Luke slid his arm around the back of my chair and nodded toward Kai. "You two know each other?"
"Kind of." There was no need to turn and see the contempt on Kai's face.
Luke's eyes narrowed. "He's into you."
"No." I shook my head even as shivers ran...
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There was no point in trying to sleep. Not with nightmares of spinning blood spots, Emma crying, Mrs. Red Cloud's body sprawled on the floor. It was like my brain was trying to figure it out, but I was far from having all the facts.
I snuck out of the house before my parents woke up, saddled Dakota and headed toward Jasmine's. She and I were going for an early ride so we could talk without anyone hearing us.
"What a mess," I said to Dakota as he plodded along. "If I were a horse like you, everything would be so simple." Then I saw the whip mark that had never fully healed on the side of his neck. The same kind of marks had covered his flank when I got him. I smoothed my hand over his scar. "Then again, maybe we all have our own private suffering."
With Dakota secured to Jasmine's front porch, I was just climbing the front steps when Kai pulled up in the Fastback.
There was no place to hide, no chance of escape.
Kai lurched out of the car and came at me. His grief reached me before he did, like a thump to the chest. "What happened in there?"
"I don't know." I stepped back, my face reddening from the embarrassing confession.
"I want to know what happened to my aunt."
A quick glance at Jasmine's front door showed me that it was still closed. They didn't know we were there. I pointed to the trees on the side of the house and shimmied past Kai to lead him there.
He exhaled loudly as he followed me. "Tell me what you saw."
"If I knew anything, Kai, I'd tell you." It felt weird saying his name out loud in front of him, but I wanted him to know how sincere I was. "I didn't see anything."
"I saw when you came out." He stepped toward me, his heat pressing down on me. "You were . . ." He narrowed his eyes. "Upset."
"It was horrible in there." I shivered at the memory of it.
"She's my aunt." He spoke through his teeth. "My mother's sister."
If he was as close to Mrs. Red Cloud as I was to Gramps, there was nothing I could say to ease his pain. I said the only thing I could think of. "She was my favorite preschool teacher."
"She was also a respected elder who knew more about our history and language than anyone else. And she loved kids." He clenched his jaw, holding his emotions until he could continue. "I knew Emma was trouble the first time I saw her."
Sweat broke out on the back of my neck as I remembered Emma's screams. "I don't think it was Emma." I didn't even know if she was still alive.
His lip curled and anger flew from his eyes. "Protecting your own kind."
I shook my head. "I heard her pleading for her life."
"Heard her?"
I took a ragged breath as the memories assaulted my senses. "Blood was everywhere. Voices in the walls screamed at me. I couldn't get the vision."
