by Jade Wolfe
"It's about damned time you showed up," a strange voice said in the darkness.
I froze. I didn't know who was talking. Hell, I wasn't even sure what direction the voice was coming from, or whether it was male or female. Was it tha witch Isadora? Did she think I was Miranda? I pushed myself against the wall as best I could and pulled my knife from my boot.
With my free hand I tried again to create a ball of fire. Nothing happened - I couldn't tap into the ambient energy necessary to fuel the fire. My magic was no good here.
Chapter Six
I didn't dare breathe. If I couldn't pinpoint the intruders, then maybe they had the same problem and didn't know exactly where I was in the space, either. That could be an advantage, and without my magic, I needed all the advantages I could get. The shuffling sounded again, closer, but not close enough yet. I silently shifted my weight to the balls of my feet and made my way to the other wall of the cavern, just to confuse things a little more.
Whoever it was, they weren’t turning on any light. They knew that the moment they did, I could nail down their location and defend myself.
Something brushed past me in the dark. Cloth. A coat? A dress hem? I didn't know. I stood up.
My chest was about to burst. I needed air badly. There were some witches who could track the breath, though. They were attuned to the Air Elemental in a way that they could see any disturbance, see an actual ripple of expelled air. I didn't know if this person had that ability or not, but I wasn't taking any chances.
Another shuffle helped me pick out that the person was on my left, but the cavern was wide enough that that didn't help me much. I wished they'd speak again.
I covered my face with the crook of my arm and let out the smallest sip of breath, then sucked in cool air. It felt better, but it wasn't enough. I was going to need more soon, but for now it would have to do.
"Come out, come out, Indigo."
First of all, the disembodied sing song voice was creepy as hell. Second, who was this? They weren’t after Miranda – they were after me. But why? I was a complete unknown in the world of the supernatural. Yet...this person knew my name. Maybe I was all wrong, assuming that the witch was Isadora. Maybe, just maybe, Christa had finally come back. I was surprised enough that I gasped a little.
"So there you are."
This wasn’t Christa’s voice, though.
The shuffle turned into a step. It was close, an arm's length from my right hand.
Perfect.
I adjusted the knife and arced it out, the blade aimed backward. It should connect to - someone let out a yelp and fell heavily.
Someone else grabbed me from behind and flipped me face first to the ground. They put what felt like a knee between my shoulder blades. I groaned and tasted dirt. Spit it out. I tried to push up, but my attacker's weight was too much for me. I twisted my neck around, trying to see...well, anything...but it was like having a blindfold on. The person on top of me grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm backwards, holding it with cold hands.
I should have paid more attention. I should have been able to pick up on a second being, even in the darkness. My single-minded concentration had gotten me into trouble.
No matter what I did, no matter how I shook my head or struggled, I couldn’t get out from under the weight, and it took me a minute to realize that I was panicking. I forced myself to calm down before I accidentally dislocated my badly bent shoulder. If I could just get my hands under my chest, I’d have more leverage to shove upward and knock them off me.
I was trying to do just that when a sharp blow behind my ear snapped my head sideways. "Hold still," a voice hissed. I didn't know if it was the same voice as before or a different one.
"Ow, shit," I groaned.
The figure now kneeling on my back stopped moving. Her hands loosened on my wrist and I slipped my arm free. "That should have knocked you out," she muttered - definitely a she.
"Sorry? I guess?" I got my hands under me and bucked upward, twisting sideways with my hips to throw her off. With the proper force she was light, and I was betting she was the small person who'd made those footprints.
She landed somewhere off to my left with a grunt. I was two for two. I hadn't heard a sound from whoever I stabbed.
Before she could catch her breath I was up and running. I had no idea which way I was going, back toward the entrance or deeper into the cave, but I couldn't stop to figure it out now. My feet pounded on the dirt and I kicked rocks as I ran. They bounced off the walls, making it easy for the woman to track me, but I wasn't slowing down until I got to the light, any light.
