An icy sensation flowed over her skin and trickled along her fevered tendons quenching the throbbing pain of her torn muscles. It took less than five seconds for the swelling to go down and the bruises to disappear.
Channie wiggled her foot back and forth then around in circles. “Wow! Good as new.” Her smile faded when she noticed the circles under Josh’s eyes had darkened. “I knew that would drain you!”
He took her hands and pulled her to her feet. “I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
Josh smirked and looked sideways at her with his I-know-I’m-guilty-but-I’m-not-sorry expression plastered all over his face. “Compared to healing Hunter, your ankle was a drop of rain in the ocean. It didn’t take a fraction of the energy he required.” Josh’s expression sobered. All trace of teasing disappeared from his voice. “We need to call 911 for Rider. Did either of you bring your phones?”
Channie shook her head.
Hunter said, “I never go anywhere without it,” as he dug the cheap disposable phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. He was so proud of the dang thing, Channie wouldn’t be surprised if he slept with it under his pillow. But instead of dialing 911, he pressed and held the number one then turned on the speaker so they could all hear.
Aunt Wisdom did not take the news well at all. She was mad at Josh for leaving the safety of her misdirection spells. She was upset with Channie for shooting Hunter. But she was furious with all of them for leaving a tracker, alive and unguarded, three miles away.
Josh said, “He’s not going anywhere. His back’s broken.”
“Just, get down there.”
Channie leaned towards the phone and said, “Hunter’s too weak to walk.”
“Then go without him. Josh, you and Channie need to leave now. Call me back when you get there. I’ll have to conduct the interrogation over the phone.”
Hunter said, “Uncle Rider ain’t gonna wanna cooperate with no interrogation.”
“Then we’ll just have to encourage him. Josh, do you have your knife?”
Josh’s eyes widened as his face paled. He blinked and shook his head. “No!”
Hunter pressed his lips together, squeezing the color out of them, then swallowed and said, “I got mine.”
Channie’s stomach twisted into a knot of fire. Josh would never stand by and do nothing while Hunter tortured a man. And neither would she. She snatched Hunter’s phone out of his hand, ended the call, and shoved it into her front pocket.
Josh said, “We are not going to torture that man.”
Channie put her palms on Josh’s cheeks. “Of course not. You can try to use persuasive magic to get him to answer Aunt Wisdom’s questions. But no one is going to torture him.”
Hunter curled his lip and looked at Channie as if she were a complete idiot. “Persuasive magic don’t work on a mage that’s determined to keep his own secrets. You know that. Besides, Uncle Rider figured out Josh’s true identity. Seems he looks a lot like his Daddy.”
“What?” Channie’s head spun. “He knows Josh is a Veyjivik?”
Hunter nodded.
This was worse than a disaster. This was a full-blown fiasco.
Hunter glared at Josh. “Stay here and stick your fingers in your ears if you ain’t man enough to do what has to be done.” He squared his shoulders and turned his back on them.
Josh said, “He’s your uncle!”
Hunter took three steps, weaving as if he’d drunk half a jug of Daddy’s moonshine then stopped and curled in on himself as he sank to the ground. He rested his elbows on his knees and said, “He’s your uncle too.”
The tension in the air melted like snow under the April sun.
Josh sat down next to Hunter and said, “Are you kidding me? Is everyone around here related?”
“Pretty much. If you go back far enough, you and Channie are probably—”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear it.”
While Josh and Hunter talked, Channie retrieved her gun then crept down the mountainside, hunched over like a thief trying to sneak past a night watchman. The weight of the Glock in her shoulder holster increased with every beat of her heart. She didn’t want to kill again, especially not an injured and helpless man. But that tracker knew Josh’s secret.
“Channie!” Josh’s voice was edged with panic. She couldn’t hide from him, not under these circumstances. He’d go crazy with worry in less than a minute.
She stood up and said, “Over here.”
