“What’s with the ball of light?”
Zoe’s expression didn’t as much as twitch. “What ball of light?”
“The one we saw in the woods right before Charlie announced she knew where to go and took off, leaving me no choice but to follow her.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Zoe replied, her face immovable. If I didn’t know she was lying I would totally believe her. “I didn’t see a ball of light.”
Jack’s mouth dropped open. “I saw it zipping through the woods right before we found you guys. It was definitely out here.”
Zoe slid her eyes to Aric. “I think he’s delirious from lack of water. It was hot today, so he’s probably dehydrated. We should get him back to the house.”
Aric nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. In fact … .” He trailed off when another ball of light, this one blue instead of a warm yellow, careened through the trees and barreled directly toward Zoe. “Uh-oh.”
Uh-oh was right. The glowing sphere didn’t seem to care that it had an audience. It zipped into the small circle, made a buzzing that suspiciously sounded like chatter, and then winked out of existence.
For her part – and I have to give her credit, because her only reaction was to briefly press her eyes shut while regrouping – Zoe refused to act as if the ball of light was something that should be discussed. “So … what were we talking about again?”
Jack made an incredulous face. “Seriously? We were talking about the ball of light that just disappeared.”
“I didn’t see a ball of light.” Zoe was adamant. “You must have imagined it. Charlie, did you see anything?”
She was really putting me on the spot. When I looked to Jack I saw such frustration and worry that I couldn’t deny him support. “Zoe, don’t do this to him.”
“She’s just being a pain on my behalf,” Aric supplied, smoothly stepping forward. “She doesn’t want you guys to know about the security system my father’s company is developing. It’s top secret and we’re not supposed to talk about it. We’re also not supposed to let anyone see it. Zoe was so worried about Charlie that she begged me to use it.
“I’m not sorry I did,” he continued, not breaking stride. “It led you guys to us, and that’s important. Still, I have to ask you to keep what you saw to yourselves. If word gets out before the security system hits the market a competitor could steal it.”
Jack opened his mouth to say something – and I had a feeling it wasn’t anything that could be considered nice – but he didn’t have a chance to barrel forward because Zoe tightly gripped Aric’s arm and forced his eyes to her. She clearly had something else on her mind.
“What, baby?” Aric was instantly alert.
“Didn’t you hear what it was saying?” Zoe queried, her eyes earnest.
Aric shook his head. “The voice commands on that thing are terrible. I can never understand what it says.”
What he really meant was that Zoe used her magic to conjure it, she was the only one who could understand, and whatever information she was processing would have to be explained to him despite the fact that he deemed the lights a security system under his control.
“I didn’t understand what it was saying at first, but now I do.” Zoe licked her lips. “‘Man.’ It said ‘man.’”
“Maybe it was talking about Jack,” I suggested.
Zoe shook her head. “It also said ‘water.’ I thought it meant Jack needed water, but now I think it was something else.”
I had no idea what she was thinking, what she believed, but it was obvious our adventure wasn’t over yet. “What are you saying?”
“It said ‘man’ and ‘water.’” Zoe dragged a hand through her hair before shifting so she faced to the south. “There’s a river not very far away.”
“So what?” Jack challenged. “What does that have to do with anything?”
I’d already caught up with Zoe’s train of thought and couldn’t contain myself as I scurried to chase after her. “It said ‘man’ and ‘water,’” I called over my shoulder. “There’s a river close by … and there’s a man in it.”
Jack instantly understood what I was saying. “Ethan Savage.”
“It can’t hurt to look.” Aric fell into step with Jack. “Everyone stick together. I don’t want to risk anyone getting lost.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Zoe’s voice filtered through the darkness. “I’m in the lead, and I never get lost.”
