Page 67 of Dark

“This is your life. No way,” he spat.

“And what if the answer has been right under our noses this whole time?” I stared at each of them in turn. “There were non-human scents on that cord.”

Brody cut a glance out at the crowd. “West?”

“Getting a lead off that cord is going to be like trying to fingerprint the front door of a Walmart on Black Friday. We just had game day. That means a pep rally, band practice, and then the game itself. Who loaded up to come over here? And how many kids helped this morning with set-up? All of those scents, layered on top of each other—”

“And I’m just talking about other werewolves.”

West huffed out a breath. Because we both knew only three shifters had touched that cord this morning. Him. Me.

And Lacey Blair.

Ethan cracked his wrist, which in the last minute had started to shake. Brody gave him a hard look.

“August.”

“We’re in a dead spot out here. If something goes wrong, we won’t be able to communicate. We have to assume whoever’s behind this knows that, which means they’re probably going to force us to spread out, pick us off one at a time and hope we don’t notice what they’re doing until it’s too late.”

Brody cursed under his breath. Ethan began to pace.

And as I searched all of their faces, each of them willing to put their lives at risk in order to protect me, I realized Lacey had been right, much as I hated to admit it. This had never been their fight. I may not have come back to Blood Moon intending to place them in danger, but danger had followed me all the same. And I’d overstayed my welcome.

“I leave town,” I said. “And hope whoever’s after me follows.”

And before any of them could protest, I turned on my heel. Ethan cursed. I kept walking. A second later, a hand caught my wrist, whipping me around.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Passersby turned to stare. I offered a thin-lipped smile.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Releasing a growl, Ethan all but dragged me behind the stage. “Is this about earlier? You’re pissed at me and that’s it?”

Shaking him loose, I folded my arms. “I can’t keep putting other people in danger.”

“So you’re just gonna cut and run?”

I didn’t look at him. “We both knew going in this had an expiration date. You want us to be together, but only to a point. I want it to be real.”

Onstage, the band finished its set. Over the roar of the audience and an emergency siren caterwauling in the distance, my pulse hammered in my ears. Ethan pushed up his glasses, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“I’ve never lied to you, Daisy. I don’t know if I’m capable of being with anyone that way. Not long-term.”

“Maybe not. Or maybe that’s what you tell yourself to keep from getting hurt. You’re so sure you’re broken. Damaged. Poison. And you’re wrong. I love you. Do you get that?”

He swallowed, unable to look at me.

“But I can’t keep being the one to put myself out there,” I continued. “Not if you won’t meet me halfway. Not if this isn’t going anywhere.”

His throat bobbed. I watched his fists clench and unclench. But no words formed.

I told myself when I came back to town, I would have to find a way to quit Ethan Caldwell. That loving him would destroy both of us. I hadn’t wanted to be right.

“Ethan,” I whispered, just as footsteps crunched in the dry grass behind us.

“Trouble in paradise?”