Shadow of the Day (Wolf Moon Sequel)

Chapter 63: Coward

Ivy POV

I never thought I'd have to go back to this house again, never thought I'd have to see Joe, had stupidly hoped that maybe Devin would have gone far away never to return or bother us.

I was so naïve. 

Wyatt and Lila had dropped me off down the road after making sure they didn't smell Devin near the driveway entrance, and they left to go fulfill their part of the plan. Which left me to make my way up the driveway all by myself, feeling like a target as I walked up the secluded treelined drive to the house that had never once been a home in any sense of the word. I didn't see anyone hiding in the trees as I walked, but that didn't make me feel any less exposed or watched.

The trees thinned as I approached the sparse open lawn of the house that Joe--Devin--had so hilariously declared our family home and he was there waiting for me by the side of the decrepit house. 

So was Matt. 

I should have been keeping an eye on Devin to make sure he didn't do anything or attack me, but I couldn't keep my eyes off Matt. 

Matt, who was on his knees in the mud and slush, hands bound behind his back, a strip of fabric gagging him. Matt, who had always been so kind to me, always looking out for me because I was Lila's sister and then because we became friends ourselves. Matt, who was big and strong but looked small and weak all of a sudden next to Devin's confident self in Joe's body that was always meant to slouch and skulk around. 

Matt's eyes were closed and I had no idea what Devin had done to him, how he had grabbed Matt and dragged him here, if he had hurt him or drugged him but I didn't see any blood and Matt was at least sitting upright and breathing.

"Ivy!" Joe--no, Devin--crowed cheerfully when I emerged from the driveway up the path, as I pulled my scarf away from my throat. It felt like it was choking me. Matt's eyes flicked open, dazed looking like he couldn't quite focus enough to actually see me.

The second he did, his eyes widened, and though he couldn't speak, he was shaking his head so furiously I knew he hated that I had come. I wished I could tell him it would be okay and we'd get him out of here, but I wasn't so sure I believed it anymore. Not when I saw Devin's wrist flick to show off a frighteningly sharp knife in his hand, his other gripping Matt's shoulder tight even though Matt didn't look in any condition to run.

Seeing Joe now that I knew what he was, who he was becoming, threw everything I thought I'd known into the trash. Those blue eyes I'd once shared with him were gone, not just a trick of the fading light of day, but fully black and unrecognizable with excitement I'd never once seen Joe be capable of. 

My skin crawled thinking of how much time I'd spent with that creature without even realizing, how close he'd been to me, in the house with me while I slept, how I had run from Lila to this real monster that I hadn't seen right under my nose. How many times had I been close to death and not even realized it? 

"Look at you, all grown up, half-vampire and everything. I must say, that was a nice surprise. You're worth a lot more now than you were before, it's enough to make a father proud," Devin remarked, looking me up and down as though he could physically see the change in me since we'd last been together and was pleased by how I'd grown.

"I'm here as you asked, now let Matt go," I said, hating every single shake in my voice. I wish I had half of Lila's strength and bravery to face him. For all my insisting that I could handle this, the longer I stood here in front of Devin and a captured Matt the more I felt out of my depth and wished I'd listened to Lila and stayed home where it was safe and let them handle it.

"Not so fast. If I let him go then your sister is no doubt going to come charging in from some dark corner to kill me, so I think I'll hold onto him just a little longer," he said, yanking Matt up by his hair to stand. Matt's muffled grunt of pain cut me right in my heart.