Chapter 10

Bram turned his horse back to the path, a look of disgust on his face as he looked down at the mossy earth. I followed to lead my horse back to the water, glancing back to notice Romulus wandering off with Gory. I tried not to be jealous, but she looked more beautiful than usual. She had a blue velvet vest with brass buttons over a softly ruffled white shirt and soft black riding pants, buckled boots coming to half-calf over them. She had soft, suede saddle bags with her puppy in them, his navy blue leash so delicate looking I thought it was linen. Her boyfriend looked much the same, embracing their old world vampiric attire.

Even though I paused at the lake, the horse didn't drink; I guess the old saying was right. Sinking my feet into the marshy ground, I pulled myself up onto his back, glancing over to the vampire trotting along the shore.

"Do you trust her?" I called.

He glanced over his shoulder with a laugh. Away from hunting, he looked downright angelic. "If you're wondering whether she's out to steal your little boyfriend, don't bother. He's not her type."

I wondered if he really was, in that 4-H looking jacket. It was too regal, like they had something to prove. Either way, his horse paused and refused to go any closer to the water. He nudged it with his knees, trying to provoke a reaction, but only succeeded in spooking it. He grasped the reigns and held on tighter, calming the creature with force. Still, he had seen something, and I could see it in his face. He lulled the poor, panicky creature into standing still and dismounted. He only took a few steps before he backpedaled and threw me a glance of mixed disgust and horror.

I led my horse back. They were clear across the field, but they heard when I called anyway. "Romulus, you should come see this."

They followed. She waited between us, her two-toned hair done up in a ponytail that caught the light like painted diamond. Romulus waded out, looking in and gagging. An arm floated out in the water. He had found a body.
"Two of them," Bram said quietly, "Both females, late teens."

Gory looked sick. I didn't blame her. Romulus charged out of the water, cussing and taking off his shoes. He looked at the vampires for aid, but not even I would touch him now. He wrenched the sanitizer out of his pocket and slathered it over his skin like sunscreen. I watched the face of the vampire I had come to like as she glanced back to the cemetery. The bodies were too fresh to have come from there, she knew as well as I did. She looked at her boyfriend and dismounted. She brought the reigns of her horse to him and went to the edge of the trees, where she promptly threw up. I couldn't smell anything, and I really couldn't see anything, but her viewpoint must've been different. She started to sink against the tree with a few heaves, and I went over for the simple gesture of holding her up. Her skin was blazing with uncharacteristic warmth.

The sound of other horses neared, her dry heaving subsiding gradually. She staggered away and leaned on her horse for support. I gave her water that she accepted more than gratefully.

"What's going on?" Grace asked. Nightmare seemed content enough beneath my mother. I rose a brow, "Where's Dad?"

"On the trail. He's not as skilled of a horseman as I am, with good reason." I almost laughed at the idea of my mother's smug expression as she tried to race him and my father clinging for dear life to something that wasn't suited for his size. Taking one glance to my boyfriend freaking out as he hung his "death-water" shoes from the stirrup of the saddle and Bram gently consoling his girl kept me from smiling at all.

"I think you should come see on your own."

Romulus paused and looked at me like I was half insane, "No. I am not taking her out in that water, you hear me? I am not going back in there. I need bleach, now."

Grace dismounted, but Romulus blocked her. "Just pull out your phone, Mrs. B. Please."

"What in the hell is going on?" she asked, using her authoritative, mother tone.

"A couple of bodies in the grass," Bram said, speaking for the rest of us. "It would be the third today." Even if it was news to me and my mother, it wasn't to either vampire or my boyfriend. Gory climbed up on her horse and stuck her hand in with her dog. There were tears in her eyes. I walked over and rested my hand on her knee, trying to bring her attention back. She shook her head in silence, stopping me from speaking. Bram scowled, "She needs to leave, Abbey."

My mother had pulled out her phone, but just before she called, she looked at Bram and Gory, "Go. It's fine, I won't mention you."

I could see a measure of suspicion in my boyfriend's eyes as they trotted off toward the path. I mounted my horse, glanced to my mother and followed. Their head start had only been a few seconds, but it was enough to clear them from the path as I rode up. "Abbey," Romulus called, "Abbey!"

