The Savage Grace: A Dark Divine Novel(46)

“Do we have an all clear?” he asked. I heard the cut of static and assumed he was speaking into a walkie-talkie.

“All clear,” another voice answered, with just enough edge of disappointment that I knew it belonged to Deputy Marsh. “Nothing out of the ordinary in the yard.”

How had he not found anything?

“Sorry for invading your morning, ma’am,” Sheriff Wright said to Aunt Carol. “Looks like everything here is in order.”

“What else did you expect?” she snapped. “Honestly!”

“Truly, I am sorry. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t check out every lead in this case. We had an entire forest full of hunters last night, but that wolf still managed to escape. Wouldn’t want any of the townsfolk putting themselves, or their neighbors, in danger.”

“Nana. I want nana,” James cried. I could hear the lack of sleep in his strained little voice.

I grabbed another banana and sliced it with a butter knife while listening as Aunt Carol escorted the sheriff out the front door. Every muscle in my body tensed until I heard them drive away. But I still couldn’t duck off to the backyard yet to figure out why Marsh hadn’t found those rifles, because Aunt Carol had decided to regale me with one of her long griping sessions about small-town life and the idiocy of Rose Crest’s government.

After about what felt like an hour of listening to Carol, I realized James was asleep, one of his cheeks resting on his bowl of dry cereal and bananas like it was a pillow.

“Why don’t you take James upstairs so the two of you can take a proper nap,” I suggested to Carol. “You deserve it after all that driving.”

Carol yawned and picked up James. As soon as they were up the stairs, I slipped out the kitchen door into the backyard. Curiosity was killing me. Why hadn’t Marsh found those rifles?

I was about to pad down the porch steps when I heard someone call my name in a loud whisper. I looked up to find Daniel perched on the edge of the roof. So that’s where he’d been hiding!

He stood up, his bare toes peaking over the edge of the roof. If he’d been normal, I would have worried about his falling. Instead, I watched in quiet adoration as he pushed off with his toes and did a twisting flip in the air before landing soundlessly in the grass in a crouched position. It reminded me of the night he first told me about his powers. He’d made an exit in a similar way.

“Show-off,” I said sarcastically, but I couldn’t help smiling with appreciation. I could seriously watch him do that kind of thing all day.

“Oh, come on. You loved it.” His mischievous smile made me want to kiss it right off his face. How had I even breathed without him for an entire week?

“Yes, I did.” I put a hand on my hip. “The sheriff might be gone, but there’re still people in the house.”

“Good point.” He crouched low, avoiding the kitchen windows. “Are you okay?” He pointed at the bloody paper-towel bandage I’d forgotten was still wrapped around my finger.

“It’s just a small cut,” I said as I pulled off the paper towel and showed him how I’d healed it over. There wasn’t even a pink scar as evidence that the cut had even happened.

“You’re getting better at healing yourself,” he said.

Healing had always been the hardest of my powers to get the hang of. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

My ears pricked to the sound of voices coming from the house. I listened for a moment and realized that Aunt Carol was talking on the phone—complaining to her latest boyfriend about the visit from the police.

“Come on.” I waved at Daniel to follow me. I wanted to find a new home for those rifles while Aunt Carol was distracted. I rounded the edge of the porch to the opening where I’d stashed the guns the night before. I stretched my hand in deep to reach for them, then peered into the opening.

“You didn’t see Deputy Marsh carry anything out from the backyard, did you?”

Daniel shook his head. “I’m pretty sure he was empty-handed. Why?”

“Because they’re gone.…” Confusion muddled my brain. I could have sworn this is where I’d hidden the rifles, but maybe I’d just imagined that part of last night. The entire experience had been completely unreal. Maybe I’d left them in the forest after all? I shook my head. I know I wouldn’t have just left them there. “I think I might be losing my mind. I swear they were right there. I don’t know how this is possible.”

“What?” Daniel’s eyebrows arched over his deep brown eyes. He’d been so delirious, he wouldn’t have remembered my hiding them.

“You’re looking for this, aren’t you?” asked a voice from behind us.

Daniel and I reeled around to find someone standing there, with a high-powered rifle in her hand.

ABOUT TEN SECONDS LATER

“Charity!” I jumped up. “What the heck are you doing?”

The sight of my almost thirteen-year-old sister holding a gun nearly gave me a heart attack. She had it half raised in her hands, like she wasn’t quite strong enough for its weight.

“Whoa, there, Char. Be careful.” Daniel reached out toward the gun. “Give it to me.”

“No,” she said, taking a step back. “Not until you answer my questions.”

“Don’t be a brat, Charity,” I said in my bossiest older-sister voice possible. “Put that thing down. It’s loaded.”