Wild Spirit: Huntress

by Victoria Wren

  Win checked her mirror and clicked on the blinker, signaling she was about to edge the truck out. Ben grabbed the wheel in horror.

  “Whoa, what are you doing?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Pulling out. We can’t sit here all day.”

  “Have you checked your mirrors? Your blind spots?”

  Win’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yes, and yes,” she drawled.

  “Well, I need to check too, you know. You can’t pull out on a busy road. This car is ancient. It takes a while to get up to speed. You need a bit of time to get going.”

  Win hunched her shoulders and peered in the driver’s mirror, clicking on her blinker, her foot revving the engine. Ben threw her a glare, and she grinned at him and wiggled her brows.

  Ben sat back as she slid the car onto the main road heading into town; they passed wide open fields, long grass swaying in an afternoon breeze. Ben visibly paled as a large truck hurtled past them.

  “I don’t think you are taking this seriously,” he said. “Being in charge of a vehicle is a huge responsibility. I really think we should have bought something a little newer.”

  “The car is fine,” Win shot back. “I love the car. Grandpa gave it to me.”

  Ben folded his arms. “It was rusting in his yard.” He rolled his eyes. Win tapped the wheel with her fingertips. She loved the car. It smelled like old leather, the seats worn and battered. Every now and again, there would be a sudden waft of lavender out of nowhere. It had belonged to her grandma, and her perfume still lingered all these years later. Maybe her father couldn’t smell it, but Win could. Like how she could see perfectly well in all her mirrors, her eyesight sharper than most teenagers her age. And if a car was coming, she could feel the vibrations in the road before it appeared.

  “All I’m saying is your birthday has been and gone, and we could have bought you something new,” Ben was saying, slouching in his seat.

  Win shook her head. “It wouldn’t have been fair,” she muttered. “On Rowan. She didn’t get a new car when she turned seventeen.”

  Ben didn’t answer. Win didn’t want to point out the obvious. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words, “because you weren’t around for her then.” It was another reminder of the amount of bridge-building he still had to do with his eldest daughter. Words hung unspoken in the air. He shifted uncomfortably in the seat, the Chevy grumbling into Main Street. He straightened, knowing Win was about to attempt parking.

  “Okay, take it easy…slowly into the curb….”

  Win gritted her teeth as tires crunched against the sidewalk, her landing, as usual, a little too close. Rubber squealed over stone, Ben huffed through his nose. “Oh well, there’s always next time.”

  “Sorry,” she said, giving him a small smile. Win turned off the ignition and flexed her back, pulling her damp hair off the back of her neck. August had crawled upon them, and it was humid, late afternoon sun still beaming off car roofs. Ben flung the door open, fanning his face.

  “Perhaps we can ask Grandpa to install some air conditioning in this thing?” He met Win’s eyes when she opened her mouth to complain. “I think that’s reasonable.”

  Cedar Wood was bustling with bodies, hot and withering in the heat. Above the busy sidewalks hung large, orange and yellow banners dotted with pictures of pumpkins and fruit advertising the town’s annual Harvest Festival, due to start in a few more days. It was a town tradition started by one of her very own ancestors, Cedar Wood being a big farming community after the revolutionary war. All the neighboring towns brought their produce to sell and compete in local competitions.

  Hardy’s, the only bar in town, was crammed with new patrons, the sidewalk outside littered with chairs and tables, all full of customers. In the hazy sun, it was a heady and fun atmosphere. Win had enjoyed many late afternoons sitting outside waiting for Luke and Ella to finish their shift.

  After the Solstice Bonfire and Spencer’s arrest, the three of them had formed an unlikely bond. Luke had gotten a job with Ella at the bar, and what had started as a casual bussing role quickly turned into full-on service once summer hit and school finished. Ben and Win wandered through town, stopping outside Hardy’s. Ben whistled through his teeth.

  “It’s rammed in here, honey. I think I’ll head home. Do you think you can get one of your friends to drop you?”

  Win shoved her hands in the pockets of her denim shorts, standing on tiptoes. She spotted Ella hurrying through tables, her long black hair swept up in a bun, her cheeks flushed.

