sharply up at her, a small
smile curved his full mouth but his eyes remained hard. “I
remember.” She grinned up at him, leaning forward to drop a soft
kiss on his hard jaw. She may heal fast, but she couldn’t
regenerate a toenail. “I’ll carry you.”
He bent to pick her up but Cassie
quickly shook her head, holding up her hand to ward him off. “We’re
both going to need to be ready in case something happens. I’m fine
Devon, really.”
He studied her for a moment longer,
before nodding briskly. “The door is open.” Cassie glanced over at
Julian as he slipped through the darkened doorway. A moment of
panic descended over her as he disappeared from view.
“Stay by me,” Devon ordered in a low
voice.
Cassie nodded as they moved forward,
entering the dark store. Her eyes found Julian instantly, standing
amongst the shadows as he surveyed the building. The store smelled
tantalizingly of oats, honey, corn, sweet feed, and leather. The
sweet scent of food caused Cassie’s stomach to rumble in hungry
response. Liam reached forward, searching for a light switch but
Julian seized hold of his arm. “They’ll see the light if you do
that.”
“You don’t think they haven’t already
seen the headlights?” Liam retorted.
“The lights stay off,” Devon told
him.
They moved slowly into the store.
Cassie glanced wildly around, her senses on high alert for any hint
of danger. Although it was dark, her eyes picked up most of the
details. She kept her ears trained for any hint of movement, any
furtive sound that might signal the impending attack of one of the
monsters that haunted this town.
They crept slowly forward, the wooden
floor boards squeaking softly under their weight. They passed by
the glass countertop, there was a cash register placed neatly at
the end of it. Inside the countertop was an array of jewelry tucked
neatly, and oddly, next to some brutal looking hunting knives. Next
to the glass countertop was a large display of penny candy set off
to the left, with even more candy bars set up on the wall behind
it.
“Those will come in handy,” Julian’s
eyes were latched onto a foot long bowie knife behind the glass. It
was well honed and completely lethal looking.
“Good thing this is a hunting
community,” Liam said softly, his eyes focused on the back row of
the store.
Hung neatly on the back wall was a wide
assortment of crossbows and long bows. Cassie’s eyes widened on the
weapons, a thrill of excitement shot through her. She suddenly
itched to get her hands on one of those crossbows. It had always
been her favorite weapon, and she excelled at it. Devon pulled her
gently to the side, leading her past rows of brown Carhartt
jackets, pants and coveralls. Across from the outdoor gear was a
row of sweaters, sweatshirts, and long johns.
Devon paused to tug a jacket from the
hanger. He slipped it gently around her shoulders, tugging it
gently into place. She hadn’t realized she had been shivering until
the warm material encircled her, drawing her attention to the goose
bumps that covered her skin. She slipped her arms through the
sleeves, relishing in the smooth inner lining and warm down that
filled it. The sleeves were too big but Devon quickly rolled them
back and snugged them into place.
She stared up at him, love filling her
as he brushed the hair back from her face, his fingers lingered on
her cheek. Cassie turned into his tender caress, so very happy to
feel his touch once more. “There’s some food over here,” Liam said
softly.
Cassie tore her attention away from
Devon, her hand slipping easily into his as they moved further down
the aisles. Liam and Julian were standing in the far left aisle
that ran the length of the store. Freezers full of soda, ice cream,
and frozen goods filled the wall. A row of canned foods, bagged
foods, and junk food lined the shelves on her right.
Julian moved slowly toward the back of
the store, his ice blue eyes alight in the glow from the