There was silence, and then, Not a thing… Sis.
Not bothering to respond, I began to move forward again, making my way to the back of the house. There was a large wraparound porch that ended in a deck on the back. Most of the coyotes had been using the front door as far as we could tell. It was the one that faced the bonfire. There didn’t seem to be much going on out back, which is why we chose to go in that way.
Soon, we were up on the porch, and Demon was opening the door as quietly as possible. I slipped inside, Shyla right behind me.
She’s upstairs, Shyla whispered through our link. I feel her up there.
Me, too, Demon said, pausing by a doorway that led into the kitchen area. I’m in her mind. And, let me tell ya, she is mad as hell.
Mad? Not scared? Shyla asked, following me through the kitchen, Demon bringing up the rear.
Oh, she’s plenty scared, but right now her anger is outweighing her terror. She’s pacing, trying to figure out how to get away. The window is boarded up from the outside. Her door is locked. She’s tried everything.
Get me up there, Demon, Shyla said. I got this.
Just as we stepped in the living room, all hell broke loose. Two men strode in through a side door, one we hadn’t seen anyone else use, and froze when they saw us. One pulled a gun, but before he could use it, Demon’s knife slid across his throat. The other one turned to run, shouting loudly for his buddies, but he was too slow. I sprang from behind, my huge front paws hitting his back and slamming him down to the ground. My jaw was wrapped around his neck in a heartbeat, snapping it just before I ripped out his throat. Not that he could have come back from a broken neck, but with shifters, it was better to make sure they were dead than to regret it later.
After I was sure he wasn’t getting back up, I swung my head around to look for my brother and Shyla. They were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, watching the doors for anyone else to come through. I slipped past them and headed up toward the bedrooms, where I was now catching another scent that wasn’t coyote, but it wasn’t an ocelot like my mate, either. What was that? It smelled more avian. An eagle? Owl? I couldn’t quite figure it out.
She’s in here. Shyla stopped in front of a door at the end of a long hallway. Slipping what looked like a pocketknife from her front pocket, she squatted down in front of the lock and went to work. Within seconds, the door was opening, and we were all three inside the bedroom, shutting it quickly behind us.
Make this fast, Shyla. We need to get out of here. We can fight better out in the open.
Shyla placed a hand on the top of my head, her gaze on the young girl who stood across the room glaring at us. “Avery?” she whispered softly, “is that you?”
The girl didn’t look much like Shyla, except for the dark green eyes that stared at us. Eyes full of hatred and anger. She was filthy, bruises covering her arms and face, and she was fiery mad. “Who are you?”
Shyla smiled, moving a step closer to her. I growled, low and deep, worried my mate might be in danger. I would protect her from anyone, even a threat from her own sister.
Shyla stopped, once again touching the top of my head with the tips of her fingertips. I’m okay. Out loud, she said, “I’m Shyla.” When there was no recognition in the girl’s eyes, she said. “Shyla Thomas. Your sister.”
The girl frowned in confusion, slowly shaking her head. “No, you’re lying. I don’t have a sister.”
“My mother is Alice Thomas,” Shyla said softly. “Del is… was… my stepfather. He threw me out of the house when I was fourteen.”
Avery’s eyes narrowed on Shyla, and she shook her head again. “No, my dad wouldn’t do that.”
Shyla sighed, sinking her fingers more deeply into my fur. “He can, and he did. Sixteen years ago.” When Avery kept shaking her head, Shyla said, “Avery, come on. You’re a shifter. You can scent a lie. Am I lying? Del Thomas married my mother, Alice, when I was two years old. He gave me his last name and treated me as if I was his daughter. Then, when I turned fourteen, he kicked me out of the house, allowing me to take one packed bag with me and the twenty dollars I had to my name.”
Avery looked at her sister in suspicion, before inhaling deeply. A soft whimper left her lips when she smelled nothing but the truth in the air. “But, why would he do that?”
“I have no idea,” Shyla answered honestly. “I just figured I’d done something wrong.”
“Seems kind of funny that he kicked you out sixteen years ago, and your sister here is sixteen,” Demon cut in.
Another low growl slipped free when I realized my brother was right. How fucked up was that?
“Look, it doesn’t matter. All that matters, is getting you out of here safely and back home to your parents.”
“Our parents, it sounds like,” Avery whispered in awe.
Shyla slowly shook her head, turning toward the door. “They stopped being my parents years ago when they kicked me out, and then refused to take my phone calls over the years, which they obviously got since Mom called me when you went missing. Let’s get out of here.”
“I didn’t know.”
I watched Shyla stop and take a deep breath before glancing back to Avery. I could feel her pain and sorrow, and I had a feeling Avery could too, when she whispered, “It’s over and done with. It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me,” Avery whispered.
“You two can talk about this later,” Demon interrupted, motioning toward
