take care of things before they go too far. We’ll deal with the why later.”
“Oh, I think we all know the why,” Lovell responded.
Eve and Travis tried to lead the discussion, offering ways to stop Jenna, trying to figure out who else they could trust, beyond those in this room. More often than not they ended up with three or four people talking at once.
The easiest solution would be to get Jenna into one of the Mystic Springs jail cells, which would mute her powers. The problem was, she hadn’t shown her face around town.