Third Strike by Heather Brewer

Author:Heather Brewer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

11

CURIOSITY AND THE CAT

Joss stood still with his thoughts, going over in his mind what had just transpired, for several minutes after doing what he could to hide the vampire’s remains until a Slayer Society cleanup crew could step in and take care of things. He’d covered the body with fallen leaves, fallen branches, and hoped that no human would find it. Death wasn’t something that humans typically dealt well with. It also wasn’t, Joss thought, something that Slayers dealt with either. The distinction in his mind between human and Slayer had come suddenly, but it seemed to fit. He didn’t feel like a human half the time. He felt like something that operated on the fringe of humanity.

He moved through the woods for almost a half mile before exiting, not wanting anyone who had been at the boardwalk to see him and wonder why he was spattered with fresh blood and who that blood might belong to. He didn’t go home. Too many questions were waiting for him there. Questions that his parents might ask about why he was shirtless and bloody. Questions that Henry might ask about why Joss would do something like that to his cousin, to his blood brother.

Blood. There was too much blood in Joss’s life.

Still dazed by what had just happened, Joss found himself standing in front of Paty’s small cottage. After all, she was supposed to be there for him—and if all that meant was that she’d loan him her shower and maybe a fresh shirt, that was enough. It was all Joss needed at the moment. And what he definitely didn’t need were questions.

He raised his fist to rap on the door, but before he could speak a word, Paty called from within, her voice soft and ragged, as if she’d been crying. “It’s open, Joss. Come on in.”

As he turned the knob and pushed, he leaned in and saw her face. Her eyes were red, her cheeks blotched. Paty had been crying. It was a strange thing to see. Paty didn’t cry. She was tough. What could break someone like her? He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Everything okay?”

Her brows came together as she gave him a once-over. As she spoke, she moved toward him, her eyes full of concern. “Seems like I should be the one asking that. What happened? Are you hurt?”

Joss shook his head and held a hand up, stopping her approach. With the other hand, he gestured to the burgundy flakes that had dried all over his chest and stomach. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Hardly any of it is my blood.”

Paty paused midstep, folded her arms in front of her, and raised an eyebrow. Her eyes were no longer red, her tears moving so quickly into the past that Joss began to wonder whether or not he had imagined them. “Tell me what isn’t yours belongs to that little weenie that runs the comic book shop.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

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