A Shifter's Curse, Raven Steele [the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT] 📗

and jammed the tip of the toothpick into his teeth. “He comes. If they choose to escalate the situation, it’s on them. Consequences will follow.”

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” I asked.

He turned to me, his lips slowly twisting into a grin. It disappeared when he saw something over my shoulder. I turned around. Luke and Gerald walked toward us.

“What’s he doing here?” Silas snapped, motioning at Luke. “I said Ryder.”

Luke and I hadn’t spoken much since that day with Lynx. I missed it a little. Missed him.

He stopped at my open window to address Silas, but not without casting me a fleeting glance. “I thought it would be better if I came along. Dominic doesn’t need me today.”

“You thought wrong. Get me Ryder and don’t make me ask again.”

Luke’s mouth tightened, and his blue eyes returned to mine. We were both thinking the same thing. He knew as well as I did that it was a bad idea taking the kid, but we couldn’t go against Silas’ orders. He was second in command.

“Whatever you say.” Luke backed away from the vehicle.

A few minutes later, I pulled away from Fire Ridge with Gerald and Ryder in the backseat, Lilith sitting between them. Ryder kept glancing at me nervously in the rearview mirror as if I could somehow get him out of this. Beads of sweat dotted his brow, and I could practically hear his heart beating out of his chest.

I hoped he could see and feel the sympathy in my eyes. If what he said was true about his father, then going to this place was like returning to hell.

The road to the Dreilinger Swamps, the place Dominic had allowed the Greybacks to live, was dismal and depressing. Where the trees at Fire Ridge were lush and full, the trees here were bowed over and painted in a dirty green color, their leaves tinged with brown. By the time we reached their small town, my windshield was specked with green and red splats of dead bugs.

The closer we came, the more my stomach churned; something bad was going to happen.

We drove through the center of town, a stop sign at its center the only sign of traffic control. There was a small convenience store on the corner, but other than that, only small houses lined the streets. Most of them needed new paint and several repairs.

Lilith sat forward in her seat, smacking on her gum. “Hey, let’s stop at that gas station. I need a doughnut.”

“No.” Silas’ voice was firm.

“Ugh, seriously?” She flopped back into her seat. “How much further?”

I glanced at the directions on my cell phone. “Another five minutes.”

“I’m hungry, Silas.”

He didn’t answer her, but stared out the front window, twisting the ring on his middle finger with his thumb. His knee bounced up and down anxiously.

“We’ll eat when we’re done,” Gerald told her. “Where do you want to go?”

While Lilith described her ideal restaurant, I kept my eye on Silas. He started tapping his fingers on the side of the car door, his agitation growing. He reminded me of a balloon slowly being filled. Eventually he was going to pop. And when it exploded, someone was going to get hurt.

We pulled up to a large white home with green shutters. It wasn’t as big as Fire Ridge, but it was still larger than any foster home I’d ever lived in. The paint was flaking and the roof sagged on the front porch.

At our arrival, a couple of shifters came out to meet us. Behind the main house, I spotted several smaller homes, made from rotting wood. They lined up in a row, each looking more decrepit than the other. The only structure that looked to be well taken care of was the barn. It was tall and big; it could probably hold two of the houses inside it. I wondered what they kept in there.

Silas was out the door before I had a chance to turn off the car. I swiveled in my seat and grabbed Gerald’s arm before he left too. “You need to help me keep him under control.”

He scooted toward the edge of his seat to follow after Lilith who had climbed over Ryder to get out. “You know I can’t stop him. He’s been itching for blood ever since your initiation. Either way, he’s going to get it. I’d rather have it be one of the Greybacks than me.” He left the car before I could say anything else.

I exhaled a tight breath, wishing I was anywhere but here.

“He’s right.” Ryder hadn’t moved, and his voice was soft from the backseat. “Silas will have blood.”

