Jason bit into his sandwich as Tessa said, “If I was Clinton, I would’ve done the same thing. Look at this crew. Pathetic batch of limp-dicked pussy bears. Clinton was the smartest out of all of you.”
Jason shook his head and turned away from her. He wasn’t good for much, but he could ignore the shit out of the she-demon to his right. He’d learned how to over the years so he could appear sane. His gaze landed on Easton, who stood across from him with his arms crossed as he chomped a bite of apple.
“You want to sit down, man?” Jason offered, gesturing to the chair Tessa sat in.
Easton shook his head. “Hell no. I’m fine.”
Jason frowned and looked at Tessa, who was now glaring at Easton with a thoughtful look in her eyes. Jason dragged his attention back to Easton just in time to see the crazy bruin slide his lightened eyes to where Tessa sat, then away.
What the fuck?
Jason straightened his spine. “Can you see her?”
Easton wouldn’t look at him anymore.
“What are you talking about?” Creed asked. “See who?”
Jason stood so fast his lunch fell out of his lap and onto the ground. “Answer me! Can you see her?”
“I don’t see nothin’!” Easton roared. He stepped forward and flipped Tessa’s chair so hard it landed with a crash into the brush behind them.
Jason hesitated a moment as he watched Tessa disappear in a cloud of smoke, then he ran after Easton who was already halfway to his truck.
“Easton!” Creed yelled. “We aren’t done working yet. Get back here!”
“Dude, you can see Tessa? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
Easton stomped right past the dirt parking area and into the trees. Jason jogged to catch up and yanked his shoulder.
Easton turned on him with a snarl, his eyes completely inhuman. “Yeah, I can see that thing. She’s your fault.”
“Oh, here we go. You, too?” Jason got this shit all the time from Tessa, and now Easton? Everything was his fault, yeah yeah. He turned to leave. Didn’t matter if Easton saw her or not. He was just as crazy as Jason was, so it wasn’t really a victory to find out she wasn’t just something he made up out of guilt.
“You want to know why I dragged my trailer into the woods when I first came here?”
“Yeah, because Matt pissed you off,” Jason snapped, rounding on him.
“No, I did it to get away from you and the shit you brought with you. You know why I didn’t tell you I could see her? Because she didn’t know! And now she does, so I get to be haunted like you, asshole. I dragged my trailer into the woods to get away from you.”
Jason drew up short, shocked. “You know about ghosts then? What do I do about her?”
“I don’t know nothin’, Jason. I can’t help you. I got my own shit to deal with, obviously. My own ghosts. That demon bitch is your problem, not mine.”
“Except that’s not how this is supposed to work, Easton! We’re a crew, and you let me think I was the only one who could see her for two years.”
“It’s not my fault. Not my fault! And now you’ve screwed me.” Easton’s yell turned into a snarl, and he hunched into himself.
“Aw, seriously?” Jason muttered as a giant silver grizzly burst from Easton’s skin. There he was, that psycho sonofabitch. Beaston couldn’t go one friggin’ day without bleeding him.
“Easton!” Creed yelled from behind them, voice cracking with power. It wasn’t any good, though. Easton wasn’t here anymore. Only the out of control, blood-thirsty animal in his middle.
Jason yelled a curse as he let his bear rip through his skin. The word tapered to a roar as Easton charged.
Easton mad was a wrecking ball—a relentless, unfeeling, death-bringer.
Jason lurched onto his hind legs and caught Easton’s impact in the chest. With a snarl, he threw him to the ground and slashed at him with his four-inch claws. Easton latched onto the underneath of his front leg and ripped his flesh. Pain was bright and red, everywhere, but he couldn’t stop. Beaston wasn’t affected by pain, so Jason couldn’t be either if he wanted to live. Seconds dragged for an eternity as Easton bowled him over and sank his teeth into his neck. It was hard to breath. Fuck, he was going for his windpipe. Jason scrambled, slashing and maiming in desperation. The sound of tearing skin and the smell of iron was overwhelming. Jason raked his claws against Easton’s face as a last ditch effort to save his throat, but Easton wasn’t letting go.
And then his weight and those damned canines were gone. Beaston was being dragged off by a massive, scarred-up red grizzly. Matt.