by Mac Flynn
"If I might interrupt, we have a new problem," Cain spoke up.
I half-turned, but kept my attention on Adam. "Don't think I'm done pushing you into the snow," I warned him.
We crowded around our fallen foe, and I looked to my companions. "So what do we do with her now?" I asked them.
"We will take her with us until we reach a small town. There we might drop her off," Adam replied.
Cain shook his head, but there was a smile on his lips. "Adam, you have a great deal more humanity than I. I have missed the company of that."
Adam stooped and scooped her into his arms. "We should leave before more deputies come searching for her. We may not be able to smell them, but they might not be far off."
Cain and I followed Adam to the car where he opened the driver's side rear door and set her in the back seat. "Um, should I be worried about sitting back there?" I asked him.
"No," Adam replied as he reached into his bag and pulled out a thick steel chain. He tied her arms behind her back with the chain, and tied the chain to the back of the front seat and the seat belt. If she did awaken she couldn't move far.
I nodded at the chains. "I thought we were supposed to pack light," I teased.
"Necessity is more important than weight, and I could bear the weight," he pointed out as he pulled out of the car and shut the door.
I nodded through the window at our new passenger. Her head lay back and her eyes were closed. "So how long do you think she's going to stay out cold?"
"Perhaps five minutes, perhaps five hours, but the chains will hold her," Adam assured me. "For now we should continue on our journey."
Chapter 6
It was a little uncomfortable being seated next to an unconscious werewolf who, only minutes before, had taken a running leap at me. I kept glancing at her for signs of consciousness between rubbing my wet pants to dry them. "So-um, should we not talk with her around?" I asked the men in front.
"It would be best," Adam agreed.
Cain shook his head. "You two can say nothing that she wouldn't already know. The deputies of Judge Hawthorne are not foolish. She will have deduced we are headed towards the manor, and our purpose in finding my innocence shouldn't be kept a secret."
"How far is it to the manor?" I spoke up.
"Four hours along the road, but less if we travel by countryside," Cain told me.
I cringed and stopped my pants rubbing. "So more snow?" I guessed.
"More snow," he concurred.
I slumped in my seat and sighed. "Great. Things can't get any worse. . ." I mumbled. I spoke too soon as my companion by my side stirred. My eyes widened and I scooted so I was squished against my door. "Uh, Adam? Sleeping beauty is waking up!"
"Remain calm, Chris. We will see what she does," he advised me.
What she did was moan and flutter open her eyes. Miranda raised her head and swept her eyes around the small car. Her gaze swept over our faces, and her lips curled back in a snarl. She tried to spring forward and grab at Cain, but the chains held her. The woman looked down at her bindings and tried to wiggle loose, but Adam's tying held. "You monsters! Release me at once!" she growled.
"We mean you no harm," Adam spoke up from the front seat.
Miranda spat on the ground. "That is what I think of your word, monster!"
"You may think of us what you will, but we still won't harm you," he insisted.
She wiggled in her chains and her eyes fell on me. Her nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. "You are a human."
"On good days," I agreed.
"Release me at once," she ordered me.
I looked over the mess of chains that was wrapped around her. "You know, even if I wanted to I don't think I could. Adam's pretty good at tying knots around our enemies."
She sneered. "If I am your enemy then you are the enemy of justice."
I tapped my chin and furrowed my brow. "Yeah, about that. We're kind of trying to prove that Cain didn't do it, so it'd be great if you could help us out by not trying to kill us."
"I will do no such thing! He is guilty and will be judged!" she snapped.
"Have you ever thought that maybe you and your precious judge are wrong?" I countered.
That really ruffled her feathers. She sat up and her eyes blazed with anger. "How dare you suggest such a thing!"
"It's pretty easy. I just put my lips together and say the words," I quipped.
She trembled with anger. "The judge is not wrong. He is-"
"Your mate, if I recall," Cain spoke up.
Miranda flinched and I turned my attention to him. "That's the same as a wife, right?"