My shoulder brushed against the rock wall, telling me that I was veering off to the left. I corrected and tripped over something soft on the ground, nearly falling before I caught myself against the stone and pushed off again.
I should have been out by now. I should be through the magical barrier and in the light of the morning on the mountain. I slowed and glanced back over my shoulder, looking for...anything. Anything at all.
I realized that no one was following me. At least, I couldn't hear movement. The darkness felt empty, which didn't make sense, but it was true. Whoever she was, whoever I'd stabbed, they weren't chasing me.
I stopped and leaned against the wall, partly to catch my breath and partly to listen. I had to be wrong. Why would they go to so much trouble to attack me, just to let me go?
I looked - or tried to look - both ways, but there was no light.
I stood up and realized that I was turned around. I wasn't sure which way I'd been running. Damn. I might be walking right back into their trap. I missed my magic.
I took a moment to try to connect to the earth's energy. I needed light. I was starting to get vertigo. Just in case, I tried to pull up a flicker of fire, but nothing happened.
Well, I couldn't stay here. Stomach churning, I picked a direction and walked, trailing my hand along the wall and listening closely for voices.
I didn't know how long I'd been moving, but eventually my eyes began to make out the faintest hints of my surroundings. The bumpy texture of the wall, the scuff of pale dirt on the ground beneath my feet, even what might be a stick here and there. At first I thought it was my imagination, my brain filling in what my eyes wanted to perceive. But then I felt the familiar jolt of the magical barrier and started to jog.
I made it to the front of the cave a few minutes later. No woman, no stabbing victim, nothing. Where had they gone, and why would they leave knowing I was trapped back in that cave? I didn't know, and at the moment I didn't care. The bright morning sun made my eyes water, but I wiped it away and headed for home.
I was partway back to Lucy's house when Myla caught up with me.
"Hey, girl," I panted, slowing my jog a little so that I could talk. I glanced over my shoulder for the hundredth time, just to be sure I wasn't being followed.
The pressure of her thoughts tingled in my head. Trouble.
"You've got that right."
Barrier is down. Wolves are loose.
I stopped, stunned. Turned to face her, look her in her golden eyes. “What did you say?”
The barrier is down. Navarro loose.
Oh, hell no. I took off, dodging branches and debris so that I didn't end up breaking my neck before I got back to the house and help. This problem was way beyond my skill set.
I remembered that Lucy and Miranda were out of town, just when I needed them most.
I trotted across the yard to Pearl's porch, jumped the low banister, and knocked on her glass door. She didn't answer, but that just might mean she had her headphones on again. I jogged around to the side of the house and knocked on her living room window. She saw me, pointed to the front door, and waited for me to get there to let me in.
"Hey, Indigo. Come on in." She opened the door wide, but before I could slip inside, another voice said, "I thought I might find you here."
I stopped, groaned, and turned around. "Hey, Tom. What can I do for you today?"
>
He was parked in the driveway, leaning against the front fender of a dark sedan. Pearl poked her face over my shoulder to see. "This is Tom?" she whispered.
I wondered why I hadn’t noticed the car sitting there, but it didn’t really matter. "Yep. Pearl, meet Tom." I stepped aside and wished for the porch to swallow me whole. The last thing I needed right now was a reporter snooping around. All hell was about to break loose.
Pearl had no such worry. She was already halfway across the yard to where Tom's rental was parked in the driveway, sashaying prettily.
I really didn't need this right now - I needed to get rid of Tom, get Pearl's attention, and go save Wilding before it turned into a bloodbath. Navarro wolves were dangerous, and no one in Wilding knew they existed.
I followed her down into the yard, but she was already propped on the hood, giggling at something he was saying. "Pearl, I need you," I said.
"Sure." She smiled brightly and slid down off the car hood.
"No - this is going to take a while."
Tom stood up, too. "What's going on?" he asked.
"It's a family issue," I snapped. "Pearl?"
