He never went out into the woods unarmed anymore. Never knowing what he would find, he learned over the years it was best to be prepared for anything. The hungry bears coming out of hibernation were the least of their worries. He was far more concerned with how violent the fae had become in the recent months.
Jonah pulled on his coat and slung the pack onto his back, followed by the rifle. Maggie stood next to the SUV with her backpack on and her hands wrapped around the barrel of the shotgun.
“Do you have a flashlight?” he asked her as he picked up his own flashlight and shut the hatch.
“Yes.” She put the shotgun over her shoulder and reached behind her to pull a small light out of her back pocket. She flipped it on and pointed it out in the direction they were about to go.
He flipped on his own light, much larger than hers, and pocketed the keys to the SUV. The rain stayed a steady drizzle as Maggie stepped ahead of him. He followed close behind her as they made their way away from the car and the cabin through the trees. If she hadn’t been with him, he could’ve shifted and been off, but as it was he went as fast as Maggie could go. She couldn’t exactly go running through the woods in the dark with only the tiny flashlight to light the way. She’d end up face down in the mud with a sprained ankle if he pushed her any faster.
They reached the top of the ravine within thirty minutes. Looking around he saw no traces of Heidi even with his keen eyesight.
“This is where she fell,” Maggie said, pointing over the ledge.
It was a sheer rock face straight down to the forest floor. Pine trees blocked out the ground beneath them, making it impossible to see her down there.
“Heidi!” Maggie yelled beside him and when she quieted to listen for a reply, he heard none. No moans, no whimpers. Nothing.
“What’s the best way to get down there?” she asked him after a second.
“We walk this way,” he said, pointing to the east. “In a quarter mile or so the ground slopes enough that we should be able to get down without too much difficulty.
She nodded in the darkness. He listened to her footsteps as she followed behind him, walking a few feet away from the edge of the ravine. He glanced back at her a few times when he heard her stumble, but she always caught herself before she lost her balance enough to fall.
The rain fell more steadily than it had when they first left the SUV, soaking through his pant legs. His jacket was waterproof, but his exposed skin was dripping, and water landed in his eyes. They trudged through the mud and overgrowth until they reached a point where Jonah felt it was safe enough to jump. It was perhaps a seven-foot drop down at that point and the ground was clear enough for him to land safely.
He didn’t like entering No-Man’s-Land, but right now he didn’t have a choice. He had to get to the girl. It wasn’t just his job, it was the right thing to do. He prayed that she was still alive, but he feared the worst. Taking a deep breath, he scanned the area.
“Here,” he said, raising his voice enough so Maggie could hear him over the rain and the blowing wind.
“Here? We can’t get down there. I’ll break my neck!” She shook her head and took a step back.
“I’ll go down first and help you down. Don’t worry. I’ve done this before,” he said, attempting to ease her fears.
He held out his flashlight to her and when she didn’t take it, he grabbed her hand and put the flashlight in it. He removed his pack and rifle and put them down on the driest spot he could find. The last thing he needed was for something to get in his way when he already wasn’t one hundred percent certain of the ground he was going to end up on. He was already in danger of sliding when he landed.
Approaching the side, he looked over and saw where he wanted to land. Taking a deep breath, he leaped off the side of the ledge and landed on his feet. His boots slid slightly in the mud, but he caught himself without issue. Turning, he looked up at her. She was standing on the edge, pointing to flashlight at him.
“You okay?” she yelled over the rain.
“Yes. Hand me my pack and rifle,” he instructed.
She crouched down to hand them to him and he set them on the ground next to him, propping the rifle up on the pack so it wouldn’t sit in the mud.
“Now your bag and the shotgun.” He took them from her when she bent down to hand them to him.
“Flashlights,” he said, reaching up again.
“But I won’t be able to see anything.”
“I can see you.” She frowned but complied. He didn’t bother turning off the light before putting them in the pockets of his jacket.
“Handing you all this stuff doesn’t solve the problem of how I’m going to get down,” she told him, arms folded over her chest.
“Sit on the edge and I’ll lift you down.”
“We’re going to end up in a heap on the ground if you try that. I’m too heavy.”
“You’re not. It’s the only option unless you want to jump, and I don’t recommend that.”
She shook her head and carefully lowered herself to the ground. Sitting on the edge, her legs dangled in front of him. His arms stretched up above his head, he was able to reach and grasp her thighs.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he lowered her down, her body sliding down the front of his. When they were face to face, he saw the slight glimmer on her skin. Taking a deep breath, he smelled that subtle, yet distinct scent that was mixed with her own and confirmed what he’d seen.
The woman was covered in magic.
Shifters were able to see or smell magic the way some of the other species were. However, when they were up close and personal with a witch or someone who had recently practiced, they were able to detect the effects magic had on the body. The scent itself wasn’t unpleasant, it was a sweet smell that reminded him of wildflowers and fresh rain, but it wasn’t her natural scent – a scent he much preferred.
He put her on her feet a second later and handed her flashlight back to her. She picked up her bag when she said, “Thank you for not dropping me.”
