Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,51
sitting against the opposite wall in the small bedroom. He’d taken one of the ratty blankets off the remains of the bed and draped it over his shoulders. It was early afternoon, and winter sunlight filtered in through a broken window.
“In Green Creek.”
He nodded, blowing out the side of his mouth to get his hair off his face. “I remember. Bits and pieces before… before then. Like little flashes of light. Hunters. Elijah. Always moving. She was mean. And loud. Said we were her pets. No pet. I am no pet.”
I hesitated. Then, “The other wolf with you. With them. Did… did you know him?”
He shook his head slowly. “No. Just another wolf. Dead.”
I grimaced. “Yeah. Gordo was trying to—”
“Don’t care what Gordo does.”
“He’s your brother.”
“Witch,” Gavin growled. “Magic. I hate it. Hate all of it. Father magic. Hurt people. Gordo magic. Hurt people.”
“Only to protect himself and pack.”
Gavin glared at me. “Never anything else?”
I thought about the Omega in the alleyway. Gordo had said he’d let him live, but I hadn’t believed him. “No.”
“Liar.”
I was startled into a laugh. “Heard that?”
He grimaced. “Loud. Your heart is always loud.” He banged his hand against the wall behind him. It echoed throughout the house. “Thump, thump, thump. Always loud. Want to turn it off.”
“That’s… not how it works.”
“If you’re dead it does.”
That was pointed. “Do you want me dead?”
“Yes.”
And his own heartbeat betrayed him. A slight flutter, but there nonetheless. “Liar.”
He scowled at me. “Not lying. You die, I get silence. You die, I don’t have to hear thump, thump, thump always.”
I said, “Then kill me.”
His eyes narrowed. “Really?”
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
The asshole looked like he was considering it. Then, “Not today. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” I echoed. I looked around the room. “Was it nice?”
“What.”
“Here.” I waved my hand. “This place. The people in the photograph. Was it nice?”
“Why?”
I sighed. “Dude, seriously, this whole answering a question with a question thing is getting old.”
“Then stop asking questions.”
“That’s not how this works.”
He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. “That’s not how what works?”
I leaned my head against the wall. My ears were cold. “At the bar in Green Creek. The Lighthouse. You came. You followed the others.”
“Hunting them,” he said, sounding oddly proud. “Very good at hunting. Always quiet.”
“You were going to hurt them.”
“Easier. Easier to kill. If I did, she wouldn’t hurt me. Wouldn’t cut me. Silver knives on bottom of my paws.”
I didn’t think it was possible for me to hate Elijah more than I already did. Part of me knew that she’d done something to him and the other wolf to keep them docile, to make them subservient. Outright torture seemed plausible, especially after what she’d done to Chris and Tanner. But hearing it from him made me wish she was still alive so I could kill her myself. She’d gotten off easy. “You didn’t, though. Kill.”
He fidgeted, obviously knowing where this was headed. “No. I didn’t. Wanted to. But didn’t.”
“Because I was trying to kill you.”
He cocked his head, and it was such a wolf thing to do, I almost laughed. I’d seen that look before, though he’d been a timber wolf when he’d done it. He was annoyed. It shouldn’t have calmed me as much as it did. “You could never. Better wolf than you.”
“You’re bitten. I was born wolf.”
“You’re too loud,” he retorted. “I kill, I kill them all. But then you came out and said grr.”
“I did not say grr, you asshole.”
“Grr,” he repeated, like he was mocking me. “All loud and stupid with your stupid heart.”
“Thump, thump, thump.”
He nodded. “Should have killed you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I could have,” he snapped. “If I wanted to. Torn out your throat. Your stupid heart. Eat it. I would eat it.”
“Still didn’t do any of that, though.”
“I was tired. And you were saying grr. Like you were brave. And then you were shouting—”
“You were trying to drag me into the fucking woods!”
“Bury you,” he said, and his eyes flashed. “In the woods. Bury you and come back to eat you.”
I huffed out a breath. “You’re so full of shit. You were trying to keep me away from everyone else. You were trying to protect me.”
“No. Bury you. Eat you later.”
“You’re a real son of a bitch, you know that?”
He was pleased with himself. His lips twitched. Then it faded and he said, “Did you know her?”
I was taken aback. “Who?”
He looked away, gritting his teeth. “Nothing.”
“Oh, no way. Not gonna happen, dude. Who? Who did I know?”