She gave him a pout. I rolled my eyes. Tom took another step in our direction. He was half turned toward Pearl, and I could tell he wanted to take charge and save her from...whatever. Guys did that a lot with Pearl, never understanding that she could poof them into the next county with a few simple words. "I might be able to help," Tom offered.
"No. You can't help. Go away, Tom."
He shot me a look, but then fumbled in his jacket pocket and handed Pearl a business card. "Call me later, all right?"
"She won't call you, dude. You're just a way to spend the afternoon."
Pearl gasped. "Indigo!"
"She's wrong, isn't she?" Tom asked. He looked like he might cry now.
"I'm not wrong. Go away, Tom."
"Pearl?"
Boy, he just wasn't giving up, was he?
"She's not wrong," Pearl said. Then she shrugged and gave him a cute little wave. "See you, Tom."
I dragged her into her house. Pearl's living room was dedicated to her pets. One entire wall was a giant habitat for guinea pigs. Tubes and tanks ran everywhere, from floor to ceiling, and the air smelled like cedar. Set in the center of this mess was a huge fish tank filled with small silver sharks. At every window there was one of those little hammock things for cats to sleep in, which I'm sure made the pigs nervous.
"What's the matter?" Pearl asked, pulling her arm out of my grip. "He was kind of cute."
I filled her in on what I knew - that there was a rogue witch loose in Red Rock, and that the barrier was down. "If the Navarro werewolves make it into Wilding, everyone is in trouble. We need to drive them away before that happens."
"We need to get Lucy and Miranda back here," she said. "I'll try to call them, but they went to some sort of meeting about the Red Rock funding. They might have their phones shut off."
That was all we needed.
I glanced out the window as I talked. Now I groaned.
"What?"
"He's still out there."
"Tom?" She looked out the window, too. "What's he doing?"
"Snooping around. It's what reporters do best." As I said that, he slipped around the side of the house. "Be right back."
"Well, don't break him!" Pearl called after me.
I wasn't making any promises. I tiptoed toward the back of the house, and went out to greet our trespasser.
He didn't hear the door open. He was busy leaning over the tall fire pit in Lucy's back yard, poking through ashes. I wasn't sure what he was looking for, unless it was a sample of Miranda's special enhanced wine, since that was where she made it. I slithered down the steps and trod carefully across the grass. I got to within five feet of him, and he still hadn't heard me, so I considered pushing him into the waist high stone structure. It was like a big barrel made out of rocks, so he'd definitely get stuck there. But then I'd have to explain to Miranda why her wine making pit had a reporter in it.
I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Can I help you with something?" I asked, crossing my arms and standing tall. He had a few inches on me, but I'd be damned if I showed him uncertainty.
He jumped about a foot in the air and let out a squeak. Then he turned around. "I'm trying to figure out what's going on around here," he said. "Care to tell me?"
"Sure." I tossed my hair back and stepped into his personal space. "We're having a small family emergency, and some idiot is trespassing in our back yard. Should I call the cops or just shoot him?"
"Shoot him?" He laughed a little.
"Stand Your Ground laws are in effect in this state, friend. Do you know what those are?"
His eyes flickered, but he lifted his chin. "I'm not resisting."
"You will be, when I'm done with you." Protecting my home, my family and our magic was more important than this guy's feelings, and I hoped for his sake that he’d let it drop and walk away.
“What does that mean?"
I stepped in even closer. My elbows brushed his chest. "It means that I saved your ass once, I might just drag you back into the woods and let you die there."
He went pale. "That's a threat."
"Accidents happen in these parks. The forestry service can't keep an eye on every idiot that goes in there. For all they know you died last night."
His eyes shifted. He knew I was right - he didn't like it, but he knew. "So you need to go now. We don't have time for you."
From the corner of my eye, at the edge of the forest across the creek, I saw movement. I tried to look without him noticing, but it didn't work. He started to turn his head. "Tom!" I snapped. "Pay attention."
