As the elevator doors opened and we spilled out onto the fourth floor, Herne handed out the keys. Once again we had four rooms, pairing off like we had before, only this time Kipa would be sharing Herne’s room. The rooms were all together, which was a blessing, and we sorted out our luggage as I divided the snacks between everybody. Nobody was fussy, so I handed them out at random, although I made sure to give Raven a sandwich that I had managed to find for Raj.
We were all too tired to talk, so we peeled off to our various rooms. I stopped for a moment in Herne’s room, closing the door behind me. Kipa excused himself into the bathroom to give us some privacy.
“I miss having us time,” I said. “How long do you think this will take us?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, to tell you the truth. And while I didn’t say it in front of the others, the truth is I’m worried about Rafé. Tomorrow we’ll head up to Hurricane Ridge to see if we can find him. And we’re going to see if we can find Nuanda as well.”
“Do you think the Cailleach is behind the storm?”
“I don’t know the answer to that either, although it does feel magical in origin. The Olympic National Forest gets plenty of snow. But there’s something different about this.” He pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. “I’m so sorry we had to ask you to take care of Nalcops, but it was the easiest way. And it was the only way I could think of to find out the truth.”
“I know. I didn’t like it, but I know how necessary it was. In a sense, I’ve become a weapon in my own right since the Cruharach. It’s an odd feeling. I worry about losing my sense of humanity.”
“I don’t think you ever have to worry about that, Ember. I think your sense of what’s right and wrong will never be something you lose.” He stroked my face, searching my eyes as he leaned close. “Kiss me, and then I think we better get some sleep.”
I wanted to do more than kiss him, I wanted to run my hands over his chest, and feel him caress every inch of my body. I leaned up, placing my lips against his, and lingered in the long, luxurious kiss. He made me feel warm and safe as he held me, and I rested my head against his shoulder for a moment, sinking into his embrace. Finally, I pulled away.
“Good night, love.” He opened the door, escorting me gently to my room. As I shut the door behind me, Angel glanced up, smiling.
“You guys are doing really well, aren’t you?” she asked.
I nodded. “I have something with Herne that I never thought I’d find. Only it scares me sometimes.”
“Why?”
“Because when you have something this strong, then you have something to lose. And I haven’t been in that space in a long, long time.”
We undressed in silence, taking quick showers to warm up. As I crawled into bed, I tried to forget what had happened with Nalcops. I tried to forget the storm swirling outside. Instead, I held tight to the feeling of Herne holding me in his arms, keeping me safe. I carried that feeling into my dreams, and luckily, my slumber was peaceful, without nightmares.
COME MORNING, we gathered in the hotel dining room for breakfast. Everyone was antsy, especially when Yutani mentioned that he had gone outside early and found Rafé’s car.
“Did you, by chance, break into it?” Herne asked, buttering a piece of toast to go with his bacon and eggs. He had also ordered a huge side of hash browns and fruit. I opted for waffles and bacon, as had Angel and Raven. Talia was having steak and eggs, and Viktor, Kipa, and Yutani were diving into the massive buffet.
Yutani nodded, scooping up a spoonful of the porridge and raisins. “Wasn’t that hard. I found his phone,” he added, placing the phone on the table. “But I didn’t find his keys. Nothing else looked awry. And I found no sign of the trace.” He glanced over at Angel. “He carries a picture of you dangling from his rearview mirror.” He smiled at her. The coyote shifter was usually edgy, but at times he really seemed to have a heart.
Angel stared down at her food, pressing her lips together, but she said nothing.
Herne reached across the table to place his hand on hers. “We will do everything in our power to find him and bring him home safety. Don’t lose hope. There’s always hope, at least until you find out otherwise. Don’t borrow trouble.”
“Mama J. used to say that.” She raised her gaze to meet his. “I know you’ll do what you can to find him. And I know he did this voluntarily—don’t think I’m blaming you. I’m just worried and no matter what I do, that worry doesn’t want to go away.”
Raven ordered twelve sausages to go, along with a big bowl of oatmeal. “Raj loves oatmeal,” she said.
“We should head out as soon as breakfast is over. Talia and Angel, you two are staying here. Raven—” Herne started to say, but she raised her hand.
“You might want to take me along with you, given how many Ante-Fae are in the area. I can be a good go-between, especially with some of the more peculiar beings who live in the woods. But I don’t guarantee to help you if we meet Sasquatch.”
“You made that abundantly clear earlier.” Herne laughed, and in fact the entire table laughed, including Angel. “Finish breakfast. We should order some sandwiches to take with us. In fact, raid the vending machines as well. We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck up there. We need snowshoes, so Kipa, as soon as we’re done with breakfast, I want you to go find several pair. Seven to be precise, in case we find Rafé. Everybody, pack a light bag. Bring extra clothing, at least one set, wrapped in plastic so that it doesn’t get wet. Dress in layers. Viktor, make sure we have a survival kit. I’ll gas up the car. Meet back at my room in half an hour. Talia and Angel, see what you can find out about the conditions up on Hurricane Ridge. See if we can still drive up there.”
