by M. D. Massey
“He knows. He doesn’t like it, but he knows. Someday, Dad’ll get used to having a second who doesn’t jump when he says frog. Right now, he just blames it all on you—but eventually he’ll face facts and realize I’m not his little girl anymore.”
Just what I needed—to be a thorn in Samson’s side. “After having Sonny around all those years, I figured he’d be used to having a second who didn’t listen,” I said.
“Not really. Sonny was a good lap dog, right up until he wasn’t.” She leaned over me to hit the trip button on the odometer. “Gotta track mileage for tax purposes. Now, are you going to tell us where we’re headed?”
“Big Bend National Park. Perfect place to hide out. It’s well away from Austin, nobody knows us there, and we’ll have four hundred eighty-six square miles of mountain and desert to get lost in.”
Fallyn flopped back into her seat. “Good hunting grounds. There’s a local pack that hunts Santa Elena Canyon south of the border, but they should leave us alone. I approve.”
I turned to look at Hemi and Jesse in turn. “Any objections? I mean, if anyone has any better ideas, I’m all ears.”
“Nah, bro, I’m good.” Hemi crossed his arms, leaned his head against the window, and shut his eyes. “Wake me up when we get there.”
Jesse briefly made eye contact, then she stared out the window. “I can’t think of any alternatives, and I obviously don’t have any plans at the moment. I’m good.”
Yeah, this is definitely going to be a long trip. I sincerely hope the feds give up and go home soon.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road. It’s about a seven-hour drive. Let me know if anyone—”
Hemi was already snoring, while Fallyn and Jesse were quietly chatting in the back, leaning close like a couple of teenage girls on a school trip. I sighed and plugged my phone into the stereo input jack so I could listen to some tunes, then shifted the Toyota into gear and headed out.
After we left the Austin area, the trip was uneventful. We had a brief, tense episode on our departure, when Fallyn spotted black helicopters circling the nature preserve adjacent to the Pack clubhouse. Thankfully, the runes and wards I’d put on the vehicle were enough to keep prying eyes off us, and we soon crossed the county line without further incident.
Roughly nine hours later, we made it to the Chisos Basin visitor center on the west side of the park. It was dark, so rather than drawing attention to ourselves by heading out in the middle of the night, we grabbed a few hours of fitful sleep in the truck until the first rays of dawn peeked up over the mountain.
Yawning and irritable, we each disembarked in search of hot food and hopefully clean restrooms. It was mid-week so there were fewer visitors, and while we didn’t exactly have the place to ourselves, it was close. Fallyn paid for our camping permit with cash using a false ID, then we headed off to find a secluded spot to camp.
Hours later, we’d selected a remote location several miles west of the Chisos Basin campgrounds as our home base. Our chosen campsite was near a little-used trail, on a hidden plateau above a canyon. Mundane humans would have difficulty accessing the area, and with any luck, we’d remain undisturbed for the remainder of our stay.
Fingers crossed.
Hemi and I set up camp while the girls hiked back to the visitor center in order to avail themselves of the luxuries of civilization—namely, the restaurant and showers. On the hike out, Jesse’s new body proved to be made of much sturdier stuff than that of the average human. For each of us, the five miles or so of rough, inhospitable terrain made for an easy thirty-minute jog in each direction. Being of supernatural origins did have its perks, after all.
Once our chores were done, Hemi and I kicked back with a couple of beers, admiring the view. We were just about to crack another beer when the smell of greasy hamburgers caught my attention.
“Company,” I said in a conversational tone.
“The girls?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s us,” Fallyn’s voice replied as she and Jesse rounded a boulder twenty yards to the east of our camp. “Who else would be hiking up here? Damned cliffs are a long fall waiting to happen.”
She tossed Hemi a grease-stained bag, which he tore open with his meaty hands. “Thanks, Fallyn.”
“Just be sure Golden Boy burns the bag and wrappers,” she replied. “There’s a mama black bear roaming these parts, and I don’t want to have to scare her off.”
