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.She slowlyinched her way across the room, listening for any indication that there wassomeone in the house other than herself and Seth.But all she heard was thethunder and the banging of the screen door.The squeak of the stairs was like mini cracks of doom.It was darker than thepits of hell in the upstairs hallway not even a flicker of light visible. I truly am a moron.Seth s going to kill me when he finds out I came up herealone. She gripped the poker tighter, ready to swing at the first sign of move-ment. You hear that, asshole? I m not alone.Seth s going to kick your fuckingass for scaring us. She whimpered as the screen door banged again. The onlything I need to complete the fucking picture is a cheerleader outfit. She turnedtoward her room, lightning her only source of illumination, and slowly opened 109/222the door.Her heart raced a mile a minute as another jagged slash lit the roombriefly, but there was no one there.She approached the bed.Rose petals adorned it, covering the blanket in a deep sea of red that appearedblack in the bright flashes of light.But she knew.Doug only gave her red roses.In the light of another strike, Abby saw a gleam of gold on her pillow.Shereached out a trembling hand and lifted the locket Seth had thrown away in histown house in Delaware.She swallowed, hard, and peered out onto her deck asanother flash of lightning lit the sky.Nothing moved.She made her way down the stairs the same way she d made her way up, thelocket clutched in her free hand.She moved toward the fireplace, shivering withfear, and put the poker back with the other tools.She stared at the locket like itwas a live cobra.Doug had been in the cabin.In her room.She couldn t stop trembling.Had hebeen lurking in the shadows, watching Seth seduce her with gentle kisses?She glanced up just as lightning struck, and screamed.There, outside therain-slicked window, his face distorted by the rivulets of rain running down theglass, blond hair plastered to his forehead, was Doug.She only saw him for thesecond or two the lightning lit up the sky, but she knew it was him.She raced forthe basement door just as Seth came tearing out of the kitchen.She d havesworn he was glowing, but it was probably just a trick of the firelight and thetears in her eyes. Seth. She rushed into his arms, sobbing.He held her close for a moment be-fore putting her away from him. What happened? She held out the locket, shaking like a leaf.Seth stared at it, his jaw clenchingand unclenching.The hands resting on her arms tightened almost to the pointof pain, but she barely felt it.She was numb, teeth chattering with a freezingcold that came from within. I saw him, Seth.He was right outside the window.He was in my room. Shelaid her head against his chest and cried until she had no more tears left. Chapter SevenSeth wasn t willing to let Abby out of his sight for a moment, not even when shefelt the need to go to the bathroom.He took her outside while he started up thebackup generator and refused to allow her into her room again.He tried not toshow how upset he was when they checked on the fuse box and he saw the shapeit was in.She was already walking the fragile edge of panic, her hands shaking,her face pale.She was holding the back of his shirt in a tight grip. I think Doug did something to it, but I have no fucking clue what. The massof wires was hooked into some sort of timer. The damn thing s a mess.I m go-ing to have someone come and take a look at it, make sure it s safe to stay here. She flinched. Abby.This is not your fault. She shrugged and refused to look at him.Sighing, he took her back upstairs and made her a hot cup of tea, hoping itwould soothe her fractured nerves.Seth handed it to her, angry all over againwhen he saw the way her hands still shook.He wanted to punch something.Preferably Doug.Or yell at her for going up-stairs all by herself and scaring ten years off his life.But she kept shivering everytime thunder sounded, so he let it go, at least for now.He picked up the phone and began dialing, his gaze never leaving Abby.Herposture was bone weary, her eyes glazed.Seth s first call was to Dante.When hegot on his answering machine, he decided to leave a message.Dante must havebeen out on patrol with Damien.The message was short and sweet. He got in.I m taking her to Romanov s. His second call was to the local police department.He quickly filled them inon the situation and told them to call Dante for more information.The local dis-patcher said she would send someone out immediately, but in this storm hewasn t holding out much hope that immediately would be quick.His third call was to Piotr Romanov. Dobryj vyechyer, Seth. Good evening to you too. The warmth of Piotr s chuckle would have startled Damien and Dante. Youwould not be calling me if there wasn t a problem.Has Dante finally lost thatfamous temper of his? 111/222Seth watched as Abby nibbled on a strawberry.He walked far enough awaythat he could still see her but she wouldn t hear him.The kitchen.He settled inhis favorite chair, turning it so he could watch Abby pretend she was eating fruitinstead of having a meltdown.He decided to put the problem in terms the Rus-sian would understand completely. The Shemyaza are after my woman. Not even Seth could follow the string of guttural curses that followed. Bringher home. He hadn t realized how tense he was until Piotr said that.If anyone could helpkeep Abby safe it, was Piotr. Thank you. Prebyvaniem bezopasny, moi? brat. The familiar words soothed him despite being in Russian, a language he dnever mastered. Stay safe, my brother. He hung up, heading back into the living room and handing Abby the phone. I ll be right upstairs packing.Don t move.If anyone calls, go ahead and answerit.It should be Piotr or his assistant.Anyone else, hang up on them, even if theysay they re a cop. She crossed her heart, clutching the phone to her chest.Thank God it didn ttake long to pack.He borrowed some of his parent s luggage and basically threweverything into them.A lot of the clothing still had tags on them.Seth had the urge to curse all overagain.How the fuck had the Shem found them so quickly?His parents arrived home just as the sheriff did. Seth? Marian was pale,clutching Joe s hand like a lifeline.His father was obviously furious, leadingMarian over to Abby and settling the women down together.It was just what they both needed.Marian fussed over Abby, wanting all ofthe details, which the sheriff, Jake Turner, listened to with an increasingly con-cerned expression.Jake turned to him. Can you show me the fuse box? Seth led the way to the basement, certain his father would protect Marian andAbby with his life.The man shook his head over what had been done to the fuse box. Man, who-ever did this really knew what he was doing.Don t know if I could have riggedthis myself.Got to wonder where someone would learn to do something likethat. What do you mean? Seth pushed his way forward to study the fuse boxintently.Jake shot him a concerned glance. My father is the local electrician, and I cantell you that whoever did this is a master.Maybe an engineer of some kind.I venever seen anything like it. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket. Dad? I 112/222need you to come up to the Van Licht place and take a look at something. Heclicked the phone shut and repocketed it. He s on his way. Mr.Turner arrived faster than Seth thought he would.He poked and proddedat the fuse box, muttering to himself.Before long he was packing his equipmentaway. Jake, whoever did this was a pro.There s no way I m going to be able totell you what he did, not without a thorough examination of what he used.All Iknow is, he crossed the wires, maybe used some kind of timer so the fusewouldn t blow before he wanted it to. Mr
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