Into Their Woods (The Eerie, #1)(26)

Ellery hands me a bottle of water, and I stop caring about whatever he just called me because I realize I haven’t had anything to drink since coffee last night. I open it and take a deep pull and then desperately drain the whole thing in four large gulps. So good.

Damn, I guess I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.

Swiping at my lower lip with my hand, I remove any remaining water droplets. Ellery smiles and hands me the other bottle he’s holding, the one I assumed was for his dad.

I stare at him in awe for a moment, as though he’s proposed instead of simply offering hydration. Then I force myself to blink and look away before I blurt out something utterly inane, like “I’ll have your babies” or “Is that a water bottle in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

“Well, this definitely isn’t Fading. Not sure what it is though.” Morgan addresses the first part of his statement to Ellery before looking right at me. “Have you had anything to eat or drink since you woke up?”

I shake my head as I drain bottle number two.

My brow furrows and I watch the sheriff’s dad more pointedly. He could have just been showing fatherly concern, but something about the question seems odd. I am relieved that someone here doesn’t think I’m on death’s doorstep though.

“Thank fuck it’s not the Fade.” Ellery gives a sigh of relief. “Noah, does your leg hurt?”

Before I can answer, the door unexpectedly swings open again.

I jump to my feet in alarm and then gape when a drop-dead gorgeous man strides in with purpose. His T-shirt and jeans hug every decadent inch of his tall, well-built frame. The light gray color of his shirt matches the hue of the man’s eyes perfectly and complements his warm skin tone and dark brown hair. He moves toward me but stops when the sheriff steps forward and blocks his path. They stare at each other for a moment, but I’m distracted by the fact that the man who just strolled in here isn’t wearing any shoes.

Dove gray eyes find mine over the sheriff’s shoulder. Strangely, they’re swimming with relief, and I suddenly find it hard to breathe as I dumbly stare back at him.

“You’re okay?” he asks, somehow sounding both stricken and grateful.

He smiles at me when I continue to just stare, and holy shit, that smile is nothing short of resplendent. It’s the rays of sun breaching the darkest clouds, warming and illuminating the world despite the storm.

Ellery clears his throat, and the gray-eyed god’s stare flashes from me to the sheriff. The new man’s smile dims and then drops completely.

I practically watch him build a wall, brick by brick, and shutter his reactions behind it.

A strange part of me protests the loss, as though something vital and precious was just stolen from me and hidden away under lock and key. I don’t understand what just happened or my reaction to it, but I want to take a sledgehammer to this man’s defenses and crawl through the cracks to find him again. I feel like I need to.

“Noah, this is Gannon. He’s…had some experience with what you’re going through, and he’s going to help us explain some things,” the sheriff tells me, gesturing to his father and then to himself.

I look back to the barefoot guy and find his expression is now glacial. A shiver runs down my spine as I fit the name Ellery just gave me with the man’s face.

Gannon.

Wait.

My head snaps to Ellery and my eyes go wide with shock, my heart suddenly hammering in my chest as dread creeps down my throat and spreads through my chest.

He just asked me if my leg was okay. Except, I never told him where I was bitten. I mentioned the wolves and that I thought I’d been bitten, but I never said where.

Fear seeps into my limbs as I look from Ellery to Gannon to Morgan Arcan. They’re blocking the door, so I start backing up to get closer to the windows behind Ellery’s desk. All three men take a concerned step toward me at my alarmed reaction, and I stumble back until my shoulder blades smash into a wall.

Wedging myself into the corner of the office, memories bombard me from when I woke up this morning. Ruger and Perth were talking about an Ellery—who’d just left before I woke up—and a Gannon—who…bit me.

Holy fucking shit.

Betrayal swarms me like cloying jellyfish, stinging me relentlessly for not making the connection sooner.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

They’re in on it. They’re part of the cult, and I’m trapped.





9





NOAH





My breath hitches and my pulse flutters in my neck so rapidly I can feel it. A prey animal captured by three deadly predators, my heart rattles my ribs.

Ellery raises his hands and gentles his voice, bending until he’s eye level with me as he moves behind his desk, blocking my access to the windows. “It’s okay, Noah, you’re safe. We’re going to explain everything. No one is going to hurt you, I swear it.”

Panic claws at me because he has to be fucked in the head if he thinks I’m going to believe him. Then again, of course he’s fucked in the head; he’s in the same cult that attacked me last night. And now I’m cornered in a room with him and two other big-ass crazies I couldn’t fight on my best day.

Doesn’t mean I won’t fight though. I will not go down easily, and they’re not going to catch me from behind this time.