  “I’m sure Ella will.” She leaned and kissed her father on the cheek. “Thanks for the impromptu lesson.”

  “Now I have to drive this bucket of junk home. My reputation…if my city friends could see me now!” He laughed, and Win punched his arm. Her father drove a Mercedes. He loved his fast-paced city lifestyle, he hadn’t adjusted to country life yet. But he was trying and doing it for his daughters, even though he clearly missed his old life in Boston.

  He waved as he crossed the street. Win watched him go, smiling to herself, ducking quickly inside the bar behind Ella, who hadn’t spotted her yet. She was carrying a tray filled with sloshing drinks above her head; Win tiptoed up behind her and gave her a playful pinch around her waist.

  “Win!” she squealed, her mouth breaking into a smile. “I nearly dropped this thing!”

  “Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” Win laughed as she prised the tray out of Ella’s clammy grip. “Let me help you.”

  Ella wiped her hands on her apron and mopped at her brow. “Thanks. God, it’s packed. I’ll be so glad when this festival is over.”

  Win followed Ella through to the main bar, where patrons were jammed in shoulder to shoulder. She peered over the crowd and spotted Luke over by some booths near the pool table, where he was jotting down orders. His thick black hair curled around his ears, his glasses practically perching on the end of his nose. Lifting his gaze, he spotted her and waved with his free hand.

  “When do you get off?” Win shouted over the din while Ella planted another tray in a booth.

  “We both finish at six.” Ella let her eyes find Luke across the room. “We’ve not stopped since we got here.”

  Win narrowed her eyes in concern. Ella was a foot shorter than Win, with creamy tanned skin and dark brown eyes to match her hair. Right now, her skin glistened with a fine sheen of perspiration.

  “You look tired,” Win said.

  “I’m exhausted,” Ella admitted, throwing a knowing glance in Luke’s direction, who had bumped past her into the kitchen with a stack of orders. “I’ve been dealing with Mr. Snarky all day.”

  “Oh,” Win said. Luke was in a sour mood. It usually involved a fair bit of huffing and grunting and muttering under his breath. Luke had grown up in the comfort of Mercy, the largest estate in Cedar Wood, a prestigious member of one of its wealthiest families. He’d been brought up by his elderly grandfather, under the boot of his older brother, and had lived in a fair amount of luxury. Everyone was surprised when Luke applied for the job. But with Spencer gone, he was alone in the house, preferring to be around people than stuck inside a mausoleum. He was unused to taking orders, being on a clock, having to answer to anyone. Ella seemed to bear the brunt of his moods.

  Ella smiled and waved it off. “He’s fine...mostly.” She laughed as if she were describing the behavior of an errant toddler. “But I think the heat is getting to him. We were talking on the phone last night….”

  Win’s eyes flew skyward, a grin splitting her face. “Oh, were you?”

  “Don’t start.” Ella blushed, and her cool brown eyes flicked nervously in Luke’s direction. Ella couldn’t disguise her feelings from Win. It was written all over her face.

  Win often admitted to sensing a little jealousy when she saw them laughing, sharing a private joke she wasn’t in on. But she had been happy for Ella, and it had been a great summer. The three of them had formed a friendship, the shared exp
erience they’d endured in the tunnels locking them together in a tight union. Once Luke and Ella started working together, Win noticed them growing closer, and despite a few pangs of loneliness, she enjoyed the comfort of friendship. It was new and exciting. Win had given up on friendships after leaving Boston, but this summer changed things.

  “Ever think about grabbing an apron and giving us a hand, Adler?” Luke sniped as he bustled past, a tray of fries perched on his shoulder. Win ignored his quip.

  “It looks like you guys have got it all under control.” Win backed away casually. “I’ll wait outside for you in the breeze.”

  She gave him a wink before heading outside, basking in the glow of the dying sun. Managing to find an empty table, she pulled it into a shady spot and sat with her nose in a book for a while. A car rumbled up to the sidewalk. Her eyes shifted to the red station wagon and to the fiery-haired female at the wheel. Rowan threw her a grin, hopping out of the wagon and slamming the door. She was dressed in her usual frayed denim shorts and a cut-off shirt, her mane of red curls piled up in a high bun. Win sat back and beamed as she strolled closer.

