Blood's Shadow: The Lycanthropy Files, Book 3 by Cecilia Dominic Page B

day.”
    “Sometimes the past doesn’t die.” The voice that had spoken to me in the car and in the pub made the skin at the back of my neck tighten.
    “No, I’m not going to come down,” my seven-year-old voice said. It was the voice of a child simultaneously terrified and holding on to that last shred of hope that if he didn’t come down the stairs, his world wouldn’t come crashing down on him, and he wouldn’t have to grow up too soon. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the wood of the bathroom door, a lump in my throat.
    “You can’t avoid the bad things that happen forever.” That voice was David Lachlan’s, and although the words were harsh, the tone was gentle. I had forgotten he was there when the officer brought news of my father’s death. I didn’t have to turn around and look to remember the scene. My mother, her hands wrapped in her apron, slumped at the kitchen table with tear streaks on her face and looked into nothingness. David—now my mind filled him in—stood with a hand on her shoulder.
    Footsteps came down the stairs, their pace hesitant and defiant, and seven-year-old me stood there, hands on hips, trying to pretend he wasn’t crying. The two men looked at him with sympathy and a little admiration, I’d like to think, for his holding on to hope until the very last second. But he couldn’t hold on to it forever, and he rushed to his mother, who clasped him to her, the most solid remnant of her lost husband.
    The emotions rolled through me then, and I relived the moment when I was that little boy who, in an instant, had had to become a man—the desire for revenge on whoever had done this to my family and anger at the men who had brought the news. And beneath it all, a crushing grief and fear that my father would be disappointed in me and at my reaction.
    “I was never disappointed in you. But you can’t run from the danger I faced. That was my mistake.”
    I turned around. The only thing in the mirror that caught my attention was the dark hazel irises of my own frightened, angry eyes. I took a deep, shuddering breath and left the bathroom.
    I put David’s letter in my house safe in case he should want it back. It occurred to me I could phone him, but I didn’t know what I would say aside from, “I wanted to make sure you didn’t crash your car on your way home.”
    Then I thought about calling Selene, but that didn’t seem right, either. First, she was lying to me, but my instincts told me she was in some sort of trouble. I needed to bide my time and get her to trust me before pushing her on it. Second, although female companionship would be welcome, I doubted I would be good company for her. The feelings from earlier had subsided except for a certain restless irritation, and I couldn’t even sit still enough to decide what to eat for dinner. Nothing sounded good, but I didn’t want to go to the pub, come back smelling of smoke, and have to shower again. Finally, I busied myself putting together a meal of steak and greens.
    After eating, I flipped through television channels but couldn’t find anything interesting. My cell phone ringing, which typically annoyed me, was a welcome distraction.
    “Gabriel?” The quaver in Lonna’s voice was unusual enough to make me sit upright.
    “What is it?”
    “Something’s wrong with Max.”
    “I’ll be right there.”

Chapter Nine
    I arrived at their house in twenty minutes. The sun lay low on the horizon as a glowing orange ball, putting me in mind of videos showing sunset on the African savannah with the silhouettes of prey animals bounding to avoid predators. In our little world, we no longer knew who was the predator and who was the prey.
    Lonna opened the door with Abby on her arm. The baby fussed and whimpered, no doubt picking up her mother’s distress.
    “What happened?” I asked.
    “He came back from the Institute today looking just awful, like he had a fever. I made him lie down, and when I went to check on