Bad, Dad, and Dangerous by Rhys Ford

Author:Rhys Ford [Ford, Bru Baker, Jenn Moffatt, and TA Moore, and Rhys]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64405-712-4
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2020-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

“IT’S A tree,” Bell said as he leaned his hips against the side of the SUV and crossed his arms. His head throbbed with frustration and pressure. There wasn’t exactly a Golden Hour where you could be sure you’d get back who, and what, had crossed over into the Otherworld, but sunrise or sunset was when you had a chance. He should be looking for Nora, and Keith now, since his parents had confirmed the other teenager hadn’t made his way home last night, not following Conri’s vague directions along backroads.

Conri put his hand on the tree, fingers spread, and then pulled it back. He showed Bell his palm, the skin welted with itchy-looking red hives.

“It’s a lock,” he said.

Surprise pulled Bell up off the car and forward. He took Conri’s hand to check the marks, a prickle of interest sharp and ignored in the back of his throat as he rubbed his thumb over the broad, callused palm. No corresponding tingle on his skin, so he turned to the tree. It took him a minute to find the first one, the head half-buried under scabs of overgrown bark. Once he did, though, the others were easier.

Four old iron nails driven deep into the bark of the tree and left to rust. Bell pulled a knife and dug the bark away from one until he could get a better look at it. Under the rough plaque of rust and dirt, it looked homemade, roughly forged and clumsy. He picked at it with his nails, but there was no give. The wood around the nails was stained red and gray, as if it had bled.

“The tree at Treva’s house,” he said as he stepped back and wiped his hands. “That chain was older than the dog was.”

Conri nodded. “Older than the house probably,” he said. “We—me and Finn—passed a rock on the way into town that was covered in horseshoes. I thought it was just another unfriendly town. It’s been a… while… since I saw anyone try anything like this.”

“They closed off the Otherworld,” Bell said. The idea felt… strange. It would close every single case that Iron Door had on the books—past, present, and future—but the idea didn’t have the appeal it should. The Otherworld was his enemy, but it had been his enemy his whole life. He couldn’t imagine it gone. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“It isn’t,” Conri said. “Usually. Anywhere but a slough and the movement of the Otherworld would have either burst the locks or worn itself a new route. Even here, there’s one ford left. They probably tried to lock that off too, but it would only have lasted until the first solstice. Then it would burst like a cyst. That would have been a bad year for Elwood.”

Bell walked around the tree. There were four nails on the other side too, lower down and hammered in hard enough to flatten the heads. He ran his thumb over the rough metal and closed his eyes.

It was hard to explain what it felt like to cross into the Otherworld.

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