Liquid Feels - Book 3 - DP Series - Complete

7. Coyotes, Creeks, and Confessions

After we finished our meal, we drove to a nearby gas station and picked up dessert. The boys spent thirty minutes trying to figure out a good place to enjoy it when they finally discovered a lake nestled in a ravine. I'd imagine the place to be spectacular in the daytime, but the moonlight cascading over the steep inclines surrounding us and the soft chime of water slipping over rocks adds an eeriness to the location.

"Not gonna lie," I tell the two brunettes beside me as we walk, "I sort of thought this place would be lame." I slip on a rock and Seth's hand is immediately at my elbow to steady me. "Thanks," I mutter, glancing around us. "Actually, it's kind of cool... in a creepy, isolated kind of way."

"Yeah," is Jamison's grunted response as he looks up toward the top of the cliff beside us.

"Who knew Illinois had landscape like this," I continue, filling the silence with boring chatter. I laugh into the darkness, forcing the sound out as loudly as I can. It echos off the walls, scurrying along the river and disappearing with the curve of the water.

"That was creepy," Jamison says, glancing at me with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," I agree, smiling. "It was an urge. Didn't want to waste an opportunity to laugh into an echoey creepy gully, you know? You guys should try it."

I barely even finish my sentence before Jamison starts cackling into the dark. The bubbly sound follows my laughter down the river before, it too, disappears. I smile at Seth's curly-haired friend, before turning to address Seth, but he doesn't let a single word leave my lips before he starts howling at the moon. I'm so thrown by the sudden action that I can do nothing but stand there watching as the muscles around his throat strain against his skin. When he glances down at me, his face is alight with a childlike satisfaction.

"That felt good," he says, before throwing his head back and howling again.

Jamison joins in and the two of them howl and bark into the sky for several seconds until a wailing in the distance suddenly blends into their wolf calls. They both stop, glancing at each other with eyes narrowed as they listen.

"What was that?" I question, unknowingly moving closer to Seth's side.

Images of some wolverine-like creature launching itself from the shadows and attacking flashes through my mind. I see claws slicing through flesh, blood pouring from gaping wounds. I see Seth lying unmoving as he blinks at me, unable to speak now that his throat has been ripped from his body. Something dangles from his empty right eye socket, causing bile to sting the back of my throat.

I shutter, shaking the thoughts from my head as I reach for his arm. Maybe I'm working to put some distance between us. Maybe touching him isn't the smartest thing to do when I'm desperately searching for a way out of this obsession I have with him. But, right now, I don't give a hoot.

"You scared?" His voice is soft as he whispers the question to me. He seems surprised by my reaction but anything but annoyed by it. The way his eyebrows are pulled together, shadowed eyes searching mine—that's genuine concern.

"That coyote is miles away," Jamison says, not bothering to lower his voice as he stands in front of us searching the tree line at the top of the ravine. When he turns around, his face is lit with excitement, a smile pulling at his face. "There's no way those things give a crap about us."

"And you know this how?" I question, letting go of Seth's arm even though he's made no move to step away from me.

"I hunt," he says, picking up a rock and skipping it across the water. The shadows pull it out of sight, denying me the satisfaction of seeing how many times it bounced across the surface. "Believe me," he continues, dusting his hands off on his jeans, "they're not concerned with us at all. If anything, they're probably headed further away now that they know where we are."