Page 39 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
“You looked like you wanted to sleep somewhere more comfortable,” Dane says. His eyes glint through the darkness, running over me heavily.
I recoil in disgust. “Fuckoff, Dane.”
Dane huffs. He sounds amused, not annoyed, and that only has my hackles rising even further. “Don’t be like that.” He shifts from the crouch he’s in to his knees. I haven’t lowered the knife and my hand doesn’t tremble. He keeps pushing, and I’ll endthis. I won’t even feel guilty about it. “Don’t we all need some comfort tonight?”
“Find it elsewhere.”
He cocks his head to one side. “Where would you prefer I find it, hmm? With our little protégé? With our would-be zombie? Or how about with that freak who can’t keep his eyes off you?”
Autumn. Otto.Mason.I bite back a growl.
“Don’t think I won’t kill you. Leave everyone the fuck alone.”
That gets me a chuckle, but it doesn’t sound real. Dane lets go of my arm. The places his fingers bit into pulse with pain, promising bruises in the morning.
“All right, all right,” he says like he’s conceding, like he thinks I don’t mean it. “Keep your eyes open. Something strange is going on here.”
I don’t move again until he walks away, until I can feel his eyes on me, but I know he’s far enough I can settle again. Autumn’s breaths are heavy somewhere to my left, but Rae’s aren’t, and I don’t know if that means she’s awake or not.
Sleep eludes me now, and I roll onto my back, staring unseeing up at the ceiling.Keep your eyes open.Mason said the same thing.
Dane’s warning me about Mason and the town. That much is obvious.
But Mason was right. I shift my knife in my hand.
Out here, if I can’t trust my team, who can I trust?
Chapter Thirteen
DawnbreaksandIblink gritty eyes, drawing in another breath. I haven’t slept since Dane’s early morning visit, listening as he switched watches with Rae a few hours ago.
When I lift my head, she’s sitting on a pew a few feet away, Autumn by her side. Rae gives me a humourless smile.
“Good night?”
I grunt in response. Her eyes linger a moment too long. She heard Dane, then, and she knows I have it handled. Will she have my back if I kill him?
I think so. She’s taken Autumn under her wing, and Dane threatened her directly. Rae might take Dane out before I do.
And considering Dane… He’s not in the church, and neither is Blake. I heard them moving around an hour or so ago, but I didn’t clock that they left the building.
The door that leads below the church swings open. A couple of people emerge—I don’t know either of their names—and shoot us suspicious looks but otherwise ignore us.
Both are carrying weapons. Part of me thinks that’s a good thing. Who’s to say how many zombies might be out there now?
I stretch and get to my feet. “Where are they?”
Rae jerks her head in the direction of the doors. Maybe they’ve gone down into the town already. I don’t really care. After last night, Dane can’t be trusted.
I understand his reaction to Otto. I look at the door in the vestibule again, wondering when he’ll show his face. My stomach twists at the thought of seeing him healthy and whole. If that had been all Dane had done last night, I still wouldn’t like him, but I wouldn’t want to kill him.
But he crossed a line. Bothering me is one thing, but the rest of the team should be safe from him.
Nia comes up before anyone I recognise. She sighs when she sees the three of us waiting there.
“I understand you might be upset about what happened yesterday—”
“We’re not upset,” Rae interrupts. Autumn looks terrified. “We just don’t get it.”
