Page 51 of So I Fell for Bigfoot

“You killed our friend, and we’re not gonna let you get away with it.”

twenty-two

Lars

“I didn’t kill anyone.” But I was pretty sure my brother had, and I was about to pay.

The hunters looked at each other in disbelief. There were a couple snickers in the crowd. My instincts were all over the place. I was inexperienced with humans for exactly this reason. They often weren’t rational, and they had an uncanny way of escalating a situation they didn’t understand.

It was like Leif was in my head. Again. Still. I couldn’t act like my brother was innocent, because he probably wasn’t.

“In that interview onThe Mating Gamewebsite you said you were the only one of your kind.” Their leader stepped forward, studying me. “So either you’re lying about that, or you’re lying about what you did to our friend.”

“Excuse me, gentlemen, and I do use that term loosely.” Bibi stepped in between us. “I can assure you that Lars has not harmed anyone.”

She tossed a nervous glance back at me and I nodded. Her face brightened in response.

“Whatever you saw, I can assure you, it wasn’t Lars.”

“Not calling you a liar, Ms. le Bonnet, but I’d prefer you didn’t call me one, either.” The man took his phone out of my pocket. “We were gonna go to the news outlets with this, but got a tip that you’d be here at the show tonight. Glad we get a chance to talk. But if this guy isn’t responsible, then who is?”

He swiped the phone screen and held it up for us to see. It was most definitely a video of my brother picking up a human by the neck and snapping it before running off with the body in hand.

My blood boiled. No surprise Leif would do such a thing. He had nothing but disdain for humans. That hadn’t changed while he’d been…whatever he was. The circumstances of his long absence only pissed him off more.

Not only would he never understand that a human could record his every move with a device that fit in their pocket, he wouldn’t give a damn, because he considered himself above punishment.

And there was no way to explain any of this to these angry hunters.

“What do you have to say for yourself now, squatch?” He’d managed to bypass Bibi and was in my face.

“It wasn’t me.”

“I’ll make a deal with you.” His tone had changed. Deeper and more sinister. “You either tell me who did this or you lead me to my friend. If you can do that, I won’t go public with this video. We can keep this between ourselves. Under certain conditions, of course.”

“What are those conditions?” I asked.

“He did it! Kill him before he has a chance to do it again!” someone from the back of the crowd yelled, and the group surged forward.

I didn’t often fight in my human form, but I’d guess I was faster and stronger than these guys. My first instinct was to protect Hannah. I wrapped my arms around her.

Heat surged from Bibi as she held her hands up. “Be reasonable. We’re recording you. Anything you do will—”

“Hey. Leave Bigfoot alone.” A couple guys in band T-shirts came up behind us. Arms crossed, scowls in place. “He’s fucking cool.”

“He’s calling us a liar,” the original hunter said. “Killed our friend.”

“He didn’t do it.” Hannah wriggled against my grip. “Don’t you know how many fake Bigfoot videos there are out there? This could be one of them.”

“You heard the lady.” More guys in leather jackets and Wolfsbane t-shirts had joined the fray. “The video’s fake.”

“What about the man he killed?”

“I’m sorry about your friend,” I said. “But I—”

“He confessed!” one of the hunters yelled. “Why are we just standing here when Bigfoot is right in front of us! Capture him.”

The hunters rushed forward, but the other guys were ready. A shoving match broke out, and I managed to move Hannah out of the way before the first punch was thrown.

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