The Hunt (The Wilds Book Two)

by Donna Augustine

  Hearing her say we came as a surprise. Dax was making her leave, too? And how could she be so sure we’d come back? I wasn’t so naive to think we would. I was more inclined to believe I’d never see this place again. I wouldn’t tell Fudge that. What if she really did think we’d come back? If it was painful for me to leave here, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for her.

  “So, you’re going too?” I asked.

  “I’m an old lady, Dal. I’m too tired for these adventures, but yes, I’ll be going. He wants Tiffy to go, and I can’t let her go alone.”

  “Why does he want Tiffy to go?”

  “I think he’s afraid that if those things show up here, they might consider her interesting if there’s no one else to distract them. That’s my understanding, anyway. You’d have to ask him to be sure.”

  I guessed it was going to be a while until I got my answers, because I wouldn’t be asking him anything right now.

  “Do you know who else is going?”

  “I think Tank as well, so the five of us.”

  “Maybe six,” I said. I couldn’t exclude Bookie. It would kill him, and he was my bestie. I had to tell him.

  “Now you aren’t planning on dragging Bookie into all this mess, are you?” Fudge asked, looking like she wished she could take back the new spoon of fudge.

  “He’s my friend. If I don’t include him, he’ll feel hurt.” I shoved what was left of the fudge in my mouth to make sure she couldn’t take it back.

  “But is it for the best to bring him?”

  “Unlike some dictators, I believe in letting people make their own choices in this world. One of the worst things you can do to someone is steal control of their life,” I said, and hopped down from the counter.

  “Things aren’t always so black and white, Dal.”

  “I’m not living in a grey world and I’m not compromising my beliefs, no matter what.” I stole another scoop of fudge before I darted out.

  I headed straight for the barn. If Bookie was bothered by anything, that was always my starting point when looking for him.

  “You’re okay, girl,” I heard him saying to the horse as I let myself in and leaned against the stall wall.

  “Well? What’s the deal?” he asked as he looked over at me.

  “You have any interest in going for a trip?”

  He straightened, giving me his full attention. “Where we going?”

  “I think the Rock, but I’m not a hundred percent.”

  He nodded like he was putting the pieces together. “Dax know I’m coming?”

  “Not yet,” I said, followed by a little laugh.

  “Sounds good. Count me in,” he said, enjoying the coming surprise as well.

  Everything about Bookie was easy, so easy I wondered sometimes if maybe I was supposed to be with him. If he could just make my heart race that way Dax did, it would be a piece of cake to forget all my worries and be with him. I’d pretend I was a normal girl and he was my normal guy.

  Until the impending doom came, that was. That damn impending doom was a real downer.

  But it did make me think about what Fudge said.

  “Bookie, you know why we have to leave?”

  “Yes.”

  “Being around me…it’s not safe.” I felt like half of my friendship with Bookie had been spent putting him in harm’s way, and the other half was warning him that harm was coming.

  “Are we going to have the whole ‘I could die’ discussion again?” He groaned and flopped himself against the stall door like he was already exhausted from the mention.

  “We were until you said it like that.”

  “So I thwarted it? Good. Total waste of time anyway.” He straightened back up, all perk. “When do we leave?”

  “Late tomorrow night.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Chapter 14

  The canvas bag I’d gotten from Fudge was barely filled. I was glad I didn’t have much to pack. I didn’t want to leave, and everything I put in it made my soul hurt. But those were the orders Dax had handed down, the delivery still grating raw on the nerves.

  My hand ran across the soft coverlet on the bed, and I no longer had any delusions of finding a place better than this. There was nothing more perfect than perfection.

  This might be the last few minutes I had here, ever. Dax had left a while ago with no explanation but said he’d be back in a few hours, which meant we’d be leaving soon and traveling at night.

  It made sense if Dark Walkers were on our trail. No one liked to travel at night because of the beasts, which tended to be more active after dark. I didn’t know if that included the Dark Walkers, but it was worth the extra precaution.

