Devoured (Devoured, #1)(9)

“I thought I’d be polite and let you go first, but whatever,” he says. His voice doesn’t sound too polite. It’s rough and hard and dangerous. And just a few moments ago, his voice and words succeeded in completely getting to me. Giving me one last sardonic smile, he turns abruptly and stalks up the hill, tracing his fingers alongside the log siding.

But halfway to the front of the house, Lucas pauses. He doesn’t turn around to face me when he calls out over his shoulder, “You might think I’m shit, but I’d have never brought anyone up here to upset your grandmother. She’s gone every Tuesday, like clockwork.”

I’m not positive what’s more unnerving—the fact Lucas knows Gram’s schedule well enough to realize when is the best time to come around the house without disturbing her, or that my grandmother keeps the same schedule every Tuesday.

?



My grandmother always protects me, so if she’s going somewhere I should be concerned about, she would never tell.

When I was a kid and my mom and dad would argue, I’d go to my grandparents. They had spoiled Seth and me rotten. After my parents divorced when I was twelve and my mother just flat-out disappeared, my brother and I had been given the opportunity to go and live with Dad and his new wife.

It was a shitty opportunity.

Not that there was anything wrong with my dad or Margaret, but they’d moved to Bar Harbor, Maine—over a thousand miles from home. Luckily, even at eight, Seth was bullheaded. My brother told Dad that not only did he hate him and his new wife, but he’d rather be ripped apart by wild dogs than live with them in Maine. That’s when our grandparents, Mom’s parents, stepped in. Dad wanted to be with his new wife. Our grandparents wanted us. And we wanted to stay because it was the only thing we knew. And because we both were hopeful that Mom would come back someday.

It was one of those fairytale moments where everyone was happy, and there was no animosity.

Three years later, Mom came back to Nashville with her new husband. And I quickly learned how completely stupid I was for hoping for her return.

If Lucas knows so much about Gram, what does he know about my family’s history?

I tighten my grip around the scrubber pad in my hand until the steel prickles painfully into my palm and attack a spot of invisible soap scum on the shower wall. Ever since Lucas left a couple hours ago, I’ve kept myself busy, alternating between cleaning and watching reruns of some mobster show online. Neither has been a very good distraction from thinking of Lucas or where Gram’s weekly Tuesday errands are actually taking her.

Again.

“You rushed me over here with your bags for . . . ?” the sound of a voice behind me just about pulls out of my skin. Splaying my wet palms over my chest because my heart is pounding so hard it aches, I scramble around on my hands and knees to face Seth.

“Don’t you knock? Or ring doorbells?” I cough. “I could’ve—”

“What? Attacked me with household cleaner? The papers would have a shit-fest with that one. ‘Pissy redhead mauls popular Vandy student with the remains of a Brillo-Pad. Charges are pending’.” Seth doesn’t seem daunted by the fact he scared the hell out of me. In fact, he’s smiling like an idiot. Begrudgingly, I take his hand when he reaches it out to me, and he pulls me up to my feet.

“You wouldn’t press charges against me,” I say.

“Why’s that?”

“I’m a girl. And I’m betting you have some screwed up idea that admitting a girl kicked your ass makes you a lesser man. Am I right?”

Lifting an eyebrow, he laughs. “First time you’ve gotten something right about me in what? Four years?”

Ignoring the jibe, I follow him down the stairs. I almost expect him to take a ride on the wooden bannister like he did when we were kids, but he jogs instead. The coat rack in the foyer topples over from the motion.

We squat down at the same time to pick it up. As I pick up the jackets that have fallen to the floor, I decide to confront him about what Lucas pointed out earlier this afternoon. There’s a chance Seth knows something I don’t know, though I’m almost hoping he’s not for the sake of my not getting jealous again. “Where does Gram go every Tuesday?”

My brother’s light mood seems to change in a matter of seconds. His relaxed smile disappears, suddenly replaced by a tight frown, and his shoulders tighten. He pops to his feet, but this time, he doesn’t help me to mine.

“How do you know she goes somewhere every Tuesday?”

“Sh-she mentioned something about keeping to her usual Tuesday schedule this morning at breakfast,” I lie. Whenever Seth takes on the brooding expression he’s wearing right now, I know he’s only a matter of moments away from going over the edge. I don’t want to pair whatever is bothering him with letting him know Lucas was out here this morning.

Releasing a growl, Seth drags his hands through his wheat-colored hair and then stalks past me into the dining room. He sits down at the antique table where we used to eat dinner every night and slides out the chair beside of him, motioning for me to sit, too. I scoot it back in and opt for the seat at the other end of the table, directly across from him.

“I take it this isn’t good,” I say at last.

“Do you think it’s possible she’s been going to see Mom?” he asks.