“Not enjoying the festivities?” From the smell, Cameron had been drinking long before his guests arrived.
“It’s not really my thing.”
“Mine either. Not anymore.” With the careful movements of the totally shitfaced, he set his plastic cup on the floor. “Want to go for a walk?”
With you? Hardly trembled on the tip of my tongue, but his face was so ravaged, I couldn’t kick him when he was already on the ground. “You obviously want to be alone, so let me find somewhere else to hide.”
But he wasn’t listening to me. “I don’t understand how everything went to shit so fast. Last year I had everything. Last year—”
“You hurt me because you could.”
He recoiled like I had punched him in the face. Part of me considered it; no matter how much I wanted to move on, I couldn’t forgive him. Cameron stumbled to his feet, and I jumped up, putting some distance between us. On seeing my reaction, he stopped short, his hands up in some clumsy gesture I couldn’t interpret. Out here, the shadows were too deep for me to read his face.
“Edie—”
When the howl rang out, at first I thought it was more special effects for the party, but Cam looked blank, and two red eyes opened in the darkness behind him. I raised a shaking hand to warn him, and he stumbled. A growl rumbled from the shadows.
“Wild dog?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“If you run, I’ll distract it.” He turned slowly.
“That’s a terrible plan. You can’t even walk straight.”
But it happened too fast for me to make it more than two steps. Smoke dogs swirled around Cam’s ankles, real and not-real, hounds born of night with fangs like obsidian and eyes likes windows into hell. With each snap of their teeth, he faded a little more, not blood but shadow, until he was only an outline with a hand thrown out toward me.
“I’m sorry,” the wind whispered. And then it fell silent, too.
A single black dog stepped out of the smoke; this one had full shape and definition, probably gained from the life it stole from Cameron. It studied me with ember eyes, sniffed once, and then trotted away. Teeth chattering, I ran forward, patting the chair where Cam had been sitting, the floor where he’d set his drink, but … he was just … gone. My teeth chattered as I whirled and fled, back toward shrieking monsters and giggling girls.
What the hell just happened? Who can I tell? There was no body, no blood. Halfway there, I had to sit down with my head between my knees. That was where Davina found me, half an hour later. Probably thinking I was drunk, she hauled me to my feet, but when she didn’t smell booze, she tapped my forehead.
“You high?”
“No. I’m freaking out.”
“I can see that. Let’s get you home, little hermit crab.”
Maybe I should’ve corrected her and explained that it wasn’t the party that turned me into a trembling puddle of goo, but I couldn’t find the words. So I sat in the back of her mom’s car and shook, right up until they dropped me off. My thoughts ran in an endless, panicked, disjointed loop. Cameron is gone. Cameron is never coming back. And I was the only one who could give his parents peace of mind, but they wouldn’t believe me.
I saw it, and I wouldn’t either.
I mumbled my way through the parental inquiry, but my dad seemed reassured that I was sober and still wearing a bow tie. Hat tip for his savvy, it was hard to imagine hooking up without taking it off. Five minutes later, I escaped to my room while this fact battered against my brain: You had just thought that you couldn’t forgive him … when the hellhounds appeared. You’re doing this. Somehow.
Because I didn’t know what else to do, I typed “hellhound” and then “black dog” into the search bar; it told me a bunch of legends and lore, including the fact that these dogs were nearly always a portent of death. Since it killed Cameron, that seemed logical. But I never heard any of that before just now, so why would my angry thoughts summon them? Pacing, I raked my hands through my hair. Now that’s the real mad scientist do.
I need to do something. This can’t continue.
Briefly, I considered the solution I’d chosen before, but I couldn’t even complete the thought. I want to live. Maybe it’s wrong, but I just can’t. Not now. A true heroine wouldn’t hesitate to give her life for someone else, but I wasn’t painted with that stripe. Just as I’d come to that place out of weakness, now that my life was good, I couldn’t throw it away, even to save people.
My knees gave out after a while, and I huddled in front of my bed. Around one, I came up with the half-baked idea of going to see Kian since he was only a few blocks away, but reason poked me. Not only would that be stupid and dangerous, I could tell him what happened without leaving the apartment.
So I got my phone and typed, You there?
Yep. How was the party?
Can you come over? By the time I locked the door, he was in my room.
“That’s handy.” Odd. My voice didn’t sound shaky at all.
“You don’t ask me over for ninja visits unless something’s wrong.” He replaced the distance with concern. Five seconds later, I was in his arms. While I recounted Cameron’s last moments, he stroked my back. I finished by asking, “What did I see? Is he dead?”
He hesitated. “I’ve never witnessed anything like that. But if the dogs took him, I suspect the answer is yes.”
“What am I supposed to do with that?” I demanded. “What about his parents?”
“I have no idea. I wish I did.”
A whimper escaped me. “It’s … I think I’m doing this.” Before he could interrupt with hollow reassurances, I repeated what I had been thinking the instant before. Cameron disappeared—how I couldn’t forgive him. Then it was like my dark reflections translated to instant judgment. “Now tell me that’s a coincidence.”
“It seems unlikely.”
“I can’t deal,” I whispered. “I’m so scared right now.”
Kian murmured something into my hair and tugged me toward the bed. I knew better than to imagine he’d picked this as the perfect time to make his move, so I followed, and he cuddled me against his chest. No telling how long it would take for the party to wind down and for anyone to realize Cameron had vanished. But unlike Russ, there was no body for anyone to find.
If anyone looks.
“I’d do anything to get you out of all this,” he said softly.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” I was just upset enough to tackle the way he had been acting. Again. “What’re you hiding from me?”
“How long have you known?” At least he didn’t try to deny it.
I thought back. “Since just after we went to your new place.”
“I need to give back that trophy for best actor.” He attempted a smile, but too much pain dragged down the corners of his mouth, resulting in more of a grimace.
“Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Good advice, if it wasn’t already too late.”
“Kian, tell me.”
“I made a deal for your protection,” he blurted.