The Killing Season (14 page)

“Who can we trust?” Ollie asked. “Dean is out for obvious reasons. So is Mr. Abbot. And Peg is barely hanging on in the ward. There’s no one left to punish Killian.”

“So we do it ourselves.” Luke sounded ready to do it himself, right then. I grimaced.

“Before we jump to patricide,” Hatter said, “let’s focus on not getting our heads lobbed off first.”

“Good idea,” I said. “Also, the Barrow hunters might align with Killian, and we could find ourselves at the end of multiple guns with no way out.”

“He killed Haze’s brother. There’s no way Haze would side with Killian,” Ollie said.

“There’s no love lost between those two brothers. Some say Sin is the reason that ’swang bit off part of Haze’s face. That Sin wasn’t watching his brother’s back because they’d fought the night before. So Sunny’s right.” Hatter nodded at me. “We have to be careful.”

“We just stick together. Watch each other’s backs.” Thad grinned at Ollie. “I can take first watch in Ollie’s—”

Before he finished, someone knocked on Ollie’s door. This time, the person didn’t barge in.

Everyone in the room quieted and glanced at each other. Ollie was the first to move, but Luke pulled her back and went to the door instead. He cracked it open an inch to see who it was.

“It’s just Eve,” he said, stepping back and opening the door.

Eve didn’t come completely inside, but she noted everyone inside with a sharp nod. She wore her hunting clothes. “Good. You guys need to watch your backs now.”

“Sorry about Sin, Eve,” Luke said, his face twisting into something that could be considered a sympathetic scowl.

She shrugged before casting her eyes toward Ollie. “Everyone wanted to kill him at some point, but I didn’t think anyone would actually do it.”

Carefully, with deliberate words, Ollie asked, “Do you know of someone who wouldn’t have an alibi last night?”

When Eve seemed to instantly understand her question, I knew Ollie was talking about Eve and Killian being together last night. “I was alone most of the night, so I can’t vouch for anyone but myself.” Her word choice set everyone in the room on edge, but before anyone could ask, she met Luke’s eyes and said, “We have to go.”

“What?” Ollie asked, her voice tight. “A hunt? After everything that happened this morning?”

Eve met Ollie’s eyes and something I couldn’t explain passed between them. “Killian’s orders.”

N I N E

Ollie

N
ot even a murder slowed Killian Aultstriver down. Not even one he’d committed, and I was convinced he’d done it after Eve confirmed he hadn’t stayed with her the entire night. But I had no way to prove it. Aside from the fact the asshole had practically confessed to me.

While everyone had been in my room, someone else—probably one of the staff—had cleaned up Sin’s body. The floors and wall above the door were scrubbed clean of blood and parts of bone. Like nothing had happened. Almost.

I stood at the base of the stairs, watching the hunters strap on their vests and throat guards. Every step and movement looked slow and painful. Checking their weapons and satellite phones had lost its previous vigor. The guns and knives in various holsters had layers of blood and grime no one had time to clean off. Even Haze stood amongst them, his face stoic, with a wicked-looking crossbow strapped to his back. Hatter looked down the sight of his sniper rifle with unblinking eyes, his arms wobbling from the weight of the gun. No one spoke. Killian was already outside, waiting in the SUV that would take them to the next infested area to clear out. We weren’t even two weeks into the Killing Season and the hunters already looked dead on their feet.

Behind me, Luke trudged down the stairs. He’d gone back to his room to change and he was the last to arrive. From the look of his disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, he was moving as quickly as he could, just like the others.

I gritted my teeth. Killian was going to get them all killed, running them ragged like this.

Sensing my building rage, Luke put a hand on the small of my back. “We’ll be fine,” he said, voice scratchy with exhaustion. But the slump of his shoulders said the opposite. I wondered if he even had enough energy to lift his rifle. I knew who would win if the fight came down to a brawl between him and a ’swang. He didn’t stand a chance. Maybe that’s why Killian had insisted on a hunt today.

“Don’t go,” I whispered. He remained beside me, checking over his fully automatic rifle.