“Says the woman who drives into the ditch whenever a bee happens to fly into the truck cab,” Aric muttered, shaking his head. “Hey, maybe I should lead the way.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
22
Twenty-Two
Zoe was fleet footed as she raced toward the river. She seemed to know exactly where she was going. I struggled to keep up and was so focused on not tripping I almost slammed into her back when she pulled up short in front of the slow-moving river.
“Holy crap,” I gasped, trying to catch my breath. “I didn’t even know this was here. I’ve been dying for something to drink for hours.”
“I come out here when I want time alone.” Zoe narrowed her eyes as she scanned the length of the river bend. “It’s peaceful … with no whining child or flexing husband.”
“I heard that,” Aric grumbled as he caught up with us, Jack close on his heels. “I don’t walk around flexing.”
“If you didn’t walk around flexing we wouldn’t have the kid in the first place,” Zoe pointed out. “In fact … there!” She narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of something next to the far bank. “Come on.”
Zoe was in the water before Aric could stop her, and because I didn’t want to miss out on the action I stuck close to her. I heard Jack muttering behind me – something about me being the death of him and living life with a constant migraine since I popped into his life. Aric found his complaints amusing.
“You’ll get used to it. You might even grow to like it.”
“You think I’ll grow to like migraines?” Jack was understandably dubious. “I’m guessing not.”
“You’ll be surprised what you grow to like – and even love – in the long haul. Trust me. The things you find important now will fall by the wayside when something more important comes along.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
I tuned Jack out – forcing the memory of our kiss to the back of my brain – and followed Zoe to the crumpled figure on the ground. It was a man, his clothes ragged and tattered. His skin was so pale I was convinced he was dead.
“Ethan Savage,” Jack said on a breathy exhale. “It really is him.”
“It is,” Zoe agreed, dropping to her knees and moving her hands to Ethan’s neck. “I feel a pulse, but it’s faint.” She snagged gazes with Aric, and I could practically sense a silent conversation between the two of them. “We need to call for an ambulance right now. He won’t make it much longer.”
“I’m on it.” Aric yanked his phone from his pocket.
“You don’t get service out here,” Jack said. “That’s one of the reasons we were lost.”
“That’s why you get satellite phones if you want to live in the country.” Aric pressed in a number. “We’ll need to move him to the house. Waiting for emergency personnel to find this place is a bad idea.”
“Are you sure we should move him?” That seemed like a bad idea to me. “I saw on television that you shouldn’t move someone with unknown injuries.”
“It’s either that or let him die here,” Zoe countered. “I have no intention of doing that. Make the call, Aric. Then we have to get him to the house … and fast.”
“WHO IS THAT?” Sami hopped to her feet, her German shepherd barking like crazy as Zoe threw open the sliding glass door and led the way for Aric and Jack to carry Ethan Savage’s limp body to the couch.
“He’s the missing man,” Zoe replied, making a face when the dog barked so loudly it echoed through
out the great room. “Knock that off, Trouble.” She raised a finger, which instantly quieted the dog. “We don’t need you adding to this insanity.”
I was impressed. “You’re like a dog whisperer. Why did you name him Trouble?”
“We named him after Mom,” Sami replied, her eyes keen as she moved toward Ethan. “Where did you find him?”
“By the river.”
“I thought you were looking for those two.” Sami vaguely gestured toward Jack and me. “Were they all together?”
“No, but they were close,” Zoe replied. “The paramedics are on their way, Sami. I think you should take Trouble and go to your room.”
Sami balked, her black hair flying as she straightened. “You can’t cut me out of this. This is the most exciting thing to happen since … well, you know when.”
“And that’s why we want you in your room.” Aric was stern. “It will be easier if you go there, kid. We’re not trying to be mean, but there are going to be a lot of people in here.”
Sami narrowed her eyes, and I was certain she was about to say something her parents wouldn’t like. She must have thought better of it, though, because she ultimately wrinkled her nose and sashayed her hips as she stormed out of the room.
