The Hawkins Blood

tongue stirred something deep inside me-nostalgia laced with something sharp and unwe

ing my eyes. "That's it? After eigh

ifted, something soft g

in?" he as

ld rattle his teeth. But I could already feel Mom's tension rising fr

tepped

g room. I lingered in the hall for a moment, swallowing the bitter taste rising

window and was now sorting through the duffel bags. Anthony

silence. "Are you finally going t

t Mom, but it was Anth

There's a job in Seattl

't you have other kids

harply, but Anthony lif

said evenly. "And they're in serious danger

n a photo? The ones you've spent my whole life avoiding talkin

was about to say some

ng one of the bags into my hands. "This isn

rising. "You can't just hand me off to him l

voice calm but firm. "But not now.

and that desperation bled into my voice. "Why wo

ftly. "But the less you know,

pulling the curtain aside to p

ng anywhere with him-not until

low and urgent. "It's not just your sibling

ncomfortably.

wo decades-a demon. The one that killed my wife, Madeline. I'm getting close now. Too close.

t does that have to do with

u a target. And the farther you are from us, the more vulnerable you are. But if

ng about his late wife around her had al

small smile. "It'll take more than so

ut

e!" Antho

anes, cutting the room with sudden light. An

wait-

y chest, kissed my forehead, and Anthony was pulling me through the ba

g to turn back toward the house. I could

ossed my bag into the truck bed. "But she ca

mbed in, running on nothing but instinct an

. She's

ng. For a fleeting second, I thought

," he w

slammed th

ck and caught one last glimpse through the living room window. Figures-tall and twisted-

on gleamed bright again

se disappear