"Yes. Her full name is Miranda Hawthorne," he revealed.
I blinked at him and jerked my thumb at our prisoner. "So you're saying we captured his wife?"
"So it seems," Cain mused.
I returned my focus to Miranda. "I'd hate to break your bond of trust with him, but whatever he's figured out he's wrong about it."
"I need no blind trust to know the evidence speaks loudest!" she snapped.
I shrugged and my eyes flickered to Adam. "Suit yourself, but it's kind of nice being able to trust in your husband." Or a future one, in my case. That is, if we made it out of this alive.
Miranda tensed and her eyes flickered over us. "I need only my wits and my strength," she argued.
To prove her point Miranda slammed her head into the window to her left. The glass shattered into a million difference sizes of pieces and blood poured from her wound. Adam pressed on the brake and the car coasted to a stop into the mouth of a plowed dirt road. Only the mouth was plowed, and beyond stretched the whiteness of winter. The forest of trees was now only ten yards from the main road, and the dirt road wound its way into their arms.
We stepped out and went to the rear driver's side door. Adam undid enough the parts of the chains that were attached to the car and he pulled Miranda out. She thrashed and twisted in his strong grasp, and he had a hard time holding her.
"Release me! Let me go!" she demanded.
"Not until we can be sure you won't follow us," he countered.
I looked over the damaged window and sighed. "There goes your deposit," I quipped at Adam.
That was the least of his worries as Miranda continued her physical argument against her binding. She used her bleeding head to ram Adam in the stomach, and he stumbled and fell into the snow on the side of the road. Cain jumped at her and wrapped his arms around her body, but she kicked backward and hit him in the vital area. He wheezed and stumbled back. Miranda pressed her arms closer to her sides than the chains were set for and they loosened enough to drop from her body.
I was the only one standing, and I knew I wasn't any match for a werewolf with this much strength and abilities. I dove into the car to slip through to the other side, but Miranda grabbed my feet and yanked me back. My hands clawed at the seats and bags, and my hands gripped the small bag my mom gave me before we left. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly strapped down so Miranda was able to pull me from the car.
She wrapped one arm around my body, pinning my arms together against the small of my back, and pressed the claw of another one against my neck. By this time the two men had recovered from their beatings and stood on either side of us. Adam curled back his lips and snarled. "Don't you dare harm her," he growled as he stepped onto the road from the snow.
Miranda stepped back and dragged me with her. "Not another move or I will turn this precious human of yours into one of us. She will belong to my scent, and not yours."
Adam froze and his hands clenched at his sides. "Let her go. She isn't involved in this."
Miranda snorted. "Not involved? She follows you and helps fugitives of our kind. And don't deny this one is yours. Her eyes and your scent on her are enough proof for me, werewolf. If that is not involved then nothing is." She shuffled us towards the front driver's seat and she glanced inside. "Where are the keys?" she questioned them. Adam dug into his pocket and pulled them out. "Give them
to me. I will take this human with me to ensure you won't harm me when I drive away."
"You know, for someone who's supposed to be justice you sure are great at being a bad guy," I spoke up.
"I am merely doing what must be done," she countered.
"Uh-huh, and I could charge you with murder for threatening to turn me," I commented.
She frowned down at me. "You don't know what you're saying, human. I would not murder you, merely change you into a werewolf," she argued.
I shook my head. "You'd be murdering my life as a human," I explained. I looked up into her eyes and noticed her hesitation. "Do you really want to do that? Change somebody against their will?"
Miranda shook herself and pressed her lips together. "Shut up. You're only trying to distract me so your friends may catch me off guard."
"Actually, I was kind of hoping you were paying attention to them," I revealed.
While we blabbed my hand had been working at wiggling itself into the bag in my other hand. I felt a familiar handle, and at the moment of her confusion I dropped the bag and slipped the object under her coat so it pressed against her skin. Miranda howled in pain and her grip loosened enough for me to break free. I dove to the ground and Adam flew over me. He knocked her to the ground and grappled with her. Cain joined the fray, and in a moment the pair of them had her back in her chains and with a sturdier hold than before.
