by Amy Hopkins
Penny bit her lip and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. “Looks like we are done here. Let’s go, team.” A tug at her ankle held her back, and she looked down. “What, you’re sick of walking?”
Boots ducked her head in a nod, and at Penny’s gesture, rose up to climb into her bag. When Penny slung it back over her shoulder, Boots popped her head out to rest it on Penny’s shoulder.
“You can be our lookout,” Penny said. Boots wriggled unhappily. “What, you thought I’d let you sleep on the job? Not likely!”
They headed toward the road and crossed it unhindered. Penny wasn’t sure if she was grateful for the lack of people. On the one hand, if something happened, they wouldn’t have to worry about innocent people getting hurt. On the other…
It’s not like Tobias would be held back by a crowd, she reminded herself. If anything, he would be drawn by it. Let’s hope that means he’s not here.
The sun had dipped behind the hills, casting a shadow that sucked the last of the warmth from the day. “Let’s pick up the pace,” Penny said. “We’re in a hurry, but also, I’m freezing my ass off.”
“You’re such an Aussie,” Cisco teased. He ignored Boots’ offended hiss. “What would happen if you went somewhere that was actually cold? You’d freeze to death!”
“It’s not my fault you lot can’t appreciate a nice, sunny, forty-five-degree day.” Penny pushed a branch out of her way. When something tickled her hand, she snatched it back with a yelp as Boots gave a startled hiss. “Was that a spider?”
“What is it?” Cisco took a quick step toward her, then snatched the dangling bundle of sticks that had scared her.
Penny took one look at the five-pointed shape bound with red twine and cursed. “Never thought I’d say this, but I would have preferred a huntsman.”
“Pentacles don’t jump at you. At least we’re on the right track.” Amelia seemed undaunted by the makeshift pentacle. “We must have missed those last time, but if my guess is right, those creepy dolls are just ahead.”
Unfortunately, Amelia’s guess was right. As the trees thinned, Penny was easily able to spot at least two dozen tiny figures dangling from red nooses in the branches above. Somehow, they seemed even creepier in the fading light than they had in the darkness.
“We should yell again.” Cisco’s face said the opposite of his words. “Shouldn’t we?”
“Let’s not.” Penny pushed ahead, arguing with the knot of terror in her stomach. What are you so afraid of? It’s just some idiot who’s watched the Blair Witch Project too many times. Just because that stupid movie scared the pants off of you, it doesn’t mean anything bad is going to happen out here.
“You know,” Amelia said, her voice loud in the quiet forest. “Those stick dolls scare me more than the Kraken did. That makes no sense, right?”
“Would you stop reading my mind?” Penny mustered up a shaky grin. “I swear to God, I’m never watching a horror movie ever again.”
“They’re just sticks.” Cisco only sounded marginally more comfortable than the girls. “They can’t hurt us. We’d better watch out, though. If Tobias has been lurking around here, who knows what kind of creepy shit he’s been up to.”
“Thank you so much for reminding us that there are plenty of things to be terrified of out here,” Amelia said. She drew the handgun from her belt and raised it carefully. “The altar was just ahead. Be careful, guys.”
Boots dropped herself to the ground, tail trembling as she nosed the scattered leaves. Penny stepped into the clearing, stomach clenched against a flutter of nerves and adrenalin. She skirted the edge before walking over to the altar. “Guys?” she whispered. “I think Red was here.”
“What makes you say that?” Cisco asked.
Penny held up a plastic card. “This is his Academy ID.” She brushed off the dirt and passed it to Cisco. “Do you think he dropped it?”
Cisco shook his head. “No way. He keeps it tucked in the back of his wallet. He must have left it on purpose.”
Amelia nodded in agreement. “Cisco’s right. He couldn’t have dropped it without realizing.”
Leaves rustled, and Penny spotted Boots headed toward a tree at the clearing’s edge.
“Look!” Cisco pointed above the snake. A branch had snapped, clinging crookedly to the trunk by a splintered thread. He darted a glance around. “Let’s check it out.”
