Page 60 of Graced
“What if Welsh tries to call you?”
“He won’t, but I’d like to see him try.The instant he does, it’s highly likely the cops will be able to do a search to find out where he’s calling from.Or get a general idea of his location.”Rhyne nodded to himself.“That’s probably why they kept mine.”
“I don’t think he will,” Nash firmly admitted.“I think it’s finally over for us.”
“For me and Welsh,” Rhyne corrected him.“You and I are still a team…right?”
Nash answered with a watery smile.Noting it, Rhyne commented.“Feeling the weakness coming on?”
“Yeah.”
“Same here.”
A minute of silence passed, when Nash brought up the question most pressing on Rhyne’s mind.“If Cargill and Welsh and the others are also getting hungry…”
Rhyne tried to force the ugly image rising in his mind’s eye, but Nash continued to voice the awful possibility.
“What if they go ahead and feed on Grace?”
He took a deep breath, hoping to calm himself.He wasn’t successful.
“Welsh has been planning on using Grace as his personal gold mine.If Cargill and his nest get a taste of her now, they could regain their color sight within a few short hours.”
He reminded himself of how soon his color sight had returned once he’d fed on her menstrual blood during their love making.However, it could have returned that quickly because he’d already had the sight.Maybe it would take them a bit longer since it was their first time.
Regardless, once they obtained that ability, Cargill would recognize it for what it was.And at that point, Welsh could kiss his dream goodbye.It would be Cargill’s nest against Welsh.They’d take Grace for their own and leave Welsh in the dust to deal with his loss.
Unless they find out what Welsh has done before that happens,he told himself.Then they wouldn’t abandon the man to find his way home.They’d kill him, effectively preventing him from revealing anything else to the authorities.
Nash grunted.“I wonder if they’re getting hungry, too.Wouldn’t it be rich if Welsh has to fight them off?”
Rhyne pressed his lips together.As much as he wouldn’t lament Welsh’s demise, he was more concerned about Grace’s health.He didn’t know Cargill.For all he knew, the man could be worse than Welsh.
An eighteen-wheeler went around him.Otherwise, traffic was light.He checked his speed.He had to keep within the posted limit.He couldn’t afford to be pulled over and lose precious time.
“Oh, shit!”
Nash’s outburst startled him.
“What?”
The man pointed ahead.“That deer!”
Rhyne squinted against the bright sunlight coming directly from the setting sun as he slowed the car down.Lying half on the tarmac and half on the grassy shoulder, a buck lay twitching and struggling.
Pulling off the road, Rhyne stopped the car and got out to inspect the animal.Nash hurried up to join him.
“I bet that trucker doesn’t even know he hit it,” Nash remarked.
“Maybe he does but he doesn’t care.”
“It’s a fresh kill,” Nash noted.
Rhyne saw the car that had been tailing them went by and kept going.The cops were trying to remain incognito, but he suspected they’d find a spot farther down the road to stop and wait for them to pass before taking up the pursuit again.
Going over to the inside back passenger side door, he opened it.“Come on.Let’s get it inside.You drink your fill first since you need it the most.Then when you’re ready, you drive while I feed.”
Nash eyed the dying animal.It wasn’t the first time they’d been reduced to having roadkill or feeding on the local wildlife.Although human blood was preferable, animal blood could also sustain them.