“Come on, Trouble!” The dog obediently followed, his tail wagging. “They don’t want us to be part of the action. That’s typical. They’re all up in my business when they’re bored, but now that something is actually happening it’s as if I don’t exist. I’m used to it. I’ll sit in a corner in my room and pretend to be invisible!”
Jack’s eyebrows flew up his forehead as Sami slammed her door and Aric and Zoe looked at each other.
“She gets that from you,” they uttered in unison, causing me to smile.
“She seems … energetic,” I supplied as I knelt next to Ethan. “You must have your hands full with her.”
“She’s not too bad,” Zoe countered. “According to my mother, I expect her to turn into a demon when she hits sixteen. My mother says that’s a karma thing and that I have it coming.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve that,” Aric complained. “I was a good teenager.”
“You were not,” Zoe scoffed. “I’ve heard the stories your mother tells.”
“Since when do you listen to my mother?”
“Only when she says something I want to hear.” Zoe licked her lips as she studied Ethan’s sallow complexion. His breathing was shallow, and I worried each breath he took would be his last. “Jack, can you do me a favor and wait on the front porch for the paramedics? Show them directly in. He doesn’t have much time.”
I thought Jack would argue with the directive, but he merely nodded. “I’ll also call our team while I’m out there, Charlie,” he said. “They should know we’re okay so they can call off the search.”
“Okay.” I held his gaze for a long beat, my heart twitching at his expression. We’d yet to talk about the kiss – the kiss to end all kisses, really – and the night had taken a turn neither of us expected. I wasn’t sure when we would get a chance to talk things over. I also wasn’t sure if I wanted that to happen. I didn’t know what he would say, and I was terrified he’d pretend it never occurred, although I had no idea why I felt that way.
Okay, that’s not true. For some reason I wanted him to fall at my feet, declare his love and then continue that kiss. I may be a badass monster hunter, but I’m still a woman, and he makes my heart go pitter-patter. Sue me.
“I’ll be right back, Charlie,” Jack promised, as if reading my mind. “We’ll get through this.”
I bit my lower lip as I watched him go, my mind jumbled. When I finally looked back at Ethan I almost fell over from surprise. Zoe, her hands glowing blue, was leaning close and whispering.
“What the hell is that?” I almost shrieked.
Zoe made a face. “Shh!”
“But … .”
“Be quiet,” Aric ordered, his tone forcing me to snap my mouth shut. “We don’t want Jack running back in here because he thinks we’re doing something to you.”
I was flabbergasted. “Jack wouldn’t think that.”
“Jack’s mind is all tangled,” Zoe argued. “Whatever happened in the woods – and, yes, I saw that freaking hot kiss thanks to the sentry I sent out – has him all messed up. Is that the first time you guys did that?”
Mortification climbed my cheeks. “I … you … he … you saw that?”
Zoe chuckled as she pulled back her hands and extinguished the blue flame. “I did. It looked fun. I was going to let you guys continue and see where things led, but you sensed the sentry so I couldn’t continue watching without alerting you to my presence.”
I had no idea what to make of that. “Do you think he liked it?” The question was out of my mouth before I realized how ridiculous it sounded.
Zoe burst out laughing, amusement practically dripping from her tongue. “Oh, Charlie, you make me smile. You remind me of me.”
“She kind of reminds me of you too,” Aric admitted, his smile fond. “She doesn’t think before she speaks and she knows how to drive a man crazy without even trying. Poor Jack doesn’t stand a chance.”
That didn’t sound particularly good to me. “I think he’s re-thinking what happened.”
“He probably is.” Zoe was calm. “Don’t worry about it. Things will work out.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I already told you. I know all and see all.” Zoe straightened and turned her head to the open front door. “The emergency personnel are here.”
I swallowed hard and focused on Ethan. “Do you think he’ll make it?”
Zoe’s lips curved. “He should be okay. I did enough to head off the major damage, but left a little something for the doctors. It would be too hard to explain otherwise.”
“Is that what you were doing? I mean … you healed him, right?”