The big guy tossed me a couple burgers wrapped in white paper. They were barely warm, but I didn’t care. As we scarfed down the burgers, Fallyn and Jesse stood off to the side, looking uncomfortable.
“Are you going to tell him?” Jesse asked.
“Tell me what?” I echoed, knowing that “him” must’ve meant “me.”
Fallyn briefly glanced my direction. “I guess, but you know how this is going to turn out. Once he gets involved, you can bet the house that things are going to go sideways in a hurry.”
“Um, ‘he’ is sitting right here,” I said between bites of delicious, greasy cheeseburger, only to be completely ignored.
“Did you ever consider that maybe that’s why we’re here?” Jesse said to Fallyn. “I don’t think that trouble follows Colin—I think he’s somehow attracted to it.”
Fallyn scowled. “Like it’s his destiny to trip over his dick and fall into the pig sty every time he turns around? Naw, he’s just a world-class shit magnet is all. A lovable one, mind you, but a shit magnet just the same.”
Hemi guffawed and spat chunks of hamburger. “She’s got your number, bloke.”
“Still sitting right here,” I protested under my breath as I took another bite. I chewed it slowly, wincing as I swallowed. Despite the hunger I’d felt moments earlier, I was beginning to lose my appetite. I wrapped the remainder in the paper and tossed it to Hemi’s waiting hands.
“Not hungry?” I shook my head. “More for me, then,” he said as he wolfed the rest of my burger down.
Meanwhile, Jesse and Fallyn were still engaged in a heated discussion about me, and they were still acting as if I wasn’t seated right next to them. I heard something about “ghosts,” “children,” and “magic.” I cleared my throat rather loudly. Both girls looked at me like I’d grown a third eye, then continued what was fast becoming a full-fledged argument.
“They’re everywhere, Fallyn. Tell him!”
“Girl, that boy may have a heart of gold, but his ability to kick up shit is legendary. Once he gets involved, you can forget about us flying under the radar.”
Finally, I’d had enough. Taking a page from the Finnegas playbook, I infused my vocal chords with power as I formed a magical connection with a storm cloud off near the horizon. After I released a small pulse of magic through that link, I counted the seconds in my head.
One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand…
A distant rumble of thunder reached us as I stood to my feet and shouted, my voice booming off the canyon walls below.
“Would you stop arguing and tell me what the hell is going on?”
For a split-second, the girls stopped arguing as they looked at me. Then, they each busted out in hysterical laughter.
“Oh, Colin,” Jesse tittered. “It’s scary when Finn does it, but when you do that booming voice thing you just look silly.”
Fallyn grabbed her sides as she split a gut. “Aw, he wants our attention—that’s so fucking cute!”
I hung my head and waited for their laughter to subside. “Har-har, you’ve had your laugh. Now, would you two please fill me in?”
Fallyn wiped tears from her eyes, although she was still laughing between sentences as she replied. “Oh crap, Dad’s going to get a kick out of this. Okay, okay—I give in. Go ahead, Jesse, tell him.”
Jesse was still chuckling as well, although the look she gave me was not an unkind one. “Colin, while we were at the restaurant we heard one of the park rangers say that a couple of kids, a brother and sister, went missing down by the r
iver.”
“And that’s not all,” Fallyn said as she finished wiping her eyes. She looked at Jesse, her expression suddenly serious. “You want to tell him the other part?”
Jesse shook her head, and her smile vanished.
I looked back and forth between them and shrugged. “I suppose we can help with the search. What’s the big deal?”
The werewolf frowned. “The big deal is, there’s something in this park that isn’t human. I picked up its scent when we were headed back from the visitor center, and from what I could tell it was headed south, toward the river.”
8
I nodded, realizing why Fallyn had been hesitant to fill me in about the lost siblings. We were supposed to be laying low, after all. But with two kids missing, and the possibility that a supernatural creature was involved, well—I couldn’t just turn a blind eye.
“Any idea what it was?” I asked.
