High Noon - Casey Bond Page 0,69

was still slumped near the back door. Where did Terah come from? My stomach vibrated violently. I looked up into Enoch’s feverish green eyes.

“I don’t understand.”

Terah’s feet pushed at the ground as she tried to suck in a breath. Her wounded heart was still trying to beat around the stake, but couldn’t. Her lips parted like a fish out of water, then she let out a final, long sigh, going limp in Asa’s arms.

Asa looked to Enoch with a look of terror and awe, then locked eyes with me. “You killed her?”

I shook my head. “No, I...” Tears filled my eyes. “Did I?” I asked Enoch, who could only nod.

Shaking my head rapidly, I pulled away, confused. “She wasn’t even here!”

“She just stepped out the back door. You went invisible and staked her before any of us could find you,” he answered, his voice haunted.

“I didn’t mean to…” But I did. I meant to. I struck her to protect myself. She came after me in the wood… no, here. She must have attacked me. “I’m sorry,” I offered weakly, my voice saturated with tears.

Asa left his sister and was in front of me in a flash. “Sorry does not bring her back!” he roared. Spittle flew into my face.

I covered my mouth. I don’t understand what happened! “I didn’t mean to, I swear. I… we were in the woods, but then we were here. I thought I was dreaming again, but this time Maru and Titus weren’t in it.”

“You asked where they were,” Enoch answered quietly. “Your eyes were glassy and unfocused.”

“She wasn’t dreaming,” Asa snapped.

“I was, I swear! I was in the woods, and then she came out from behind a tree. She lashed out and I swung the stake, not expecting it to connect.”

“But it did!” Asa shouted. He began to pace. “I never should have bitten you. I should have let you die!”

Enoch pinched his eyes closed.

“I’m sorry, Enoch,” I pleaded.

He turned away from me, staring at his sister. Victor and Kael had slaughtered his people. Abram had, too. But all that death and destruction couldn’t outweigh what I did by killing Terah.

When he looked at me again, the light was gone from his eyes. His irises darkened and he bared his fangs. Asa flashed a cruel smile, turned on his heel, and disappeared into the saloon.

Enoch

Yarrow and I waited outside. It was dark, just like I’d planned. She’d sent a command to pull Maru as a test. Kael didn’t have him in his system, so while she thought this would work for him, we weren’t sure if Kael could somehow block her command for Titus and Eve.

“There,” I breathed. Maru was falling fast, directly overhead from where we stood. “You target better than Kael.”

Yarrow beamed, turning her attention back to Maru as he flailed and screamed. I adjusted my position and held my arms out, bracing the muscles in my legs. When my fingertips felt his suit, they tightened around him. The impact knocked us both backward, but he was okay. Maru looked stunned for a moment, but quickly looked from me to the sky before finally settling on Yarrow.

She worried over him for a moment, making sure he wasn’t hurt. “I’m fine,” Maru sputtered, “but where are the others?”

“We pulled you first. As a test,” she explained to him.

“A test? Eve needs to come home, Yarrow,” he instructed, urgency filling his voice. “You need to bring her home now.”

“What’s the matter?”

“She’s dying!” he yelled, scrambling to a concrete bench where Yarrow’s computer sat. “You have to bring her home.”

Yarrow grabbed her computer, clutching it against her chest protectively, then bared her fangs at Maru. Horrified, he stumbled back and whipped his head in my direction. “You turned her?”

“I had no other choice,” I answered simply.

“There is always a choice.”

A beep came from Yarrow’s computer. She lifted the lid of the laptop and gasped. “Enoch, you’re not going to like this.”

Every muscle in my abdomen tightened. “What?”

“Kael detected Maru’s fall.”

I cursed. “What does that mean?” She scrambled to the bench, her fingers flying over the keys. “What does that mean, Yarrow? What’s he doing?”

“He just pulled Titus.”

I swore softly. “Can you change his target back to us?”

She shook her head. “It’s too late.”

“What about Eve?”

“He hasn’t done anything to –”

“Pull her. Bring her to me now,” I commanded.

Yarrow’s screen went blue. “What the hell?” she shrieked. She tapped the power key. “I have to reset. I… Oh, no.”

“Yarrow,” I growled, stalking toward her. “Tell me that