Zoe’s smile never slipped. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I wasn’t about to be deterred. “Is that how you cheated death? Is that how you’re still here?”
Zoe didn’t answer, instead striding toward the door. “He’s this way,” she called out.
I turned to Aric for confirmation, but his expression was impossible to read. “I’m so confused.”
“You’ll be okay, Charlie.” He sounded sure of himself and grinned a little when Jack hurried through the door after the paramedics and immediately looked to make sure I was okay. “Both of you will be. Trust me.”
I WAS EXHAUSTED BY the time we made it back to the inn. All I wanted to do was tumble into bed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility, because the members of our group demanded answers.
So, instead of showering and shutting my eyes so I could think about everything that happened during the day, I was forced to eat sandwiches and listen to Laura fawn over Jack.
“You poor thing.” She petted his arm and poured him a glass of iced tea. She made sure to take the spot to his right so we couldn’t sit together – she was obvious when carrying out the maneuver – but I was too tired and edgy to worry about that now.
“I’m fine.” Jack shrugged off Laura’s intense attention and focused on his plate. “It wasn’t so bad. I was worried, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not as if we were lost in the Andes during a blizzard or anything. We didn’t have to resort to cannibalism. We were fine.”
“It sounds like you had a long day, though,” Millie noted, her eyes on me as I shoveled in huge mouthfuls of potato salad. “Did your life flash before your eyes, Charlie? Did you think you would never eat again?”
“She’s obviously starving to death,” Laura answered with a derisive snort. “All those carbs are going to end up on your hips, and that’s not going to work out well for you when your metabolism starts slowing in a few years.”
“Leave her alone,” Jack ordered, his face full of fury. “And stop doing that!” He jerked away from Laura … hard. “In fact … go over there.” Jack
pointed to the opposite side of the table.
Laura’s expression twisted. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t want you hanging all over me.” Jack was adamant. “You make me uncomfortable on a normal day, and this day has been pretty freaking far from normal.”
“Yes, Laura,” Millie drawled. “Stop sexually harassing Jack. The brass back at the main office won’t like it if a complaint is filed.”
“Jack would never file a complaint.” Laura sounded sure of herself, but I didn’t miss the hint of worry that flashed across her features.
“I might,” Jack muttered.
“And I definitely will, because you’re making me uncomfortable,” Millie added. “I shouldn’t have to watch you ply that poor boy with unwanted sexual overtures. It’s pure torture for all of us.”
Laura scowled but wisely vacated the chair between Jack and me, scuffing her feet against the ceramic tile as she moved to the chair across from Jack. She clearly wasn’t about to let things go, but she needed time to regroup.
“What happened out there?” Chris asked, his eyes dancing with interest. “How did you find Ethan Savage? I mean … I’m sorry that you were stuck out there all day, but you found him when everyone else failed. How did it happen?”
“We didn’t find him,” Jack replied, sparing me a conflicted glance. “Zoe and Aric Winters found us and led us to Ethan.”
“But how did they know?”
“That’s a very good question.” Jack’s gaze was weighted, and for a moment I worried he’d announce Zoe’s secret to the world. Instead, he merely shrugged. “I don’t know. They were helping us and there was talk of the river. We checked it because it seemed like a natural water source, and he was there.
“Things moved quickly after that,” he continued. “We had to carry Ethan back to their house because the location was too isolated for paramedics to find. Ethan didn’t look very good. We carried him to the house, I directed traffic from the front, and that’s basically it.”
“Well, I couldn’t get much information out of them, but the paramedic I talked to at the hospital after Ethan arrived said that he thought Ethan was in much better shape than he would’ve expected after being exposed to the elements for so long,” Hannah volunteered. “They’re very hopeful he’ll make a full recovery. And they did say it didn’t look like he’d been gnawed on or anything, so maybe an animal didn’t get him after all.”
The Werewolf Whoops Page 20
