Page 8 of Ruined Vows

“Fine,” I breathe out. “But stay behind me. And do exactly as I say.”

“Yes. Exactly what you say.”

As if I’d believe that for a second. But I keep an arm out to make sure she doesn’t do something stupid, like dart out in front of me. You never know how civvies will react to stress. She seemed genuinely afraid, though.

“It sounded like it came from my bedroom,” she says under her breath. “Down the hall.”

I nod, but I’m not taking any chances.

I stop at the first doorway, grab the handle, and quickly open it, my cell phone on flashlight mode. Empty.

I keep my flashlight low as we continue down the hall. There’s only one more door, and it’s halfway open.

Right before we get to it, it slams shut.

Kira screams. I rush forward and shove it open, ready to engage whoever’s on the other side.

Only to find the room itself empty.

But there’s two other closed doors to check.

“Stay back,” I whisper over my shoulder to Kira as I sprint across the huge bedroom to yank open a door that turns out to be a walk-in closet. One shine of a flashlight shows it empty. I check the ensuite bathroom next.

Also clear.

It’s only when I get back into the bedroom that I feel the breeze from the open window.

Shit. The bastard already escaped. He most like likely wasn’t even in here when the door slammed shut. The air pressure from the open window probably did it.

I double-check the back of the closet to be sure, but yeah, it’s all empty.

I see the light flick on behind me and whip around when Kira screams again.

“What?” I run out of the closet to find her with her hand over her mouth, trembling. She points at the bed.

Well fuck.

The bastard’s officially upgraded from photographs. There’s blood all over the bed and some sort of ripped-apart furry mass. A gopher or one of those giant damn river rats they have around here, maybe. It doesn’t look like a pet, at least.

Kira immediately flies at me, and I barely get my arms open before her head’s buried against my chest. I swallow hard, uncertain of what to do with the flowery scent of her fluffy hair wafting in my nostrils.

“Pack a bag,” I finally manage. “I’m officially evicting you.”

This location is obviously not secure.

She yanks away from me like my words have jolted her back to reality, reminding her who she was just clinging to.

I expect a fight about not staying here, but she just nods and turns away from me. “Okay.”

She swipes at her eyes and shrinks into herself. I feel like I’ve said the wrong thing, and I have the ridiculous impulse to pull her back into my arms to reassure her that it really is okay. That I’m here, and I won’t let anything bad happen to her.

She darts into the closet before I can do any such stupid thing. She takes less time to pack than I would’ve expected but still comes out with a giant suitcase and a duffel. Then she hurries into the bathroom and comes out with another huge bag.

She shoves the duffel into my arms and then scurries out of the room into the hallway.

“Horror movie rules,” I call as I haul her large duffel over my shoulder and drag the suitcase out of the room.

“I’m just in the hallway,” she says. “I can’t stay in there with that… thing.”

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