Page 53 of Property of Legend

“We weren’t blood.She wasn’t raised beside me.You know I went to Pearly Gates when we were both near grown.Becki and I clung to each other 'cause there was nobody else.It was survival, not love.Not what I have with you.”

“Oh, it’s not?”I’m an idiot.“Because last night she stood onmyporch acting like you were hers.”

“Shewasmine, for a while.A long while ago.It ended.I made that damn clear.”

“Did you?”Sure he did.“Because it sounds a lot like she didn’t get the memo.”

Legend looks like his heads about to damn near explode.“You think I’m still hung up on her?”

“I think you’ve got unfinished business with someone who hates me, and that scares the hell out of me.”I’m nothing but honest.

He reaches for me, and I pull away.

“You’re the one I came back for.You’re the one I’d kill for.That thing out there already took one life.I’m not lettin’ it take another.”

Bullshit.He’s out here worried about his sister lover.“Then go find her.Because if you’re serious about me, you better handle your past before it buries both of us.”My voice shakes, but I hold his gaze.I need to know where I stand before I let myself fall any further.Because lovin’ him already feels like stepping off a cliff and praying he’ll catch me.

“I will.And when I come back, we end this, for good.”

Legend disappears while I ponder his words.What are we ending?This mess, or us?

I pace, wondering what he meant.I have to know.And besides, he’s going to go find Becki, where?In the woods.Where the creature lives.

Going after him, I make it to the south line, where the woods start whispering secrets again.The shadows are long, even though the sun’s still fighting to stay up.I step into the paddock and…

Oh God.

The smell hits me first.Metallic.Wrong.Thick like syrup in the air.Blood coats the grass in long, sticky strokes.And then I see him, my colt, ripped open, body twisted, eyes wide with terror that never had time to fade.My knees hit the earth hard, but I barely feel it.My colt, the one I raised, brushed down, whispered dreams to, he's nothing now but blood and memory.My mouth tastes like copper, and my heart folds in on itself.This wasn't a kill.It was a message.A threat carved in flesh on my family's land.

I choke on a sob, hand clapped over my mouth.

A memory flashes.Him wobbly on newborn legs, nosing into my lap.Now he’s nothing but ruin.Whatever did this?It’s hunting.

A twig snaps behind me.

I freeze.

There’s a growl, low and deep, like it rumbles up from hell itself.Not human.Not dog.

I turn slowly, every nerve screaming.

A shape bolts between the trees, massive and fast.Too fast.It’s bigger than anything that should live in these woods.Fast, like smoke and shadow.My instincts scream, primal and ancient, and every part of me knows.If I run, I die.

“Legend,” I whisper, breath catching.I don’t have my phone.I don’t dare scream.If I run…

Another step behind me.

A hand grabs me.

I spin, ready to fight…

I’m on the ground fighting for my life.

And then I see him.

Legend.

He tackles me mid-turn, our bodies hitting the earth in a jarring thud.His hands skim over me like he’s counting bones, checking for breaks, blood, breath.He cradles the back of my head like it’s made of glass and stares at me like he’s afraid he was too late.

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