  “Hey, I forgot you were working tonight. I should have waited and come with you,” Win said as Rowan hopped into the spare seat next to her. The moment she sat down, Win’s nose wrinkled. That scent. It was different, new. It didn’t smell like Rowan. It was sweet, heady, like warm honey.

  “Nah, I enjoy seeing Dad squirm while he gives you lessons,” she replied with a wry grin, to which Win frowned.

  “I’m not that bad.”

  “Tell that to the rubber on the sidewalk,” Rowan joked as she fanned herself with her hand. Win caught the smell again.

  “Who have you been with?” she asked, and Rowan’s face crumpled.

  “What?”

  “Have you been eating something sweet? A new shower gel or something? You smell like waffles.”

  Rowan blushed beet red. “I think it’s a new fragrance,” she said cagily. “I better get inside. It’s heaving tonight. You okay getting home?”

  As she maneuvered through the seats, she crossed around back of Win, giving her an affectionate kiss on the head. “Luke or Ella will take me,” she assured.

  Rowan stared down at her through quizzical green eyes. “Okay, well…no going off anywhere else…like to see a certain person.”

  It was Win’s turn to blush to her roots. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she lied sweetly.

  Rowan’s smile was mischievous. “I don’t want you coming in smelling like dead leaves is all. Grandpa will notice. Even if Dad doesn’t.”

  Win made a huffing noise waving her sister away, but her tummy coiled into a knot. Win could put up a stone wall barrier on her emotions; she could be hard to read. But not for Rowan. When she’d snuck in the house at one in the morning a few nights ago, Rowan had been waiting on the top step, and Win had swallowed back a shriek. Rowan may have been joking around, but Win was guilty of telling her father and Grandpa some whopping lies. Win smiled to herself, trying to conceal the grin spreading over her face by pressing her chin into her hand.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ella teased when she eventually flopped onto the seat beside her. “As if I couldn’t guess.”

  “Don’t you start on me. Rowan is already suspicious,” Win said, voice low. Ella was flushed and clammy, makeup smudged under her eyes from the heat.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Ella said. “I hate lying. And I feel like such a traitor when I drop you at the end of your drive, and you go skipping off to the woods. I hope he’s worth it.”

  Win’s face broke into a secret smile. “We only talk,” she insisted. “He’s a gentleman.”

  “Hmm. Who wears a mask,” Ella shot back.

  “Not with me,” Win said. “He takes it off. When we are on our own.”

  “And he isn’t Freddy Kruger under that mask?” Ella had been spending too much time watching old horror movies with Luke.

  “He certainly is not.” Win let her fingers dance over cardboard beer coasters on the table, flipping them back and forth.

  Despite her chilly feelings toward the Woodsman, Ella relented, smiling at Win’s reaction and delighting in a little bit of devilishness. “Well, I’m living vicariously through you. There’s no romance in my life,” she said, rolling her dark eyes.

  “I told you — nothing’s happened…yet!”

  Ella chuckled wickedly.

  “Yet being the word. You really do like him, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Win admitted. “I do. And I would like to point out he saved my life…and yours. Anyway, what about Mark? He asked you out!”

  They burst into a fit of giggles. Ella couldn’t breathe and clutched at her sides, her face squeezing tightly. “He was thirty, Win,” she said between splutters.

  “He is not thirty!” Win shot back as Luke dragged out another chair, throwing his apron on the table before shoving down into his seat. He necked back some water and wiped his chin.

  “He was thirty-five and a loser,” he snapped, closing the lid of his bottle. “I told him to take a hike. She can do better.”

  “Well, that was gallant of you,” Win shot at him, throwing him a look only he noticed. He stuck out his tongue like a two-year-old.

  Ella rolled her eyes. “Don’t fight you two. I’m getting my things, and we can leave.”