“I’d never drop you.” Jonah slung the pack over his shoulder and jerked his chin in the direction they needed to go. “Come on.”
He led the way as they made their way through the trees. She stayed close behind him. The shelter from the dense pine helped keep the rain off them, but it was still coming down. If the wind continued to pick up the way it was it wouldn’t be long before the there was no shelter to be had.
Between the wind and rain, they wouldn’t be able to stay in the woods for very long, especially with the temperature dropping like it was. Even he wasn’t immune to hypothermia, although he was more concerned about Maggie than he was about himself.
If he hadn’t been looking for the place where Heidi had fallen, he would have missed it. The only indications she had been there being the branches and pine needles that covered the forest floor.
“Where is she?” Maggie asked, her voice distressed. “I don’t see her. Do you see her?”
“I don’t see her,” he yelled over the storm.
“This has to be the spot. This has to be where she fell.” She pointed the flashlight up at the branches in the trees, which were rocking with the force of the wind. Rain pelted her face.
Jonah shook his head, perplexed. The girl wasn’t there. As far as he could see there were no signs of her. Crouching down, he saw an empty water bottle lodged in some brush.
He lifted it toward Maggie.
“Was she drinking water?” he asked her.
She snatched the bottle from his hand. “Yes, I gave her that.”
“Then this is where she fell, or pretty close to.”
“Where is she then?” Maggie's voice raised to a nearly hysterical pitch. She shone the flashlight around them and screamed, “Heidi!”
Jonah wandered away from where Maggie stood, careful to keep her in his line of sight. He scanned the area. There were no apparent footprints that didn’t belong to himself or Maggie. His eyes focused on a
splotch of red on one of the branches.
It wasn’t more than a trace of blood. He bent to catch the scent, but it was difficult even with his senses between the rain and the raging wind. Based upon the location of the body, and well, her missing body, he could only deduce she was still alive. There was nothing large enough in the area to drag off a human without leaving blood and remnants of her everywhere.
If Heidi was alive and well – or well enough to get up and walk away – then where the hell was she?
There was no response that he could make out to Maggie’s screaming. He was scanning the ground when he felt her hand on his arm.
“Do you see anything?” she asked him.
“No. Everything’s been washed away.”
“But she’s not here, so she has to be alive.”
“She’s alive,” he said with certainty. “If she’s injured than she couldn’t have gone far.”
They walked around the area she fell, Maggie screaming Heidi’s name the entire time they searched. Their flashlights scanned the area and still, he saw no trace of her. Thunder cracked, shaking the trees around there. Lightning lit up the night as if it were the middle of the day. Still, they found nothing.
“We can’t stay out here,” he told her when he caught sight of Maggie’s violent shivers. Her face was pale, her wet hair plastered to her face.
“We can’t leave without Heidi.” Maggie stepped away from him and screamed her friend’s name again.
The downpour was only becoming progressively worse and they were smack dab in the middle of it. He was soaked, his feet sliding on the wet, water-logged ground. He didn’t want to leave the girl in the woods by herself, but they were in no condition to continue looking for her.
Thunder crashed. Jonah’s eardrums rattled. Lightning blasted from the sky, smacking a large pine in front of them. Wrapping his arms around her middle, he jerked Maggie to the ground. Wood splintered and shot like missiles through the air.
He threw his body over her in an almost futile attempt to protect her from the elements. Branches and pine needles stung his back as he sheltered her from the chaos. After a moment, he rose, and pain radiated down his spine. He’d be bruised tomorrow but at least the lightning had struck the tree and not them.
“We’re going back!” he yelled over the storm.
Her eyes were wide as she stared at what was left of the tree. “What about Heidi?”
“Pray she found shelter.”
“I don’t want to leave without her!”
“I’m not about to risk our lives to keep looking. We’ll come back when the storm blows over.” He grabbed her hand and gave a slight tug, urging her to go back with him without a fight.
Finally, she nodded. The lightning had been a close call and he was thankful he didn’t have to push the issue. There was no way he was going to continue risking her life in the search for a girl who hopefully had enough sense to find shelter until the storm blew over.
Maggie’s shoulders sunk as she turned back toward the bottom of the ravine. They followed the same path they had taken to get down to where Heidi fell, moving slower than Jonah would’ve liked. The wind pushed against him, his feet sliding over the ground.
“Here,” he said, stopping her by putting his hand on her shoulder and pointing toward a steep incline he’d thought they could manage.
She nodded and went in front of him, grasping branches to stabilize herself when she started to slide back. He was behind her, testing the ground before he put his weight down.
Maggie yelped, and he jerked his head up. Her feet came out from underneath her as she fell forward. She gripped a tree branch, struggling to hold her upper body off the ground as she tried to get her feet back underneath her.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, helping her regain her balance. When she got her feet back under her, he kept a grip on her arm to steady her as they made their way back to the cabin.