Miranda's angry eyes fell on me as I climbed to my feet. I looked down at the silver heirloom spoon in my hand. "You think I'll be as smart as my mom some day?" I mused to Adam.
Adam followed my gaze and a smile slid onto his lips. "Perhaps," he teased.
Miranda thrashed in their grasp, but couldn't free herself. "Let me go! Release me, you-" Cain knocked her upside the head and she went limp in their arms.
"This one appears to be more trouble than she's worth," he mused.
"She is quite difficult," Adam agreed. He turned his attention me and walked over to grasp my shoulders in his hands. "Are you all right? She didn't scratch you?"
"Not a mark," I replied.
He relaxed and smiled. "Good."
"What would be better if we were to leave this troublesome behind," Cain spoke up. He lifted the chain and Miranda's limp body raised with it. "She will cause us more trouble if we take her with us."
Adam looked around and his gaze stopped on an old, leaning shed in the trees. "She will be safe there for the time being."
"But what if she can't get out of the chains and we don't get back?" I pointed out.
"If she is who Cain says she is-"
"-and she is," Cain spoke up.
"Then the judge and deputies will search for her. They will find her scent and it will lead them to her," he assured me.
Cain lifted Miranda off the ground and slung her over his shoulder. "Then we had better get this done and get on our way before we are found with her."
Chapter 7
Adam led the way to the outbuilding and Cain followed with his load. I watched from the road as the pair with our prisoner pried open the door to the tilted shed and deposited Miranda onto the dry, dusty floor of the protected interior. They tightly shut the door and trudged their way back to the car.
I nodded at their path that led to the outbuilding. "Should we be worried about that?"
"We have no way to repair the damage, nor the time," Adam pointed out.
We piled into the car and drove away, but I couldn't help but be uneasy about abandoning Miranda. I leaned forward between the front seats. "Think she'll get out of the chains herself?" I mused.
"It's possible. She was resourceful enough to do it once," Adam replied.
"You should show less concern for her and more concern for us," Cain scolded me. "The other deputies may not show as much hesitation as she. We were fortunate you distracted her long enough to pull your spoon from your bag."
"What else did your mother pack you?" Adam asked me.
"Good question," I agreed. I slid back and opened the bag. "Looks like some garlic and a silver fork," I told them. I pulled out the garlic and the men winced. "What? You two not a fan of Italian food?"
"The odor is a little too strong for our senses," Adam explained.
"Oh, right. Sorry." I stuffed the garlic back in the bag and tightly shut the mouth. "So you think the other deputy werewolves are going to be more or less fanatic than she was about your guilt?" I wondered of Cain.
He shook his head. "I can't say. I'm not familiar with any of them. All I know is what I've heard."
"And what have you heard?" I persisted.
"To expect no mercy."
"Oh. Well, I suppose I can try to convince them to believe us and you guys can jump them while they call me a liar and an idiot," I suggested.
Adam smiled and looked in the rear view mirror. "You have a way with words," he teased.
I grinned and shrugged. "Maybe I can make them mad enough they'll forget about capturing Cain and want to kill me."
My joke fell flat as Adam's smile slipped from his lips. "I would rather that not be an option or a possibility."
Cain snorted and turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "I would prefer the latter half of her statement."
Adam frowned. "I would rather have none of the statement if it means Chris is in danger."
I leaned forward between the seats and glanced between them. "Boys, if you're done arguing over the safety of little old me who saved all our skins back there then we might get back to the problem at hand. Namely, getting into the manor without me having to use up all my family silverware."
Cain leaned back in his seat and shrugged. "That is easy enough. The difficult part will be searching the rooms without being discovered."
"You know of a way inside without being detected?" Adam asked him.
Cain nodded. "It's the same I used to escape. Abel showed me it once when he enlisted my help in a prank. He was always fond of dragging his friends into his schemes." Cain sighed and looked out his door window. "I can't fathom why anyone would kill him."