Josh charged down the mountain side then grabbed her arms and squeezed. Not enough to hurt, but firm enough to make it clear he wasn’t going to argue with her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Channie licked her lips and said, “When a horse breaks a leg, the kindest thing to do is to put the poor animal out of its misery.”
“Rider is a man, not a horse! I told him I was going into Whistler’s Gulch and that I’d send someone to rescue him.”
“He was going to kill you!”
Josh let go then shoved his sleeve up past his elbow. “During the race, I fell off a cliff and broke my arm — compound fracture.” He pointed at a pink, crescent-shaped scar. “I didn’t know how to knit bones back together, so Rider did it for me. He healed me, Channie. I can’t let you kill him.”
“If Rider survives and tells Dominance about you, she’ll sic every tracker alive on your trail! How long do you think it’ll take one of them to find you?”
“I don’t think he’ll tell. I’m willing to take my chances.”
Hunter said, “Rider knows you married Channie. If they find you … they find her. She’s already got a price on her head. You willing to risk her life, too?”
Josh loosened his grip on Channie’s arms and slid his hands down to her wrists, then entwined their fingers. Time stood still as the silence between them deepened. Even the birds ceased their chirruping.
Josh’s gaze drifted up, over the top of Channie’s head. The muscles around his eyes relaxed, as he stared beyond the furthest peak.
His voice was soft and monotoned, as if he were talking in his sleep. “Right after it happened … Rider asked me to shoot him.”
~***~
Channie pressed her hand against Josh’s chest. His heart hammered under her palm. There was barely a trickle of energy seeping through their bond. Josh was shutting her out, but she knew him too well. If he witnessed Rider’s execution, it would destroy him. They all knew he’d never be able to pull the trigger, so there was no reason for him to go with them. “Josh, I want you to stay here. Let me and Hunter take care of this.”
“No way am I letting you shoulder that burden alone. You’ve been through too much already.”
Hunter said, “He’s right, Channie.”
“I’ve already killed two men. What’s one more?” Channie’s stomach churned at the thought of killing again, but her soul was already scarred. Harvey’s death was pre-meditated. Rider’s would be too. But Rider hadn’t tried to rape and murder her like Harvey. He’d even healed Josh. This was going to be so much harder.
Josh gripped her shoulders with trembling hands. “Please, Channie. Don’t fight me on this.”
Hunter put his hand over Josh’s increasing the weight on Channie’s shoulder. Hunter’s hand was much smaller than Josh’s, but it was steady and strong. He tilted his head up and locked his gaze on Josh’s eyes. “You saved my life. Now let me save yours. If you participate in any part of this, it’ll kill you.”
~***~
Channie sat on the ground with Josh’s face buried between her breasts. His hot tears soaked her shirt as hers fell on his head. They both trembled as they waited for the sound that would signal the end of a man’s life.
Instead of the crack of a gunshot … a whistle, long and shrill followed by three high-pitched chirps, echoed off the mountain.
Josh jerked his head up and said, “What’s that?”
“It’s Hunter. Something’s wrong.”
~***~
When they
got to the ravine, the only thing they found was Josh’s bicycle and helmet.
Rider was gone.
Josh let go of Channie’s hand, then sat on his butt and slid down the side of the ravine.
He put both hands on top of his head and twisted first to his left, then to his right. “I don’t understand.”
Hunter’s head popped up over a fallen log, on the other side of the ravine. “Stay still. You’re messing up the signs.”
Josh said, “What signs?”
“See the way them rocks are all stained a darker color? Uncle Rider hauled hisself along the ground on his belly, turning ‘em over as he went.”
Josh said, “That’s impossible. His back was broken. What you’re suggesting would have been excruciating.”
Channie said, “He could fuse his spine to stabilize it and cast a pain-away spell on himself, but he’d still be paralyzed. He couldn’t have gotten far, not dragging himself on his belly.”
Hunter said, “He ain’t dragging hisself now.”
Josh said, “How do you know?”
