Charade (Heven and Hell #2)(51)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I gasped and stepped back. “Logan! You scared me.” I laughed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to see the horses. Sam says you ride.” He looked young and eager and it disarmed me. He wouldn’t know that the Map was here, so what was the harm?

“Yes, I’ve been riding since I was little.” I brushed by him and headed toward Jasper’s stall. “This is my horse, Jasper.”

“He’s big,” Logan said, staying in the doorway.

“He’s uneasy right now because you’re a new person. Animals are sensitive to new people.” To hellhounds.

“How do you know? Can you see their aura’s too?” Logan asked, staring at me.

I shifted beneath his gaze. “You know I can see auras?”

He nodded. “Of course. Sam told me when I first came to town.” He smirked like he finally had gotten one up on me and managed to catch me off guard.

I shrugged, faking that I didn’t really care. “It’s really no big deal, seeing people’s auras.” But for some reason it felt like a big deal that Logan knew about it. I never advertised my ability. It was something that I kept close so I could use it to my full advantage. I mean sure, even if people knew about it, they couldn’t lie about their aura, but they could make it harder to read by throwing all kinds of other feelings at me that I would have to dig through to get to the real stuff.

“So what’s mine look like?” Logan asked, taking a step closer.

I wanted to step back but I didn’t, instead I held my ground. “I can’t see yours. Or Sam’s. I can’t see any animal’s aura.”

“But I’m a person,” Logan said, confused momentarily and looking like a fourteen -year -old.

“Of course you are. But best I can figure, the hellhound in you is an animal, which masks your aura.”

“Stupid hellhound,” Logan muttered. He seemed to become agitated and began tapping his foot.

“I was just about to turn them out into the pasture. Want to walk with me?” As I hoped, the distraction seemed to work, seemed to pull him back from whatever was going on in his head. I showed him the lead line that I used to escort each horse and how to hook it to their bridles. He walked with me as I took out each horse, one by one, to the green pasture and turned them out. He seemed interested, asking all kinds of questions about the animals and I found myself relaxing and enjoying the time with him.

After the last horse was turned out, we walked back into the barn to put away the lead line.

“Sam’s learning how to fight in his human form,” he said.

“Did he tell you that?” Sam seemed to be telling Logan a lot.

Logan nodded. “Those demons just keep attacking you.”

Something cold slithered down my spine.

“I bet you’re scared you’re going to die.”

I looked at him. He seemed older than he had about five minutes ago. “I try not to think about that too much,” I said slowly.

“So where did you put the scroll?”

“It’s a secret.”

“I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me.”

Could I? “Are you feeling okay, Logan? Maybe we should go inside so you can get some water.” Maybe he was sick and it was causing him to have mood swings.

“I’m fine,” he said and smiled.

I went about closing and latching the stall doors then headed for the barn doors. “You know you should tell someone where the scroll is, that way if something happens to you, we’ll know where it is.”

I stopped and turned. “I don’t think anything will happen to me. Besides, Sam knows where it is.” Maybe the mention of his brother would cut the weird.

“You never know.” He took several steps toward me, like he was prowling. “Sam can’t always be where you are.”

I took a step closer to him. Show him you aren’t afraid. “Are you threatening me?”

His eyes glinted, the color of burnt orange. “Tell me where it is.”

“No.”

“Is it here?” He looked around, up toward the loft. “Up there?”

“It isn’t here,” I said firmly.

He took another menacing step toward me and I held my ground. I would not let him threaten me. I wouldn’t.

Even if he did scare the hell out of me.

Chapter Twelve

Sam

My teeth snapped together and pain shot through my jaw when I hit the tree and bounced off. Automatically, I gained my balance and dropped into a fighting crouch, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

My thoughts kept straying to my brother and to Heven—who I left alone with my brother. My brother who just wasn’t well. I knew Heven was uncomfortable around him. I could feel it. I pretended not to, but pretending something wasn’t wrong didn’t make it go away.

If anything pretending made something worse.

Gemma appeared at my side and I sprang into action, kicking out my leg, knocking her feet out from beneath her and then pouncing. We rolled across the ground and I delivered a few hard hits. They were harder than I usually delivered—even though she told me not to hold back because she was a girl—sometimes I did. Except for right now.

I was suddenly angry. Angry at everything, angry at Airis for not helping me, angry at myself for not knowing what to do, even angry at my brother for being sick.

Gemma went with my fight, matching it, challenging it. We ended up near a pile of weapons and I chucked a few daggers into a nearby tree just because I could. She deflected my kicks but she wasn’t able to spin me or herself away.

I kept coming.

“What the hell?” Cole said, coming over to where we were.

I spun on him and advanced. He dropped into a crouch, not a hint of fear on his face.

Stupid.

Gemma inserted herself between us, blocking my path to Cole. “That was good. Why don’t you take five?”

I was breathing heavy, my chest rising and falling rapidly, but as she spoke, some of my anger drained away and I grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to attack you like that. You okay?”

She lifted a brow. “Do I look injured? Are you doubting my skills?”

“You are most definitely the toughest fallen angel I know.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m the only fallen angel you know.”

Cole stepped around Gemma. “What’s up with you?”

I sighed. “Nothing. I guess I’m just not feeling this right now.”

It’s a good thing Gemma stopped me when she did because Cole just wasn’t as strong as she was, and then I would have had to explain to Heven why I creamed her brother.