Midnight Exposure (Midnight #1)(83)

Jayne’s arms extended. Her gun leveled itself. “Freeze.”

Aaron stopped. He turned toward Jayne, knife at the ready.

“Brigid, you came.” Cold blue eyes flashed. Forthright. Soulless. Insane. “We are honored. Perhaps you were not meant to die here tonight, but to bear witness to the ritual, to petition the gods for our salvation.”

How could she have thought she wouldn’t recognize the maniacal gleam in those eyes? The tip of her finger touched the trigger. The blue eyes shifted to look over Jayne’s shoulder. Aaron smiled.

Agony slammed through Jayne’s skull. Her world inverted as her bones went soft. The gun dropped to the ground next to her head. In her blurry peripheral vision, she watched the kidnapper’s gaze move beyond her. She swiveled her head.

Nathan stood behind her, a wooden club clenched in his hand.

“Save Evan. May my sacrifice save you both.” Aaron’s voice faltered, and Jayne turned back to him. His hand jerked. Silver flashed as he yanked the blade across his own throat. Blood bubbled down his robe and onto the snow in a dark, wet rush. His body tipped forward and crumpled.

“Jayne!” Reed’s voice cut through the shock. He was stumbling toward her, way too unsteady on his feet.

Jayne rolled onto her back and heaved her shoulders up. Her stomach tumbled. She gulped night air as she scanned the clearing. Nathan had disappeared. So had the body on the stone. “Where’s Nathan?”

“I don’t know.” Reed lurched toward her, his eyes sweeping the perimeter. “Let’s get these kids to the truck before he decides to come back and kill us all.”

With a still-spinning head, Jayne scooted to the first boy. His open eyes surprised her. Reed stooped and slashed the rope that bound the kid’s wrists. His hands flew to his neck, yanking a thin leather cord away. Thank God. Reed had jumped the old man before the garrote had done its job.

“Can you walk? We have a car at the cabin.” Jayne nodded in the direction of the trail.

Beneath the horror and pain, a glimmer of determination shone in the kid’s eyes. “I’ll get there if I have to crawl.” He choked the rough words out in a croak.

No wonder he’d survived.

Jayne glanced up. Reed had managed to rouse Brandon. The kid was on his hands and knees, nodding emphatically to whatever Reed was saying. Brandon pushed to his feet, stumbled, but stayed vertical with the help of the nearby post.

“Scott’s still out cold, but his breathing and pulse are steady.” Reed squatted and hauled Scott up and over his shoulders. He carried Scott, Jayne half-dragged Brandon, and the other kid staggered back to the Yukon on his own. Once the three boys were safely inside, Jayne jumped into the cab and locked the door.

The landscape tilted as she straightened. Pain pulsed through her skull.

“Are you OK?” Reed leaned on the passenger side of the truck. One hand went under his jacket as he held the keys out in the other. “Because I think you better drive.”

Jayne’s eyes dropped. Dark droplets stained the white ground at his feet.





CHAPTER THIRTY


As soon as the truck hit pavement, Nathan pressed the gas pedal to the floor. A glance in the backseat told him Evan slept on, medicated and oblivious to the night’s disaster.

Gods be damned.

The last image of his uncle was imprinted in his head, stored there like a YouTube clip. Uncle Aaron slicing his own throat, spilling his own blood in the sacred circle.

Grief struck him like a blade to the chest. He knew his uncle was beyond his pain and suffering now. He was starting anew in the afterlife. And that he’d gone on his own terms. As he’d wanted.

Had Nathan been a coward?

No. He’d only followed his uncle’s last wishes, made clear the evening before as they’d prepared for the ceremony.

If anything happens, above all, save Evan. I am the past. He is the future.

How like his uncle to make the ultimate sacrifice for his kin. Spill his own blood in hopes the offering of it would sway the gods to cure their family of the genetic affliction that plagued them. He’d died as he’d lived, giving everything he had to save Nathan and his son.

Nathan let up on the gas as he approached town. No going around it. Huntsville stood between him and the highway. Between him and freedom. He needed to drive through as if nothing had happened.

As he drew even with the diner, Mandy emerged. She drew her knee-length parka tighter around her body and leaned into the wind.

Nathan didn’t think. He turned into the alley alongside the diner. She was his light. His hope. His destiny. Why had he pushed her away? He lowered the passenger window. “Mandy, get in.”

She jumped and swung around as if she’d been slapped.

Nathan checked the street in both directions. No one in sight. He jumped from the truck and approached Mandy on the sidewalk.

If he could only get her into the truck. He had plenty of tranqs left. Once they were far enough away, he’d explain everything to her. She’d understand. She loved him. Sure he’d broken her heart, but she’d forgive him eventually.

The need to take her with him pulsed through his veins with every beat of his heart. His hands reached for her arms. She pulled away, but Nathan caught her slender wrist. “I love you. Just get in the truck.”

“No.” Mandy stared at him, fear tainting her beautiful eyes. “What’s wrong with you, Nathan?”