by Jade Wolfe
He nodded but he was focused on his son. "Where were you?" he asked, leaning in for a hug.
"Red Rock."
"I found him near the river," I said, offering a little more detail. "He says he slipped on the bank and hurt his ankle. I don't think it's broken. Maybe sprained."
Caleb slid out of the car and his dad caught him, helping him balance. When Sam reached up to catch him, I caught myself staring at his forearms, dark from the sun and ropy with muscle.
Then I pulled myself out of that unexpected little trance and took a deep breath. "Do you need me to take you home?" I asked.
I must have sounded impatient, because he gave me a quick look, then shook his head. "No, we'll be all right."
"I hope you find your friend," Caleb said, hopping away from the car so that his dad could shut the door.
Sam paused. "Someone else is missing?"
"It's fine. I'll find her. She might even be home by now."
He nodded thoughtfully, then pulled out his wallet and handed me a card. "All right then. Call me if you need anything. I owe you one."
"Sure. Thanks."
He held onto the card longer than necessary. "You know, something damned weird is going on around here. If you need help, you should know you can trust me."
He slammed the door and I headed for home. I'd wasted enough time, and now I needed to get to work. On the way out of town I spotted something I never thought I’d see – Peony walking down Main Street, a gaggle of kids following along behind her. It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event for her, coming to town. I bet she’d be talking about it for the rest of her life. I decided to let her be for now. She was one of the sweetest, most harmless creatures in the park. Let her enjoy this, before everything went back to normal.
At home, I swung by Lucy's house for a chunk of homemade bread and a flashlight, then headed back into the woods. Now that Caleb was safely out of the way, I could use my fire light again, and that made the second trip a lot faster. Well, that plus the food. The bread wasn't enough, but it was something and it curbed the grumbling of my belly. Plus, bread had carbs for energy, right?
When I got back to the clearing the cave entrance was glowing dimly in the dark. I looked up at it, wondered what I was walking into, and started to climb. In spite of it being steep, the rocky slope was easier to navigate than the slippery river bank.
I paused outside the entrance and listened, but didn't hear anything. There was no way around it - I was going to have to go in blind and face whatever was in there. I just hoped that after I faced it, or them, or her, I would find Lucy and Pearl alive and well. I still needed them, and I had grown to love them. They were my new family, and keeping them safe was part of my job.
Then again, keeping rogue witches out of Red Rock was part of my job, too, and I had failed at that. I had to fix it now and make sure it never happened again.
Actually, I had failed twice in that respect. One of the first things that happened when I came here was a weird scenario that involved a young witch named Christa and her desire to create freakin' zombies, of all things. She had fooled us all, but luckily we caught on before she managed to kill anybody. Well, anybody besides her parents. That may or may not have been an accident, though. We never did figure that part out.
I startled when a voice came from inside the cave. It sounded like someone whispering, but even whispers echoed.
"We've got maybe a week." The voice sounded female. I heard a scuffle.
Another voice answered. This one was better at being quiet, so I couldn't hear every word. "It won't...long. Be tonight."
"You can't be sure of that."
"...Can."
Then silence. I leaned into the rock and listened for more, but there was nothing. Were they just standing there?
I drew the rune for the Air Elemental, visualizing any sounds at all, carried to me on the air inside the cave. She appeared as a soft light cloud in the darkness and slipped inside.
"We can't hold them much longer." A female voice.
The second one sounded angry. "Shut up. We'll hold them for as long as necessary. I'm telling you, she'll be here before dawn."
If they meant Miranda, they were dead wrong. If they were talking about me, they were right.
Chapter Thirteen
Shuffling sounds came, and then a sharp ting, as if someone had dropped something metal. Did they have weapons?
"Be careful with that."
"It was an accident. Shut up."
"No - you shut up. I wish Isa would give me a decent partner for once."
"I am decent. Remember when I killed that dragon? It was going to eat you."
"Some days I wish it had."
"Bitch."
"Useless."
I winced when I heard a sharp smack, and fought the urge to peek inside. These two were either arch-enemies or just idiots. Maybe this wouldn't be as difficult as I thought.
And then there was the question I hadn't yet bothered to ask myself - what, exactly, did these people want? Why would they come here, grab Lucy or Pearl, or both, and not leave immediately? If this was Miranda's nemesis, why didn't they take her?
Probably because Miranda seldom went into the woods alone. She went fairly often, but always took one of us with her to help her carry back herbs, berries and whatever other natural treasures she needed. So maybe these witches were holding Lucy and Pearl in the hopes that Miranda would be the one to come and save them.
But that didn't make sense either, because when I got attacked in the cave before, the witch was definitely waiting for me. She'd even used my name. That didn't really make sense, though. I was barely a witch at all, and not many in the supernatural population even knew I existed. Lucy had mentioned a few times that I held a certain kind of extra potent power, but that didn't mean anything to me. I still had so much to learn.
No, regardless of what happened before, this had to involve Miranda, not me. Compared to these ladies, I was nobody.
Well, nobody was about to ruin their plans.