Fallyn’s nose crinkled slightly—’thropes did that sometimes when they experienced sensory recall. “No idea. Something feline, but not a were. Whatever it was, it smelled like witchcraft.”
“That could be bad,” I replied, scratching my head as I considered our options. “Alright, let’s see if we can pick up that trail and follow where it leads us. And if we don’t turn anything up, we’ll search the area where they were last seen. Did you get a description, by chance?”
My werewolf friend tsked. “Hello, I was raised by an alpha—of course I got a description. Two Mexican-American kids, siblings by the names of Robert and Lydia Guerra. The boy is seven and his sister is eight. Little brother was last seen wearing jeans and a blue puffy jacket. The sister was wearing jeans and a canvas rancher’s coat.”
“I should never have doubted you,” I said, shading my eyes as I looked at the sun overhead. “We’d best get going. On the odd chance they’re simply lost, another night of exposure to the elements could do them in just as easily as a supe. Lead the way, oh mighty pack second extraordinaire.”
“Smart ass,” she replied, grabbing a light backpack as she trotted off toward the campground with Jesse on her heels.
Shit, the last thing I need is Jesse running around drawing attention to us.
Hemi gauged my reaction, then grabbed another beer from the cooler and sat down. With a face that was suspiciously devoid of emotion, the Maori warrior quietly sipped his beer as he observed the scene that was about to play out.
Thanks for nothing, I mouthed at him, only to receive a “who, me?” look in reply. Hemi was notorious for holding the neutral ground when those around him were at odds. I cleared my throat loudly to get Jesse’s and Fallyn’s attention.
“Hey, um—Jess? Don’t you think it’s best that you stay here, with Hemi?”
Fallyn pulled to a stop at the edge of camp, while Jesse spun around to face me, shoulders squared and her mouth set in a thin line.
“What are you getting at?” she said in low tones. “Go ahead, spit it out.”
I took time to choose my words carefully. “It’s just that, well—we’re mostly here to hide you from the authorities, remember?”
“I’m not a child, Colin,” she hissed. “And I don’t need your protection.”
I raised my hands defensively. “Look, I’m just saying—”
Jesse placed her hands on her hips. “What, you’re afraid I’ll lose control? Go batshit crazy?” She waved her hands in the air next to her head, pantomiming a person in distress. “’Ooh, look out, everyone, it’s that nutty girl who came back from the dead—no telling what she might do!’”
“Jesse, I don’t think you’re crazy,” I said softly. “But right now, we don’t really know the extent of your magic, or how well you can control it.”
“I can control my magic just fine!” she protested, shoulders set and fists balled at her sides. The ground trembled slightly as a nearby mesquite tree began to shake and sway menacingly. Desert grasses at Jesse’s feet began to grow and curl together, intertwining into thin ropes that darted to and fro like snakes looking for something to attack, even as they withered from green to brown, before turning nearly black. I shook my head as I pointed at the effects her magic was exerting on her surroundings.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. What if someone saw that? Or worse, what if somebody got hurt because you couldn’t control your magic?”
She glared at me, and I thought for sure we were about to go at it. Then, one of the grass snakes brushed against her leg, causing her to look down. As she saw the plant life she’d inadvertently influenced with her magic, her shoulders sagged and the tension drained from her body. Along with it went the magic she’d been holding. Slowly, the grasses reverted to their natural state, and the mesquite tree settled and grew still.
My ex hung her head, deflated. I couldn’t recall her ever looking so tired, or so sad. “I—you’re right,” she whispered. “I’ll wait here with Hemi.”
I walked over to her and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “Jesse, I promise you we’ll sort this out. Once things have settled down, I’ll help you figure out your powers, and Finnegas will show you how to control them.”
“Yeah, whatever you say.” Eyes downcast, she shrugged my hand off and headed toward the seat I’d vacated. Plopping down next to Hemi with her hands in her lap, she stared at a spot in the dirt a few yards away, tight-lipped and withdrawn.
I was about to say something else when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Leave her alone for a while,” Fallyn said. “She just needs time to process everything that’s happened. C’mon, we’re losing daylight.”
