Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Complete Collection by Selena Kitt Read Free Book Online Page B

explained it away and she believed him. She had let him charm
her once again, and had nearly paid for that mistake with her
life.
    Jolee thought of Silas on the other side of
that wall, out there cooking breakfast for them. What did he know
about his brother? He had certainly accepted the fact that Carlos
had killed her father and had been trying to kill her as well,
willingly enough. He had never questioned her assertions, not once.
Maybe it was just because he trusted her—or maybe it was because he
knew the kind of man his brother really was.
    She looked at all the pretty shaped soaps
and lotions and bottles of bubble bath Silas had left on the ledge,
trying to remind herself not to think about it. Her father was
gone, her husband believed she was dead. She didn’t belong
anywhere—but she had Silas, and he had her. It was enough for
now.
    * * * *
    Silas gunned the Arctic Cat, the runners
gliding along the hard-packed snow as he ducked his head to miss a
low-hanging branch, realizing he was just five minutes from home
now. He hadn’t had that glad-to-be-heading-home feeling in his
chest for years, and he knew it was because Jolee was waiting for
him. Part of him hated leaving her, but there were things he had to
do, in spite of her protest and questions—and Lord knew, the woman
was full of both!
    “Just tell me where you’re going,” she’d
insisted as they both sat on side-by-side stools next to Big Anna
while he attempted to teach her how to milk the old girl.
    He’d considered lying to her, making up some
excuse or reason he had to go, but instead had decided that being
cryptic had worked so far, why stop now? Of course, Jolee had
caught on to his deflection, and if that failed, his silence and
refusal to answer.
    “You are impossible!” She’d given up on both
him and the cow, storming out of the old horse stall where kept Big
Anna for the winter.
    I’m not the only one , Silas thought,
scanning the woods for wildlife, constantly using his peripheral
vision, always practicing a high degree of situational awareness.
He had instructed her how to do everything—when to turn on the
generator, where he kept the extra fuel, how to milk the cow. He’d
been as thorough as he could, but he knew better than anyone that
you couldn’t plan for surprises. Anything could have happened while
he was gone.
    He gave the Cat another jolt, urging the
machine faster. Dusk was settling though the snow-heavy limbs of
the trees, casting long shadows. He’d promised he would only be
three days and if he made it home tonight, he would keep that
promise, although he hadn’t been sure, yesterday morning when he’d
been repelling deep into one of his brother’s mines with four
pounds of dynamite strapped to his back, that he would make it at
all.
    All’s well that ends well, he told himself,
seeing the house come into view over the rise of the hill. His
heart raced at the sight of it, faster than it had been pounding
when he’d flipped the switch and blown his brother’s new sulfide
mine, collapsing it into rubble. He was always careful to pull his
jobs at night, when no one was working in the mines or at the
camps. Carlos had them guarded now, of course—there were rumors
around the mining and logging camps that they were being haunted
and/or hunted by some sort of mythical “beast” who mangled trucks,
equipment and even the sites themselves—but Silas could track so
silently the guards were taken care of, passed out before they knew
what hit them.
    He didn’t know who really believed the
“beast” rumors, but he didn’t do anything to discourage them. They
were useful and kept Carlos and his cronies from turning their
attention to the real culprit. They probably figured it was some
overzealous activist from the EPA, Silas thought, and that was
good. As long as he was careful and they didn’t connect him to the
millions of dollars of destruction and the months of set-back, he
figured he and Jolee were safe in the