  The dark wasn’t a problem for us. Fudge and Tiffy had said nothing about our night travel plans. Tank would go along with whatever Dax told him. Bookie had expressed a concern to me, but I’d shrugged off the question. It wasn’t my secret to tell.

  When I heard people stirring downstairs, I knew I was running out of time. I threw the bag on my shoulder and took a last look around the room, telling myself I’d be back.

  Fudge, Tiffy, and Bookie were all waiting in the living room when I got downstairs. Bookie was resting an arm on the mantel and Tiffy was sitting next to Fudge on the couch calmly. I dropped my bag by the door with the others and walked over to the two of them.

  “What’s wrong with this picture?” I asked. If Tiffy was a cooperative type of girl then this would’ve been normal, but she wasn’t, and this screamed all wrong.

  Fudge immediately shot me the big-eyed owl look.

  “Me saying something isn’t going to set her off,” I said. Tiffy either blew her stack or didn’t. Went or not. No one controlled that kid. I was almost frightened of what she’d be like as an adult.

  “My friends will be meeting me at the new location,” Tiffy explained. “They know how to get everywhere.”

  I knew where this new location was, but how did she know? Fudge must have told her.

  I was about to ask her and then I reminded myself that these friends didn’t exist. They. Did. Not. Exist. If I kept repeating that, maybe I would believe it like everyone else. I sat quietly down beside her on the couch and didn’t say anything. I didn’t ask if she’d talked to them about me either.

  “Not yet, but I’m working on it,” Tiffy said beside me.

  Was she talking about asking her friends to talk to me? It didn’t matter. They had nothing to do with my problems. I wasn’t going to look at her. I wasn’t going to ask.

  I looked, damn it.

  She smiled and nodded. I sighed, feeling like I was friggin’ crazy.

  Tank came up from his basement dwelling, threw his bag next to the door, and realized that there was one too many piled up there. He took in Bookie’s presence and let out a low groan, but didn’t say anything. Although I thought I might have seen the words fucking kids mouthed, I wasn’t a proficient enough lip reader to swear to it.

  The front door opened and Dax sucked up all the space immediately. His eyes shot to Bookie and then the additional bag, then they landed on me.

  He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. He pointed to the kitchen and then left the living room. I got up and followed him, knowing an argument was on its way. I’d expected it since the moment Bookie had said he’d come.

  I found I wasn’t averse to arguing. It was freeing, in a way. I’d never been allowed to argue before, and that was way worse.

  Bookie started walking toward the kitchen behind me, and I had to stop him. Arguing was one thing, but I wasn’t in the mood to referee. I shook my head, giving him the signal I didn’t need him to back me up. He nodded and took a step to follow.

  “If I need you, I’ll holler,” I whispered to Bookie, and made eyes toward the fireplace, indicating that was where he should stay.

  Bookie sighed and took another step. Dax, who was almost in the kitchen already and, I’d hoped, unaware, said, “She said she’d holler.”
>
  How had he heard that? Damn beast ears, was how. Didn’t that stuff go away? Shift back or something? Were they still beast ears buried in his head even when they looked human?

  I laid a hand on Bookie’s arm. “I’ve got this.”

  “I don’t like anyone fighting my battles.”

  “You don’t get it. This isn’t your battle.”

  I remained where I was until he finally dropped his head and went back to the fireplace so that I could go on into the kitchen.

  Dax was waiting just inside the entrance looking like he was carved from stone. I didn’t care. Rock climbing had always sounded like fun.

  “Why can’t you ever act normal?” he said the second I stepped in the room.

  “What do you mean? I act normal all the time.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  The light bulb took a second, but once it clicked on it really lit the place up. “Oh, wait, I know what you’re trying to say now. You mean obey your every command ‘act normal,’ like all the other snoozers around here.”

  “Exactly.”

  I propped a hip against the counter. “Yeah, that’s not my strong suit.”

  I could see the thought forming like I could read his mind, that I’d done it well enough in the Cement Giant.

  “You did it well enough in the Cement Giant,” he said.

