I rolled my eyes as my regret over the decision grew ever stronger. “Except I had to leave her this morning, less than a day after I got home. Have you ever had to leave a teary, pregnant woman knowing that the tears were your fault?”
He raised an eyebrow at me before laughing. “Dude, look who you’re talking to. I don’t do pregnant or happy families.”
“One day you might.”
He snorted. “I think I’m a little more fae than you in that respect at least.”
I glanced around the plane, anxious that he’d used the F word out loud so clearly in a public place. I might have come to terms with what we were, but I wasn’t about to announce the existence of fairies to the world at large either.
“Now relax, you’re cramping my style, and we still have a ways to travel yet.” He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
I sighed because he was right, and every minute that passed put more distance between myself and Evie.
“Is there any chance of getting back earlier?” I asked.
He opened one eye and glanced at me. “I guess. I mean, if we find this thing, whatever it is, straight away, then we can assess the risk and get the hell back out of there in no time. We’ll be gone a week tops.”
“Okay. Good.” His words made me determined to get in, get done, and get out again as quickly as possible. Evie was waiting for me after all.
Each time we stopped to change planes, I called Evie to let her know where we were and what was happening next. Each phone call went almost the same way. Her voice would start out overly chipper, feigned happiness so that I wouldn’t worry, but slowly the melancholy of her true feelings would seep back in until she was almost in tears by the end of the call. I wished I could ease her pain, but there was nothing I could do until I was home again.
Until then, she would stress and cry. She would be subject to the same loneliness that I felt when she wasn’t at my side. We’d both be torn to pieces by the call to be back at each other’s side. Only, it would be worse for her. Because of my fae gifts, I had confirmations she was safe. I could feel her presence in my heart. I would know if she was hurt or dying. She didn’t have anything like that, just her intuition, and that wasn’t nearly as strong.
“Come on, it’s time to go.” Eth slapped my shoulder when he found me standing by the payphone with the receiver still cradled in my hand even after Evie had hung up. My cell was buried somewhere in my bag, but with all the flights we had planned to zigzag across the country, and the number of times we’d have to turn our cells on and off, it was easier to conserve the battery for emergency use during our trip.
During the various flights and downtime between them, Eth and I alternated between sleeping and discussing strategy—although there was only so much we could strategize about without knowing exactly what we were facing.
By the time we arrived in Brooks Camp in the Katmai National Park, the base camp for the operation, we’d gone over every known variable at least six times. It was the unknowns that concerned me.
So many of the stories we’d received from the camp were almost too consistent. Each case told an almost identical story, down to the landmarks the witnesses described. Both Eth and I had come to the same conclusion—something strange was going on and not necessarily because of the horse.
Even the cat sightings with the last púca we’d encountered weren’t so perfectly aligned. They’d covered an area we could pinpoint easily enough, but not with such precision. It wasn’t enough to send us off the case though, if anything it piqued our curiosity even more.
A number of small, dark wood cabins made up the camp, but we followed the path through to the main building.
“Ethan! Clay!” Terry’s voice carried to us from somewhere nearby. Seconds later, I spotted him stepping out from behind one of the cabins. Even though it had been years since I’d last been face-to-face with the man, my impression of him hadn’t changed. When I was a teenager and he was still at Bayview, I used to call him Terry Tortoise because his round face, sharp, beak-like nose, and permanently slouched shoulders gave him the appearance of a storybook tortoise. “Ain’t you boys a sight for sore eyes?”
“Nice to see you again, Terry,” Eth said. Although his words were cordial, his voice and manner was anything but. When he shook Terry’s hand, he held on a little longer and squeezed a little tighter than was actually necessary. It was clear that Ben wasn’t the only one not over Tiana’s death.
“Terry.” I nodded, not willing to risk Eth’s ire by being too friendly, but also not feeling the need to add to any possible issues. I’d never really found out too much about what had happened, what mistake Terry had made, so I couldn’t judge. Lou and I had been in school when it happened, and I was too wrapped up in trying to shake the memories of my first kiss with Evie to press for too many details.
After Terry introduced us to his small team and gave an apparently mandatory for the area bear safety talk, Eth and I retreated to what would be our quarters until we set off on our hike. We spent a few minutes confirming details with each other—yes, we would go out ASAP; no, we wouldn’t take any of Terry’s team with us, at least as far as we could avoid it—and then I went in search of a phone. The hike down into the valley would take at least three days. That meant it would be at least that long before I would be back and on my way home to Evie.
I called her to give her the news and felt like I was breaking her heart. Even though I’d run missions with Eth and spent nights away from home, I couldn’t remember the last time we’d gone more than two days without talking to each other—not since she’d woken from her near-death slumber.
After I’d spoken to Evie for a few minutes, telling her about our plan and the fact that we were fairly certain we were looking for a púca and didn’t think it would harm us, she demanded to talk to Eth. Because he was hovering nearby, waiting for me to end the call so we could set off, I shoved the handset in his direction.
“Good luck,” I mouthed as a smile crossed my lips. I had a feeling Eth was about to bear the brunt of Evie’s rage.
