Blood Soaked Earth by Lauren Devora

Author:Lauren Devora [Devora, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

What kind of sick, cosmic joke…

Stepping onto the porch, Annabelle hurried to shut the screen door behind her.

No way in hell was Lukas staying on Blackwood property for longer than thirty seconds.

She’d drag him to the road by his hair if she had to.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She asked, barely able to keep her voice down.

Slack-jawed, Lukas’ gaze darted from her to the house behind her and back.

Seconds ticked by, and with each one, her anger tripled.

“I…” He swallowed. “I was looking for… Jake.”

“What?”

“Jake,” he repeated, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I’ve been trying to reach him but he’s not answering his phone.” Lukas tilted his head. “Granted, I can’t exactly blame him. But it’s a bit of an emergency, and I thought…”

“You thought he’d be at my grandmother’s house?” Annabelle crossed her arms to keep from pushing him over the porch railing.

“Well… I…”

The screen door opened again, making them both jump.

Gran’s confusion melted into a smile.

“Hi there. You don’t look like any Jehovah’s Witness I’ve seen,” she said, looking Lukas up and down. “Annabelle, who’s your friend?”

Keeping her sneer in check, Annabelle said, “I don’t know, but this is Lukas.”

The awkward silence was broken by Lukas’ embarrassed chuckle.

“I apologize for the intrusion,” he said, inching back towards the steps. “I was looking for my brother, and since he’d mentioned he might be here, I thought I’d swing by and try to speak with him.”

“Oh, you’re Jake’s brother,” Gran said, wiping her hands on her apron before extending one in greeting. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Lukas said, clasping her palm with his in a gentle shake.

Glaring at him, Annabelle didn’t budge.

“Yeah, but Lukas was just leaving, so…”

Gran tsked under her breath. “Nonsense, you just got here,” she said. “Lukas have you had supper yet?”

Annabelle was sure she cracked her jaw with how fast it hit the floor.

“Gran, I don’t think—”

“Uh, well,” Lukas fumbled at the same time.

Gran waved him inside. “Come on, we’re having pot roast. I hope you’re not a vegetarian.”

“No, ma’am.” Lukas shook his head.

Annabelle refused to yield.

“Go ahead, Annabelle,” Gran urged, already going back into the house. “Let him in.”

Damn it.

Biting her cheek to keep from screaming, she swung the door open wide, turning before she could tell if Lukas caught it in time or not.

Not four steps into the house, Annabelle whirled on him, pointing a finger at his chest.

“You should not be here,” she hissed.

“I know,” he said with a nod.

It wasn’t the response she’d expected.

“Then why are you?”

The muscles of his throat worked as he swallowed. “I—”

Light commotion from the kitchen brought both of their heads around.

When Annabelle turned back to him, his hesitancy had been replaced by a mask of self-satisfaction.

“I’ll be the perfect dinner guest, Annabelle,” he murmured, slowly stripping off his leather jacket. “I promise.”

“Yeah, right,” she snorted, continuing further into the house. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

She could hear chatter as Gran informed everyone else of their unexpected addition.

Sensing Lukas at her back, Annabelle had never wanted a handful of Hot Foot powder more in her life.

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