Penny held the branch back in place, then wiggled it. The wood was still soft and damp. “Still fresh. Whatever broke it was going in this direction.” She examined the forest floor where Boots had brushed aside the dead foliage to reveal hard, dry dirt. “Guys? I think there’s a trail!”
Amelia held back. “It’s just over two hours until sundown. We need to figure out what we’re gonna do if we don’t find him soon.”
“Keep looking,” Cisco answered immediately. “It’s okay, Amelia. We won’t give up.”
Amelia shook her head resolutely. “That’s just dumb. What if we get lost, or pass straight by him? Or he wolfs out in the car on the way back? We can’t risk that.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “We need a plan.”
“You think we should leave him to fend for himself?” The idea made sense, but Penny felt uneasy about it. “I guess he could fight off most stuff in wolf form, but I don’t think I could just abandon him out here.”
“I’m not saying we should leave, but maybe we should put a time limit on our search. If we don’t find anything before then, we head back and look for Crenel.” Amelia’s posture relaxed as she talked it through. “He’ll know how far away our backup is, and he can help us search. And if we find Red and he turns—”
“They’ll be able to keep him safe,” Penny finished for her. “Damn. That’s a good plan.”
“How long?” Cisco glanced at the woods behind him. “I don’t want to give up yet.”
“An hour,” Amelia said firmly. “As long as we don’t get lost, we should be able to head back faster than we’re searching. That should give us time to get back before it gets too dark.”
And before the wolf starts hunting. Penny wondered if the same thought had crossed Amelia’s mind.
Cisco pressed a few buttons on his watch. “Timer set. Let’s go.” He turned his back on Penny and Amelia and strode into the trees.
“Wait for us!” Amelia lunged to follow him, leaving Penny to follow behind.
The trail was faint, nothing more than a worn track through the woods where the leaf litter was scattered and the grass was thinner. They lost their way several times, backtracking to search for a more obvious route.
Penny counted the minutes as they walked, sighing with relief as the uphill trek began to slope back down. Soon, shadows encased them as the track became a dry trench carved deep into the hill.
Cisco glanced up nervously. “We’re getting pretty deep in here. And it’s tight.”
He was right. The group had to walk single file through the narrow gorge. “What if it’s a trap?”
Penny slowed behind him. “Amelia? What do you think?”
Amelia rubbed her arms. “I don’t know. Boots? What is it?”
The serpent had risen to her full height, balancing on her tail like a stretched out spring. She tasted the air, then bared her teeth in an angry hiss.
“Okay, time to go back,” Cisco said. Before he could nudge Penny back along the trail, though, a weak cry trembled through the air.
“What was that?” Penny whispered. Goosebumps tickled the back of her neck as it came again.
“Help!”
“Red?” Cisco’s uncertainty was written all over his face.
“Does it matter?” Amelia bit her lip, then continued, “Whoever that is, we can’t just leave them there.”
“You’re right.” Penny put her hand down to touch Boots’ head. The serpent butted her back forcefully. “It’s probably a trap, and even if it isn’t, if someone is out here and needs help…”
“There’s no one else for miles.” Cisco bl
ew out a sharp breath, then turned on his heel. “Stay quiet. Keep your eyes up and your weapons out.”
Penny drew the handgun from her belt. It felt small in her hand, inadequate as she imagined what kind of beast could sustain that kind of impact with their car and survive.
Boots, meanwhile, wasn’t willing to trust Cisco at the front of the pack. She twisted between his feet, almost tripping him as she moved ahead, rainbow shimmer dulled by the deep shadows and dropping light.
Another cry for help rang out, this time closer. Cisco slowed, forcing Penny and Amelia to do the same. At a sharp hiss, he stopped completely.
Penny edged around in time to see Boots head-butt him firmly, trying to push him back.
Instead, Cisco ducked low and peeked around a sharp corner, then drew back.
“What did you see?” Penny itched to look as well but resisted the urge.
One of the lessons Quaid had taught the students was that more movement meant more chance of discovery. One person could sneak into a house with only a moderate risk. Two? It didn’t just double the chance of discovery, it exploded it. The more people involved, the bigger the risk that one of them would give the game away.