Shit. What the hell was going on around here? That was Peony, coming across the creek.
Normally she wouldn't be able to do that. The barrier was solid and very, very strong. It had to be - if not, the town of Wilding would have been decimated long ago.
"Tom, you need to leave. Now."
He looked anyway.
Peony was an ogre. A cute one, but still an ogre. She was less than five feet tall and had a squat, chubby body. Today she was dressed in her overalls and bare feet, with flashy pink toenail polish on her stubby toes. Her hair was tied back into pigtails.
Tom said, "Who's that?"
"A friend. None of your business."
Peony was within a few feet of us now, but she must have seen the panic in my eyes, because she stopped and looked at us warily.
Tom turned her way. "Hello," he said, holding out his hand. Behind him, I shook my head.
She didn't answer, and she didn't shake his hand. He let it drop.
Peony looked at the ground and rubbed her wide, fat little nose. "Leave my...cousin...alone, Tom. She's shy, you might scare her."
"That's nonsense." He knelt down a little. "Hey, sweetie. How are you today?"
I pushed past to stand between him and her. "She's not a puppy. Leave her alone."
"Why is she dressed like that?"
"She can hear you," I practically shouted. "Stop talking about her like she isn’t here. It's rude." Where the hell was Pearl when I needed her to distract him? "She's got some issues and she doesn't like strangers. Get away from her."
"She's barefoot."
"So?" I glanced back at Peony, who was making a circle in the grass with her pudgy toe and trying to look like she had issues. She really just looked sad, but close enough. "Get out, Tom."
"No, I think she needs help..." He went around me and reached for Peony's hand. "Come with me, sweetie. We can -."
I grabbed both his hands, called up my energy, and zapped him hard. He dropped onto the grass like a pile of sticks. Peony jumped back and gasped.
Behind me, Pearl squeaked. Oh, now she comes outside.
By the time she got to where we stood, Tom the trespasser was already moaning. I reached down and zapped him again.
Pearl smacked my shoulder. "Stop doing that. You're
going to hurt him."
"I don't care. Help me get him into his car."
Pearl realized that Peony was standing there. "Did you come to tell us about the barrier?" she asked.
Peony nodded and fiddled with one of her pigtails. "Some of the wolves are gone."
"We know, but thank you for telling us." My heart was thumping in my chest, and I was starting to feel ill. "We're wasting time, Pearl."
There were two factions of werewolves that called Red Rock home. They were similar in a few ways - both groups had chosen to remain wolves instead of changing into humans. Both groups mostly kept to their own territory, hunting wild game. But Myla understood that there was a delicate balance that must exist between werewolves and humans, because humans had guns. The Navarro pack, on the other hand, was more aggressive, more willing to attack humans if given the opportunity.
If that pack got loose in Wilding, all my fears were warranted.
I grabbed Tom under the arms and started dragging him around the house to the driveway. I was pretty sure I'd been dragging him around since we met, and I was getting tired of it. I got him to his car. "Open the door," I told Pearl, who followed along behind us.
She ran and opened the driver's side door.
"The other door, Pearl. He can't drive himself home."
She frowned down at him. "He's breathing, right?"
"Yes."
"What if he wakes up?"
"Tell him we tazed him."
"We?"
"OK, me. He was trespassing, he won't report it." I got him to the rear door that she had open and stood up. "Help me lift him."
She tried, but she wasn't much help. Eventually we wrestled him inside and I slammed the door. "OK, I'll follow you into town."
I went back to the house for my keys, then jumped into my Escalade. I loved my Escalade. It was one of the first things I bought myself when I discovered that I was rich. Every time I walked past it in the driveway I gave it a loving pat. Lucy laughed at me, but I couldn't help it - I thought it would be years before I could afford something like this, even if I'd gone to work as a lawyer. That was the plan, back when Lucy found me. I was supposed to graduate law school, go to work for a legal firm, work my ass off to make partner, and then live happily ever after.
