Page 4 of Grave Danger

“Jesus. What the hell is going on?”

“I’m afraid we’re going to find out,” Cody said as a shiver of fear went through him.

CHAPTER TWO

Demetrius sat on the front steps of the house. It was early June, but the nights were still a bit cool, so he sat with his knees pressed together and his arms tucked in tight. After Cody’s call, he’d decided to step outside and check to make sure the moon wasn’t full. A gentle breeze had carried the scents of damp earth and new growth and he’d decided to stay outside and enjoy it, even though his thoughts turned, as they often did, to darker and more serious matters.

Cody’s call worried him. They’d seen a lot of strange and dangerous stuff the last few years, some of it outside Parson’s Hollow, but a good portion within the town’s borders. Just a few weeks ago, he and Cody had helped Oliver and Dave banish a vengeful ghost from an abandoned motel, for God’s sake. At least they’d both come away from that experience with no injuries. Well, nothing physical, at least. Demetrius still awoke in the night clammy with sweat from nightmares, but he was hoping that would soon pass.

Sometimes, the aftereffects weren’t just emotional, either.

He reached a hand across his chest. His fingers slid beneath the neck of his T-shirt and rubbed the furrows of scar tissue where his neck and shoulder came together.

Some things they’d gone up against were more dangerous than strange.

Headlights swept across the lawn and front of the house, like the guiding beam of a lighthouse. He dropped his hand to his lap as a flash of guilt and shame coursed through him at possibly getting caught rubbing the scars. It had been his choice to go out and face Nicolae on his own, so he shouldn’t be dwelling on it. Cody never mentioned the scars, which didn’t surprise Demetrius. He had been against the idea from the start, and had made that very clear that terrible night two years ago.

But decisions had needed to be made under extreme pressure, and decisions like that usually came with a price.

Sometimes though, when they were spooning in bed, or when Cody came up behind Demetrius and put his arms around his waist, Cody would place a soft kiss in the center of the scars without saying a word, as if trying to heal the past by soothing the present.

Demetrius squinted into the glare of the headlights and thought about his lighthouse comparison. Apt, he supposed, as the truck’s engine cut out and the headlights went dark. The driver’s door opened, triggering the interior lights which brought out henna highlights in Cody’s slightly shaggy brunet hair and cast shadows down his handsome face. The familiar zing of attraction went through Demetrius at the sight of his best friend turned husband, followed by the momentary fear that he was in the midst of a very realistic and long-running dream and would soon awaken to find out all of this had been fantasy.

If that were the case, he’d be heartbroken, but, boy howdy, what a hell of a fantasy it was.

“Hey there.”

Cody’s deep voice carried well through the night air, comforting and arousing.

Oh yes, in all this wide and crazy world, Demetrius could be certain of one thing: Cody Bower was definitely his lighthouse guiding him home.

“Hey yourself.”

Cody approached, and Demetrius scooted to the edge of the step to make room. He felt the heat coming off him, breathed in the familiar smell of his sweat and deodorant, overlaid with something stagnant. Then he heard the quiet and customary groan as Cody settled beside him.

“You okay?” Demetrius asked.

Cody gave a single nod as he stared at the house across the street, hands clasped between his long legs. “I’m okay.”

“Want to talk about it some more?”

“I’m not sure what more to say.” Demetrius could see in his expression how shaken up he was. “I mean, this guy came out of nowhere, just stepped from the woods and in front of my truck. I couldn’t avoid him.” Cody winced at the memory and looked away. “I’ll never forget that sound. Never.”

Demetrius rubbed Cody’s back, noting the dampness of his T-shirt. From sweat? He’d learned a lot the last few years, and one of those things was when he should stay quiet and let Cody get his thoughts together. The muscles in Cody’s back were loosening a bit under Demetrius’s attention, but he was still extremely tense.

“I grazed him and he went down, and I ran right over him. Felt the passenger tires go… over him.” Cody sighed and hung his head. “I hit the brakes and got out and just stood there for a minute, afraid to go any closer. Afraid to, you know, make it even more real. Then he moved. He fucking moved, after I’d hit him and run him over. He actually got up to his knees, and then stood up. I couldn’t believe it. And I felt this crazy sense of relief, you know? Because I hadn’t killed him, and he was able to stand up, so I thought it would be… I thought he would be okay, and I would be off the hook.”

A long silence followed. Demetrius continued to rub his back, pressing now and then against the knots of tension.

“Then he turned his head and I saw his face. Like, really saw it. I mean, I’d glimpsed it when I’d hit him, but I was sure I’d been wrong. I had to be wrong. When he looked at me though…” Cody shook his head and winced again. “I was sure.” He looked at Demetrius from the corner of his eye. “It was George Clarke.” He continued quickly, as if afraid to give Demetrius the opportunity to speak. “I know it’s crazy, I know it makes me sound completely insane, but I was looking at Mayor George I-fucking-died-last-week Clarke.” A quiet and humorless laugh followed with a scoffing and almost scornful sound of disgust. “I thought I was going crazy. Actually, I think I still am.”

“For the record,” Demetrius said, pausing the movement of his hand and resting his forehead against Cody’s shoulder. “I don’t think you’re crazy at all.”

Cody sighed and kissed the top of Demetrius’s head. “Thank you,” he muttered into his thinning hair.

Demetrius lifted his head and resumed rubbing Cody’s back. “You said he attacked you?”

“Fuck, yeah, he did. I went back to the truck to call the police, and he came after me. He reached inside the door, grabbing for me. He was making this weird moaning sound.” Demetrius felt a shudder go through him. “I crawled over the console and went out the passenger door, and he came around the truck to get to me. I ended up in the fucking drainage ditch. Again.”