“Ollie.” He released a little sigh through his nose.

“Fine.” I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from holding him back. “Go. But be careful. If you get yourself killed, I’ll kill you.”

Luke’s lips cracked into a smile, but I didn’t dare look. “Sure thing. See you for dinner.”

My gut wrenched at his choice of words. He was just inviting bad luck. His fingers trailed around my waist as he moved forward. Quickly, before anyone saw, he leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “I better not see you without Sunny by your side again.”

He descended the stairs with his gun across his chest, dangerous end pointing to the ground. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and headed up the stairs, refusing to look back down at the hunters as they left, the entry door locking behind them. The hall on the third floor was quiet after last night’s excitement. Too quiet. My stomach twisted with nausea.

Back in my room, Sunny sat on my bed, legs crossed, staring at the opposite wall. She blinked when I quietly entered. “Are they gone?” she asked.

“Just left.” I leaned back against the door and rubbed my aching eyes.

“I couldn’t watch him get ready. They’re too tired.” Her little hands fisted the sheets. “This is why so many of us die all the time. No one knows when to take a break.”

Her lips pinched together, eyes narrowing. I figured she was thinking about her brother, Seth. I hated the way her pretty honey-speckled eyes teared up with worry. Fear. The worst kind of fear because we could do nothing about it.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go check Killian’s office. Maybe the bastard left it unlocked today.”

Unfortunately, he hadn’t been as distracted as I’d hoped this morning. The office remained locked tight, but I coaxed Sunny to eat one of the breakfast sandwiches Burt had left out for us. Together, we sipped on our coffees as we walked the halls, silent and pretending like we weren’t thinking about the guys. I was even worried about Thad.

As we passed the base’s staff, who were busy cleaning rooms or depositing laundry, we asked if they’d seen Abigail. No one had. I worried about her after last night, especially since it seemed Killian had locked her away somewhere. I pictured her in some forgotten tower of this hell-hole wearing her bloodied nightgown and drinking heavily. Like a screwed-up Rapunzel.

“So what did she say, exactly?” Sunny asked again.

“That I looked like someone. Had their eyes and strength. Abigail said
she
could kill anyone with her whip.”

“A stingray whip?”

“Possibly?” I chugged the last of my coffee, ignoring the fact that it was probably burning my tongue.

“It sounds like she means your mom. I mean, when people say someone ‘has’ someone else’s eyes, they normally mean a parent.” Sunny paused at a room and peered inside, snooping like a regular Nancy Drew. The room belonged to none of the hunters, so I wasn’t interested.

“That can’t be right though. I knew my biological mother, and she was a real bitch.”

Sunny gasped, whirling around. “Ollie Andrews!”

“Exactly.
Andrews
. Not Volkova. Not anyone who used a sting whip or had my eyes. My mother abandoned me in a closet. A closet, Sunny. I don’t know if even Dean could do that to his own kid. Hell, Killian probably wouldn’t even do that. Do you know what I remember about my mother?”

“You never talk about her,” Sunny said quietly.

“Because I’ve made myself forget her. Every time someone tested me, cut me, or broke my bones, it was because of her. Every shitty family who played with me like I was some fucking game was because of her. The Tabers did what they did because of her. Every time I went hungry or cold was because of her. All the running. All the close calls with Max over the years. Do you know how many times he almost caught me? Too many. And it’s all her fault, Sunny. I hate her. She never loved me.”

“Maybe . . .” Sunny chewed on her lip, like she needed to think out what she was trying to say. “Maybe she knew what you were. Maybe something bad happened to her. Maybe she had a hard time dealing with it.”

“Good.” I nodded briskly, avoiding her eyes, which contained too much pity for me. “I hope she suffered.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do. I really do.”

Sunny sighed and let it go. “Then what do you think Abigail meant?” She leaned against the open door’s jamb and regarded me with a quizzical expression that made her glasses twitch on her wrinkled-up nose. “And why did Luke write down Olesya Volkova in particular?”

