I shook my head. “There’s normally people here already. These businesses should be getting ready to open. It’s mostly for the people in the compound. Something’s off.”
“Understatement,” Chris said. He looked spooked. His nostrils flared as if he were trying to chase a scent. I had done the same, but there was nothing in the literal sense. It was like an absence of smells. “Do you think they know we’re—”
Someone laughed. It was high and sweet and caused my stomach to clench.
We spun around.
There, standing in the middle of the empty two-lane road, was a child.
He was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt with a graphic of a cartoon on it. His feet were bare and dirty. But the way he held himself made a chill run down my spine.
His head was cocked, his hair falling over his forehead. He held his arms down at his sides, his fingers flexed. Claws grew slowly and shrank back. Grew and shrank. Grew and shrank. He twitched like a low current of electricity was running through him.
And his eyes were violet.
“What the fuck?” Rico whispered.
I pushed through the crowd. Kelly tried to pull me back, but I shook him off. I stepped off the sidewalk into the street, crossing behind Ox’s truck, losing sight of the boy briefly before seeing him again.
“Tony,” I breathed.
He smiled around a mouthful of sharp little needles.
The smile faded as I said his name again and stepped toward him. “Hey, cub. It’s me. Robbie.”
“I don’t like this,” one of the wolves said.
I took another step toward the boy. He didn’t move, never looking away from me.
“I’ve come back,” I said. “I missed you. Did you miss me?”
Tony growled in warning.
I stopped, spreading my hands wide to show him I wasn’t going to hurt him. “It’s all right, cub. I’m here now. You’re safe.”
The violet in his eyes faded slightly. “Robbie?” he whispered. He sounded lost and unsure, and it made my heart sore.
I nodded. “Yeah, cub. It’s me. What happened?”
A tear slid from his eye onto his cheek. “I had a bad dream.”
I took another step. “You did? About what?”
“Monsters,” he whispered. “Monsters who want to eat me.”
“You’re awake now. And if there are monsters here, I won’t let them hurt you.”
“You won’t?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
“You promise?”
“Yeah, Tony. I promise.” I was almost to him. One more step and I could reach out and touch him. I still couldn’t smell him. I couldn’t smell anything other than the sour road sweat of the group of people I’d come with.
He looked up at me with wide, wet eyes. “You left.”
“I know.”