Page 17

"No, I haven't."

The memories of eyes flashing in the darkness, a closed container, and soft scales against my skin rushed through my mind, but there was no power in the world that would make me tell these strangers about it.

"Sorry we can't help you," Lain spoke up, cutting off whatever David was about to say. "We need to get back to work, but have a great day."

There was no way for them to keep pushing without edging into aggression, and they clearly knew it. David's smile fell, and for just a moment, I caught a glimpse of the frustration he'd been masking. There was a flash of something else, something deeper, but he hid it away before I could figure it out.

"Sorry to bother you. Thank you for your time," he said with a nod, then he and his friend walked out, leaving Lain and me staring after them.

"What the hell was that?" I asked once they were finally out of view.

"I have no idea, but they gave me the creeps."

"Should we tell people that these guys are going around town acting weird?" As much as I hated talking to people, they needed to know, right?

"Already on it," Lain assured me. "I texted Ori and they said they'd spread the word. Whatever those guys are looking for around here, they're not going to find it."

I had a feeling I knew just what they were looking for. Lowery's Crossing was a regular, boring small town where nothing strange ever happened, so for these guys to show up right on the heels of the creature out in the woods? It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together.

"I'm glad you were here. I don't handle confrontation well." Now that they were gone, some of the tension eased, but my anxiety remained on high alert.

"Meanwhile, confrontation is my specialty," Lain laughed, but there was an edge to it this time. The strange encounter had affected him, too.

"I have to say, that was the most professional 'get the hell out' that I've ever heard."

He grinned. "I was pretty proud of that, actually."

"You know, some days I wonder why I'm running this place and not you. You're so much better with people." I said it as a joke, but honestly, on my low days, my depression asked me the same question.

"No offense, but the last thing I want is to run this place," Lain said with a shudder. "I love the salon and you're awesome and I love grooming, but I've seen you doing the paperwork for this place. I might be good with people, but if I had to deal with the finances, we'd be bankrupt within a month and spend the next five years getting audited."

The two of us got back to work, but there was a quiet unease over both of us now. I finished out my appointments in a silence broken only by the soft playlist filtering through the speakers by the desk. The corgis' owner showed up not long after the strangers left, giving me a much-needed distraction. The corgis all swarmed their mom while Romulus came over to stand beside me, ears perked up. For some reason, he always put himself on guard duty when she came into the shop. I never understood why, when she was a blatant dog person, but Rom never seemed quite sure of her.

Waiting for my last client to pick up their dog seemed to take forever, even though he only made me wait about fifteen minutes. I needed to get home, though. With strangers poking around, I needed to make sure the creature in the woods was safe.

I knew I had no reason to be so invested in its safety. For all I knew, it was some kind of man-eating monster that had only left me alive because it was too weak to kill me at the moment. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something special about it, though. I couldn't explain it, not even to myself, but I'd learned some hard lessons about trusting my instincts. Ignoring them had nearly killed me, and it wasn't a mistake I planned to make again.

Finally, my last appointment went home, and I was free. Lain didn't question my haste as I cleaned up, despite how I used to linger. He had to know how unsettled I was and probably thought I needed to get home to break down in private. That might still happen tonight, but for right now, I only had one priority.

"Come on, Rom," I murmured to my dog, tossing a quick goodbye to Lain before hurrying out to my car to head home.

The drive was a blur, and it took all my willpower to keep from speeding. The roads were still damp, and with my luck, I'd manage to slide off. The LCPD didn't usually patrol the old two-lane road that led to my house just past the town limits, so my chances of getting pulled over were small, but not zero.

I let Romulus out when we pulled in, unsurprised when he went around the house to the back instead of going to the front door. Locking the car behind me, I did the same, skirting the small cottage rather than waste time going through it.

As I passed the back deck, my steps stuttered when I saw a baking sheet sitting square in the middle of the small table there, just as clean as the container had been.

It can understand me.

In a daze, I kept walking, hurrying to the tree line where it had been hiding.

Just because it understands you doesn't mean it's not still a wild animal. Don't rush up to it like this!

I ignored the voice of reason in my head and kept going, picking up speed, not stopping until I was five feet from the trees.

"I don't know if you're here, but I know you can understand me."

Silence, then the soft rustle of underbrush. It was here, but still hiding.