As we scattered, Raven taking her doggy bags up to Raj, I thought of our coming trek. I dreaded the thought of hiking out into the snow, but this was our job, and one of our own was missing. So we did what we had to do, regardless of the circumstances.
FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, we were on the road, leaving Angel and Talia behind at the hotel. Raven convinced Raj to stay with them, promising him she’d be back as soon as possible. Raj didn’t look happy, but neither would he be happy tromping through the snow with us. Herne had put chains on his tires, which would give us an added advantage.
The ridge was seventeen miles in, and it rose to an elevation of over five thousand feet. The road was two lanes, and while snow didn’t usually linger in the lower elevations, now it was sticking. Herne was a good driver, though, and with chains and a heavy all-wheel drive, it made our trip a little easier. Raven and I were sitting in the second row of seats, with Viktor and Kipa in the back. Yutani sat up front with Herne, reading the map.
On either side of the road, the forest began to thicken as we went along, the tall tree branches laden with snow. The landscape was picturesque and beautiful in a way that only winter can bring, but there was a silence that went beyond hearing, that enveloped us as we drove deeper into the park. In some patches, our side of the road gave way, diving into deep ravines where the trees along the side hid the bottom.
We were barely into the park when I felt eyes on us, watching as we passed by. I wondered if we lit up the sky like a blue light special—after all, we had two gods, a half-ogre, a coyote shifter, one of the Ante-Fae, and me—a full-blooded Fae — all cooped up in one little vehicle. The contained energy in Herne’s SUV could have powered the entire state.
“Can you feel them watching us? Who is it?” I was sitting by the window, and I stared out nervously.
“I can feel them,” Raven said. “This park is rife with creatures and wild places.” Even she sounded nervous.
Kipa leaned up between the seats to stare at both of us. “It isn’t safe to walk abroad here. Herne and I can, but I wouldn’t advise it for anybody else. At least not without a group. I’m guessing that the number of people who vanish within the national park system would surprise you.”
Yutani quickly tapped away on his tablet. �
��Interesting. There’s no national database of how many people disappear in the national parks, but there have been at least a thousand over the years. People disappear in one area and show up in another without knowing how they got there, people vanish for good, people are found dead with no apparent reason for their deaths. All sorts of strange things happen out here.” He glanced back, his gaze darting to Kipa and then to Raven.
“There are many things in this world of which people remain unaware,” Herne said from his seat, keeping his eyes on the road. “I’ve spent most of my life out in the forest, and I’ve seen things that would make your hair curl. I’ve had several run-ins with Sasquatch over the years, and I don’t care to repeat them. I may be a god, but Sasquatch is a freak of nature. And I’m not talking natural as in endemic to this place.”
“I met him once,” Raven said. “As I mentioned to you before, I had to run for my life to get away from him. He chased me through a graveyard, and the only way I managed to escape was to hide inside of a crypt. The inhabitants of the crypt weren’t too happy with me once they realized I could see them. Actually, they weren’t too happy with anybody, I got the feeling.”
“Where was this?” Yutani asked.
“It was down in Gig Harbor,” Raven said. “I was visiting a friend there, and she’s kind of obsessed with trying to attract creatures like that. She thinks they’re all like the space brothers all the new-agers used to go on about, or some such nonsense. So she sets up magical grids on her property to try to encourage them in. Oh, they were attracted, all right. Now she can’t get rid of them and she realizes just how insane the idea was. She keeps asking me for help, but I don’t know what to tell her at this point. I deal with the dead, not the denizens of the dark, so to speak. Give me a spirit any day over Bigfoot. Or any of his ilk.”
I snorted. It wasn’t so much what she said, but the way she said it. Raven had a way of making the most peculiar things sound absolutely normal.
“I’m guessing that not all spirits are that easy to deal with, either.”
She shrugged. “No, but I’m pretty good at zapping them back into their grave if they don’t behave. At least most of them. There are some that I don’t involve myself with, if at all possible. Like the one I had to deal with in October.”
I was about to comment—she had been on one hell of a case and Angel and I had heard about the aftermath—when Yutani interrupted.
“We just passed the Heart O the Hills campground and entrance. Things are going to get a little more dicey now.” He glanced out the window. “The road’s slicker. I’m sure as hell glad you put chains on this vehicle.”
Herne nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. “Unless it’s important, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk too much. I want to focus on driving because we are starting to pick up elevation and the road is getting more dangerous. I’m surprised they haven’t set up a roadblock to turn people around. I’m betting they will before dark.”
“They’re probably going to close it down by then. We’d better be off the road and hidden so they don’t chase us out.” Yutani leaned against the window, staring out.
As we continued on to the visitor center, Raven and Kipa kept their eyes on the left side of the road, looking for the red graffiti rune. The Bendaryi rune was difficult to mix up with others. It was a Fae rune, meaning solidarity. If Nalcops was right, we would hopefully be able to see it given it was daytime, but with the snow coming down, it might not be difficult to miss.
Two cars passed us on the way down. One of them looked to be a park service vehicle. There didn’t seem to be many people out today, and I had my doubts whether we would run into many hikers, given the weather.
