Jonah, the man, was strong enough. He’d always been a physically intimidating force to reckon with, but Jonah the bear? He was lethal with a single swipe of his mighty claws. His nose sniffed the air and the ground around them, searching for a trail but coming up empty. She appreciated all the effort he was putting into finding Heidi. Maggie could see his determination and she loved him for it.
They walked on for what seemed like hours and the sun eventually began to sink in the sky. It wouldn’t be much longer before they’d have to set up camp for the night. They were going to need food in their bellies and shelter for the night. Not to mention rest if they were going to pick up again at first light, but Jonah seemed so focused that she didn’t want to interrupt him.
They had branched off in another direction, but still following a northeast course. Miles were separating them from the cabin and an untold distance between them and the other members of their little search party. No flares lit the sky, so she knew the other men were still searching for Heidi as well and with no luck.
Maggie was no longer able to recognize their surroundings. While she could probably find her way back to the cabin, she was in an area of No-Man’s-Land that she’d never been in before. It made her glad that Jonah was with her.
When they came to the edge of a narrow river, she stopped him.
“Jonah,” she said, placing her hand on the soft fur of his side. He turned his head toward her, his eyes curious as he looked at her. “We have to stop for the night.”
He glanced at the horizon and then the water in front of them. They’d been searching for almost twelve hours. Her body ached, and hunger gnawed her insides. She didn’t know if she had another mile in her and this seemed the perfect place to stop.
A sigh of relief escaped her when she saw the small nod of his head. She shrugged her pack off her back and was taking a step toward Jonah to help him, but then stopped when she saw the vibrations in his fur. Seconds later, he was standing on two legs in front of her, rope tangled around his body and his pack on the ground behind him.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t find her today,” he said, untying the knots at his chest.
“It’s alright. We’ll search again tomorrow.” Maggie tried not to sound as hopeless as she felt. It seemed like Heidi had just vanished into thin air. Frustration didn’t even begin to describe what she was feeling at that moment.
His palm, heavy on her shoulder, had more than a reassuring effect on her. The heat radiating off him – most likely from his recent shift – soaked into her through her many layers of fabric. She’d been chilled before, but now she felt as if she were burning up. Sweat beaded on her brow and forced herself to stay looking at his handsome face rather than let her gaze travel.
She almost breathed a sigh of relief when he dropped his hand and turned his back to her, but then he squatted down and all she could focus on was his glorious backside and the hard muscles of his back.
Maggie had to force herself to look away. Maybe he was giving off some powerful shifter pheromones or maybe it had just been so long since the last time she’d had sex – eight years was a ridiculously long time – but it took everything she had in her to keep her hands to herself.
She started clearing an area for them to make a fire and gathering twigs and the driest branches she could find while he dressed. Maggie could almost hear Heidi’s voice in her head, lecturing her. Heidi would tell her to go for it and damn the consequences, but Maggie had more sense than that.
As kind as he was to her, as hard as he was working looking for Heidi, there was still the glaring fact that he’d hurt her. Not just hurt her but had forcibly removed her heart from her chest and then stomped it into the dirt. She didn’t know if the reason why she didn’t date was because of the hours she’d been working or just because she wasn’t over him. She’d never come close to being over him and it had been eight years since the last time she’d seen him.
Heidi knew bits and pieces, as did the rest of her friends, and they’d all encouraged her to get out, but Maggie never could. She blamed it on other things such as time and responsibilities, but in truth, she hadn’t wanted to. The only man she’d ever wanted had been Jonah, but how in the hell could she trust that he wouldn’t destroy her all over again.
Lord knew she wouldn’t recover if history repeated itself one more time.
Focus on finding Heidi and go home, she told herself again. But somehow, it just felt like another lie. Even if they found Heidi, she doubted she’d ever return to Cantor again.
Jonah’s instinct was clouding his thoughts and his judgment.
Logically, he knew what his focus was. Find the girl and ensure her safety. Instinctually, it was to make sure Maggie never left New Freedom again. Finding Heidi was the fastest way to send her on her way.
Maggie had needed his help. If not for that, she probably never would’ve come looking for him. Yet, here they were. In the middle of No-Man’s-Land, searching for a girl most likely stolen by the fae and all he could think about was the one woman he’d been determined to make his since he was ten years old.
A growl of frustration started in his chest. He knew he needed to focus on the girl, but instead, he kept jumping back to Maggie. Now that his being a shifter was no longer a barrier, this may be the last chance Jonah had to convince Maggie to stay. To convince her to forgive him for his own stupidity.
He didn’t even know how she felt about him if anything at all. Maybe she’d moved on. Hell, maybe she had a boyfriend waiting for her back at home. The thought made him cringe, anger whirled inside him. No, she didn’t, he reminded himself. He would’ve smelled a male on her if that was the case.