I pulled my knives from my pockets, held them both in one hand, and called up a fireball. Just a small one, and not for light this time - the cave was already lit a little, probably with a torch of some sort. This fireball was purely for defensive purposes. I felt the soft, hot arc of it in my hands, hefted it a time or two. Then I leaned around the wall of the cave's mouth and let it fly. Not too hard, just far enough to confuse things at the entrance while I slipped inside. I would have thrown one farther, into the rear of the cave, but I didn't know exactly where Lucy and Pearl might be in there and I didn't want to accidentally hurt them.
The cave lit with blinding light, and it felt like the entire mountain shook. Rock rained down around my head, and for a moment I thought I'd collapsed the whole cave entrance. It held, though. Screams sounded from somewhere inside, but no one came running out of the mountain. Hmm.
I used the noise and confusion to run into the cave. Staying as close to the wall as I could, I kept moving farther and farther back, watching for movement and not seeing any. Surely whoever was in here would want to get away, even though the fire, with nothing to burn in here, was already fading out.
I was right about one thing, at least - a couple of torches still burned on the floor. They looked like they'd been dropped. I picked one up.
So there were...what? Three witches inside the cave, at least? These two here in the front, and Isadora. That was concerning, because it meant that Red Rock had been heavily infiltrated without my notice. I didn't like the implications of that. Also, it pissed me off that these witches thought Red Rock was their very own stomping ground, and that they could come and go as they pleased.
I pressed myself against the cavern wall and watched the left entrance for a few moments. If the explosion had collapsed the cave further on, whoever was in there might just come running this way. When no movement came, I took a tentative step inside.
"Indigo." A harsh, frantic whisper made me jump.
"Pearl?"
"Back here!"
Her voice was coming from behind me. I spun around, confused, and dashed back to where she was standing near the main entrance.
She was filthy and red-faced, with a few scratches on her arms and hands. I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her along with me until we were outside on the slope. "What are you doing out here? I thought they had you inside," I asked.
She shook her head. "No - they have Lucy. I was working on the barrier, and she was going to find Myla, when they snatched her and carried her off. Two big men, I think." She shuddered. "I didn't know what to do, so I followed them."
"All right. But we've got a problem." I let go of her. "They have someone else in there, too."
Pearl blinked. "Who?"
I shook my head. "I have no idea. I thought they had you."
"I didn't see them take anyone else in there. Just Lucy."
I told her about the voices and their talk of two - or more, I supposed - captives.
"You think they have someone from town?"
"I don't know what to think."
"They don't have Miranda?" Pearl pursed her lips. She was starting to calm down and think now. Good. "I would have guessed they came here for her, if that really is Isadora inside."
"Me, too, but she's at home."
"Then we need to find out who is in there."
I nodded. "Did you get the barrier fixed?"
"No - I was worried about Lucy."
I thought fast, trying to figure out what to do. "All right. I'll go get Lucy. You work on the barrier. Peony and her family are in town, and we need to get this place repaired before anything else figures out they can just walk through." I was thinking about the vampires, but there were any number of creatures around here that wouldn't mind a human snack.
"All right. You don't need my help?" she asked.
I did, but there was too much to do. "No, you go ahead."
She gave me one more worried glance, then started down the slope toward the valley floor. I turned and made my way back inside the cave.
It was still deserted, so I had to assume that my little light show had driven them farther inside. In a way that was good. They should be trapped in there, and easier to fight if they were corralled in one general area.
My biggest concern was Lucy herself. She was a powerful witch in her own right - why hadn't she been able to defeat the interlopers and free herself? Only one real answer came to me, and I didn't like it at all. The thought got me moving. Since my magic was no good deeper in, I pulled the flashlight out of my pocket and shined it into the cave, looking as far as I could for any signs of life.
Nothing. It might as well have been deserted, but I knew it wasn't.
I heard the soft padding of feet, and felt pressure in my head.
Pearl sent me.
I smiled and turned to greet Myla, a welcome face in this ugly old cave. "Did she tell you what was going on?"
Yes. You'll need help. These are the bad strangers.
"How many?"
Myla shook her giant shaggy head. Golden eyes flashed in my light. Four, at least.
"Four...witches?" Holy hell, this rescue mission was going to be more difficult than I thought. "You sure?"
She padded past me, toward the left entrance, then looked back over her shoulder. Let's go.
"Myla, I can't let you go in there. It's too dangerous."
She paused. Then what would you have me do?
"Gather your pack. Go protect Miranda and Pearl. There is nothing you can do here anyway, if these are witches."
Do you want me to guard the other entrance to this cave?
"There's another entrance?" I asked. "Good to know.” Myla’s pack wasn’t large enough to split three ways – to help me, to protect Pearl, and to guard Miranda. “Uh, no - don't worry about that right now. Just keep Pearl and Miranda safe."
She looked away toward the dark outside, then back at me. She knew I was right. Werewolves were smart, but they were more capable of brute force than magic. A witch could obliterate her.
"Please, Myla. You know how Pearl is - she might not even see danger coming. And these witches have some connection to Miranda. They might go after her next."
