The Killing Season Read Online Free Page B

surprise show on my face. “And who are you?”
    “Texas Coldcrow. Mother named me Tex cause I was big as the state when I popped out of her. But you can just call me Coldcrow.”
    I was almost ready to shove past this guy when his name finally registered in my mind. I paused, frowning. “Did you say Coldcrow? As in Peg Coldcrow?”
    Peg Coldcrow was my first-year Aswang Psychology professor back at Fear University, and had been one of the only professors to welcome a civilian into their midst. We’d gotten into a scuffle with a day-form ’swang who had snuck into the university’s ward. Together, we killed the creature, but she’d learned I was part ’swang in the process. To pay me back for saving her and her baby, I was supposed to be going to her house this winter break, and, together, we were going to figure my shit out. I’d emailed and tried to call Peg countless times to explain why I wasn’t coming to her house in Oregon, but I’d never heard back from her.
    I remembered now she’d mentioned an uncle living in Barrow. Frankly, I didn’t see the family resemblance.
    Coldcrow’s black eyes squinted up tight, his beard bobbing. “She told me to keep an eye out for you. Said you would be up here for break.”
    “What? How did she know I was coming? I tried to call her, but . . .”
    Coldcrow popped the old knuckle joints in his fingers one at a time, the sound like snapping chicken necks. “Let me guess. She didn’t answer.”
    “Yeah. Do you know why?”
    “Sure, darlin’. I know.” His voice turned to a growl that was more chainsaw than human. “Cause she was attacked. Her family was killed.”

 
     
    T H R E E
    Ollie
     
    “A ttacked?” I sputtered. “How? Is she okay?”
    “Happens all the time.” The words were harsh, but Coldcrow’s eyes tightened and the lines fanning out across his leathery face deepened. For a tiny split second, his dark eyes swam with tears. “She was barely home a week before the ’swangs attacked in revenge for killing one of their own. Sacked her house. Killed her husband and nearly killed Peg. Ate the—”
    I couldn’t bear to hear him say it, so I interrupted. “In revenge? For killing the day-form ’swang that attacked us in the ward?”
    Sunny grabbed my hand, a soft squeak escaping her mouth. I hadn’t told her about the ward yet, and this was a hell of a way to find out.
    “They’re vindictive bastards.”
    “No,” I said, still not understanding, my hand clutching Sunny’s now, “that ’swang attacked us. We killed it in self-defense. How could they retaliate for something Peg had no control over?”
    “What are you talking about?” Sunny asked. “Ollie, what happened?”
    I stared at her for a moment, my brain struggling to add things up. None of this made sense. “Dean wouldn’t let me tell anyone, but Peg and I were attacked in the ward. I couldn’t . . . I mean . . .”
    “That’s why you started acting so weird,” Sunny said quietly. I nodded, feeling my heart break all over again as I recalled the pain of that day and all it had cost me. “But why would the aswangs go after Peg’s family for that?” she asked Coldcrow.
    Coldcrow studied us for a long moment before he said, “Aswangs are a tight-knit unit. A pack. They strike back when one of them is taken out, just like we do.”
    Everyone talked about these creatures like they were dumb, rabid, purely instinctual beasts. Fear University taught that very concept to its young students, but I already knew not to trust the university’s curriculum. Not to mention I knew first-hand just how real and intelligent and human-like these creatures were. Retaliation didn’t seem farfetched when I thought about it. It explained why Luke and Hatter had gotten me off the streets so quickly after I killed my first ’swang in Kodiak.
    As I processed my thoughts, Coldcrow studied me, his eyes seeming to take in every doubt crossing my face. When I met his bleak eyes once again, my jaw