Moses rushed from the room, trying to block out the screams, desperate to make it outside. He hit the back door running, taking large strides toward the brush along the side of the house where he could empty his stomach. A mixture of vegetable soup and cornbread from dinner littered the ground as he heaved into the untrimmed foliage. He retched until there was nothing left to vomit, he was spitting drool and the muscles in his stomach protested.
By the time the last spasm had passed, leaving him gasping for breath, the screams from inside the house had stopped.
Murderer. The word resounded in Moses’ mind. Beating down on him, clamoring in his ears. Men of god didn’t kill women and children. Not even if they were a danger to his congregation.
It was a sin.
It was a breaking of the commandments.
Even if he didn’t kill the woman, whose only crime was to uncover information about his people—unearthing the secret life of Shepherds—he was equally guilty. He had guided the assassin hired to spill the blood that wouldn’t touch Shepherd hands but would stain it nonetheless, bringing them to Andrea Stone’s front door and then standing idly by as the life she was granted was snuffed, along with the soul who had never been gifted with his or her first breath.
The sound of the screen door opening and then slamming shut arrived before the steady crunch of gravel by stomping feet. Closer those steps came, and closer…
A firm hand grasped the shirt between Moses’ shoulder blades, forcing him upright, and he gazed into the face of the man he knew only as Mr. Pink. His appearance was deceptive. He looked every bit the educated and refined businessman, nothing at all like a vicious killer. His ink-black hair was smoothed back, his face carefully shaven and his suit immaculately pressed. Moses caught his terrifying black stare before promptly looking away.
Looking Mr. Pink in the eye was inviting death.
The hand at his back vanished and Moses staggered as he swiped the pads of his fingers across his mouth. The bitter stench of bile and stomach acid rose to his nose, causing his stomach to churn once more.
“Get your shit together.” Mr. Pink’s voice didn’t reveal anything about the man’s mood. “I want you to get in your truck, drive away and don’t look back. When you make it home tell your boss that the job he hired me for has been done to his satisfaction. I expect my money to be dropped off at the agreed upon location before the sun rises.”
Moses stumbled to his truck, parked alongside a glistening black Camaro, noting the full circular swell of the moon in the antique vehicle’s surface. He tore his eyes away as he climbed into the GMC that was equally old but not as well kept. The keys were waiting in the ignition, jangling together as the cabin shifted to support Moses’ weight.
As he started the motor and pulled away, he glanced into the rearview mirror. Mr. Pink stood there watching—in the same position Moses had left him…
The vision vanished and Ava pulled her hands away, severing the connection.
She would have fallen had Diskant’s arm not kept her steady, her legs liquid as water.
Damn it.
She wasn’t going to stay conscious for long. It had been too much and had required energy that she didn’t have. She gasped when Diskant bent over and swept her into his arms, situating her against his chest. Her lids flitted down as she fought off drowsiness and shook her head, peering at the men who had shared the past and now would come to terms with it.
Moses didn’t speak, his head bent so that his chin was pressed against his chest. The defensive position didn’t hide the tears streaming down his cheeks or the silent sobs that racked his body. Ava knew something that she hadn’t shared with Caden, something she’d sensed the moment she’d first pressed Moses’ mind. The Shepherd was laden with guilt, and had been even more so since his brethren had convinced the man investigating the murder of his wife that creatures were responsible for her death. It hadn’t been difficult. The crime scene was consistent with an animal attack. In an effort to test Moses’ worth, after gaining Caden’s trust Moses was placed alongside the man who was a constant reminder of the horrors he’d witnessed, a virtual demon hovering over his shoulder.
No amount of prayer eased his conscience. Nor did reassurances that he had done what was necessary.
Moses had hoped when the shifters attacked the vans armed to destroy them they would inadvertently end his misery, keeping his shame a secret. Now he knew he would die with the truth revealed, outed as who and what he was.
A murderer.
And murderers, as all Christians knew, burned for an eternity in hell.
Ava’s lids dipped and she shook her head again. When she opened her eyes she gazed at Caden. There were no tears. They had all been shed when he’d come home several days after the murder to find the decomposing body of his wife on the kitchen floor.
“How can I know you’re telling me the truth?” he asked quietly. “How can you prove this isn’t just another lie or trick?”
“I can’t.” She struggled to remain awake. “But if you’re willing to listen you can find out for yourself. No one here means you harm. They need you as much as you need them.”
“I’m not sure about all that but I’ll listen…for a price.” Caden’s steely gray eye narrowed as he turned from Ava and studied Moses, who kept his chin to his chest. There was more than death promised in that stare and the raw intensity forced her to look away.
“He’s yours,” Diskant said, his voice uncharacteristically deep and reflective. “The first person to suffer a loss is always the one given the first option to exact punishment. That’s our law. No one here will dispute it.”
Identifying the cause of Diskant’s shift in mood, Ava placed her hand over his heart and thought, No one can hurt me now. You’re here. We’re safe. It’s okay now.
And I intend for it to stay that way. I’ll never put you in harm’s way again. Not for anyone or anything.
Diskant had walked across the room toward the stairs when Caden’s low growl stopped him. “I want your word. I’ll listen to whatever you have to say and if the information is solid enough I’ll answer your questions. But in exchange you hand him over. Once the gloves come off he’s mine to do with as I please.”
Ava huddled into Diskant’s chest and lifted the protective mental barriers that kept Caden’s emotions—as well as Moses’—from washing through her. Her part was done. She’d promised to help the pack and now it was up to them to take what information she’d provided and use it to their advantage.
“He’s yours,” Diskant repeated and resumed his trek, calling over his shoulder, “No matter what happens from this moment forward, you’ll decide how he goes. I give you my word.”
“Thank you for choosing Delta. Enjoy your flight.”
Thomas accepted his ticket, nodded to the attendant and began the short walk down the narrow hallway littered with chatty passengers. When he reached the plane and was directed to his seat in first class, he pulled a box from his pocket before he placed his suitcase in the overhead compartment and sat down. People filtered past but he didn’t pay them any notice. His mind was on one thing and one thing only.
He opened the lid, revealing the key to his future. The locket shone as the overhead lighting struck the surface, the engraved lines prominent. A shadow fell over him, and he looked up at the attendant smiling down at him.
“Is that a gift for someone special?”
He returned her smile, closed the box and sat back. “You could say that.”