Page 30 of Devil’s Snare

I understood the freedom of riding. How it felt like flying.

Cin gave me a gift.

I’d cherish it forever.

Chapter 8 Cinerator

It had been nearly two weeks since I met Gwen. Every night, I visited her apartment and almost always took her for a ride on my bike. She fucking loved it.

Tonight, I held her hand as we walked beyond the cemetery fence and into the forest that stretched toward the river. Property of the club that extended for a few hundred acres. Woods that were special to us. Sacred.

And it was where I wanted to tell her how I felt about her. How our meeting wasn’t just a coincidence. That the connection we shared was a bond forged long ago. Lifetimes, if my suspicions were correct.

I wouldn’t reveal those secrets until I was sure.

Moonlight bathed her in soft white light as she smiled at the view, pausing as we reached a hollow in the woods. The thick, dense rows of trees parted for us, opening the space a little wider until the moon filled the sky above our heads.

I could hear the trickle of water over rocks near the river’s shore. The wind rustled the leaves in the trees, snatching a few free from the limbs.

Being here soothed me.

Gwen leaned her head against my shoulder. “It’s so calm. Like we’re in a different world.”

We were, in a way. There were more than secrets in these woods. Things that roamed and prowled like Omen. That hunted. Their energy was woven into the trees, grass, and earth. Dangerous for those who meant to harm the forest and the life within it.

Omen chose that moment to howl. The sound rose above the treetops and saturated the air. If I took off my boots and stepped on the ground, I knew I would feel the vibrations beneath my feet.

“Um.” Gwen bit her lip and clutched my arm. “That’s Omen, right?”

“It is.”

“Where is he? Close?”

He spooked her. It wasn’t intentional. She’d have to get used to him. Omen was bound to the cemetery and these woods. “Not right now. He’s hungry and hunting.”

Her head snapped up to me. Wide eyes stared into mine. “He doesn’t eat people, right?”

I chuckled. Couldn’t help it. It would scare the hell outta her right now to tell the truth, so I chose to give a partial one. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” And she didn’t.

Not as long as she never tried to harm the forest, the creatures inside it, or anything inside the cemetery.

Omen already liked her. He pounced on her the second he met Gwen. Her scent called to him in the same way it did to me. That recurring feeling that Gwen and I were tied to one another in the past also included Omen.

“Since we’re talking about Omen,” Gwen began, “I have some questions.”

I wondered when she would get around to it. “Go ahead.”

“Why can I hear him and not see him?”

Good question. “I think you have an ability, a sensitivity to beings like him.”

She blinked up at me. “That’s a lot to unpack.”

Could she believe in the unbelievable?

“You understand he’s a supernatural creature, right?”

“Yes.” Surprise flickered over her face. A small gasp left her throat before she backed away from me. “I can hear a supernatural dog but not see him. Your pet, for lack of a better term.”