“Over a three-day late payment?”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s the blood he craves.” His eyes slowly tracked outside the window, and his face paled at the sight of several people now gathered in front of the house. He probably knew all of them.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“If only you could.” He slid off the backseat and out the door. I rubbed at my chest, sighing heavily, and then followed him.

The group consisted of a mixture of men and women shifters, a lot of them wearing camouflage shirts or hats. One of the men sported a confederate flag bandana tied around his head and several of the girls wore short shorts and bikini tops.

“Jackson!” Silas roared. He shuffled a few steps, red dust billowing up at his feet, his cane tapping the ground in front of him in measured beats.

A large beast of a man pushed his way through the crowd. He must’ve been at least six feet seven with muscles that stretched his t-shirt thin. Based on how old Ryder was, his father had to have been at least forty, but he looked much younger. His jawline was strong, and his face just handsome enough. He was definitely the best-looking man of the pack. Ryder shared many of his same features.

Jackson took us in and when his cold eyes settled on me, I shivered.

“What the hell are you doing here?” His voice was deep and gravely, reminding me of the fractured hum of a tractor’s engine. His gaze shifted to Ryder, who was standing next to me. “I see you brought a traitor with you.”

Silas glanced back at Ryder. “I wouldn’t call him that necessarily. He’s more of an opportunist. He knew a winning side when he saw one. This place reeks of mediocracy.”

Jackson growled low, the bass sound filling the air. “What do you want?”

“Payment, of course.” Silas drilled the point of his cane into the earth. “It was due three days ago.”

Jackson’s cold gaze flashed to a skinny man standing ten feet away. “Payment was delivered. Isn’t that right, Tommy?”

Tommy, a man with thinning blond hair and a splash of freckles along his nose, cleared his throat and shifted his weight while staring at the ground. His shoulders moved up in a shrug.

“But it was only half of what you owe for the month.” Silas stopped moving to stare at Jackson.

“As Tommy ‘splained to your man, we were unable to get full payment. You gave us a dying part of the city to run. Most businesses are failing and don't have the kind of money you demand. What you're wanting is impossible."

Silas eyed him coolly. "Are you telling me you will be unable to pay this month?"

Jackson’s hands balled tight. "Were you not listening?"

"I won't accept excuses. If you can't get it from the local businesses, then find a way to pay it as a pack. There are consequences if payment cannot be met. You know this. The details of our arrangement were clearly spelled out to you from the beginning."

Everyone looked from Jackson to Silas, not one person moved. Like me, they were rooted in place by fear of what might happen. Jackson was much bigger, by almost a foot, yet everyone seemed more afraid of Silas.

"I don't know what to tell you, little man,” Jackson spat, trying to gain back the respect of his pack. “Maybe if you give us another week."

Silas laughed out loud, longer than seemed necessary. "Ryder! Come forward."

Ryder looked over at me, and I nodded my head, urging him forward because what else could he do? I didn't like this, but I also had no idea what Silas might do. To go against him at this point would be premature.

Ryder reluctantly approached Silas. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, but he kept his head up trying to appear brave.

"Tell me," Silas grabbed Ryder by the back of his neck, "How long has it been since you've seen your father?"

Ryder looked everywhere but at Jackson. "Two years."

"Two years? And do you still feel the same way about the Greybacks?”

Ryder cleared his throat until he found his voice. “I don't understand.”

"If I remember correctly, when you first came to us, you said the Greybacks were weak and beneath your potential. Isn't that right?"

Several in the crowd growled and murmured their disapproval.

Ryder mumbled his answer. “Yes, Sir.”

“What was that?”

“Yes, Sir!”

Silas’ lips turned up at the corners, wrinkling his pale skin. “Your old pack has been unable to deliver on their promise because they are weak. And the only way to make someone weak is to strengthen them. How do you think we should strengthen this pack, Ryder?”

Ryder tried to pull his shoulders back, but there seemed to be an invisible weight on them preventing the motion. He knew the answer