Instead, all he’d smelled was Maggie’s sweet perfume and the small hints of the magic she carried. Those emerald greens had watched as he’d shifter earlier. No repulsion, no distrust had shown on her face. Just curiosity. Now, if only he could get her to forgive him for being a jerk and a moron…
He’d do that right after he put some clothes on.
Next, he set up the tent. After years of practice, it took no time at all. Maggie had just gotten the fire started when he finished. His stomach grumbled, and he realized she must be starving as well. He could always have a protein bar, but fresh meat would give them more energy than any of the artificial stuff. After their long day and nothing more to eat except a little bit of trail mix, he needed to feed them both.
“Will you fill the water bottles while I go fishing?” he asked her.
“Fishing?” she asked, looking up at him from where she crouched next to the fire. “It’s almost dark.”
Did he detect a hint of worry in her voice? “I won’t be gone long.”
“Alright,” she said. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Don’t forget you have the flare if you need it,” he told her. He had no intention of leaving her for very long or going outside of shouting distance, but he felt the need to remind her just in case. “I’ll be back soon.”
Jonah left her by the campfire. When he was a few yards away, he stopped and stripped out of his clothes. Shifting was quick and a second later he was in his favored bear form. Following the river, he stopped at the top of a steep slope where the river turned into a small waterfall. It wasn’t a far drop, but it increased the current enough for his liking.
He padded into the water and stood as still as he could as the chilly water rushed around him. The waxing moon was rising in the sky, the meager light giving him plenty to see movement beneath the surface.
The fact that Heidi hadn’t be found just provided support to his theory that she was taken. If she was just lost, the probability was high that they would’ve seen her already. Something else was going on.
The only thing at that point he could think of doing was going to see Liam. The dragon may have seen something in his late-night flights, although it was doubtful. But it certainly couldn’t hurt to ask him. All he had to do was cross the river to be in his territory. They weren’t
too far from the main entrance to the dragon’s cave.
He smiled to himself at the memory of the day he and Maggie had found the back door. The day he first kissed her. So many things had changed since then, but one thing was constant.
Maggie.
He’d feed her and let her rest, then at first light he’d search out Liam. If he was lucky, Liam had seen Heidi and then they’d have an idea of where the girl was. If he hadn’t seen the girl, then they were in no worse shape than they already were.
Of course, he wouldn’t be able to take Maggie with him. He would have to let her know where he was going, but Liam wouldn’t take too kindly at having a human showing up at his cave, even if she came with Jonah.
When something brushed his leg, he batted it from the water. The fat trout landed on the embankment, thrashing on the mud. He captured it in his teeth, deciding it would make a good dinner for the two of them. Happy with the catch, he made his way back to camp.
9
Maggie knew better than to worry. After all, she’d slept in the woods before and she’d done it alone. But the longer Jonah was gone, the more apprehensive she became.
The idea of fresh meat sounded terrific. The food she had packed wasn’t much above snacks and while they would satisfy her hunger, it would only last so long.
While she had some privacy, she stripped down and left her clothes next to the fire, folded on top of her boots. She retrieved the tiny bar of soap she had packed as well as the empty water bottles.
Gasping as the cold water rushed around her feet, she waded in up to her knees. It was going to be a quick dip, but she was desperate to get the sweat and dirt off her skin. She stunk. After she filled the water bottles, she left them on the riverbank and waded further out.
The water skimmed the top of her thighs at the deepest point. Shivering, she dunked the soap into the water and hurriedly lathered up her skin. Taking a deep breath, she sunk into the water to get the soap off before jumping up and scurried from the water. Standing next to the glorious flames from the fire, she made quick work of drying herself with a clean shirt.
The pair of sweats she had packed were bunched at the bottom of the pack and she cursed that she hadn’t taken the time to get them out before getting into the freezing water. She was pulling the pants out of the bag when she heard the sharp snap of a twig behind her.
Maggie spun around, sweatpants clutched to her breasts. Jonah stood there, eyes focused on her.
“Jesus!”
“I’m sorry,” he sputtered before turning his back to her even though he’d probably already seen everything she had. Not that he hadn’t already seen it before.
Maggie’s face burned hotter than the fire as she thrust her legs into the pants and jerked the sweatshirt on over her head. Between the freezing temperatures and being caught wearing nothing but what God gave her, she was done washing in the river.
“Are you decent?”
Pulled down the hem of her shirt, she replied, “Yes.”
When he turned, she avoided his eyes and went back to her pack to search for a clean pair of socks. Clearing his throat, Jonah stepped toward the fire.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were changing.”
“I didn’t realize you’d be back so quickly,” she responded, pulling out the socks. She sat on the ground and pulled the thick wool over her feet before rubbing the warmth back into her toes. “So, you caught a fish?”
“Yes. I hope you like trout.”
“Fresh trout sounds a lot better than trail mix and a pack of tuna.”
The corner of his mouth lifted, and she couldn’t help the fluttering that started in her chest. She mentally shook herself before getting up and moving around their campsite to get her things back in order, so she’d be ready to leave at first light. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved, but he said nothing as he worked on preparing their dinner.