The road was treacherous in some places, the guard railing looking over the edge of a ravine that ran so deep it was difficult to tell where the bottom was. A sea of green and white splayed out in front of us, the conifers covered with mounds of snow. I wasn’t sure how long we had been driving, but after a while Kipa exclaimed from the backseat.
“There—just up ahead. That looks like runes to me.” He pressed his face against the window.
“I think you’re right,” Raven said. “See it, Herne?”
Herne slowed, checking behind us to make sure that we weren’t being followed. The last thing we needed to do was to cause an accident by parking in the middle of the road. He idled the Expedition, peering to the side, toward where they were indicating.
“That’s it, all right. That means we should be close to an access road on the right. Ember, Yutani, do you see anything?”
Yutani shook his head. “I don’t see a road.”
“Hold on,” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt and slipping out of the car. I heard Herne yelling behind me, but I ignored him as I approached a roped-off section of the guard railing. Sure enough, beyond it a steep road led down into the ravine. I unhooked the rope, and motioned for Herne to ease the car off the main road, onto the path. He cautiously turned, guiding the car over the edge onto the bumpy snow-covered path. Once the car was fully on the access road, I roped it off again, then climbed back in my seat and closed the door.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Herne said. “It’s going to be quite a bumpy ride.”
“Yes, Bette,” I joked.
“Huh?” He flashed me a confused look.
“Bette Davis—All About Eve?” At the lack of comprehension on his face, I shrugged. “Never mind. If I have to explain it, it’s not funny.”
“Right,” Herne said, snorting. “Back to business. The road looks steep, but I think we can make it without flipping. My SUV isn’t all that top-heavy.”
“It’s not like you’re driving a Hummer,” Yutani said.
I made certain that I was strapped in securely and glanced over my shoulder. “Everybody belted in?”
Kipa nodded. “We’re ready.”
Herne cautiously began to ease the car down the slope, trying to stay on the road. Because of the snow, there were points where it was difficult to see where the road ended and the ravine took off. Finally, he shook his head and stopped.
“Yutani, I need you to get out there and play air traffic controller. Do you think you can do that?”
“Not a problem, boss.” Yutani didn’t look happy, but he pulled on a pair of gloves, jammed a ski hat over his ears, then scrambled out of the car. He slid along the path, staying off the immediate road in front of us, then began to guide Herne along, pointing to where he should drive. We had a full mile to go, but about one third of the mile in, the access road became clearer, and Herne motioned for Yutani to get back in the car.
“It’s cold as fuck out there,” Yutani said, shivering.
“Thank you. I don’t think I could have navigated the earlier section without you. But the road’s more defined here.”
As the trees crowded around us, the snow continued to fall. It felt like we were entering another world. If we had an accident, there would be no easy way to call for help. At least the forest buttressed both sides of the road now, so although we were still headed downhill, we couldn’t go toppling off the side of the road.
I watched the forest for any signs of life, but I didn’t see anyone. We seemed to be the only ones in the world here.
“Everybody sitting on the left side, look for two huckleberry bushes with the same red runes. We’re approaching the area where the hidden access road is supposed to be.” Herne put the car in low gear, trying to compensate for the tires spinning on the slick snow.
Ten minutes later, Raven tapped on the window. “There. There are two big bushes. I see a glimpse of red.”
Herne stopped the car again and this time, Yutani jumped out without a word and went over to examine the two huckleberry bushes. It looked like they were standing on either side of a giant fern, but Yutani waved his hand through the bush and then glanced back, nodding. He returned to the car.
“The access road starts there, right where the fern is. It’s an illusion. I poked my head through and the roa
d is fairly level from there on out. It looks bumpy, but we should be able to navigate it. But I’m going out on a limb here and cautioning that, the moment we break through that illusion, we better be prepared should the brotherhood happen to be out on patrol.”
“Good thinking. All right,” Herne said. “Hold on, people. We’re going in.”
As we turned onto the access road, driving through the illusion, I stiffened, wondering what we would find on the other side, and whether we would find Rafé while he was still alive.
CHAPTER TWELVE
A s we forged ahead, I was grateful for my seatbelt, as well as the overhead handle grip. Yutani was right, the road was bumpy as hell. I was grateful we left Raj back at the hotel.
Raven seemed to pick up on my thoughts. “I’m glad Raj isn’t with us. He can be one hell of a guardian, but he isn’t used to being out in the forest. The wilds make him nervous and he does better in the city.”
About ten minutes later, Herne suddenly paused, idling the engine. “Yutani, is that a road to the left?”
Yutani frowned, then nodded. “It looks it. Which way do we go?”
“I don’t know. Nalcops didn’t mention a second road.” Herne paused for a moment. “I think we should take this one. We don’t want to drive right into the encampment, and my guess is that their headquarters are probably at the end of the main road here. This road looks rougher, so I doubt it’s used as much. We can make camp, and then sneak in on foot.”
“How far do you think it is to their headquarters?” I wasn’t relishing the thought of a long hike through the snow.
The Silver Mist: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 6 Page 13