He’d seen no signs of the medical team, figuring Travis must have held them back due to the storm. He shook his head. There were more calls to make and a search party to organize now. He just prayed that they were the ones to find the lost human first and not the fae.
7
The rain pelted Maggie’s face, blinding her. She was so cold, she was almost numb. Branches scraped against her skin, but she could barely feel it. Her muscles were cramped and so focused on taking one step after another.
She couldn’t really argue with him when he had insisted they turn back. Although she was going to find Heidi, she also knew she’d be no use to her friend if she didn’t take care of herself. Her wet clothes stuck to her skin.
If Jonah hadn’t been helping her along, she would’ve hit the ground countless times. Each time she slipped, he caught her and put her back on her feet. The closer to the cabin they got, the worse it became. She’d lost the feeling in her legs and feet, making each step more difficult.
When the beam from her flashlight caught the edge of the cabin, she breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been any further away, she didn’t think she would’ve made it. Grasping the doorknob in her hand, she turned it and swung the door open.
It was considerably warmer inside than it was in the wind and rain outside. The sudden temperature change made her muscles cramp and she grunted her discomfort. Jonah followed her inside, closing the door behind him and shutting out the howling of the wind.
“Go change your clothes and get dry,” he told her. “I’ll stay out here.”
“Okay,” she said in agreement. Rain beat against the roof as she went straight into the bedroom and shed her sopping clothes.
Maggie peeled off each layer of fabric in the dark, tossing them to the ground in a rush to get them off her. Naked, she grabbed a towel from the closet and rubbed her skin until it burned. She lit the oil lamp in the bedroom and pulled on a pair of sweats. With a thick pair of wool socks on her feet, she towel dried her hair.
She started a small fire quickly in the bedroom’s wood stove and held her hands in front of the flames. Heat soaked into her skin. Her teeth chattered but she was grateful for any ounce of heat she could absorb. As the numbness ebbed away, she sighed. She was still cold, but nothing compared to before. Going out there and searching for Heidi in the freezing rain had been stupid on her behalf. She knew better than to go out in harsh weather conditions without the appropriate gear.
The front door opened and closed twice before she heard Jonah moving around the living area. Wrapped in the bed’s blanket, her body still shaking, she went out to meet him. He was crouched down in front of the other wood stove, tossing more logs onto the fire.
He was wearing dry clothes, a pair of khaki cargo pants and a long-sleeved black shirt. He had socks on his feet. He had lit the oil lamp that was sitting on the small round kitchen table and the single flame cast a decent amount of light in the room.
“Thank you,” she told him as she stepped into the living room.
He nodded, standing to his feet. “I’ll head out again at first light.”
“You know I’m going with you, right?”
At first, she thought he’d disagree. He frowned at her, but she met his grey eyes, challenging him to say no.
Much to her relief, he didn’t argue. “I don’t think I’d be able to stop you if I wanted to.”
She went over to the sink and began filling up the kettle with water. She put it on the small camping stove to wait for it to boil.
“I spoke to Travis,” he said after a minute. “He’s already started organizing different search parties.”
“How many search parties?”
“Well, you and I will pick up where we left off and head due north. There will be two other groups of two, one heading east and the other heading west. Hopefully, we’ll find her quickly. Travis alerted some of the locals to keep an eye out for her in case she happens back this way and he said he’ll check the cabin regularly.”
Maggie nodded. His plan was sound. “Do you want a cup of tea
?”
“No, thank you,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to head back to my place if you’re okay. There are some supplies I need to pull together before we leave.”
“Alright.” She had her own supplies to gather together. Once she started to feel like herself again.
“I’ll be back before dawn and we’ll head out then. If you’re determined to go with me, make sure you pack appropriately. I don’t know how long it’ll take to find her and I don’t want to come back to town until we do.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to find her?” she asked, alarmed. “She couldn’t have wandered that far.”
“I hope it’ll be pretty quick, but on the off chance it’s not, I don’t want to waste time.”
Jonah was thinking clearer than she was, she realized. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. She nodded. She’d follow his lead.
He moved toward the door. Pulling out a chair, he sat down and pulled on his boots. Maggie placed the tea bag in her mug and poured the hot water over it, not bothering to wait for it to boil. Thunder clashed outside, and she worried about him driving home in a mess.
When his shoes were laced, he stood and pushed the chair back in. “Do you need me to do anything before I go?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” She had plenty of firewood inside and there was nothing she could think of that she couldn’t do herself.
His mouth was a thin line as he regarded her, his brows drawn. “Maggie…,” he started after a moment.
“Yes?”
He dropped his head. “No, it’s nothing. I’ll see you in the morning.” He swung his jacket on and grabbed his keys out of his pocket. “Get some rest,” he told her as he went out the front door.
She stared at the closed door for a long moment. Maggie didn’t know what he’d been about to say, but she knew whatever it was, she probably wasn’t ready to hear it. With a sigh, she left the door unlocked in case Heidi decided to miraculously appear in the middle of the night and went to sit in front of the wood stove.
When Sparks Fly (Netherworld Series Book 3) Page 9
