Page 35 of The Omega's Bloodline: Part One

I grabbed Caden’s phone and input the address.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I booked us a place for the night. Sweet cabin in good old West Virginia. Nice and deep in the woods and it’s over seven hours from Syracuse.”

Caden looked at me in the mirror like he was surprised I’d even thought of it.

Rude.

I have good ideas.

Sometimes.

We took the I-81 all the way to Hagerstown, Maryland, where we diverged west and followed the Potomac River for a while. We stopped for more snacks along the way, but it was hard to eat when you were worried about an unknowable entity on your tail.

Almost three hours after Hagerstown, we pulled in to our stop. I let Caden and Logan stay in the car and went to check in.

We’d traveled so far and presumably we’d be safe for a while. After I got the key, Caden drove to the one we’d be staying in.You couldn’t tell any other cabins were nearby from where we were. The Appalachians cocooned us like some giant mountain mama.

It was nice.

If you didn’t listen to the stories.

Hopefully Logan didn’t know too many of them.

It was beautiful.

I wanted to love it.

I felt like I was standing underwater as Caden pulled me from the car and walked me into our cabin. Seth brought my bag inside, tossing it onto the bed. The cabin was adorable and in any other conditions I’d have gushed over the classic rustic vibes, theview,the hot tub. But I could barely muster the energy to shuffle my feet.

Caden directed me to the bed, sat me down, and pulled off my shoes.

You want some tiny cat cuddles?

Gods. Yes.

I nodded.

Caden turned to Seth. “Cat. Now.”

“What?”

“Cat up, motherfucker. We need to de-stress her.”

“Oh.” Seth melted away until his big cat form sat in his place.

Small form, dipshit.

Seth huffed and melted again, his tiny version sitting on the floor. He hopped up onto the bed and headbutted my hand.

Caden joined a moment later. Insistent tiny paws pushed against my chest until I was lying flat. He climbed onto my chest and settled into a loaf.

Even at my worst, it made me smile.

Seth plunked down next to me and turned on his little motor. One hand stroked Caden’s back and the other scritched under Seth’s chin. Both of them purred like miniature buzzsaws, and I relaxed despite what was following us.

It was impossible to be maximum stressed with a happy cat on you.

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