“Don’t worry about it,” she was still half-asleep and she gave me a lazy smile. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” For a moment, she stayed like that, beaming, and then her eyes went wide. Her thumb drifted to her mouth and she bit down as her gaze flicked over me.
A curl of heat unfurled deep within in me and some willful part of myself felt a pulse of triumph. Gritting my teeth, I told myself to move, but Paige had spotted my tattoo.
“What is this ink?” she asked, stepping closer. “It’s more like a stamp – no lines or anything.”
“Didn’t get it, exactly – we all received one,” I said as every muscle in my neck became taut and strained. I tried to take a deep breath. “From Akba Atatdia.”
“Oh.” Paige’s eyes went big and she lifted a hand. “May I?”
I stared at her in confusion. “May you what?”
Her cheeks flooded with color. “Nothing,” she rushed to say. “Um, I need the bathroom.”
I stepped aside and she darted in, slamming the door closed. I gazed at the wood paneling, baffled, not quite sure what I had just missed.
An hour and a half later, Nim and I were waiting outside for Paige. She’d run back in the house a few times, as she kept forgetting things. Her extra glasses, her sunglasses, and then a book. Finally she reappeared and smiled in triumph as she slung on her backpack.
“Ready?” I asked, trying to sound more patient than I felt. I’d wanted to leave two hours ago.
“Yes,” she said, slipping on a pair of huge movie-star sunglasses. “Let’s go.”
Walking in front of her, Nim next to me, I struck out on a dirt path that led away from her house and the road. It was a shortcut to a hidden grove nearby. I hadn’t exactly explained to Paige how we were traveling to Aunt Sil’s. I figured Hazel would do it better.
I was waiting for her to make a comment or ask why we were walking away from the road, as well as for her deluge of questions. Each of the other girls had spent hours asking us questions. Paige had barely asked any. I couldn’t figure out if it was from shock or if she didn’t want to talk to me.
Either way, it didn’t bode well.
I shook my head. Whatever. Soon we’d be back at Aunt Sil’s and surrounded by other people. They’d take the edge off this awkwardness and tension, and in no time, my brothers would be fine and Paige would be long gone. Everything would be okay.
Everything is going to be okay, I told myself sternly.
The trail sloped up sharply and I turned to make sure Paige was doing okay. She was a little ways behind me, her eyes eagerly seeking out the woods around us and smiling to herself. My entire body seemed to throb watching her and I paused.
“Is this it?” she asked, her gaze landing on me and her lips curling up in amusement.
I jumped and shook my head. “No, just wanted to check in. You good?”
“I’m good,” Paige said, her voice teasing. “You worry too much.”
“It is a bad habit of mine,” I admitted as I began walking again. Nim loped ahead of us up the hill. “I used to never worry – or very rarely.”
Why worry when it accomplished nothing? I thought, a little cynically. It prevented nothing bad from happening. It didn’t protect anyone you loved.
Once thoughts like that had served as a catharsis of sorts. Now, like everything else, they only seemed to mock me. Must be nice not to feel useless.
“You shouldn’t indulge your pity party like that,” Paige said tartly, stepping up next to me. “Brooding doesn’t suit you, Rayner.” She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have the coloring or the face for it. You’re too good-looking.”
A loud laugh burst out from me. “Um, thank you.”
Paige flushed as she realized she’d said more than she’d meant to and then nodded her head regally. “You’re welcome.” She paused. “Is there a particular reason for this pity party?”
I thought of the curl of pale smoke against a blue sky and the pale faces of four girls. I shook my head. “No, nothing in particular,” I said lightly. “Just thought I’d give brooding a try.”
A giggle escaped her and she made a face as I smiled at her. “You’re not funny.”
“Again, thank you.”
The rest of our walk was more companionable. We talked every once in a while, pointing out little moments of beauty. The light shifting between large pines, the way Nim leaped over a fallen log, gathering himself up as though he was launching himself to the moon, or the way water tumbled over the rocks in a river far below us.