She sat down next to the fire when she was done. Jonah was turning the fish on the skewer he’d made. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs. While she stared into the flames, she could see his continued glances in her periphery.
He was making her uncomfortable, not because she didn’t like him looking at her, but because she liked it too much. The thought of Heidi never left her mind, but she still had to continue reminding herself that once they found her, she’d be gone. She refused to leave New Freedom with another broken heart, but she could feel his pull and she’d never been able to ignore it before.
Maybe…maybe she didn’t have to leave New Freedom.
The mental slap she gave herself was almost audible. This was the exact situation she’d feared. It was the number one reason why she’d brought Heidi with her in the first place. Part of her had known that as soon as she was around Jonah again, this would happen. She’d be sucked right back in as if she’d never left.
More annoyed with herself than hip, her head snapped up and met the grey of his eyes. “Why do you keep looking at me?”
“I can see the shifter in you.”
That had not been what she’d expected to hear. Perhaps an apology or a denial. “What?”
“I never noticed it before, but it’s the way you move,” he said, turning the skewer again.
“What do you mean?”
“You glide. It’s a shifter trait to be able to move almost as if you’re part of nature. I’ve never noticed it with any human before. Usually they stomp around like they own the territory, but you move as if you belong here. As if these woods are a part of you.”
Sucked right back in. “Oh.”
“It makes sense, though. You have shifter blood. Have you ever tried shifting?” Jonah may be right that she had shifter blood, but it was still diluted by her human mother and her Incapace father.
She laughed. “No. I can’t shift.”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve never known an Incapace before, but I’ve always heard that their children were still able to shift.”
“It makes sense that those children would shift if at least one parent were a shifter, but my mother was human.”
“Shifters and humans produce offspring that can shift.”
Maggie tilted her head. “And how do you know that? The only reason my father could marry my mother was that he was an Incapace. It was his choice whether he wanted to live as human or shifter.”
“What do you think shifters did before they joined the Netherworld council? That was only a hundred years ago. Shifters mated and married humans regularly and produced shifter offspring. If they hadn’t, we’d be so inbred right now I doubt we’d even be able to shift at all. The only reason that changed was because of the council laws, which are ridiculous if you ask me.”
Jonah pulled the skewer away from the fire and prodded the fat part of the fish before thrusting it back over the small flame. It was strange speaking to someone else besides her father regarding Netherworld politics. Beyond her father’s opinions and statement of facts, she didn’t hear anything else about it and his knowledge of the history was limited.
“Then why even join the council?” she asked him, genuinely curious.
Jonah shrugged. “I guess for the same reason any of the others join, I suspect. Protection. Slayers realized what we were, and shifters were fighting with the vampires at the time.”
“Really? I hadn’t heard about the vampires. I’ve only ever heard about fighting with the fae.”
He grunted and pulled the fish off the fire. “The fighting with the vampires ended the day shifters joined the Netherworld. When New Freedom began to grow a few decades later is when the disputes with the fae started. I’d take a vampire over a fae any day.”
She raised a brow. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re only fighting them at night and most of them were human at one point, so even with the vampire abilities, they’re not much to worry about. There are exceptions, however. I’d never want to fight a shifter-vamp.”<
br />
Shifter-vamp? She’d always thought vampires were just regular run of the mill vampires, the traditional blood-sucking, never dying, variety.
“What’s a shifter-vamp?”
“A shifter that’s been turned vampire,” he said putting the fish onto a metal plate that was sitting in his lap. He began pulling small bones from the meat with the help of his pocketknife.
“What makes them different?”
“The thing with vampires is that whoever is turned remains what they were initially, essentially. So, a human who is turned remains human with the extra vampire benefit. A shifter who is turned will remain a shifter, with the extra vampire benefit of increased speed, healing, immortality, and the rest of that stuff.”
“And allegiance to vampires?”
“Exactly. Becoming a vampire messes with your mind and I imagine it’s easier for your allegiance to change once you’re immortal and you begin watching the people you loved in life start to die around you.”
Maggie chewed her lip. “Any of the others can be changed into a vampire?” she asked, her mind racing with all the possibilities. A vampire-werewolf hybrid would be a nasty one, just off the top of her head.
“All except dragons.”
“Why not a dragon?”
He shrugged. “I always thought it had to do with the fire. Vampires are killed by fire and since there’s fire inside a dragon it would kill the vampire part, but I’m not sure. Maybe their teeth just can’t penetrate the skin.”
She’d never want to come face to face with a dragon. She shivered at the thought of it. “So, shifters were fighting with vampires and now they’re fighting with the fae. Is it only New Freedom?”
“Yes,” he said, flicking a pin bone off the tip of his finger.
“I always thought it was worldwide.”
When Sparks Fly (Netherworld Series Book 3) Page 12
