The Grave Shadows

21. Skin Deep

The Watts Estate slumbered in the darkness. Customarily, the mansion staff left the main residence at eight, so a silhouette behind the kitchen's window was one of the Watts boys. Everett abandoned the idea of grabbing a bite. He was withering, but starving was less painful than seeing any of his brothers now.

The front door slammed, and Everett spun around. His skin jumped when a man behind the pane gaped at him. Everett scoffed at the reflection of himself—Mary's father on a deathbed.

The forest could have been Everett's grave, but Cyan's nightmare. She was immortal. The magic came to her when she was twelve. Knowing that it was unnatural, the young Cyan kept her condition private.

Cyan healed even when she was an inch from death, her cells repairing and regenerating themselves at an alarming rate. Four months ago, her spine shattered during a show jumping practice, but no injury intimidated her. Evil, Cyan called it, always mended her pieces back together.

Being tenacious should be appreciative. Anyone would love to be invincible. It was a gift, not an infliction—it saved Cyan's life today. Everett's knees weakened when Cyan's tears flowed through his veins. Nobody was there, not even the damn bear that vanished without repentance.

"You look like shit!" Luke greeted Everett at the second door from the stairs. His face was as wrecked as the Ford.

Everett snorted and sailed past Luke's shoulder.

"What the hell happened to you?" Luke scolded and trotted into Everett's peaceful chamber. The little dog wagged his tail. "Who was it this time? A bear?" He always managed to come up with a decent guess.

Although Everett and the bear never wrestled, he was in this shape because of the animal. "Something like that," he mumbled, needing to crash, having no desire to reconcile with the shrinking dog.

"Weren't you with Cyan today? John told me." Luke tightened his brows. "Dear Lord! Did something happen to her? Everett—"

"Go away, Luke." Everett peeled the bloody shirt off his back. All he wanted was a long hot bath.

"You took her to Dawn Cathedral." Luke glowered at Everett, his cute eyes hardening.

"Yes." Everett rolled his shoulders, soreness plaguing his entire body now. "And it's none of your business." He turned away from the interrogator.

"I'm going to the Coopers' to see if she's okay," Luke said. "You're irresponsible." He veered at the door.

"She's fine," Everett said, and Luke halted. "She wasn't with me when I fought the bear, okay? Now, go away." He waved his hand.

For a moment, Luke stared at Everett's bruised fist. Everett refrained from gazing at the kid's face, proud nevertheless that the brat was standing tall after that fight.

"Okay, then I'll see you in the poolroom," Luke said, his tone shifting, his face softening.

"I'm going to sleep." Everett unbuttoned his jeans.

"Hey, freak! What are you doing?" Luke covered his eyes, one hand barricading the view of Everett's body.

Freak? The Watts boys should be more sensitive about their vocabulary around Cyan.

"This is my room, and I want to get naked." Everett unzipped his jeans. "But what are you doing here, pervert? You want to watch me take a shower?" Stripping, Everett chuckled as the sound of running footsteps and 'Everett, you gross!' faded from his room.

As Everett hobbled inside the bathroom, the grim details gathered in his mind. What would happen if Cyan's condition became public? She would be experimented on, called a freak, misunderstood, or used. Did Bill Watts somehow know her secret? Was this the agenda? What would Bill Watts do to her? Everett stiffened, sickening of the Watts Clan's malicious nature. But in a twisted part of his brain, Everett was glad that he and Cyan went through hell together. The crash that almost killed them brought her secret to him. He had touched her. It was dreadful, but he felt her. Perhaps Everett was crazy as he was grinning right now.