Page 31 of The Werewolf Cowboy
Don’t go, Katy, the whispers in the air warned.
Katy backed away. “No.”
His expression softened. “I’ve pushed you hard until now. Please, do as I say.”
“I’ll take my chances with the stream.”
“I would never hurt you. You’re safe with me, sweetheart.” Grayson came close. Closer still. And then he had his fingers on her upper arms, his touch light.
“I don’t know who you are,” she whispered. “How do I know you’re not the one who ordered Charles to kidnap me and bring me here? You could be a demon, Grayson. I saw what you turned into when you fought those Riders.”
His fingers tightened around her arms. “Because if I were a demon, I would have already killed you and feasted on your flesh. I’m not a demon, Katy. I’m not a banshee or a ghost of a Lupine who never made it out of these woods. I’m Grayson. Your Grayson.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, not knowing if she could believe him, or if she was better off on her own.
“This forest is filled with tricks and lies to trip you up, Katy. Every sadness, fear and doubt you’ve held becomes larger, more haunting. It will kill you faster than any other creature in the Dark Kingdom. It’s a test of stamina, to see if you are strong enough to survive life here. You must conqueror the darkness inside yourself.” His mouth flattened. “Or you become as lost as the demons and spirits haunting this place, the spirits of Lupines who surrendered to total darkness and turned evil.”
The nagging question that kept poking at her like a sore tooth prodded her to finally voice her deepest concern. “Did my birth parents die here?”
Grayson turned away, his jawline taut. “We need to push on.”
Oh goddess, that wasn’t good, so not good.Don’t think, don’t even think about them, just follow him, get out of here…
Shadows draped the ground, making it difficult to see. Looking up, she saw the darkness begin to descend like fog.
Before them was the cave. Behind her, the stream.
Grayson stepped back and held out his hand. “Trust me. Please.”
Don’t do it, the whispers pleaded.Don’t trust him, he’s the dangerous one.
But she remembered Grayson—all those times they’d been riding together, how he’d always made her smile and laugh, and how protective he’d been of her.
He was the only one who came here to the Dark Kingdom to save her butt. No one else had.
Katy put her hand into his. A great, shuddering sigh of relief fled him.
The way down was even more treacherous than the slippery rocks by the stream. They were barely a third of the way down when he turned and swung her into his arms. It felt so familiar, though he’d never done this. A distant thought nagged her.
The shadow of a faint memory pulsed—feeling warm and safe in his arms.
They reached the cave and he set her down, then looked at her in the gathering purple shadows of dark. “Don’t be scared. Trust me. Don’t listen to the voices, either. They will taunt you, try to make you hurt yourself, or me.”
Then he stretched out his arm, and his hand glowed with an eerie white light, as if he held a lantern.
“What magick is that?” she asked, fascinated more than fearful.
“My magick.”
She followed him through the inky darkness of the cave, a constant drip, drip, drip of water softly pinging onto the cavern floor to her right. She felt something slimy poke the bare skin of her arm. She shuddered.
Voices whispered at her.They killed themselves. Your parents wanted to kill you. They wanted to strangle you and eat your flesh while you slowly died…
Katy screamed and clapped her hands over her ears. “They did not kill themselves, stop it, stop it!”
And then Grayson was there, big, comforting Grayson, holding her tight, rocking her back and forth, the light from his hands illuminating the blackness. “It’s an illusion, sweetheart. All in your mind. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“They’re dead. They died here.” Warm tears streamed down her face.
