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reminded her.
    Crystal turned and saw Ember close enough to kiss. The redhead sniffed as Crystal jerked her head back. “What’s wrong with you?” she snapped.
    Ember snarled, baring her teeth. Teeth that looked uncomfortably sharp. “You should be more worried about what’s wrong with you!”
    “ Hank, um, I think I’d like to go home now.”
    Ember laughed.
    Guntar shook his head. “Tell me, child, were you hurt by the Beast? Not from the fall, but the Beast itself. Don’t lie to us—you’ll only be doing yourself a disservice.”
    “ You mean that thing? Um, I don’t know. I fell down because it grabbed my shoe. Ripped it off my foot. Why, what was it?”
    “ I need to see it,” Guntar said.
    “ My shoe? Or my foot?”
    Guntar took in a deep breath and let it out. His chest swelled until it was nearly as large as Hank ’s. “Young lady, this may seem strange and foolish to you, but I am not a twisted old man with a foot fetish. Let. Me. See. Your. Foot!”
    Crystal gulped and nodded. She knelt down and untied her sneaker before standing up and kicking it off. She pulled her sock off and stood on one leg. “Um, this is awkward.”
    Ember dropped to her hands and knees, startling Crystal. She crawled a step forward and sniffed Crystal ’s raised foot.
    “ Okay, this went from awkward to weird,” Crystal muttered.
    Ember looked up at Guntar and nodded. She climbed to her feet and flashed her teeth at Crystal. Was it a twisted smile or did the redhead just snarl at her?
    Guntar knelt down on one knee and took Crystal’s foot in his hand. She yelped, surprised, and turned from the bizarre woman to look down at the old man. He twisted her foot gently but firmly, studying it. His fingers traced the faded scars on her foot, tickling her. She fought the urge to jerk her foot back and lost her balance.
    Hank ’s steady hands caught her and kept her in place until Guntar set her foot down. He sighed and rose up. “You were bitten.”
    “ Okay,” Crystal said. “What does that mean? Do I need a rabies shot or something? My mom’s a nurse. I can just go to the hospital.”
    “ Do not go to the hospital!” Guntar growled. He offered her a thin smile and spoke in a calmer voice. “They can’t help you.”
    “ Help me? Help me with what? What’s going on?”
    “ You will die,” Ember hissed. “It’s only a matter of time.”
    Crystal gasped and spun to face Hank. Her lips parted but no words came out.
    “There are medicines,” Guntar said.
    “ Let her,” Ember snarled. “We should have let the Beast have her. Then Caden would still be with us.”
    Crystal looked at all of them. She hadn ’t met a Caden yet. There had been five bikes. She glanced at the trailers and counted five of them. But Gwen had been riding behind Guntar.
    “ Oh my God! You mean somebody died fighting that—that thing?”
    Ember bared her teeth and took a step forward but Guntar barked her name and stopped her. She glared for a moment and then backed up and bowed her head.
    “What is going on?” Crystal whimpered. She turned to Hank. “What the hell is going on? Am I in some kind of trouble? Because dying sounds like a lot of trouble.”
    Hank lifted his eyes from hers and looked at Guntar. “She’s young and strong. I think she can fight it off.”
    “ What is it?” Crystal’s voice rose as she started to panic. “You guys are all freaking me out! Hank, take me home. I don’t want to—”
    Guntar twisted her around and held her in arms that felt like steel. “There are things in this world you don’t understand,” he said in a menacing voice. “You’ve been marked. The Beast tasted your flesh. He’ll want more and he won’t wait.”
    “ Wait for what?” she whimpered.
    “ For you to die.”
    “ Oh God!”
    Ember cackled from the side. “God has nothing to do with this.”
    “ You hungry?” Hank asked after Ember’s snide remark led to an uncomfortable silence.
    “ What?” Crystal spun to face