Myla whined, but turned away and disappeared out into the night. I watched her go, took a deep breath, and went in the opposite direction, into the cave. The barrier jolted as I stepped through, so I didn't bother trying my magic.
There was plenty of evidence of movement back here. Where there had only been a few scuffling footprints and some debris before, now the floor of the cavern was scarred with signs of movement - footprints, lots of floating, disturbed dust. "Like somebody had a party in here," I muttered.
Then I remembered to shut my mouth and listen.
With a light it was easier to navigate at least. The tunnel was cool and the air felt damp, but I saw no signs of moisture, not even condensation on the ceiling. that meant warmth. Warmth meant bodies. People. I definitely wasn't alone.
Another hundred feet in and the tunnel branched once more. This time there was no barrier either way to give me a hint, so I chose to go left again. It would be easier to just keep going left if possible so I wouldn't get lost.
I hoped.
As quiet as I tried to be, my footsteps sounded like sandpaper on the rocky ground. I winced with every step and tried to listen over the noise. If those two goobers from the main cave managed to surprise me, I was gonna be pissed.
Once or twice I tried to pull up a fireball, just to see if the barrier's magic thinned or disappeared in this new tunnel. No luck, but then I expected that.
I rounded one of the sharper turns in the tunnel and looked ahead. It was as empty as the ones I'd already traveled, but something felt different here. I stood very still, trying to figure it out.
A soft sound reached my ears, so low that I wasn't sure I heard anything at first. It was more like breath than actual sound, but it was definitely there. The air was warmer here, too. Subtle differences, but they put me on high alert. Well, higher, because I was already jumpy as hell.
I took a tentative step, trying to track the sound, but it was too soft. My own beating heart was louder.
Something heavy slammed into my back, knocking me against the cave wall. I screamed in surprise, dropped to my knees, and broke my fall with my face on the rock. Fire bloomed across my cheek.
If I fell I might be dead, so I pushed off the wall and rolled across the cave floor, jumping to my feet just in time for something dark and big to slam me again, butting against my chest this time. I flew backward but managed to get my hands over my head before it smashed into more rock and knocked me out. Then the heavy thing landed on my chest and forced the breath from my lungs. My light rolled off to the left somewhere, but at least it didn't go out.
Keeping my head covered and looking up through my bent elbows, I was able to see a big, pasty face grinning down at me. He looked like a teen, with acne scarring his greasy skin and longer hair that was so filthy it clumped around his chin. Or chins, actually. This dude wasn't small.
He wasn't hygienic, either. He didn't have to bother knocking me down - the odor coming from his body was enough to do that. I could practically see it, it was so bad. I swallowed to keep from gagging and tried to roll out from under him, but he was expecting that and brought a hand down on my scraped cheek.
I punched him back.
It wasn't a great punch - not much force behind it. He still rocked backward a little bit, but that only served to shift his weight toward my belly. I grunted to tighten my abs, trying to keep him from crushing me completely.
He rocked back up onto my ribs and laughed.
Laughed. A choking, chuckling, wet sound that turned my bruised stomach. It made me think of meal worms for some reason.
I struggled under him, but his massive body held me in place.
"Indigo." It was more a purr than a spoken word, and it didn’t come from my new friend here. I looked directly up to
see a woman standing over me.
Chapter Fourteen
She was a beauty, too. A platinum blonde dressed all in red leather, something that Pearl might have dreamed up. From my vantage place on the floor, she might have been twenty feet tall, but that was probably because of her long, long legs. A belt full of dangerous looking objects swung lazily with every move she made. Knives, handcuffs - handcuffs, really? - some things with multiple edges that looked a lot like throwing stars, and what looked like one of those bullet holders, filled with a long strip of silver bullets. She was as prepared as she was gorgeous.
And she was a witch. I could feel energy radiating from her in waves, and that scared me worse than any mortal weapon she could throw at me, literally or otherwise. Those waves of energy were strong enough to make me think of ageless mountains, stars forming and dying, and the young earth being created. She was ancient and, in the purest form of the word, awesome to behold.
This was Isadora? I'd been thinking of Miranda's ex as scum for hurting her and taking up with some ninny, but now, in the face of that ninny, I could see how she would be irresistible to most any man who encountered her. Hell, I had a thing for guys, but she was even impressing me.
She smiled down on me with full red lips and pristine skin, and the greenest eyes I'd ever encountered. Those eyes reminded me of a werepanther I caught roaming Red Rock a few months ago. Hypnotic and deadly, but when you looked into them, you didn't mind at all. Not surprisingly, he had come to see Pearl.
This witch was here for me, evidently, and she was just as beautiful and charming. And apparently just as deadly.
She knelt down and touched my cheek, even though I tried to jerk my head out of her reach.
"Oh, be nice. Popo here isn't letting you go anywhere, and it's impolite to be so hateful. I've been looking for you for a very long time."
"Are you Isadora?" I asked, panting because Popo was still riding my ribs.
"Of course I am, honey. You were expecting me?"
I didn't answer. It wasn't worth the breath. "What do you want?"
She pulled in a deep breath, put cold hands on both of my cheeks, and whispered, "You."
