Blood: The Third Course

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Priya watched Carson storm across the courtyard, a look of thunder ready to crack on his face. His body was stiff, his movements jerky, and he looked about ready to crush his teeth to pulp under the pressure of his clenched jaw. Standing up from behind her bike and checking her tires, for want of something better to do, Priya raised a hand in a wave. Whether Carson wanted nothing to do with her (or anyone) at that particular moment, or he hadn't seen her cautious greeting, he disappeared into the house, and Priya heard the thwacks of his boots being kicked off and rebounding off the wall.

She waited, waiting for the raised voices that she assumed would come. Kaleb and Carson had done nothing less than fight whenever they spoke over the last few months, and Vince's return had not changed anything in their tense relationship. Even Jemima had stopped breaking the two apart. In fact, it had been Jemima's fury that led to most of the arguments in the first month. Priya couldn't really blame her, Carson had messed up royally, and it seemed forgiveness was not on the cards, at least not with their Alpha and his mate.

Priya wanted to hate him. She'd never been all that close to Carson, not really. She accepted him, of course, but the two of them had never confided in each other. Priya saved that for Kaleb and Matthew, and Carson... Priya slumped as she realised that she didn't know who Carson was close to. She'd always assumed that it was his sister, or maybe Jack and Darren, but now?

No sounds came from the house except for the usual quiet ruffling of people going about their business. Her attention instead turned to where he'd appeared from, and the argument she had heard rumblings of before Carson had taken a storm cloud across the courtyard with him.

She plucked the keys from her bike and walked to the barn, rounding to the doors.

Someone was hunched over at the end, a rear end sticking out from the end stall. Priya marched through the barn, almost toppling over when Vince stood up abruptly and looked back at her.

"What?" he asked.

Priya blinked and glanced around.

"What?" she repeated. "What, what, Vince?"

Her attempt at a smile fell flat when Vince simply stared at her. Priya chewed on her bottom lip and stepped forwards, eyes widening when she saw the man lying dead in the stalls. There was a bloody wound on his chest and his head was at a funny angle, though that could have been the boot print down the side of his face. Priya looked to Vince.

"What happened?" she asked.

Vince shoved his hands into his pockets.

"He was trying to escape when I came in. He attacked me," he said quickly. "He tried to knock me out. I fought back, and he died in the struggle."

"Shit," Priya said. She scratched her collarbone absently as she turned back to the dead runner in the stall. The collar and padlock were discarded to the back of the stall. The padlock was closed, the keys still in the lock. Priya pursed her lips and quickly turned back to Vince, stepping closer. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

He batted away her worried touch, and shook his head.

"I'm fine," he said. "Not like a human can hurt me now, is it?"

Priya stepped back, her gaze flickering down to the body.

"And Carson?" she asked.

"What about him?"

"He must have seen all this, I just saw him leave. Is he okay?"

"Why do you care?"

"Why do I... what?" Priya asked. "If a runner tried to escape, we need to be careful. Carson looked upset."