Page 49 of Entangled in the Woods
“I’ve got to go, Mom,” I said. “Take care of Dad. I’ll be home when I can.”
“Okay, dear. Thanks for calling!”
The line went static. This was so typical of my mom. Sandwiching important information between fluff, like how the cat was doing, and downplaying the seriousness of my father’s illness. I needed to go see them soon and find how serious my dad’s injuries were. It wasn’t in me to fully trust them after hiding their money and health problems from me for so long,but with the university breathing down my neck and the mystery of the rot, I didn’t know when I could get away.
The package she’d sent me sat on the floor by my desk. I picked it up and carefully opened it. Inside was a sculpture of a wolf sitting on its haunches, its head tilted back, howling at the moon.
Disbelief shook me as I set it on my desk. What was going on? My mom always pulled from her surroundings for inspiration for her sculptures. Were they seeing wolves around their home too? Wolves seemed to be infiltrating all aspects of my life.
I heard the front door swing open, and the wolf researcher herself burst through the doorway. “Time for drinks!” she called out.
I left the letter on my desk. The wolf sculpture I moved to the windowsill next to my plants. I still didn’t know what to do about that. My problems were those for tomorrow’s Elise to solve. Tonight I needed to get out and blow off some steam. With a clear head, I’d be able to figure everything out tomorrow.
Even though this was supposed to be a chill,blowing off some steamnight, Jenny asked for some time to get ready before we left. I sat on her bed watching her primp.
“Do you think your guy will be at the bar tonight?” Jenny asked, rubbing her lips together in her tabletop mirror.
“I don’t have a guy.”
She turned around and cocked her head sideways. “Of course you do. Who else have you spent the last two weekends with?”
I sighed, folding to her theory. “I hope he isn’t there. He’s a huge tease.”
“Oh, well then, screw him. There are other cute guys. Maybe you should cozy up to one of his friends. That would make him jealous. One guy with him last week was cute. He was big—well, they all are big, but he was especially large with black hair and tattoos.” She motioned to her neck. Gavrill.
“I don’t think so,” I said with a snort. “How about no boys? I think I’ll take the weekend off, maybe the rest of the summer off. I have enough experience with the men around here. They’re all more trouble than they’re worth.”
My core pulsed, telling me I was a liar. Even thinking about Everett made my body warm. I was screwed. I just hoped he wouldn’t be at the bar tonight, or I would find myself disappointed not being screwed in a different way.
Jenny finished her primping and announced that she was ready to go. Leo wasn’t around, and I briefly wondered where he could be. With no Leo to drive us, I offered to drive. We drove the ten miles to No Bars and parked along the side of the building.
I followed Jenny into the bar. Once I saw Everett wasn’t in the building, I could finally let out the breath I’d been holding. Exhaling loudly, I walked up to the counter with Jenny to order a drink. She slapped her credit card on the bar and exclaimed that she was opening a tab. We both ordered whiskey sours, and I thanked her for the drink.
Taking the first sip, I looked around the room and saw Kleio sitting at the table with Gavrill and Jack. She smiled and waved eagerly, motioning us to come over and join their table.
I walked over, with Jenny following close behind, whispering into my ear, “That’s the cute friend. If you don’t want him, I’m going for it.”
“What about Leo?” I turned my head and asked her, a little surprised.
“What about Leo? He hasn’t been around, and we haven’t put labels on anything. It’s open season.”
Jenny finished whispering to me and made her way to sit down in the empty chair next to Gavrill. He looked annoyed at the intrusion but took a drink of his beer, pretending he was unbothered.
Kleio patted the seat next to her, and I sat down, placing my drink in front of me. “So…how’s your week been? How’s work? Have you seen Everett?” She bubbled with curiosity.
“I’ve run into Everett a couple of times. And his wolf once.” I glanced at Jenny to make sure she couldn’t hear our conversation. Jenny was so engrossed with talkingatGavrill that I was sure she wasn’t listening.
“You met his wolf?” Kleio seemed taken aback. I hadn’t thought it was a big deal, but maybe it was special to see someone’s wolf in an instance where they weren’t fighting and attacking?
“I didn’t get close, but his wolf showed up when I was running, and he ran next to me.”
“Oh, someone’s got it bad.” Her vague language left me with questions as she turned her head and patted Jack’s arm as if he knew what she was talking about.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw Kleio’s neck. She always wore her strawberry blonde hair down long past her shoulders, but today she had it braided and pulled back. Turning toward Jack had exposed two puncture marks between her neck and her shoulder. They were small but still clearly visible. The puncture wounds didn’t seem infected, but they looked fresh enough that the skin looked irritated and red.
I grabbed her forearm and pulled her toward me, suddenly feeling defensive of her. Kleio turned to me and could tell I was desperate to talk to her. She met me in the bathroom, and I turned around, locking the door behind us.
“What’s that on your neck, Kleio? Don’t lie to me and try to cover up what Jack did.”
