Skin Walkers: Monroe by Susan Bliler Page A

resting just beyond her reach.  Fuck!  Come on!  COME ON!   Without her rifle she was dead.  If the bear didn’t kill her, Ronnie surely would. 
    She looked back, hoping the length of chain was snagged on something that would allow just a few more inches; instead, she froze at the gruesome sight that met her.  Crimson stained the snow-covered area she’d vacated only seconds before.  Ronnie lay lifeless.  His unblinking eyes were focused skyward, and Eden instantly knew he was dead. 
    Long deep gouges scoured the ground, leaving gashes of black earth against the stark white of the snow where the giant grizzly had used the ground for leverage. 
    She moved slowly, searching for the bear.  She listened, but could only make out faint gasps.  Her eyes followed the sound and locked on John, some ten feet from where he’d been standing.  His hands were clamped tightly around his throat and his eyes were wide with horror. 
    Eden watched the stream of blood that seeped through his tightly clenched fingers ; blood pulsed out of him more rapidly with each contraction of his heart.  He wasn’t going to make it.
    Still sprawled on her belly, Eden inched her head slowly in the other direction.  She had to find the bear.  The adrenaline that had coursed through her seconds earlier had eased her shivering, but it slowly began to ebb.  She fought to keep her teeth from chattering even as her vision blurred.  The pain was getting worse.  She eyed her leg and the pool of blood that was forming under her. 
    Monroe !   Eden silently prayed that he’d heard the gunshots and would come to investigate.  Because if the bear didn’t kill her, she was still trapped in a mechanism that she couldn’t escape and she was slowly bleeding out.
    Scanning the area, she found no sight of the bear.  Carefully, she slid her hands under her and was just about to push up from the ground when she heard the trees rustle.  She stiffened instantly.  Seconds later she expelled her breath in a whimper as she heard Monroe’s voice.
    “Eden!”
    Without even looking up, Eden’s muscles went lax as she flattened on the frozen earth.  She pointed to her weapon.  “G-get the rifle, there’s a grizzly n-n-nearby.”
    Monroe ignored her, grabbing her shoulders and rolling her gently to face him.  His eyes scanned her features, “ Don’t worry! You’re safe!”
    Eden pointed to the two sprawled men, “Check John.”
    Monroe’s eyes didn’t leave her face.  “He’s dead.”
    Eden frowned and jabbed her finger in the direction of the men again, “The far one.  He’s still breathing.”
    Monroe eased her back to the ground and Eden thought he’d rush off to check on John.  Instead he pulled his gloves off with his teeth and went to the trap.  “On the count of three take a deep breath and hold it.”
    “Check John!” Eden demanded angrily.
    “He’s dead Eden.”  Monroe’s tone was impatient.  “They’re both dead.  Now, take a deep breath on the count of three.  One, two, three.”
    Eden sucked in a sharp breath and meant to hold it, but when the teeth of the trap were pulled from her flesh she instantly rolled to her side and began dry heaving.  When Monroe lifted her shattered leg, her mouth instantly dried and she blinked back the stars that exploded in her sight.  Seconds later her, leg was moved again and she couldn’t recover.  The bright white snow darkened before her until there was only a slight pinpoint of light left in her vision.  It too soon faded as overwhelming warmth enveloped her.

Chapter 9
    Eden woke several times during the journey down the mountain.  The first time she recognized the interior of her truck and wondered where Monroe had parked his vehicle.  If he’d come up the road she had, he’d have been blocking her truck from being able to descend down the mountain.  The second time she woke she struggled to stay awake.  She moaned trying to sit-up from the back bench-seat of the