I paused at the trail, looking for my father. I waited, hoping that anyone alive would suddenly appear, but the only one to answer my thoughts was Romulus. "You can't trust them," he panted, "This can't be a coincidence. They go somewhere, they find bodies-"

"Was with him whole time," I replied, "Would've smelled it on him."

He scowled even though he knew I was right. Eventually, my father led his horse up and glanced around, "Grace not watching?"

"Trust me, Mr. B, your skills on horseback are the least of her worries." Despite the icy glare it got him, Romulus still managed to keep himself serious. He mounted his horse, his nose twitching, "I feel disgusting."

"Tell that to the fish," I replied. For a minute, I wished I'd ducked out on my parents. It was a selfish thing to think, especially toward the dead girls floating in the lake, but I did. I wished I'd had Romulus meet me down at Heath's for his family's weekend barbeque, somewhere Gory and Bram could've been just as happy as we were. I felt bad about telling her, and when I remembered that she'd thrown up, I looked at Romulus. "Is water that dirty?"

"Oh shit Abbey," he replied, seeming to have the same thought. I had to clean it up with something, even if nature would've done its job eventually. The last thing I wanted was to get Gory and Bram involved in it, even if they were already. One body was coincidence, but nobody else needed to have Romulus's train of thought.

"Leave it," he began, but I handed off my horse to my father and walked back on my own. Water, though being a nice idea, was impractical. I kicked over leaves with my shoe instead, and it did the job.

Police came and mostly talked to Grace, as she was enough of an authority figure to command their attention and my father hung protectively close to us. He was fearsome looking enough to make sure that nobody interfered. I couldn't tell if he was angry at us or the situation and I didn't want to ask, either. Eventually, though, he passed off his horse to Romulus and we walked down the path back to the stables.

"I'm sorry," I murmured as we checked them back in. One of the girls working there took them to be brushed, leaving us to wander off toward the cars.

"It's fine," Romulus said with a slight huff, "You take care of the pack as well as I do."

I looked down at my shoes and the splatter of dirt and flecks of blood on the soles. They looked like they'd met a combat zone. As my eyes lifted, I saw the familiar hearse and bolted toward it on instinct. Romulus sighed, but followed with lesser enthusiasm. "I thought you left," I called as I ran up.

Bram was sitting in the open back, one booted foot propped up on the bumper while the other dangled to the earth. A cigarette between his lips made him look more human. "I did," he replied after a long inhale. Smoke slid from his parted lips like evidence of a dragon. "But Gory's at home, and you deserve backup."

"Police didn't ask, we didn't tell," I replied. Whether they'd done it or not, I was covering for them. He seemed to sense it. Rising fluidly, he shut the back doors and righted the handles. He had to lock it manually, such a swift movement that it didn't look human no matter how many cigarettes he had on him. He looked at me with complete understanding, "Abbey, you know that she and I had nothing to do with this, just as we know you didn't."

I glanced over my shoulder at Romulus. His eyes returned to Bram from wandering the parking lot, "What?"

"The marks on the girl this morning, it was like she'd been attacked by some kind of animal. We know your pack didn't do this, just like we wouldn't think you committed the atrocity back in that lake. So you have to trust us as we do you when I vow to you that we had absolutely nothing to do with those murders."

They were calm, much calmer than I was becoming. People suspected us? Was that why Grace and Ivan had steered questioning away from us?

"I believe you, but I'm worried others won't. That's why Bloodgood sent you off," Romulus replied. "Just get home to her. We'll get together some other time, all of yours and all of ours."

Bram sized him up and voiced a simple thought that hadn't even thought to cross my mind, "What if it is just an animal?"

"Then it's big and it's rabid," Romulus replied. "Animals don't kill like that. Either it's one of ours, or somebody's trying to set one of us up."

We would've all put money on maul marks on the other two bodies. I saw a pair of silent ambulances start up the trail, attracting the attention of other people. I went toward the horse trailer, staying out of sight, glancing back to my boyfriend as he conversed with the other boy.

"There are times I actually like you, Devein. So if you know something, you better tell me straight."

"The same to you, Moon."

They looked at each other with something that bordered between hostility and brotherhood, and they clasped hands before going to their respective cars. Bram climbed in his car as I heard across the bay of trees a man retching wetly. I turned away from the sound into Romulus's shoulder, and he gently pressed his hand to my ear. "Just pretend we're not here," he murmured. "It'll be over soon, Abbey. Promise."