Truth Deeper Than Logic October 26, 2012
BUY LINKS
BLURB
His lover's death
filled Nate Hawthorn with rage. From that time were born legends of
bloodthirsty cats and killer bears, of humans entering the woods and never
leaving.
Legend exaggerated,
and he had calmed down and accepted the transiency of human life. Fragile,
defenseless, but curious, brave, and loving. He'd allowed their presence in his
valley in the beginning because they intrigued him with their resourceful
cleverness in turning their fragile bodies into a strength rather than the
weakness he'd taken them for.
When Daniel died, he'd chosen to live among them for simple reasons. He felt closer to his lover walking among his descendents. He took a warped pride in the growth and the progress of the town Daniel had started, in the prosperity of Daniel's people even as their growth and progress had overtaken his woods. Perhaps some fatalistic part of him believed that the circle of life would one day claim him, had known that they would one day kill him.
When Seth Greenwood,
a junior architect with a local firm who dreamed of bigger things, pinned his
hopes for career advancement on a project that required the use of Nate's land,
Nate realized how much he wanted to live. And how very much he wanted Seth.
EXCERPT
"Relax, hero.
There's a hunting cabin near the grove. I thought it was abandoned. It was
pretty old and empty when I was here yesterday, but maybe someone's come out
for the weekend. Good news is, if that's the cabin, the grove is right
here." Gerry swung to the left and burst into a clearing. In the center of
the clearing small trees stood surrounded by lush grass.
Seth froze. The skin
on his nape prickled and tiny hairs rose. It felt like someone was watching
them. "Gerry? There's something weird about this clearing."
"Cut it out.
Jeez, if I'd known what a pansy you were going to be, I'd have done this
differently." Gerry clamped his flashlight in his mouth while digging
through his back pack. He pulled out an envelope and spit out his flashlight.
"Here. These are your instructions. I better backtrack and find those dumb
asses before they get lost. Hurry!"
Seth opened his mouth
to protest, but Gerry was gone. He slid a finger under the envelope flap. His
heartbeat seemed to echo in the open space. That's when it hit him. The
difference here was that he couldn't hear a damn thing. All those crunches and
whispers, crinkles, and even the whistle of the damn wind had disappeared. It
was eerily silent.
Icy sweat trickled
down his brow. He played the flashlight over the clearing again, freezing in
place as it picked up a glint of red. Assholes. Playing a trick on the stoners indeed.
"Not funny, Gerry!" he called out and stepped further into the
clearing, toward the red 'eyes'. "I'm not buying it. Save your trick for
someone more gullible. Gerry?�
Adrenaline pounded
through his veins as he stepped even closer and a deep, dark shadow rose from
the darkness surrounding the base of the tree. A vicious snarl ripped through
the silence. His flashlight bypassed the red eyes to glance off white teeth.
"Oh. My. God!
Gerry!" He screamed as he stumbled backward. If this was a trick it was a
damn fucking good one. He made it to his feet just as the majestic beast
pounced and retraced his path out of the clearing as fast as he could. The
eerie silence seemed to precede him as he crashed and bumbled his way along.
The beast was behind him; he could hear it. Hell, he could practically feel its
hot breath on the back of his neck.
The cabin. The
lights. He caught the flicker out the corner of his eye as a claw nicked his
jeans. A burst of adrenaline increased his speed and he burst through the door
of the cabin, slamming it behind him.
"Ahem."
Heart pounding, gasping for air, he whirled around. "Sorry. It was after
me. I'm sorry, but I can't go back out there."
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