"Who was present in the manor besides Lilith, Abel and yourself?" Adam wondered.
"The servants, an old maid and a butler. They are-or were-very loyal to Abel, and both are very incapable of harming anyone. They are humans, and of great age," Cain told him.
"What of Lilith?" Adam persisted.
Cain whipped his head to Adam and frowned. "What of her?"
"If you proclaim your innocence then does that not mean she is the one most likely to have performed the deed?" Adam pointed out.
Cain's face reddened and his eyebrows crashed down. "If you infer that Lilith murdered Abel then I challenge you to procure a motive."
"You said they didn't like each other. Maybe Abel did one prank too many," I reminded him.
"She is my mate, and yet here you are suggesting she murdered my oldest friend and framed me for the deed?" Cain growled.
"If not her, then who do you believe murdered Abel?" Adam countered.
"Adam, you have known Lilith almost as long as I. Do you believe her capable of murder?" Cain questioned him.
Adam pursed his lips and shook his head. "I can't say."
Cain frowned and grabbed the handle of his door. "Then there is nothing more to say. If you suspect my mate of such a heinous crime then I will travel alone to prove both our innocence."
I grabbed his shoulder with my hand. "Oh no you don't. We haven't gone this far and gotten into this much trouble just to see you walk out on us. We're in this now together, or we're all going to be strung up together."
Adam sighed. "Chris is correct. The confrontation with Miranda has ensured we must solve this mystery. We will continue on with you whether you wish for our company or not."
Cain turned his face away and folded his arms across his chest. "Very well, but say nothing more of your groundless suspicions against my mate."
"I swear it," Adam promised.
We drove onward for a quiet two hours. The scenery outside t
he windows grew more rugged and the road more rough. The houses became fewer until they stretched apart by miles and finally stopped being seen. There weren't even driveways to reflect small pockets of isolated civilization. Potholes and ice patches became common occurrences, and the woods now hugged the road. Their limbs stretched out and left shadows across the roadway, and the gray skies added to the dark gloom of the day. Snow was coming, I could tell by the chill in my clothes.
"Are we there yet?" I quipped from the back seat.
"We have another two hours," Adam replied.
"Not quite that much," Cain spoke up. He pointed at a side road. The trees covered the path, and that meant there was less snow then there could have been. "Park there and we will walk the remaining ten miles through the woods to the start of the secret entrance."
I cringed. "Ten miles through snow?"
"It can't be helped. The safest route is the hardest," Cain told me.
Adam parked at the mouth of the road and we piled out with our bags slung over our shoulders and bags. I clutched my mom's drawstring bag in one hand and looked gloomily at the snow-filled road ahead of us. The snow was a foot deep on the road. The only signs of life were wildlife with their little rabbit and deer tracks.
"I will go first so we won't get lost," Cain volunteered.
Adam bowed his head. "As you wish."
Cain strode forward and cleared a path for us to follow. Adam went ahead of me, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards me. Cain noticed our stop and paused fifteen yards from where we stood. I lowered my voice so we wouldn't be overheard too easily. "Who do you think did it?" I asked him.
Adam shook his head and replied in a like quiet voice. "I can't say."
I snorted. "You always have a theory, Adam, so 'fess up. Who is it?" Adam didn't move his head, but his eyes flickered over his shoulder. The color drained from my face. "Seriously? You think we're traveling with a murderer?"
He pursed his lips together. "I can't be sure, but mind both friend and foe," he advised as he turned back to Cain.
"Wonderful. Just wonderful. . ." I muttered as I followed Adam over to our companion.
Cain raised an eyebrow as he looked at us. "Problems?"
"We will have many more if we are caught here. How difficult a trek will this be?" Adam asked him.
Cain rubbed his chin in his palm. "Hard to say. We have an extra passenger the like of which I didn't have before." His eyes fell on me and I scowled back at him.