By the time we got to the rendezvous spot, some of the anxiety in my chest had loosened. I let out a secret sigh of relief, however, as we walked into it. Then my entire body went tight.
“Something’s wrong,” I said, glancing at my watch. Hazel should have been here ten minutes ago. I pulled out my phone and went to dial her, but I had no signal.
“This is where we were meeting her?” Paige asked. “Sure you got the right spot?”
“Yes,” I said grimly. “Looks like we’re on our own.”
Chapter 6
I stared after Rayner as he stomped out of the clearing, the leaden weight behind his words unsettling me. Then glancing around, I searched for another path or a nearby road.
“Hazel was supposed to meet us here?” I murmured to myself. “How?”
It appeared to simply be a clearing in the woods. Huh. Maybe there was a hidden road somewhere. Or maybe Hazel flies helicopters now, I thought sarcastically.
Shaking my head, I buried those questions, along with all the other ones burning through me, and hurried to catch up to him. Rayner glanced back as I ran up, an expectant, almost hopeful look crossing his face. In return, though, I only gave him a quick, banal smile, and he looked away, expressionless. But I saw the tautness in his shoulders as they rose up to his ears.
I knew Rayner was waiting for the storm of questions from me, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. Rather than rely on the careful tidbits he’d lain out for me, I was determined to figure everything out on my own.
For it was all too clear that Rayner thought he had all the answers.
However, he couldn’t give them if I didn’t ask.
Smirking to myself, I plowed on after him up the hill, Nim eagerly loping by my side. This would be fun.
By mid-afternoon, I was no longer having fun. Indeed, I struggled to keep up with him and hide how winded I’d become.
Rayner was inexhaustible in a way that I envied. As he continued up a particularly steep path, I paused and tried to even my breathing. At least it was cool enough out that I wasn’t sweating too badly, but I was starting to feel grimy. I needed a shower.
With a start, I realized I had no idea what Rayner was planning or where we were staying tonight – I was just following along like a fool.
He has that stupid tent! What if he wants to camp?
Not giving him satisfaction was one thing, but I had to at least know how we were getting back to Aunt Sil’s. I mean, surely we weren’t going to walk all the way there.
My knees hit the ground suddenly and I gasped as I threw out my hands to keep myself from falling further. A familiar dizziness trickled into my mind, sending spirals of pins and needles through my arms. Not now! I thought, struggling to get back up.
“Paige?” Rayner’s worried voice cut through the fog in my mind. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I huffed, trying to stand back up and failing. “No,” I muttered. “I need to eat.”
“You should have said something!” Stones tumbled past me as Rayner skidded to a stop. He bent down and slipped an arm around my waist, pulling me to my feet and draping my arm across his shoulders. “Let’s find somewhere a bit more comfortable, okay?”
Leaning on him, I nodded and raged at myself for being so weak. If only I’d eaten more this morning. But I hadn't known we were going to be hiking through the mountains all day.
After climbing the rest of the hill, Rayner settled us down at the edge o
f the tree line and swung his bag around. Rummaging through it, he proffered me a protein bar. I tried to snatch it quickly so he couldn’t see me shaking, but his grave look was inescapable.
“Ugh, don’t look at me like that,” I barked. “I have a touch of hypoglycemia, okay? If I over-exert myself without enough food, I get faint. I didn’t realize we were hiking so far.”
“Paige, I had no idea. I’m sorry, we should have stopped sooner,” Rayner said, looking away and fiddling with his bag’s straps. Then he slipped out a water bottle from his pocket and held out his hand for Nim’s portable bowl. We’d been doing this so often this afternoon that I handed it over without a second thought. Thank goodness I’d had the presence of mind to bring it with me.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, trying to sound calm and instead sounding irritated. Nim drooled on Rayner’s knee as he filled the bowl. “Tell me the plan instead. You do have a plan, right?”
