Death Valley

by Karina Halle

To eat the flesh of another is to become a monster. And this time, it was literal.

This monstrous curse was already in her veins, but perhaps this child—this miracle born in blood and snow—would find a different fate.

Lainey became a cold case to everyone but me. But I had hope. I always had, perhaps too much. No one ever talks about how destructive hope can be.

“I don’t need your condolences,” I say, to which he raises his brows. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. I just need the truth. All this time, I’ve been living with her ghost, and I don’t expect to find her alive, but I need answers so I can finally move on and live my life again. I owe her that much.”

He stares up at the mountains, and for a moment, I’m hit with the strangest sense of déjà vu.

“I just assumed you were going to say it’s too dangerous for a lady or something like that.” The corner of his mouth quirks up, making his eyes dance, and damn if it doesn’t make my stomach clench. “Nah,” he says smoothly. “I never would have reckoned you for a lady.”

“Fear’s not always bad. Keeps you sharp. Keeps you alive.” His gaze drifts to the mountains. “Up there, you need a healthy dose of fear.”

“Well, up there, when you get that feeling? Trust it.” “What feeling?” “The one that tells you to be afraid.”

Grumpy as fuck, with rough hands, plus a gravelly voice, and potentially dangerous? Ticking all the red flags at once.

Okay, I didn’t take this gruff cowboy to be so philosophical, but he says it without any irony. In fact, he’s serious enough that it puts a chill down my spine.

Can’t be too careful out here. The fellas call me paranoid, but they don’t know what I’ve seen. They don’t really know what’s waiting for us. I pray they never do. But prayers have an expiry date.

Try not to wonder what other secrets he’s keeping and whether finding them out will destroy us both. Or if something in these mountains will get to me first.

“Is this your brand?” she asks. “I’ve seen it around the ranch.” “Sure is. If it’s branded on our cattle, it’s only fair it’s branded on me.”

She looks at me with something close to wonder. It makes my heart trip all over again. Not sure I like being reminded that I have a heart on the line.

“Obsession can break a person. But it can also lead them to the truth.”

“Sometimes the blood remembers what the mind forgets,” Jensen says, so quietly I almost miss it.

What will Aubrey do when she finally learns the truth about her sister? And what will she think of me when she discovers my part in it?

“I’m running from my regrets,” I whisper.

“You’re even tighter than I imagined,” he growls. His words send a jolt through me; his voice, so low and rough, is almost enough to make me come again. “You want everyone to hear how hard I’m fucking you?”

“Because the things I know, the things I’ve seen…they wouldn’t believe me. Because the truth is harder to accept than whatever theories they’ve come up with.”

“Something lives in these mountains,” I begin, choosing my words carefully. “Something that used to be human, a long time ago.”

“You lied to me,” Jensen says quietly, the words falling between us like stones. “From the beginning.” “Like you lied to me,” I counter, unwilling to accept his hypocrisy.

They move like shadows through the trees, always just visible enough to make sure we know they’re there. Guiding us. Herding us. Playing with their prey.

Another one gone. Another life claimed by these mountains, by the hunger that waits in their shadows.

Nathaniel’s smile is patient, indulgent even. “Because the hunt is no fun if the prey doesn’t run.” His lips twist into a smirk. “At least that’s what my father says.”