Page 65 of Kiss the Dawn
I sagged against it.
A solid,do not fuck with medoor.
Thank fuck.
I hit speed dial on Ordell.
“Hey, miss me already? I’m?—”
“Where are you? How far out?”
“Orina? What? Five minutes, why?—”
“The kids have turned.”
“What?”
“Into beasts. The curse has them. Ordell, hurry.”
He ended the call, and I sagged against the door, wincing as another thud sounded.
Those poor babies. Had the sickness brought onthe change or…shit, was the sickness part of the change? As long as they stayed at this exit, we’d be fine. My scent would keep them here. The house was solid. Even the conservatory glass was reinforced so…yeah, it would be okay.
Wait…why was it so quiet?
I backed away from the door and into the garden, scanning the house, dark and ominous with no moonlight to illuminate it.
Shit, where were they?
My gaze caught on a protrusion on the first floor. Was that an open window? It was pushed open farther a moment later, and one of the beast kids climbed onto the sill. Aidan, because his bottoms were green. Oh shit, he was about to jump.
A fist squeezed my heart, and I rushed forward on instinct.
“Don’t!”
He jumped.
Reason asserted itself, and I ran.
The lawn was huge, bordered in trees with a fence around the property. A fence they might climb. I had to get them back to the house.
I circled back toward the building, aware of their growls hot on my heels. Aware how this was like a fucked-up game of tag where the loser got their throat ripped out.
The house rushed up to meet me, and I pulled the key out of my pocket, heart sinking because the chanceof me getting that door open before they reached me was slim to none.
But I had to try.
I was almost there when Ordell appeared, running full sprint around the side of the house.
I caught the flash of red in his eyes, the snarl on his mouth as he rushed past me. “Get inside!” he bellowed, his voice more beast than human. Then to the kids, “Stop. You will obey me!”
I smacked into the door, unlocked it, and threw myself inside, slamming it shut before running to the conservatory and its many windows.
Ordell stood over the triplets, who’d fallen into crouches with their heads bowed in deference.
I pressed my palm to the glass and whispered his name. There was no way he could have heard me, but he looked up, looked right at me, then nodded.
I sagged in relief. He had them under control.
