Page 45 of Hunted in the Shadows
“One time,” I muttered.
“And you still have your panties in a twist over it.”
“Sheshotme!”
“It barely grazed you,” Cliff said breezily.
I rolled my eyes. “Fuck, you’re insufferable when she’s around. And look—I stand by what I said. None of us sign a damn contract when we start hunting. Her heart clearly wasn’t in it even years ago. Let her live a normal life without policing her.”
From the corner of my eye, I sensed Cliff’s dark look—a questioning one. We’d been down this path years ago when he’d slammed the door behind him hard enough to make that shitty Iowa motel rattle. I never thoughtI’dbe the one poised to run, though—even if it was just a distant daydream.
“There’s never a normal life after touching this world,” Cliff said with finality. “You know that. And therealpoint is, she moved on too quickly from me.”
“It’s been five years at least, Cliff.”
“Please—it takes alifetimeto get me out of your system.” His insufferable smile turned considering as he gave me another look over his shoulder. “You know, she might’ve been jealous as fuck if I had shown up at her door with a tall brunet on my arm…”
I scoffed out a harsh laugh. “She wouldn’t have believed it for a second.”
“What, you don’t think I can pull someone asincredibleas you?”
“I’ve seen you pull.”
His smirk returned. “Yeah, you have. Come on, aside from being covered in blood every other night, you’d date me, right?”
“Even if I swung that way, you’re not my type.”
The walkway abruptly stopped rattling when Cliff stopped dead in his tracks. I walked past him without a second glance.
“How the hell am I not your type?” Cliff snapped. “I’m everyone’s type!”
“What’s the big deal? You’re not even into me.”
“That’s beside the point! What’s your type, then, tough guy?”
“I don’t know, man.” I glanced back, assessing him as he caught up. Gripping the railing tightly, I assured myself we weren’t far from the end. “You’re shorter than me, for one thing.”
“Oh—two inches, you bastard. Try again.”
“I’d need someone more rugged.” I couldn’t fight a grin at his outraged scoff. I was only sad Sylvia was missing it. “But who can be tender with me, too, you know?”
“Fuck off, I can be tender!”
“And you fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. You’re literally screaming at me for no reason!”
A blur of gray and brown fur suddenly darted in front of us, dropping from the tangle of branches overhead. Cursing, Cliff staggered back into me. I shoved him off, a coil of anxiety surfacing at the thought of our combined weight splintering the rotted wood, careening off the sharp drop—
A squirrel skittered up to the railing at waist level, bushy tail twitching.Not this again. Cliff gripped my jacket with one hand. The other whipped his handgun from its thigh holster so quickly that I struggled to track the movement.
I groaned. “Come on, don’t shoot it.”
“You know these fuckers have it out for me! Ever since Virginia. It’s a curse. Iknowit’s a curse.” His aim was centered with deadly precision on the squirrel’s tiny, furry skull.
“Wedon’tknow that.” I stepped in his path to push the gun down. He leaned to the side to lock gazes with it over myshoulder as the squirrel chittered. It stared back at him, glossy eyes vacant.
“Come on.” I pushed Cliff forward, leaving the squirrel behind us. Cliff flinched as it gave a shrill squeak, but when nothing further happened, he flipped the safety back on his gun and tucked it out of sight.
“Whatever. Like I was saying—you wouldn’t stand a chance with me,” Cliff went on, salvaging his dignity with a sweep of his hand through his dark blond hair.
