Page 26 of Winter’s Teeth

Arthur loomed over his brother at the top of the porch, a stalwart pillar of finality. “It’s just tradition, Fox. You know you have to.”

“No—” Fox bravely stepped back toward the porch, arms cocked and chest puffed out like a bull preparing to charge. He regained his voice, shouting loud enough to echo in the treetops, “This is messed up, and you know it!”

For all his bravado, it lasted mere seconds before bodies surged out from the woods. At least six men charged him, and he turned tail to make a dash back to his car.

My breath hitched, and I snapped my gloved hand over my mouth as they tackled Fox on the gravel, pinning him face down while they wrestled his arms behind him. All the while, he raged and carried on, fighting back as viciously as he dared without breaking his arms.

A scream surged inside me, the urge to do something—anything—building, but what was I to do against six burly men? Even if I had Ben’s rifle, I doubted I’d be much help.

They tied his hands roughly with manila rope, then they hauled him upright, shoving him into the field. Blood and dirt caked the side of his face where they’d wrestled him face down onto the rocks, but they laughed as they egged him on, uncaring about his state.

“Go on, Foxy. Be a good boy and play along!”

Fox muttered curses at them, earning himself another shove hard enough to send him stumbling to his knees.

The scream lodged in my throat melted into a growl as my lip curled. Nothing made my blood boil more than seeing someone else mistreated. I didn’t care if it was deserved.

Even animals were more humane than this. Unnecessary violence was perverted, and as far as I knew, only anomalies in nature gave into torture. Most instincts were to kill swiftly and quietly.

The men marched Fox across the snowy field, trampling through well-trodden paths from all the rescue teams who walked into the woods to find my sister. The forest’s maw gaped, a black and welcoming darkness ready to swallow up another victim.

I’m not going to let you have another.

As soon as Arthur and the others were far enough away from the cabin, I turned and fled through the woods, heedless of the crashing noise I made until I got back to the car. Smacking my palms on the metal hood, I waited with bated breath for Ben to roll down the window.

“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ben said.

“Call the police,” I exclaimed breathlessly. “And give me your gun. Hurry!”

Riss whipped out her phone. “But we don’t have service!”

I bit into my lower lip, the taste of iron slipping under my tongue, and jerked my gaze back and forth between the car and the driveway leading back to the woods. My only two options settled before me, and I knew I had mere seconds to decide.

Mind made up, I pointed at Ben menacingly. “Get your gun and come with me. Riss and Ange, drive back to the main road where you can get service, and call 911 straight away. Tell them Arthur Winter and a bunch of other men just attacked and tied up Fox Winter, dragging him into the woods.”

“What!?” Riss screeched, the echo of it fading since I had already started running away from the car.

“Hang on!” Ben shouted, his car door slamming behind me. “Rae! Wait!”

There wasn’t time. Either he was coming with me, or he wasn’t, and I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. It wasn’t like I was dying to risk my life for Fox, but if I didn’t do something, I would lose someone else to the woods. I would never get any closer to finding out what happened to Everly either.

Somehow, it was all connected. The woods, the Winters, and Everly’s disappearance. There was no denying it now, and I just needed to find the irrefutable proof before it was too late.

My breaths came out in short pants fogging in front of me, there and gone as I strode as fast as I dared up the drive with a slight limp. My ankle screamed in pain as I forced it onwards. After trudging through so many miles earlier, it had swollen to the size of a grapefruit in my boot. If I untied the laces, there’d be no tying them back up again.

This is all a waste of time, the tired, browbeaten half of my brain whispered. I had saved Fox once before, but I feared I wouldn’t be able to do it a second time. His luck had run out.

A groan followed behind me, and a heartbeat later, Ben caught up at my side.

Glancing quick, my lips thinned in approval when I spotted his gun under his arm.

Loaded.

Chapter 12

We left Maple with the girls. Chasing madmen and trying not to get caught wasn’t a good mission for the beagle, yet I missed her presence as soon as we entered the woods. When I couldn’t trust my own instincts, it had been calming to have Maple’s senses to rely on. Here, in the darkening forest, my senses warred with my gut, making me second guess every other step.

The waning light of day faded from gray to black, and we struggled to see more than two steps in front of us. The only stroke of luck were the boot prints in the partially thawed, icy ground, making for ripe mud that cast the prints in stark relief. By the light of my dying phone, we followed the trampled trails of at least seven men, one of them being dragged, for a mile and a half.