“See that? There and there.” Hunter slid down the embankment on his butt then pointed at a huge root blocking the bottom of the ravine under a fallen tree that bridged the top.
Channie climbed down a series of roots and joined the boys.
Other than bicycle tire tracks that ran up the ravine and between the two obstacles, Channie didn’t see anything unusual. “Josh? Did you ride through here?”
Josh nodded and said, “I barely made it. I came off that jump and landed right about here.” He pointed at a spot in the dirt, where the tire tracks began. “I had enough speed and centrifugal force to get horizontal long enough to ride through the gap.” He pursed his lips and exhaled, puffing his cheeks. “Rider’s horse is an amazing animal, you wouldn’t believe the obstacles he cleared, but he didn’t have a chance of jumping that.”
Hunter cleared his throat and said, “You can tell us all about your wild adventure later. We have a tracker we need to find. Do you see the signs he left, or not?”
Josh said, “Those bits of red thread?”
“And do you see the way the rocks are scattered away from the ground on this side?”
Channie and Josh both nodded.
“That’s where Buddy stood and shuffled his feet while Uncle Rider pulled himself onto his back.”
Josh said, “How can he ride a horse with a broken back?”
“He ain’t sitting on the horse. He’s draped over the saddle like a dead man.”
“How can you tell that from looking at rocks?”
“I cain’t. But it’s the only way a man with a busted back is going anywhere on a horse.”
Josh said, “Give me your phone. We need to tell Wisdom what’s going on.”
While Josh and Aunt Wisdom yelled at each other, Channie and Hunter looked for more signs. What they found, chilled her to the marrow of her bones. Rider hadn’t gone back to camp. He’d gone into town.
CHAPTER FOUR
TROUBLE WITH PARENTS
Hunter squatted on his haunches and poked his finger into a pile of horse dung then stood up and extended his hand towards Channie. “Buddy dropped this over two hours ago.”
She wrinkled her nose and stepped back. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Hunter’s cheeks reddened. He wiped his hands on the seat of his pants and gazed off in the distance, towards town. “Whistler’s Gulch is only about ten or twelve miles from here. According to the tracks, they started out loping, but even if Buddy slowed to a walk, they’d be there by now. We’re screwed.”
Josh paced back and forth as he argued with Aunt Wisdom. Channie only caught snippets of the conversation but it was clear Aunt Wisdom was trying to talk Josh into joining the rebellion. He said, “Well then I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree,” and handed the phone to Channie.
She put it on speaker and said, “Aunt Wisdom?”
“Do you have the Book of the Dead with you?”
Channie’s stomach clenched. “No. It’s in my backpack under the bed back at the—”
“Don’t say it! Just go get it. But don’t dawdle. You don’t have time to pack anything else. You need to get as far away from here as fast as you can. And don’t go anywhere near Whistler’s Gulch.”
Hunter said, “Where are we supposed to go?”
“Josh, take Channie home, wherever that might be. Hunter, you’re on your own. Be sure you throw away your phones before you leave.”
Channie said, “How are we going to stay in touch?”
“If you can talk some sense into that husband of yours, I’ll meet you where we always meet on December 11, ten days before solstice.”
Channie looked at Josh. He crossed his arms over his chest, pressed his lips together and shook his head. They wouldn’t be anywhere near here next December.
“If I don’t show up, you’ll have to find Dominance on your own. Her stronghold is somewhere on Black Mountain, in Harlan County, Kentucky near the Virginia border. Be sure you leave in time to get there before solstice.”
“Wait … Why wouldn’t you show up?”
“It’s a war, sweetheart. Things happen. Especially when prophesies are ignored.”
Josh grabbed the phone and said, “That was a cheap shot. But it didn’t work. I’m still not joining your stupid rebellion.” He handed the phone to Hunter then wrapped his arms around Channie. She pressed her ear against his chest and waited for the steady beat of his heart to comfort her.
“I’m not giving up. Hopefully, you’ll grow into your name before solstice and fulfill your duty.”
