Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,15

speaking the same language as Kes or not. His head listed from one side to the other restlessly. He opened his eyes and blinked steadily, then stopped blinking, going very still.

Silent.

He suddenly bolted upright, grabbing Kes by the throat. A growl tore from the thing’s throat. Kes’s order to stay quiet and on the other side of the room was forgotten in an instant.

“Let go of him!” I screamed, racing to Kes’s side and trying to pry the man’s steely hand from his neck.

The horned man’s pale pink eyes angrily locked onto mine and widened, fury ebbing through him. Emitting a guttural cry, he knocked me away as if I were lighter than a feather. Pain exploded across my side as I hit the stone floor and slid across the room, but I scrambled to my feet and went back to try to defend Kes.

Pulling Kes’s face close to his and pressing their foreheads together, the two whispered in sync. The same lyrical words flowed in an identical cadence that echoed over the ceiling, sliding down the walls and over the floor.

My fingers twitched to separate them, but Kes did this willingly, so I decided to wait.

He gripped the thing’s head and held him in place. A few moments later, the man took his crushing hand off Kes’s neck. I was waiting nearby, and as soon as the monster released him, I grabbed my brother and jerked him away.

And in thanks, Kes had the audacity to yell at me.

“I told you to stay over there and keep your mouth completely shut. I told you not to move!”

I threw a hand in the thing’s direction. “He was hurting you!”

Kes righted his clothes and sniffed. “He was not hurting me.”

“How was I supposed to know that, Kes?”

The guy with the horns sat on the edge of the slab and stared at us, transfixed. His loincloth had come somewhat loose. “He’s about to lose his… cloth thing,” I warned Kes, who cursed and told me to turn around. I laughed as Kes knotted the cloth at his side in an attempt to cover him.

The strange man stared at me over Kes’s shoulders like he was as perplexed about me being there as I was that he existed.

He slid his pink eyes toward Kes as he straightened again.

Kes’s eyes widened in a silent plea I didn’t understand. What the hell is happening? My side stung from where I landed on the stone floor. I ran a hand down my side and hip; I was already bruising in spots.

“You are injured.”

I looked up with a start, realizing he was only inches away. I craned my head backward to get some space. He smelled spicy, but not spicy like curry, spicy like… cinnamon? And something unique I couldn’t name.

He smelled delicious.

“You threw me across the room. What did you expect?” Asshole. I would have called him that out loud if I wasn’t afraid he might do it again.

He looked at Kes, his dark brows furrowing.

“When you woke, you were disoriented,” Kes explained, giving me a pointed look. “You grabbed my throat and she thought you were hurting me. She tried to remove your hand and you batted her away. She fell.”

I took a step toward him. “I did not fall, and he didn’t bat me away, Kes. He backhanded me and I flew across the room and landed on my side – which, by the way, will be black and blue tomorrow, and prom is this…”

I froze.

The room went still as it sank in. There would be no prom, would there?

I was unable to hold back the tears that flooded my eyes.

Where’s Mom and Dad?

What’s happening?

What happened to Fajita girl?

Why does this guy have freaking horns?

And why is he staring at me?

Why are his eyes pink?

“Larken,” the man rasped quietly from a few feet away this time.

My mouth popped open in shock. How did he know my name?

“Why did you bring her here?” he asked, swiveling his head to look at Kes, a silent fury I didn’t understand lingering in his eyes and in his tone.

“She is my sister. My family,” Kes answered. “Despite what she is and what we are, she’s dear to me.”

The pink-eyed beast moved closer and brought his finger to my cheek, tracing my tear. It was my turn to bat his hand away. I was a little embarrassed that I barely moved it, but my point was made. He withdrew his hand. “I apologize for causing you harm. Shall I heal