“Dead end,” Cisco murmured. “Someone on the ground. A guy, I think, but dark hair. It’s definitely not Red.”
“Dead?” Penny whispered.
Cisco gave a quick shake of his head. “Alive, but he didn’t look like he was in great shape.”
“What do we do?” Amelia had crept up but stayed far enough back to stay hidden.
“Stay quiet,” Cisco whispered. “We need to—" He was interrupted by a shrill beep. “Shit!” He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone, jabbing the screen with a finger repeatedly as he tried to silence the timer.
Penny yanked it out of his hand, tapped the ‘stop’ icon, and passed it back.
“Gee, do you think anyone heard?” Cisco muttered.
“Is anyone there?” The voice that called out wasn’t Red’s, but it tugged at Penny’s memory. “Hello? Please, I’m hurt. You need to help me!”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” Unwilling to believe the piteous whine could possibly belong to who she thought it did, Penny stood and stalked around the corner, gun trained on the slumped figure across from her. “Corey? What in all the hells are you doing here?”
Penny eyed her former classmate. His dirt-smudged face looked up from the deepening shadows, blood dripping down one cheek from a nasty scratch.
“Corey? You mean that douchebag who got himself kicked out of the Academy?” Amelia appeared beside her. “Oh, it is the douchebag. What’s up, Corey?”
“Fuck you,” he snarled.
Penny wagged a finger. “That’s no way to speak to your would-be rescuers. We could just go home, you know.”
“No!” His eyes darted around anxiously. “You can’t leave me here. I was attacked!”
“By what?” Penny’s dismay at seeing someone she disliked so intensely was already fading into worry. What possible reason could he have for being out here?
“I don’t know. I was at that park near the beach when something big came outta nowhere. It hit me over the back of my head, and I woke up here.” He grimaced and pointed to his left foot. “I think I’ve broken my ankle. I can’t walk.”
Penny narrowed her eyes, then yanked Amelia and Cisco back around the corner. Boots stayed where she was, fangs bared as she watched Corey with wary eyes.
“If he was at the rec area, how did he get there?” Penny asked. “We didn’t see any other cars.”
“Something definitely smells funny,” Cisco admitted. “But we can’t just leave him there. Not if he’s really injured.”
Amelia hesitated, then nodded. “We’re out of time to find Red anyway. As much as I hate Corey, I’d feel at least a little bad if we left him here to die.” She grinned. “Besides, if we ever run into him again, we can lord it over him. That alone will be worth it.”
Cisco shook his head. “I don’t like it.” He held up a hand to forestall Penny’s protest. “I know, I know. We have to help him. But I don’t have to like it. It’s too convenient.”
“A broken ankle is convenient?” Amelia tsked. “I’d hate to see your idea of inconvenient.”
Cisco scowled. “You know what I mean. Just be careful. Keep your eyes open and be prepared to move fast.”
“We know.” Penny squeezed Cisco’s elbow for reassurance, then holstered her gun and stepped back out into the closed-off gorge. “Corey? We’re going to help you. Just stay calm.”
Corey’s face twisted up. “Just don’t bring that reptile anywhere near me.”
Boots responded with an angry hiss. She darted her head forward, making Corey flinch back.
“Boots!” Penny turned to the snake so that Corey wouldn’t see her smothered grin. “That was rude. Go and stand in the corner, young lady.” She waved Boots away.
Boots ducked her head and slithered off, but Penny wasn’t convinced by the silent apology. She let it rest, though. “I’ve only got a basic first aid kit with me,” she explained to Corey. “But I can bandage your ankle and we can carry you out, okay?”
Corey nodded. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the chill in the air and he grabbed Penny’s arm, pulling her closer. “It really hurts,” he said.
Penny nodded as she shook loose his tight grip. “Sure. I’ll be careful.” She knelt and carefully rolled up the hem of his jeans. Frowning, she bent down for a better look. “Corey? I don’t see—"
A soft click froze the blood in her veins. Her eyes darted up to look directly into the barrel of the gun Corey had pointed at her face.