The ’thrope nodded toward a game trail, then took off at a jog toward the campgrounds. With one last look at Jesse, I sighed and headed after her.
Once we’d scrambled down the cliffs to the canyon trail, we jogged east about a mile before Fallyn picked up the creature’s scent. She knelt to examine barely-visible prints in the dirt at our feet.
“Whatever it is, it’s big, but it moves like a much lighter animal. See the size of these prints? Something that large should leave deeper depressions with each footfall, but these tracks are hardly noticeable.”
“Magic?” I asked.
“Can’t you smell it? The trail reeks of witchcraft.”
Using my druid senses, I did pick up something odd, a magical signature that was unlike any I’d experienced before. The scent carried the distinct bouquet of witchcraft, but it had a feral quality to it that set my nerves on edge.
“Could it be a skinwalker?”
Fallyn cocked her head. “Maybe. I’ve heard of skinwalkers taking the form of mountain lions, but these prints don’t look like any mountain lion I’ve ever seen. They’re definitely feline—but not made by a cougar, and certainly not by a bobcat.”
“Well, let’s follow it and see if we can find out what this thing is—before it hurts anyone.”
Without comment, she rose to her full height and began stripping off clothing.
“Um, what are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m getting undressed, what’s it look like I’m doing?” she said with an amused grin as I averted my eyes. “Oh, get over yourself. It’s not like you haven’t seen it before. Trust me, it’ll be easier to follow the trail if I shift into my full wolf form.”
“Say what? I’ve never seen a ’thrope go full-on wolf.”
“Usually only very old ’thropes can, because they’re more in tune with their wolf. Most younger ’thropes can only achieve a form that’s in-between the two. I’ve been able to do both, ever since I was little. Freaked Dad out the first time I did it.” She paused for a second, and her voice grew serious. “Don’t tell anyone you saw me do this, okay? The only Pack members who know I have this ability are my dad, Sledge, and Trina.”
“Sure, I can keep a secret. But why all the secrecy?”
Fallyn chuckled humorlessly. “Bad enough that Samson made his daughter his second. Imagine the trouble there’d be if word got out I was different. Emotionally speaking, the
Pack is still recovering from that whole Sonny situation. I’d rather not make things worse.”
“Okay, but what if someone sees me hiking with a wolf?”
“You know as well as anyone people see what they want to see, and believe what they want to believe. They’ll just think I’m a dog.” I heard her stuffing her clothes into her backpack, and when she tossed it at me I caught it without looking. “Now, be quiet and let me concentrate.”
Moments later, I heard a whiny yip. I turned just in time to see a hundred-ten-pound wolf trotting south away from me. Her coat was a mix of auburn red on her legs, haunches, and sides, fading into a white blaze on her chest and throat, with charcoal tips on the fur that covered most of her back, neck and head, and tail.
Fallyn paused and fixed her yellow wolf eyes on me as if to say, “Keep up if you can.” Then, she loped off into the brush.
We traveled for miles on almost non-existent game trails that led through the rough terrain. Fallyn easily navigated the vegetation and landscape, while I found myself fighting it at turns along the way. Finally, I simply began barreling through the undergrowth, stealth-shifting to spare my skin from the many scratches, scrapes, and thorns I’d have had to endure otherwise. My clothing suffered, but at least I wasn’t slowing Fallyn down anymore.
Turning southwest, we continued at that pace for hours, finally following the trail down the dry riverbed that ran through Smuggler’s Canyon. We exited into the Rio Grande river bottoms, in an area wooded with acacia, willows, and the odd cottonwood tree. Soon, we could hear the river lapping at its banks in the distance, and the sound of a woman softly crying that carried on the wind.
Fallyn growled a warning, hunkering low as she began to stalk through the undergrowth. I did my best to follow her lead, slowing my pace and taking time to quietly pick a path through the trees and brush. When we neared the river, the crying grew louder. As it did, the woman’s voice took on an ethereal quality that made it seem distant and yet close all at once.