Page 15 of Shrouded in the Dark
“Rude? It’s your place. Why would it be rude?” I winked at her as we walked toward the open door. “Besides, I’d like to see you in action.””
She shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m a little awkward with new people.” She’d picked up her art things, including a large pencil bag, that had been on the couch.
“I hadn’t noticed at all.” The lie was easy. She’d done really well with meeting the guys. Felicity had mentioned to Axel about how bad her anxiety sometimes got and we’d been prepared to step out if she’d said so, but she’d handled it pretty damn well.
She shook her head at me, but didn’t say anything more as we stepped onto the deck. I had to admit, this place was nice. It had the feeling of a home filled with love.
Seth was still in his chair where we’d left him. Axel was standing near the pond where Cody had jumped in with just his black briefs. He’d almost given poor Becca a bloody nose when he’d stripped. My fox thought it was hilarious.
Becca set up on the outdoor couch. It was missing its cushions but with the curves in the wood, it would be comfortable for a little while without them. I sat next to Seth and kept my voice low as we began to talk.
“There’s been a shifter in her garage.”
Seth stiffened next to me as his eyes scanned the surrounding forest. “You’re sure?”
My fox hissed in annoyance. Of course, we were. “Yes. She says she cleaned up some trash she thinks the mechanics who came out to work on the truck left. There was some rotten meat of some kind and it has the shifters scent all over it. I don’t recognize it.”
“Shit.” Seth’s cheek ticked as he thought. “I’ll make some calls. See if I can find out anything that we may have missed.”
“What are we going to do about her?” I motioned toward Becca. She was consumed with her drawing pad and hadn’t paid any attention to us.
“For now, we’ll keep an eye out. She didn’t say anything?”
I shook my head. “But she just got here this morning like we did.” I shrugged. “She didn’t mention anything to me about anything out of the ordinary. But, Seth,” I hedge slowly, “she’s a girl alone on the mountain. She has an impressive security system in the house, but let’s be real, against a shifter? She wouldn’t stand a chance.”
I eyed Seth as his face smoothed out until it was blank, even his eyes were blank. That was his thinking face. I leaned back in my chair, getting comfortable as I looked over to the pond where Cody was floating on his back. Axel had found a large rock to lay on. He was soaking in the sun as it slowly made its way across the sky. It would start to darken soon.
“One of us will patrol the area at night. We’ll have to find an excuse to have someone around during the day, or have her visit us,” Seth finally spoke softly. He was very close to growling. “This asshole isn’t going to ruin our vacation.”
I laughed. “Please. Seth, you would be bored out of your mind if we didn’t have some kind of shifter business to handle.”
Seth was obsessive over shifter politics and helping us survive without attracting the Venandi’s attention. I couldn’t blame him, really. He and his little brother were the last of their species. But the reason he was our leader besides being the most dominant? He was ruthless and hunted from the shadows when he had a target. Most of those who tried to go after him never had a chance because he had them six feet under before they knew it.
His lips twitched slightly before he looked back over to Becca. “Don’t worry about your friend, Jasper. We’ll make sure this shifter, whoever they are, doesn’t harm her. I want them out of our territory. This is our safe space and no one violates that.”
* * *
Becca
Ijust couldn’t get the eyes right. My breath blew out in an annoyed huff. The fox was beautiful. I’d used shades of peach, soft reds, and white to blend the colors of the fur. It was on its side, batting at a ladybug that was flying by, its tail was in the air. The eyes needed to be playful, mysterious, and serious at the same time, but I was having difficulty with getting it right. Maybe it was the wrong color. That’s when I thought of the perfect color.
I grabbed my jade green pencil and started to blend it with a few other colors. My nose scrunched as I concentrated. Time passed by as I focused on the fox’s eyes. The blending took a little bit longer before I was finally satisfied with them. I leaned back as I finished and smiled down at the fox. The forest floor was faded so the focus of the picture was the fox and the ladybug.
“Hey, Becca!” Cody’s voice yelled from across the back. “The water is so cold! Why don’t you come swim?”
I looked over the decks rail to where Cody was standing, having just gotten out of the pond. Water droplets ran down his body, I couldn’t see a lot of details but he was laughing as he waved.
“Come on, you guys too!” He yelled at Seth and Jasper, who were still sitting at the table.
I started to put up my supplies when Jasper walked over. I’d just shut my drawing pad when he reached me.
“We’re not swimming, but did you want to swim with Cody?” Jasper leaned against the couch. “It’ll get dark soon.”
We both looked at the horizon. The sky’s colors had started to merge orange with the blue. I sighed. The lights on the porch would be going off soon.
“Nah, by the time I get in the water, it’ll be too close to dark. The porches lights don’t extend that far.” I smile up at him. “Maybe we can all go swimming sometime?” I surprised myself with how easy it was to ask him that. I didn’t even think about it.
“I think we can do that.” His voice was warm. “I appreciate you letting us come by. You could have fooled us, we couldn’t tell you have severe anxiety.” His tone turned apologetic.