Josh’s arms tightened around Channie and said, “My duty is to protect my wife.”
“Good bye, Valor. I hope we meet again.”
“Don’t count on it.”
Hunter cleared his throat and said, “Ms. Wisdom, I’d like to join the rebellion as a regular soldier now.”
“I’m sorry, but there’ll be a price on your head if the Veyjiviks find out you double crossed them. You’re too much of a liability.”
“Thanks to you, everyone thinks I’m a traitor. My own momma disowned me.”
“If I see any of your kin, I’ll explain the situation, but your entire clan disappeared. No one’s seen any of them for weeks.”
“What do you mean they disappeared? What happened to my family?”
“I’m sorry, Hunter. I truly am, but I can’t help you. Good luck.”
Hunter stared at the blank screen on his phone then slipped it into his pocket and said, “I got nowhere to go.”
Josh kissed the top of Channie’s head then said, “Hunter. You’re welcome to come with us.”
Hunter blinked, swallowed hard and nodded then turned his back and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He cleared his throat twice then said, “Thanks.”
None of them spoke as they trudged back up the mountainside. When they got close enough to see a flash of red peeking out from behind a boulder, Josh said, “You two wait here. I’ll go get the car.”
Hunter sat on the ground and wrapped his arms around his bent knees, hiding his face. He looked and sounded much younger than his seventeen years. His voice trembled when he said, “Where’re we going?”
“Colorado.” Channie sat down beside him and bumped his uninjured shoulder with hers. “You’ll like it there. It’s real pretty.” Comforting Hunter took Channie’s mind off her own worries.
Hunter kept his face buried in his arms but he bumped her back. “Where am I supposed to live?”
“Josh’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.”
Hunter perched his chin on his forearms. He tilted his head to the side and stared at Channie with red-rimmed eyes. “S’pose that means I’ll have to quit trying to steal you away from him, huh.”
“Hunter …” Channie could feel the grief pouring off him. “Even if Josh and I weren’t married, no one could ever steal me away from him. We’re heart-bound.”
“I know.”
Hunter shook his head. “You never forget your first love.”
Channie’s heart ached for him, but there was nothing she could do about it. Hugging him would only make it worse.
He raised his shield, blocking his emotions and hiding his energy field from her. Channie wished she could do the same. She knew her pity was nothing but insulting to a boy as proud as Hunter.
He grinned and puffed out his chest. “I’m sure I can find someone to warm my bed and distract me from my broken heart.”
“I’m sure you can.” Her sympathy lessened by half.
“How’re your folks gettin’ by?”
Channie smiled, grateful for the change of subject. “You’re not gonna believe this, but Momma and Daddy are making a killing at the casinos.”
“Your momma took up gamblin’?”
“More like stealing. There aren’t any other mages in the area so they never lose.” Channie didn’t even try to keep the disapproving tone out of her voice.
Hunter perked up and said, “Hey, maybe I can take up gambling.”
Channie narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re better’n that, Hunter. Besides, do you think my daddy’s gonna let another mage compete with him?”
Hunter’s shoulder’s slumped. “How am I gonna make a living? My daddy yanked me out of the academy before I learned anything about the modern world.”
Channie put a hand on his shoulder and grinned. “You can work at McDonald’s!”
“They got a McDonald’s in Colorado?”
Channie forgot that Hunter had never been anywhere other than Whistler’s Gulch. “This whole world is full of McDonald’s.”
A bright flash of golden light, followed by a loud whumph brought Channie and Hunter to their feet. She looked at Hunter then gasped Josh’s name and bolted towards the car. It was bouncing over the rough terrain, coming straight at her. The sun’s glare on the windshield obscured her view. She felt Josh’s presence inside the car but her own panic interfered with her ability to read his energy.
He stopped ten feet in front of her then leaned over and opened the passenger side door. “Are you okay, babe?”
TAKEN: Book Two Page 9