  Luke stretched out his long legs, blocking her path as she tried to pass him. Ella smiled and gave him a playful shove. Win folded her arms, resting her chin on them, watching Luke with a keen gaze as he wilfully tried to ignore her.

  “Stop looking at me like that.” He shoved her sneakers with his boot. Over the summer, he had put on weight, mostly because he ate at the diner, but it suited him. Win dreaded to think of what he must have lived on at home, under Spencer’s watchful eye. His shoulders were broader and more muscular, and his usually pale skin was golden brown. Win could understand why Ella had such a crush on him.

  “Why are you in such a mood?”

  Luke bit at his nails. “I’m not.” He sat up and wagged a finger at her. “You know, just because you're hooking up with the forest commando, don’t try and keep fixing Ella up with jerks. There’s no one decent around here for her.”

  Win opened her mouth, aghast. “Four guys have asked her out since she started working here. Not all of them were thirty-five! You’ve blocked them all. It’s so obvious, Luke.”

  He held up his hand in defense. “Don’t Win. I’m stressed, and Rosene is coming back in two days. Plus, not to mention I have to get loads of paperwork together for Grandfather’s estate….”

  “Why would Rosene coming home be a problem? You broke up with her, right?”

  Luke tapped his fingers on the iron table, his steel-blue gaze averted in the other direction, lips pressed together thinly. Win ignored a pang of annoyance. She stared at his profile but said nothing, fighting back a prickle of anxiety. She couldn’t stand it if he were using them all summer, to while away the time until his rich girlfriend got back. Win refused to believe it. This summer had been the most fun she’d had.

  “I said we’d talk when she got home is all,” Luke admitted, finally throwing his blue eyes her way. He swallowed, visibly uncomfortable, and Win grabbed his forearm.

  “Please don’t hurt Ella,” she whispered, and Luke groaned like he’d heard this one too many times now.

  “Listen, I know you think you can read me…read us with your special traits, but you’ve got it wrong. There’s nothing going on between Ella and me.”

  Win laughed it off, watching as Luke took out his phone, pretending to be enthralled as he scrolled through his social media. Her gaze was drawn to the sidewalk, a figure standing in the doorway of the local bookstore. Win shivered as the figure ducked back inside. Jennifer Riley had been staring at her the whole time, her eyes hot and watchful. Win had been mindful to avoid the strange, dark-haired lady where she co
uld over the last couple of months. But this wasn’t the first time she’d caught her looking.

  Win shook off the chill crossing her neck as Ella appeared in the doorway of the bar, giving them a wave. Win stood up too fast and swayed. She instinctively grabbed Luke’s arm, and he caught her. She closed her eyes. “I’m dizzy.”

  “Sit back down,” Luke said with concern, taking her by the upper arms. Something in her head snapped. Her vision swam and blurred, grey spots crossing over her eyes like a mist. Pain exploded in her head. Her vision swam, a sensation Win hadn’t experienced for a long time. Strikes of white-hot venom shot through her temple. She cried out and fell to the sidewalk. Muffled voices of her friends faded into the background, and a faint voice broke through the din, repeating the same thing over and over again.

  She bent double, her palms finding hot concrete. Pain washed over again, she swore under her breath. Ella was talking to her, holding her arm, but Win couldn’t form words. Instead, mist formed into shapes. She saw a room, a rusty metal door with a heavy steel lock. Voices, faint but urgent, called out to her from inside

  Find Iris. You’ve got to find Iris.

  Two

  HUES OF TWILIGHT crawled sleepily across Win’s bedroom floor, where she lay on top of her sheets. She barely remembered the drive home, only her head lolling around on the back seat of Ella’s car. Gingerly she sat up, the air thick and humid. She staggered across to her bedroom window, jerking the frame upwards to let in some cool air. Slumping in her chair, she sagged back into the cushions, her head still spinning.

  “Who is Iris?” A voice drifted from the corner, and Win jumped in fright. She hadn’t noticed Rowan perched on the end of her bed, skulking in the shadows.

  Win grasped at her chest. “You scared me.”

  Rowan slipped across the room, sitting at Win’s feet on the slatted floor. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I cut my shift early. I was so worried.”