Page 55 of Bound By Ruin

When Thanatos finally looks back over at me, I let the warm, fluttery feeling expand until I’m smiling at him. “Yeah, I am with my people.”

All four of them.

Chapter22

Ruin

There’ssomething moving in the woods.

While my brothers fight over the best kind of knife to stab Ted with—a carving knife, obviously—I walk across the back lawn to get a better look at the forest, ignoring the mountain for the trees. They sway in a cold breeze, rustling their long, spindly branches. The moon is waning, which means that the nights have been getting darker and colder with each one that passes. The closer we get to the winter solstice, the longer those nights become.

It’s easier to hide bodies in the winter. Fewer people exploring the outdoors means that there are less chances for people to catch you in the act of burning or burying a body. Yet my father has managed to expose every single kill he’s made, because he’s done a terrible job hiding them.

Or, more likely, he isn’t trying to keep them a secret.

Whoever dug a mass grave on the mountainside is either stupid… or hoping that someone notices.

Someone like me.

I hadn’t heard the news about the bodies; with our focus being within city lines, anything that our police scanners picked up that was past the line, we ignored. Or at least, I did. Thanatos has no reason to have missed that news, so he either thought it wasn’t important for us to know, or…

He was distracted.

I can hear their banter in my ear, even from this distance. Rage and Rebel are interrogating Ted to scare the shit out of him, while Thanatos keeps watch of our girl. That’s three men distracted, their focus for the evening being on making sure that Celia is both safe and having a good time.

Although my brothers could argue that I’vealsobeen distracted, I wasn’t spending my time counting cards at the blackjack table or staring at Celia’s ass from across the casino—I was actually working, keeping tabs on everyone who walked through the front doors. Only once the doors closed and no more guests were being admitted did I let my attention wander.

A shiver rolls down my spine, less from the cold and more from the memory of Celia’s skin bruising beautifully beneath my teeth. I thought that my knife was going to be my favorite tool to touch her with, but I was quickly proven wrong by the sounds she made as I sunk my teeth into her flesh. I lick the roof of my mouth, imagining the taste of her blood on my tongue, and shiver again.

I can’t wait for another taste.

But whatever is moving through the woods towards the bright lights of the gala is unhurried, taking its sweet time to get anywhere. It sways back and forth, unsteady on its feet or paws, as pale as the fading moon overhead. Only when it passes the tree line do I know what I’m looking at, and I quickly look around to check for event security. Of course, they’re focused on keeping the guests safe and secureinside, thinking that their cameras and motion detectors will keep them safe from rodents and fleas hopping across their lawns.

No one in their right mind would walk down the side of a mountain.

That’s how I know that the woman stumbling through the underbrush isn’t in her right mind—especially when I realize that not only is she barefoot, but she’s completely naked.

I pat my pockets, looking for my phone. Once I realize that I left it in Rage’s car, I frown and tap my earpiece with my fingertip. “Hey. Turn off her comms.”

Thanatos is the one who responds. “Why? What have you found?”

“Turn them off,” I repeat, stepping over an anthill on my way toward the naked woman. “Then get the doctor.” It was Than’s idea to have a medical team on standby in case any of us were injured tonight, and I’m sure he’s thrilled for them for actually be needed.

It doesn’t look like our father is going to show.

As I jog toward the trees, I keep an eye out for more people, not nearly satisfied enough when the shadows don’t move. Even the crickets are hiding, keeping their distance from whoever this woman is—or whoever is coming after her.

Predators don’t let their prey loose without a reason. If she isn’t dead yet, she will be as soon as she’s accomplished her purpose.

I need to find out what that is.

“Hey,” I call out, scrubbing at the scars on my cheek. I don’t have time to be self-conscious about them, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. The woman’s eyes are glossy and unfocused, her feet moving without rhyme or reason. She steps on rocks, snaps branches beneath her feet, stumbles into the uncut grass, and keeps moving forward despite the cuts and bruises all over her body. I spot burn scars on her arms, recently made, which make my own itch. “Hey,” I try again, clapping my hands. “Wake up.”

There’s at least a half mile between the gala and the forest, and I carry the woman the rest of the way back, careful to check that she’s still breathing for the entire trip. She doesn’t blink and doesn’t speak, her lips hinging open and back shut every few seconds, her eyelids fluttering without closing.

Thanatos meets me at the side of the venue, a scowl on his face as he checks his phone. Guests are required to check theirs at the door, yet he managed to keep it. Sensing my question, he shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. Where did you find her?” Stepping forward, he brushes the raven hair from her eyes and curses, ushering me through an unguarded door. “Sara, hey, hold on. We’ve got a doctor. Stay with us.”

“This is Sara?”

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