The man who he met upon his last visit was there, still wearing his shades despite the dimness of the bar. Loch met with him the most, but never actually caught his name. He hadn’t earned the right to that information yet.
The second man was one Loch had only met a handful of times. He introduced himself as Fang, though Loch doubted that was his real name.
Then again, his name was Loch, so who was he to judge?
“We expected you some time ago,” Fang said, his voice unsettlingly calm. Fang wasn’t a large man. Loch had a good six inches and seventy pounds on him. However, something about the way Fang carried himself told Loch, and everyone else within a block radius, not to fuck with him. He looked like the sort of guy who might dissolve a body in acid.
“There was an interesting delay,” Loch said.
“All you had to do was figure out the blind spots of the old estate and meet us here,” Fang said. “How could there have been a delay?”
“I caught the young woman, Holly, trying to run away,” Loch said. “I decided to give her a lift out of town. I was taking her right to Golden Oak, I swear.”
Both Fang and the nameless man’s brows shot up.
“I see.” Fang nodded. “That is an interesting development. Is she there now? We can have the men fetch her immediately.”
“No.” Loch forced the word out. “She’s not. The others, Pearl’s men, they stopped us before we could leave the town limit.”
“What?” the nameless man snarled. “You were caught? Where is the woman now?”
“She’s with them,” Loch said. “Keller, the blond, struck a deal with her. He promised to tell her the truth...the whole truth. He’s taking her to a sacred spot in Silver Spruce to prove it. She might already know everything by now.”
“No doubt this...Keller will tell her about you as well,” Fang said.
“This might be a good thing,” Loch spoke quickly, trying to ignore his sweaty palms. “Holly was desperate to leave when I found her. She wanted to walk all the way to town to get a cab. She doesn’t care about her car anymore. She wants to leave. This might be what completely pushes her over the edge.”
“For your sake, I hope that’s exactly what happens,” Fang said. “If not, you’ll have to come up with something else, or we will.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Loch assured them.
“Even if she no longer trusts you?”
“I said it won’t be a problem,” Loch snapped. Snapping at someone like Fang wasn’t the smartest idea he’d ever had, but he didn’t want Fang to leave here thinking Loch was nothing more than a spineless cub who couldn’t pull off the simplest of tasks.
“Good.” Fang left a wad of cash on the table and pushed his chair back. “We’ll be in touch.”
“You know where to find me,” Loch replied with a false sense of calm.
“That we do,” the nameless man growled in Loch’s ear before shoving back from the table as well.
Fang turned to leave, then paused, looking over his shoulder. “Just remember, you owe us. You’re going to pay up one way or another.”
CHAPTER 12 – Holly
Holly was uncomfortable. Apparently, getting to “the stones” required several miles of driving off-road on the most uneven terrain possible. Keller kept his arms around Holly, so at least when they jostled, they jostled together and not against each other. Knocking heads with him would result in a concussion on her part for sure.
She couldn’t even look at Johnny.
She thought she imagined what she saw last night, now she wasn’t so sure. The way he moved, the way all four of them moved when they fought, wasn’t natural. She was dead certain she saw Johnny transform into a bear last night. The other two must’ve been Keller and Garret. But the original three who had crept up to the house in the dark of the night, who could say what they were? Maybe they were just normal bears, but Holly knew deep down that wasn’t true, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Their eyes were...wrong for bears. She’d never even seen a bear in real life, but she knew they didn’t have eyes like that.
“I know this isn’t ideal,” Keller said in that low, calm, soothing voice of his.
“It isn’t wise to talk to me right now,” Holly snapped. “I’m pissed at all of you.”
“We just saved you from a kidnapping,” Johnny pointed out.
“I’m the angriest at you, so don’t you dare say a damn word,” she hissed. She expected Johnny to argue or joke, but he didn’t. Good. He was finally wising up.
“What did I do?” Johnny demanded.
“What did you do?” Holly repeated through gritted teeth, her temper crackling to life like an exposed livewire. “What did you do? What didn’t you fucking do, Johnny?”
“Maybe this is a conversation that should be saved for after I explain things,” Keller suggested.
“Will your explanation make me want to look him in the eye again?” Holly demanded.
“You need to calm down,” Johnny snapped.
“What?” Holly shrieked. “You know what? Pull over. I’m getting in the truck bed with Garret.”
“No, you’re not.” Keller sighed.
“Oh? You’re going to tell me what to do now?” Holly was pissed, and there was no stopping it. She always told people she wasn’t quick to anger, which was true, but once she was pushed past a certain point, she was a force of damn nature. She’d been pushed to that point. She hit that point when Johnny turned into a fucking bear.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do,” Keller said calmly. “But we’re here. If you want to ride in the bed with Garret on the way back, I won’t stop you.”
Johnny pulled the
