A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,57

I need, Beau thought, scowling as he walked quickly to the window on the other side of the room, trying to open it.

Locked.

The lock probably wouldn’t have posed that big of a problem for him to either pick or break, but the bars on the other side would. He could probably have torn them from the window frame, but doing so would likely cause a lot of noise.

“Yes, I’m a shifter,” he told Scott quickly. “And lucky for you I am, or else I wouldn’t be here.”

Scott pursed his lips, before crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t believe you’re here to save me,” he said. “I know your type. You’d never turn against other shifters.”

“I would if the shifters were criminals preying on humans and others,” Beau shot back, leaving the window and going to the wooden, ornately carved closet to his right.

If the window won’t work, then it’s time for Plan B.

He glanced at Scott as he opened the closet doors. “How do you know about shifters, anyway?”

Scott sneered, raising an eyebrow. “Are you stupid or something? Who in Bell’s Hollow doesn’t know about shifters? They’ve always lived around here, keeping themselves to themselves mostly, thinking they’re so superior.”

Beau had to admit he was surprised by Scott’s answer – though one look at him told him he was definitely telling the truth.

Annie didn’t know, though, he thought, as he rifled through the clothes hanging in the closet.

But then, as Annie had explained, she was a newcomer to Bell’s Hollow – she’d only lived there a couple of years. Was it possible she simply hadn’t been there long enough to be initiated into the small town’s secrets, the existence of shifters included? He recalled what she’d said to him while they’d been sitting by the lake, waiting for their chowder: Even here, where people are nice to me… I’ve only been here a couple of years, I guess, so I’m still not really considered part of the community. It’s just the way folks are in small towns, I guess. I’m still an outsider, really.

Well, Beau guessed he knew why, now: Bell’s Hollow had some bigger secrets than the usual small-town gossip. But he supposed it would have been much harder for shifters to stay secret in such a small place.

“I don’t have time to argue with you about this right now,” Beau said curtly, finding a hat and a coat in the closet and yanking them off their hangers. “Either you can believe me and come quietly, or you can stay here with the people who just tried to burn down your father’s bakery. It’s your choice.”

Scott stared up at him, what little color he had draining from his face.

“Burn down – they really did it?” he asked, voice filled with horror. “I thought they were just – I never thought they’d actually –”

“They didn’t, but only because we arrived in time to stop them,” Beau said, grabbing Scott’s arm and hauling him to his feet. “But you don’t know how close you came to costing your father everything. And if you don’t want to cost him even more, you have to come with me. Now.”

Finally, his words seemed to penetrate Scott’s brain. Somehow, until now, he hadn’t seemed to grasp just how serious a situation he was in. But he looked at Beau now, his eyes widening in fear, and he nodded.

“Good.” Beau jammed the hat down onto Scott’s head, doing his best to cover his face. He wound the large coat over his shoulders, pulling the collar up over his jaw to hide his face even more. “We’re getting out of here. If anyone asks, you’ve had too much to drink, and I’m helping you. So act drunk.”

Scott swallowed, plucking at the jacket. “I don’t think that’s a good plan,” he whined after a moment. “You think just sneaking around is good enough?”

“Yes,” Beau snapped. “The idea is to get out of here without them knowing.”

Scott’s expression turned mulish. “They humiliated me, though,” he muttered. “Made me beg them to give me a second chance. It was… it was humiliating,” he said again, clearly having reached the end of his vocabulary.

“I really can’t tell you how much I don’t care about that right now,” Beau told him. “This is the plan. Take it or leave it.”

Scott pouted for a moment longer, before finally, he nodded.

Beau didn’t have the patience for relief. Pulling Scott along behind him, Beau checked first one way and then the other along