“You might also want to consider getting out of the gang. Remember what happened to your cousin Kayne’s girlfriend?” Logan said.
Another wave of cold fear sliced through him at the mention of Eve. Kayne and some of the gang had taken a shine to a pleasure girl working out of a pleasure house over in a British Columbia town on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. The vigilantes had found out, kidnapped her, and taken her deep into the mountains to some hideaway retreat. No one knew what had happened to her there, but somehow, she’d escaped. She’d refused to see Kayne and the gang again.
Ethan couldn’t let something bad happen to Doc. He’d been selfish in coming back without a plan. He realized that now. His lust for Doc had made him brainless. His desire for adventure had put her life in danger, and deserting her the way he had was really stupid on his part.
“Not only because of what happened to Eve, but because after you left yesterday evening we had company.”
Ethan stiffened. “Posse? We covered our tracks.”
“No, an elderly neighbor who was in town the other day dropped by to say she heard rumors about roving cannibal-type gangs starting to move from cities into secluded areas where it’s easier to subdue their victims. They torture victims until the person or persons tell the whereabouts of nearest surviving friends or family. When these cannibals are full, they kill their half-eaten victims and move onto these houses the tortured ones have told them about. They catch their prey and stay until the food, so to speak, runs out. We were going to drop by later to pick up Teyla and pass along the information.”
Jesus. Logan was a bounty of good news today, wasn’t he?
“Any ideas how close these cannibals are?” Ethan asked as he found himself looking for hidden boulders as well.
“Still far off. Other side of the mountains. I’m sure they’ll be in the area soon. Maybe if our luck holds out they’ll stay away until after the winter. That is, if the winter ends this time around.”
Logan swallowed back a curse. He’d felt the weather getting colder every year. The Catastrophe had really screwed the climate. He should really consider taking Liz south of the border, but down that way it truly wasn’t any better. It was cold everywhere. He was surprised grass kept growing, although it was starting to look twisted and unhealthy.
They worked quietly after that, each lost in their own thoughts as they searched and dug out the boulders. It wasn’t long before Ethan wished for a nice warm pair of gloves. His hands were so fucking cold.
But he figured if Logan could handle the cold, so could he. As he worked he kept thinking about Liz and how he could protect her without driving himself crazy with the feelings of uselessness that had plagued him up until he’d joined the Durango Gang. There, in the gang, he felt as if he was doing some good. Unfortunately, he’d missed Liz from the moment he left, until he’d come home and found her safe. Had it only been earlier this morning?
He’d already taken her twice. Once orally, once vaginally while she went down on Landon. Was he some sort of sex-crazed maniac? Using her and then throwing her away when he wanted to head off for an adventure again?
That would make him a really selfish son of a bitch. Undeserving of Liz. She was too good for him. He should have realized that a long time ago. Yet, he couldn’t let her go because she was the best thing in his life. That thought sobered him. If she was the best thing in his life, then why in hell was he treating her the way he’d been since leaving?
Chapter Six
The house was quiet. Too quiet, Ethan thought as he stood on the other side of the river watching the thick white spirals of fog block out the surrounding jagged mountains in the distance and settle over the valley, caressing the century-old stone house. Hell, it was even quieter than when they’d arrived in the rain early this morning.
Teyla had shown up an hour ago where they’d been working, telling Logan that it was time for them to go back home, meaning their place. She’d been acting easygoing as if nothing was wrong back here, which meant if something had happened it had happened within the past hour.
The cozy way Teyla had nestled against Logan and the sultry way she was eyeing Cassidy and Spencer as they walked quickly to greet her made Ethan realize the three men would be giving her some hot, tender loving tonight. Suddenly he hadn’t been able to wait to get back home himself.
Home. The word made him feel all warm and bubbly inside. Made his heart happy. Yet the moment he’d realized no spiral of smoke wafted from the fireplaces and no buttery glow of lights drifted from the windows of the house in the gloomy twilight, alarm bells began to go off inside his head.
Maybe what Logan had said earlier about the cannibals coming meant they were already here? He couldn’t see the lean-to where they’d stabled the horses from here, but even if they were there, it didn’t mean anything.
Had the cannibals taken out Landon and Tyrell? The men couldn’t get too far with their injuries if their stitches bust open, and riding horses would make their injuries worse.
Liz was a lousy shot even if she tried to shoot straight. Which she didn’t, because she refused to take any shooting lessons from him or anyone. Every time he’d brought up the subject of learning to shoot properly she would quote the Hippocratic Oath saying she’d sworn to save lives and not take them.
Fuck. He’d been surprised she’d been using the gun he’d left her when he’d shown up and she’d fired a shot. It had gone wide, but with her carrying a gun, it meant she’d been more scared than she’d been letting on to the guys who’d dropped by to check up on her.
Shit, he’d left her unprotected for months. And today, he’d simply gone off to visit Logan and the guys without a second thought to any security measures. Man, he was a real lousy protector, wasn’t he? He resisted the overwhelming urge to start running toward the house.
Okay, he’d already covered the selfish asshole part. Now he was caught out here in the open with anyone inside the house watching his every move. He needed to act as if he didn’t suspect a thing. If he went for his gun, then whoever was watching him would know he was on to them. The gun he wore in his holster suddenly felt like a dead, useless weight.
Damn! He would have to keep walking as coolly as possible, acting as if he suspected nothing. His stomach clenched in dread as he neared the house, his gaze sliding off every window pane, looking for the slightest evidence of someone standing to the side watching him. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.
No sound sifted from the house. Just the eerie presence of the cold wind snapping through the branches of the nearby evergreens.
When he neared the front door, he slipped into the evergreens lining the front of the house and held back a groan as fiery pain zipped along his wounded arm. With his fingers feeling numb and icy he could barely hold the gun in his right hand. He switched to his left. He’d been practicing shooting with his left lately, just in case, yet he’d never been able to accomplish a quick and accurate shot as well as with his right hand. Nothing he could do about that now.
Keeping his back to the tangled ivy climbing up the wall, he quickly turned the corner and edged up to the nearest window. The living room. The curtains weren’t drawn, and he peeked inside. Darkness shrouded the furniture. Nothing moved.
Frig! Maybe the cannibals had grabbed Liz, Landon, and Tyrell and taken off with them?
His heart crashed against his chest as he crouched and ducked beneath the window and did the same with another living room window further down. Popping around the corner, he peeked into the next window he came across. A bedroom. No one there.
He came to the back door, held his breath, and twisted the doorknob. It was unlocked. Oh, great. Either the intruders had watched Teyla leave and weren’t expecting him or they’d left the back door unlocked because they were making it look like nothing was wrong.
The moment he pushed open the door a crack he smelled it. The scent of baking bread. Totally normal. Yet he hadn’t seen any smoke from the oven or the fireplace. Totally not normal.
And then he heard something. A soft whisper. A sultry whimper. What the fuck?
