House Of Bears 7 - Samantha Snow Page 0,77

large before his consciousness. Her eyes told him the same thing.

At an unspoken signal, they both separated at the same moment. She gazed up at him with her cheeks flushed with life. She stole one last kiss from his lips. “Bye.”

He cradled her cheek and drowned in her eyes, just for a second. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered. “I’ll always love you.”

There was nothing more to say. She eased back. The woods pulled him away. One step at a time, she inched toward the house. She held his gaze while he snuck further into the shadows.

She took one last step, and the sun hit her. At that moment, the unknown power holding him jerked him around. He spun on his heel and plunged into the cool, dark woods.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO—HOLLY

Holly stormed into the living room. Elise looked up from the kitchen counter. Holly barged past her to the hall table. “Get your handbag. We’re leaving.”

Elise gaped at her with her mouth open. “What…what’s going on? Where’s Garret?”

“He’s gone.” Holly sliced her finger at her friend. “Come on. We have to go.”

Elise put down the milk carton she was reading. “Where are we going?”

“Witch River.” Holly fished the truck keys out of the drawer and came racing back. “I’ll get the truck. We have to go now.”

Elise blinked. “Why do you want to go there?”

“I just do. Come on. Quit stalling.”

Holly headed for the deck. Elise called to her from behind. “Aren’t you bringing your wallet? What if you get stopped?”

“I won’t need it. Come on.”

Holly blasted to the barn and fired up the truck. She drove to the deck as Elise came out to meet her. “What about Susanna? She might get scared if we leave her alone. We should tell her where we’re going.”

Holly threw the truck into gear. “Don’t worry about her. She won’t be alone that long.”

Elise got into the passenger seat and shut the door. Holly hit the gas before Elise finished clipping her seatbelt, but Holly didn’t offer any explanation. She didn’t think there was any explanation that covered what she knew she had to do.

She hit the interstate and floored it for Witch River. She dodged around traffic and whipped off the main highway onto the dirt roads. She followed the same route to the Bridge.

She parked the truck and got out. Now that she faced that broad stretch of water, her nerve failed. She hesitated to go near it.

Elise sidled over next to her. “What do you want to do? You saw what happened last time.”

Holly didn’t look at her. She fixed her attention on that water. Everything she needed to know was out there. The land behind her no longer held anything for her.

Elise bent over and peered at her face from the side. “Are you okay? What are we doing here, anyway?”

“Get in the truck, Elise,” Holly whispered. “Go home. You don’t belong here.”

Elise froze. “Go home—without you? You’re nuts!”

Holly waved at nothing. The river consumed her soul. She couldn’t look away if she tried. “Get out of here, Elise. Get in the truck and drive back to the house.”

“What’s going to happen to you?” Elise jerked involuntarily. “You aren’t going in there! No way!”

Holly didn’t answer. Elise couldn’t know what waited for Holly out there. Elise didn’t know what it was like to lose all the people she loved. Not even losing Trevor could give her a clue what Holly went through.

All those dreams made perfect sense to Holly now. She understood for the first time what the Fair Dryad was trying to tell her all these long, sleepless nights.

Elise choked back tears. “Don’t do this, Holly. Please.”

“Drive, Elise,” Holly murmured. “You don’t want to be here for this.”

“What…what will I tell Susanna or…or anybody?”

“Tell them whatever you want. It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me!” Elise croaked. “Do you have any idea what this will do to me? I dedicated my whole life to you. You can’t do this to me.”

Holly didn’t answer. All of this—everything related to this life—it all existed too far away from her to even think about. Elise didn’t matter anymore. None of it mattered.

Holly drifted out across the silent water. She lost awareness of everything until the truck engine fired up. The wheels crunched in gravel as the vehicle swiveled onto the road and faded into the distance. Good. She didn’t need or want Elise around right now.

Once the last whisper of engine noise dwindled on the breeze, she submerged into the vacuous