Penny swallowed. “Corey, I’m going to raise my hands, okay?” She lifted them slowly, forcing her eyes to stay on his rather than search for her friends.
“You dumb bitch,” he said with a coarse laugh. “As if I’d need help from you.”
“Corey, come on, man. You thought we were unarmed?” Cisco asked.
Penny finally dropped her gaze and glanced at Cisco, whose gun was pointed at Corey.
Corey laughed again. “Come on, Cisco,” he imitated. “You thought I was alone?”
A shadow made Penny’s breath catch. Tobias stepped out from behind Cisco. “Well, well, well. Didn’t we get lucky today?”
Chapter Nineteen
Tobias finished zip-tying Cisco’s hands, then shoved him to the ground next to Penny and Amelia. “Wait here,” he said to Corey. “I’ll go get that Irish bastard. Together, they should make a big enough sacrifice to give us full control over our boy.”
Penny would have asked questions, but she had already come to the conclusion that she didn’t want the answers. Just as well, she decided. My teeth are chattering too hard to talk anyway.
The cold had set in as the sun dropped. It wasn’t yet night time, but purple streaks in the sky and heavy shadows in the gorge had brought with them a bone-deep chill that her thin jacket couldn’t hold off.
Amelia had no such trouble. “Sacrifice for what? Where’s Red? Tell me what you did to him, you sadistic prick.”
Tobias turned a cold smile on her. “You know, you would have been much happier with me. It’s a pity your friends ruined that. You might have even lived past today.”
Unimpressed, Amelia gave an unladylike snort. “Whatever you say, Romeo.”
Tobias’s eyes burned with hate, his jaw pulsing with anger. “I’ll make sure you die one at a time. You can go last. Maybe watching your friends be torn to shreds will fix your attitude.”
“Yeah. It probably won’t.” Amelia turned big eyes his way. “Assholes like you just bring out the worst in me.”
Tobias sucked in a breath and stalked over to Corey, who sat against a stray fallen rock fiddling with his gun.
“You’re sure it’ll work?” Corey asked the older man.
Tobias sneered. “What, you’re scared? I thought more of you.”
“No!” Corey ground his teeth. “But you said he’d
obey us.”
Tobias shook his head. “I said he’d obey us once the rituals were complete, you idiot. We still need two more victims to complete them.”
“What do we do with the other two?” Corey demanded.
Tobias smiled, a cold, glittering grin that sliced over Penny and her friends. “Once he’s under our control, we can afford to let him play with them for a little. Until he kills them, too.”
Tobias left. Corey cocked his weapon at Amelia and made the soft sound of a gunshot.
“You’re gonna shoot yourself in the dick if you keep playing with that,” Amelia called.
Penny shushed her. “Corey, you don’t have to do this,” she pleaded. “Tobias won’t keep you safe. He’s pure evil. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Why, because I didn’t finish at that stupid school?” Corey barked a laugh. “You have no idea. Those teachers are dumb. They think their books have all the answers, but they haven’t seen what’s out here.”
“How would he know what’s in any book,” Amelia whispered loudly. “Can he even read?”
“Amelia, shut up!” Penny hissed.
“Corey, let us go,” Cisco chimed in. “You’re going to get yourself hurt. Or worse.”
Corey lifted his hand, the gun dangling off one finger by the trigger. “Who has the weapon, dipshit? What, you think your mama’s gonna run in here and give me a detention for being mean to you?”
Cisco muttered something under his breath, then leaned his head back to whisper to Penny. “He’s not gonna give in.”
“I can’t believe my luck,” Corey crowed, his voice cracking with joy. “When I found Tobias, he promised I’d be able to get back at you someday. But then you just stumble on in, looking for your idiot friend! He’s dead, by the way. Or he will be soon.”
“I know,” Penny ignored Corey, giving Cisco a sad look. “But we had to give him the chance.”
“Shut up!” Corey stood, brandishing the weapon. “Stop whispering. Bandage Man will be here soon. I can’t wait until he destroys you.”