His lips twitched into a smile. “Yes, here, look.” Pulling out a map, Rayner unfolded part of it and gestured at it. “We’re maybe thirty or so miles a little northwest of Sil’s. I know my way through these woods, I can get us back there safely. We’ll cut through, stopping at various cabins and rental houses that Sil has on her property. It shouldn’t take us more than a couple of days, I hope.”
“Wait.” I stared at him. “We’re going to walk?”
Rayner’s eyes became a sharp, burnished silver. “Yes. We have no other option.”
“Were you planning on telling me this anytime soon?” I asked in a dangerous voice.
“I assumed you’d realized that was the case,” Rayner said dryly. “It’s not like you said anything to the contrary. Or asked.”
As annoyed as I was, I also had to smother a laugh. I knew it. Not asking Rayner questions was getting under his skin. However, not asking questions also meant I’d inadvertently agreed to hike through the Montana mountains for over thirty miles.
Rayner’s gaze now held a challenge, as though daring me to ask him how to get back to civilization. Daring me to run and quit.
Or maybe daring me to keep going on this adventure and not look back.
Whatever it was, I jerked my head in a nod. “Of course. I was only double-checking.”
An amused look moved across his face and he sat back, studying me. “Of course.”
It was discomfiting how affable and polite Rayner was being after last night. I’d expected him to be somewhat short with me after I’d turned him down in spectacular fashion. Especially since he’d been so upset by it, all but panicking at the very thought of being with me.
Apparently Rayner took rejection pretty well.
I hated that I grudgingly liked and respected that.
Something pinched in my chest, too. Even though the other pain and feelings were long gone, I supposed it took a while to root them all out .
“I thought you were starving,” Rayner said lightly, and I realized I’d been staring down at my half-eaten protein bar for a good five minutes.
“I am. I like to eat slowly,” I retorted, ripping into it again.
Once I was done, I got to my feet and stretched, all tingling and dizziness gone. I thought I saw Rayner glance at me out of the corner of my eye and warmth leaped through my belly.
A strange urge, wicked and coiling, rose up inside of me at that glance.
An urge to slip against him and wrap my arms around his neck, smooth my palms down his chest and rub my cheek against his scraggly one. To feel his muscles tense under my touch and that ragged, masculine breath push between his lips before he dragged me down and–
Whirling around, pressing a hand to my forehead, I took a steadying breath. What the hell? I wondered. Where did that come from?
I was not attracted to Rayner anymore.
I clenched my hands and took another breath, clearing my mind. It had to be because I hadn’t been with anyone in far too long. And Rayner was good-looking and built like a mountain any girl would want to climb. Plus, I was tired. That had to be it.
“It’s not that much further. Will you be okay?” A warm hand landed on my bare shoulder and I jumped as the urge turned molten, seizing my nerves and setting them alight. “Oh, sorry.”
I shrugged away and turned to Rayner, who was holding up his hand in a gesture of peace. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
“We can rest longer,” Rayner said, letting his hand fall.
I could still feel the imprint of pressure on my arm and I had to force myself to look away. I don’t have feelings for you. I only think you’re hot. I can handle this.
Rayner stepped closer and my resolve began to crack. A sharp pain went through my throat and I glared the ground. I knew if I looked up right now, I’d be playing with fire.
“Is something wrong?” Rayner asked in his lowest and most melodic of husky tones.
I had to grit my teeth to keep myself from doing something stupid. From throwing myself in his arms and telling him it was going to be okay. From begging him to tell me what was really wrong. Or asking him to let me shoulder his burdens. As well as all the questions I had.
Worse yet, even. Being honest.
He doesn’t care for honesty, a viper of voice hissed in my mind. You learned that the hard way.
“No,” I murmured, intending to give him a brief glance and move along. But when our eyes met, I froze. Rayner’s face was open and filled with a tender worry that unhinged me. My lips parted and I reached for his face without thinking. “You worry too much.”
At the touch of my hand on his cheek, Rayner let out a strangled laugh and his eyes closed. It was the sound of a man who was in a state of disbelief so acute as to be painful in its very joy. “You said that already,” he responded in a soft voice.