“How’s my niece doing?” he asked.
I had to stifle a chuckle. Of course he would try playing the pregnancy and family cards together to distract her, but I knew Evie well enough to know she wouldn’t let whatever she needed to say rest until she’d said it.
I could only hear his side of the conversation, but the way his gaze turned from jovial to serious when directed at me, I figured she was telling him off for taking me away again.
“Yeah. Sorry about that,” he said.
When I raised my brow at him, he shrugged. He pretended to be flippant, but I could see her words had affected him a little. I wondered exactly what she might have said.
He gripped the phone a little tighter and turned away from me, but not before I caught the frown that crossed his brow.
“What’s up? It’s not like you to be quite so . . .” He paused for a moment. “So paranoid.”
He stood stoic while Evie said whatever it was she wanted to say. Although I couldn’t hear her words, I could hear the sound of her voice through the phone clearer with every word.
Eth turned back toward me and a smirk crossed his lips. Whatever came next was probably going to get me in a lot of trouble when I got home, especially when Evie would have a week or more to stew on it. “Well, I promise he’ll have all his bits when I return him to you, safe and sound.”
I reached across and pulled the receiver from him. “Please promise me you’ll stop stressing, Evie,” I said. “It’s not good for our daughter.”
I was about to say something more when the door to the office burst open.
One of Terry’s men stood in the doorway, panting in an attempt to catch his breath. “There’s been another sighting,” he said between breaths. “She’s just been taken to the hospital.”
“Shit! We’ve got to go,” Eth said, racing to get our bags.
“I’ve got to go,” I said to Evie. “I’ll c
all you as soon as we’re done. Love you.” I hung up the phone before listening to her goodbye.
“Where was it seen?” I asked.
“Down where all the sightings have been.”
“And the witness?” Eth asked.
“She’s banged up pretty good. Got a knock on the head, so you won’t get no sense out of her.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “Okay, looks like we’re going hiking.”
Eth and I were at the door within half an hour, our packs on our backs and guns ready in their holsters. I wasn’t afraid of what we might be facing; we’d faced many worse creatures over the years after all. At least there hadn’t been any deaths so far. Still, we were on our toes as we followed our guide in the direction of our hunt.
Although we could have taken the bus down, it wouldn’t have given us the chance to look for clues or signs that the creature was moving further afield than the eyewitnesses seemed to indicate. One of Terry’s men was to be our guide to the lookout, but after that we’d be alone for the rest of our journey. Once things were sorted, we might be able to grab the bus back to get back faster.
The scenery was breathtaking; lush green covered everything. Salmon filled the clear water of Brooks River, drawing in plenty of bears. It would have been an easy place for certain creatures to hide, which was why it was so odd for an apparently demonic horse to be spotted.
Neither Eth nor I mentioned it to each other as we started our hike, but I could tell from his actions, and from what he didn’t say in front of our guide, that his thoughts ran a similar path to mine. Something wasn’t right. I wanted to wait until we were alone to see if Eth suspected the same.
The guide led us for a few hours, showing us some of the sights and explaining the best place to camp for the night before continuing to the location where the púca had been spotted.
Once he’d left, Eth turned to me. “Something seem odd to you about all this?”
My gaze travelled the horizon. “More and more odd by the second.”
“That’s what I thought. It’s almost too perfect.”
“Like something is being orchestrated behind the scenes,” I confirmed.
“Exactly.” He was lost in thought for a moment as we continued to let the distance slip away beneath our steady stride.
“Do you think Terry is up to something?” I asked after a while. I’d never hunted with him, or really spent much time with him, so I wasn’t sure if that was a possibility. I didn’t know what was “out of the ordinary” for him.
“I can’t see it,” Eth said. “He doesn’t have the brains for one. Besides, what could he be planning?”
I paused midstride. “You know the rumors as well as I do. There will be a coup on Bayview if it doesn’t run more efficiently than it used to and with a lower human death toll. There are some operatives just itching to take control and put things back the way they were.”
“Yeah, but Terry was never a hardass when it came to others. He wasn’t one for the idea of shoot to kill first and ask questions later.”
“Still, I think we need to have our wits about us at all times.” I started moving again. “Something just doesn’t feel right.”
“Agreed.”
WE CONTINUED on into the night, watching carefully for hoof prints or any sign that something was off. There was nothing, which in itself was odd. With the púca we’d hunted in New Mexico, the GPS had lit up with sightings, but although they’d been centered around one area, they were varied enough to have hundreds of dots on the maps.
When we checked the GPS for the sightings of the apparent demon horse, they were all located in the exact same place. All of the reports centered on a place no more than half a square mile wide. It just didn’t seem likely.
Over time, the lush green landscape gave way to a desolate wasteland. A layer of hardened ash and debris were thick on the ground, steam and mist seemed to permeate the atmosphere. The whole place felt inherently wrong. An itch wormed its way under my skin and my instincts screamed. Every step I took made the sensations worse. I longed to leave, not only because I wanted to get back to Evie, but also because an evil clung to the ground—something that couldn’t be readily escaped despite the potential beauty in the destruction. I made a comment to Eth, but he didn’t seem to notice the malevolent air the same way I did. A shudder raced down my spine as I continued further into the valley.
