Keeper Page 17

Chapter 16

  Aiden paced the room. “Four? What—”

  I scrambled to stand in front of him and tripped over my suitcase in the process. Jumping forward, I yelled, “What happened?”

  He held his hand up and turned away.

  Running in front of him again, he must have seen my concerned expression. “Skyler’s fine?”

  Oh hell. A sick feeling squeezed my stomach. I held my breath and waited.

  He nodded, and I collapsed back onto the bed, relieved.

  “We ran into two last night, but they didn’t give us any problems.”

  Sitting with my legs crossed, hands in my lap, Aiden strode around the room. His free hand swept through his hair every few minutes as he talked. Finally, he lowered the phone and dropped into the chair. He seemed to forget my presence.

  I snatched a pillow from behind me and chucked it at his head. He caught it, before it connected, and looked up.

  “Hey, you gonna fill me in on what happened or sit there and meditate?”

  “Oh…um.” He cleared his throat and straightened. “Joshua and Skyler were attacked by Rygons. Four very strong ones. ”

  “Skyler said they weren’t going out.”

  “They came to the house.”

  I jumped from the bed. “What? Like— like—”

  “The Whitmores? Yes. Only Joshua was able to hold the Rygons off. Two other Drea homes were hit earlier near Portland, and they weren’t so lucky. Kembers dead, Dreas missing…Something’s going on.”

  I swallowed hard. If anything happened to Skyler and Joshua…I didn’t even want to consider it. “Think they’re the same Rygons?”

  “I’m not sure, but it seems likely. All the attacks have occurred the same way.” He paused, staring into space. “It’s rare for Rygons to ambush homes. Usually they stalk Dreas and pick them off the street.”

  “Maybe Kembers are making it too tough on Rygons, and they’re getting desperate.” I shrugged. “They could have a new game plan.”

  Aiden seemed to consider it. “Maybe…” He stood and shrugged. “Either way, the Authority will deal with it. It’s not my place anymore.”

  “Couldn’t have said it better myself. So…we still on for breakfast?”

  Still appearing distracted, he nodded.