“It bore repeating,” I said, as action no longer became connected to any logic. “I know you didn’t tell me the whole story, Rayner.” I paused. “Will you ever?”
His eyes opened and focused on me intently. I’d never been looked at like that before. A burning, locked-in kind of intensity. Unable to escape it, yet not wanting to.
Wanting him…
Rayner went to speak when Nim let out an uneasy whimper, his body hitting my legs. Alarmed, I let go of Rayner and leaned down to stroke Nim’s ears. He was trembling all over, a paw lifted and tail creeping between his legs.
An ugly roar split the silence and I jumped. “Cougars?” I gasped and glanced at Rayner.
He’d gone still, lifting his head and breathing in the air. There was something smooth and otherworldly about the gesture, something at once strange and familiar. A responding snarl in the distance confirmed my guess.
“Cougars,” I said grimly. “I think they want to join us for lunch.”
Chapter 7
“Here,” I said tersely, swinging open the cabin door and glancing behind us. The afternoon was creeping towards late evening, the shadows and colors growing deeper and richer. “You two stay put while I check things out.”
“But–” Paige started to protest, as I threw down my bag and shed my jacket. “Should you go alone? Oh wait, will the cougars listen to you?” Her expression became amused at the question.
I didn’t let myself look at her. Whatever had happened back on the trail – it couldn’t happen again. You worry too much. Her murmur wouldn’t leave my ears. And I could still feel her hand against my cheek. See that wavering, uncertain look on her face, as though she was struggling to make up her mind.
No, Paige. Stay away from me, I thought, with a tinge of desperation.
“I’ll be right back.” My voice was straining in my throat. “Stay put.”
With that, I yanked the door closed behind me and leaped down the steps. Pulling in a deep breath, I ran to the tree line and then shifted, taking care to remember every last trick Wes had ever taught me. Slinking low and resisting the urge to hurry, I stuck to the shadows as I moved towards where the sounds of the big cats were coming from.
As I was about to c
ross across a small meadow, I stopped and crouched low, my paws pressing into the dirt. A familiar, ugly scent was on the air.
Pale Eyes.
The playthings of the Skinwalker stepped out into the meadow, their eyes hidden behind sunglasses and the lower part of their faces covered by bandanas. Both of them were tall, athletic-looking men, and one carried a crossbow.
Hunters. They were often an easy target for the Skinwalker, already out in the woods and their disappearance put down to unfortunate human error. Never mind that they were usually expert trackers and had grown up in these woods. My jaw clenched. If only Ben was here.
One of them said something to another and there was a rustle in the underbrush. A heavy footfall precluded a slinking figure of pale brown, its fangs out and a rumble in its throat. I drew back in horror as I stared at the cougar’s face.
Ash had been streaked across its eyes, which now burned with a dull light, and it lumbered forward. My hackles rose. That explained why the creatures were out now – all mountain lions tended to be nocturnal, or at the very least, crepuscular.
The Skinwalker was extending its power recklessly, it seemed, with no fear of the consequences. To itself or the natural world.
As I went to draw away, I froze as a shadow moved in the corner of my vision. Another cougar with an ash-streaked face was moving close by me, barely even two feet away. If it turned and walked directly to the right, I’d be found.
The big cat paused, nose twitching, and shook its head. This particular cougar seemed to be fighting the entrancement of the Skinwalker. Part of me longed to reach out and see if I could free it.
But I wasn’t Ben or Cree, I’d never had the touch of healing or purification of water.
For a moment, I held my breath, waiting for the cougar to spot me, but it continued on and disappeared into the far woods. The Pale Eyes also vanished back the way they came.
Once I could hear nothing, I swiftly darted off, back to the cabin and taking care to ensure I wasn’t followed.
It was clear the Skinwalker had sent out the best trackers to find something. Me?
HOTSHOT BROTHERS: Coyote Shifters Page 74