Page 134 of Wolf Cursed
“We’ll buy clothes.”
I nodded, shaky and feeling a million things at once. “Okay.”
“Good. Isaac, can you go get my truck from where we left it last night? Lead them in the wrong direction for a bit?”
Isaac nodded. “You got it.”
“Thanks, man.”
“I’ll stay here,” Idrissa said. “Intercept Silas.”
“Thanks,” Kai said.
She didn’t look happy, and when Kai darted into the bedroom to put on clothes—again—she grabbed me. “Call me when you get safe,” she said.
“Is that wise?”
“Buy a cheap prepaid cell and then toss it when you’re done with it,” she said.
I nodded. “What about…them?” I asked, gesturing to Vorack.
“I’ll take care of it,” she said.
I hated to think what that meant. “Thank you,” I told her. “Oh, Oscar. I have to tell him—”
“You can’t tell him anything,” she warned with a shake of her head.
“But—”
“When they can’t find you two, he’s the first person they’ll ask,” she said gently. “Don’t burden him with the truth.”
It made sense. Didn’t mean I liked it. Oscar had been good to me since day one. I hated the idea of just abandoning him.
“Okay.” My eyes burned with tears. “Just watch out for him, okay?”
“I promise,” she said, squeezing my hand.
Kai returned then, and after a quick hug with Isaac, I was climbing into Vorack’s car with Kai as we headed out of town.
“Talk to me,” Kai said gently.
“I don’t know where to start,” I admitted.
“What happened back there…” He trailed off, glancing over with concern. “It’s okay to be upset. I never wanted you to see that but I couldn’t let them hurt you again.”
“Is it weird if I don’t feel bad about it?”
“Not at all. That guy was going to hurt you, worse than he already had.”
“I think it’s more about what they did to my dad.” I squinted my eyes, forcing out the mental images of my father’s body lying bloody and broken. Fitting that Vorack was now also lying dead just inside someone’s front door. I couldn’t bring myself to be sorry about it either.
“I’m sorry about your dad,” Kai said, squeezing my hand.
“Thank you,” I told him.
After a moment, I turned to look at him, emotion clogging my throat. “It’s ironic, you know? I wanted to leave so badly before, and now, all I want to do is stay.”
He reached for my hand. “We’ll be back,” he said. “This is your home now, Ash. And no one will ever take that away. We’re going to break the curse and then we can—”