“Because this family is crazy?” I huffed, throwing up my hands. “I have no clue what she meant, but she was out of her mind.” I looked back at Sunny, ready to argue some more.

A man stood behind her.

I launched my heavy thermos over Sunny’s head with a ripping growl. When it connected, the man swore, his voice thick and low, but I was already moving, drawing my switchblade from my boot and flicking it open. I jerked Sunny forward as she screamed, then took her place in the bedroom’s door, ready to kill.

“What the hell?” the man shouted, clutching his forehead. A trickle of blood wove between his thick, hairy-knuckled fingers. He stepped out of the room’s shadows and into the light in the hall.

I straightened out of my crouch. “Coldcrow,” I said, stunned.

“That’s some arm you got there, darlin’.”

Sunny bent over at the waist, clutching her side as she gasped for air. “Ohmygosh. You scared the piddle out of me.”

Coldcrow’s cocked a blood-stained brow. “What’s piddle?”

“Why are you lurking around in dark rooms, you creep?” I fired back.

“This is my room, you annoying little brat,” he shot right back, but the words held no malice and his eyes danced with mischief. The tiny cut on his weathered forehead had already stopped bleeding. “I was about to leave a note in Haze’s room.”

I narrowed my eyes. Beside me, Sunny straightened. “A note?”

At my question, Coldcrow’s hand went to his beard, fingers worrying through the gray strands. He shifted on his feet. “Well, ah, see, I’m not too good with words sometimes, and I wanted to tell him how sorry I was about his brother. Sin was a reckless bastard, but he and Haze were practically raised here in Barrow. I thought of them as my own more often than not, and, ah,” he paused to clear his throat, “with Peg being attacked and her family gone . . . I just, well, I mean . . .”

Sunny reached up and put a hand on his arm. Her head barely came to the middle of his burly chest. “Hey, it’s okay. We get it. I’m sorry about Sin. You two must have been really close.”

Coldcrow cleared his throat again. He didn’t meet my eyes, but I managed to catch a glimpse of his misty ones as he looked anywhere but at Sunny and me. “Their parents died when they were real young. Too young. I was never the marrying and kid type, but I sort of took them under my wing. Might be why they can be such rotten bastards.” He smiled a little at this, and Sunny laughed a bit too loudly. “But they’re good boys. Sin didn’t deserve that.”

“No one does,” I said, watching him closely.

“You’re right.” Coldcrow awkwardly patted Sunny’s shoulder and stepped away. When he looked at me, he had himself under control again. “Now, why are you two girls wandering around?”

“We’re looking for Mrs. Aultstriver,” Sunny said before I came up with a lie. Not that looking for Abigail was suspicious or something we needed to hide, but after last night, I didn’t want anyone knowing our business.

“Haven’t seen her. But then, she doesn’t normally move about much during the day unless she’s up in the greenhouse. She’ll likely be down for supper.”

“We kind of need her before then,” Sunny added.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “For no particular reason,” I said, hoping to cut Sunny off before she told Coldcrow everything. I still didn’t know if he was someone we could trust. “I just wanted to check on her after last night.”

“That’s right.” He tucked his hands on the pockets of his thick work pants. “You found her.”

“I was going to get some water.”

“Right,” he said in a way that made me think no one was ever going to buy the water story. Suddenly, Coldcrow frowned. “You girls need to be careful, okay? Don’t trust anyone.”

“Even you?” I asked, words sharper than I meant them to be.

Coldcrow smiled at me, but it looked sad and a little lost, like maybe he was thinking about Peg. “Even me. Watch your backs. The people you think you can trust are always the ones you shouldn’t.”

His warning sounded like another message. “Like presidents and professors at certain universities?”

“Especially those,” he said quietly.

My eyes narrowed at his words. He’d made a point to let me know he mistrusted the university as much as I did, and he was Peg’s uncle. Books about my history could be within my grasp, and opening up to him about some secrets would be easier than trying to break into his room and steal his books, which was an idea I’d been considering, though I hadn’t told Sunny yet. I cleared my throat. “If we were looking for some information about the hunting families, maybe one in particular, where would we find that information?”