When we bunked down for the night in the small building we’d been informed about, it was with growing trepidation and caution. We swapped shifts taking watch, working to ensure we wouldn’t both be vulnerable and asleep if it was some sort of trap.
Nothing happened during the night, and our conspiracy theory seemed almost foolish in the light of the new morning. The malignant air hadn’t lessened though. We packed up as fast as we could and set off again in a hurry. I was still determined to be finished with the case and return home as soon as I could—more certain than ever that Evie would go into labor while I was out of contact range even though she wasn’t due for months yet.
It was midafternoon before we finally spotted something. Eth saw them first, but I spotted them a second before he pointed them out. It was a set of smudged hoof prints on the dry dusty ground. We slowed our pace a little as we followed the weathered track. It had to have been at least a day old, but that didn’t mean that the animal—or púca if we were right—was that far away. It seemed to stick close to one area, and we were closing in on that place.
Another tense hour later, we’d followed the tracks as far as we could but still hadn’t spotted the beast. By the time the ground grew too hard and the prints faded, we were in the middle of nowhere. It was beginning to feel like a lost cause.
An almost inaudible snort sounded from behind us. Both Eth and I spun in unison to be greeted by a stallion at least twice as large as any horse I’d ever seen, with hair as black as night.
It only took one look at him for me to know exactly what he was. The shimmering gold, fae-like aura that twisted around the creature was almost the same color as the eyes of the púca I’d killed in New Mexico.
“It’s definitely what we thought,” I whispered to Eth, aware that he couldn’t see the same things I could.
As if my voice had drawn the attention of the horse, he lifted his head and snorted louder. Steam puffed from the ends of his nostrils despite it being a warm day.
I raised my hands to show I didn’t mean any harm. “What do you want?” I asked, hoping the púca would shift back into the form of a man and help us understand what had been happening.
Instead, the horse stamped its foot, whinnied, and then walked toward us. Eth’s hands instinctively went for his weapon.
“Wait,” I said. I didn’t sense any menace off the creature, just . . . something undefined. Maybe it was doubt. I wished someone with stronger fae blood was with us. Aiden or Lou would have probably been able to get a better read on the púca.
By the time the horse had reached us, it had broken into a canter. It charged between us and set off into the thick fog that clung to the ground. I wondered whether maybe he was leading us to something.
“Come on,” I called to Eth. “We better follow it.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
DESPITE ITS PACE, the púca was easy enough for me to follow. The aura emanating from around the horse left wispy trails that hung in the air for a fraction of a second, just long enough for me to follow behind. It meant that, regardless of the speed the horse used, I could see his path well into the distance.
“I hope you know where the hell you’re going, Clay,” Eth shouted after me as I raced further away from him. He would have been able to keep up normally, but because he had to watch me for any sudden directional changes, he had to lag behind.
“I do. Just keep up!”
I charged after the beast, not willing to let it out of my sight if I could help it. If the púca was innocent, it could be leading us to the real reason for the attacks. If it wasn’t . . . well, between Eth
and I, we’d deal with it.
After chasing the púca for at least an hour, exhaustion settled over my body, slowing my steps and squeezing my lungs. The creature slowed too. When it reached the edge of a cutting that dropped away to reveal a river rushing through the valley, the creature stopped.
I slowed and approached it cautiously.
“It’s all right. I’m here to help,” I said, showing it my empty hands. “Did you want to show me something?”
It snorted and stamped the ground. With a shake of its giant head, which caused his mane to flick from side to side, the púca showed its agitation.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Why don’t you shift back into your human form so we can talk?”
The púca cast me what seemed to be an almost apologetic glare moments before charging at me. I didn’t even have a chance to step to the side or leap away before it was on top of me. The creature’s mouth clamped around my wrist. With a twist and a tug, I was ripped off my feet as the púca rushed past.
The púca’s steps took it in a looping arc that sent the two of us over the side of the ravine. Rocks, dust, and ash flicked up at me as it dragged me down the steep incline. I turned my face into its body and grabbed its mane with my free hand to try to pull my ass off the ground so that I wasn’t torn to shreds on the rocks.
In just a few short strides, we reached the bottom of the gorge. I didn’t even have time to recover my footing before the púca dragged me into the icy water.
The fast-flowing river grabbed hold of me almost instantly, attempting to tug me free of the púca’s hold. I fought free of the púca’s mouth, but as I tried to swim away from him, his hands reached for me and grabbed tightly to the front of my shirt. I glanced up at the now human púca, seconds before he forced me beneath the gushing river.
My body froze at the sight.
Kieran, the shapeshifter who’d welcomed Evie and me into the protected community without question, was my attacker. He was the one who’d been terrorizing the hikers. Was it for fun, or had he lured the Rain here? Had this been his plan all along? Was my family’s inclusion in his community nothing but a ploy for some sort of payback? For what and why?
Living with Embers: (Son of Rain #4) Page 9