  I hated how I was only ever right about his thoughts when they were the irritating ones. So he was going to go there, to that place. I guess I’d thrown the first punch by springing Bookie on him. But Dax had sprung the trip on me. What did I do before that? It was getting hard to think back through all the jabs. “You know I hate talking about that place, but if you must know, it was different. I knew they would kill me.”

  “And?” he said.

  “And you need me.” Being needed had its perks.

  “Why is he here with a bag packed and his bike outside?”

  “He’s coming with us.”

  “By whose invitation?”

  “Mine.”

  “And you don’t think you should clear that with me?”

  “You don’t think it might be a good idea to have someone medically trained with us?” I asked, figuring I’d take the road of diplomacy first. The high road, as some might call it.

  He started shaking his head. “No. I don’t need another person to take care of.”

  “That’s fine, because Bookie and I will take care of each other.” This didn’t feel like the high road anymore. It was amazing how quickly you could detour. That high road needed bigger lanes or something.

  “Why? Are you two a team or something?”

  The tone was pure snideness.

  “And what if we were? What’s so bad about being a team player?”

  “He’s a kid, and I don’t need another person to worry about.”

  “He’s my age.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m not telling him he can’t go.”

  “Then I will.”

  “He was yours first. You had him living here. Why do you have such a problem with him now?”

  “I don’t have a problem with him. I have a problem with you bringing him along. He’s safer here.”

  “I don’t make people’s choices for them.”

  He stiffened, and I realized he was about to get into the valley right with me. “If you don’t like the way it is here, you can leave.”

  “Maybe I will.”

  The tension had finally built until we were standing here, and I wasn’t sure one of us would bend. So far, I’d done all the bending. I didn’t have any give left in my spine. I wasn’t sure if Dax was even capable of bending, as I’d yet to see any give.

  Not bending didn’t leave me with too many options, or none that I liked. I mentally tested my spine to see if I could give one more inch before it broke, but his high-handedness certainly didn’t help matters.

  There we stood, the two of us ramrod straight, seeing who would win.

  “You know, the kid is medically trained,” said Tank, who’d snuck up on us, or maybe just me, and was standing in the kitchen door. “It’s not the worst idea to bring him along.”

  Dax looked over at Tank and somehow became human again. “You two want him? You two take care of him. This isn’t on me.”

  “Fine,” I said as Dax walked out of the kitchen.

  Tank stepped over to the counter and grabbed an apple.

  “Why is it that you say a few words and he agrees, when I argue and get nothing?” I asked while I watched him take a massive bite.

  He chewed, seeming to give the question consideration. “You don’t know how to handle him.”

  “I said basically the same thing you did right before you walked in.”

  He laughed. “Maybe it’s just you, then,” he said, smirking as he walked back into the living room.

  I grabbed an apple to shove in my bag, and walked out of the kitchen. Fudge, Tiffy, and Bookie were waiting, all with a bit of apprehension as Dax was over by the door.

  Dax looked down at the bags and finally said, “Let’s go.” He walked outside, leaving the door open for us to follow him.

  Bookie looked at me and I gave him a nod. For better or worse, he was in it now.

  Our happy little group headed out. Dax took the lead as Fudge and Tiffy rode on horseback together in the center. I was behind Bookie on his bike, and Tank took up the rear.

  As the bikes revved up and one by one headed toward the gate, I turned around to get a final look at the farmhouse that had become my home. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw it.

  Chapter 15

  We traveled a lot slower to the Rock this time with Fudge and Tiffy on horseback. Fudge refused to ride mechanical devices or make the horse move at more than a rolling trot, saying it made her old bones jostle too much. Then with the constant breaks to care for the horse, it was a long haul. The sun had lit the sky and set again when we stopped for the evening, and it was likely to take three times as long to get there as it took me and Dax last time.

  Tiffy was sitting next to me on the log, which was close enough to catch some of the heat the fire was throwing off. Bookie was tending to the horse and Fudge was sorting through her bags.

  “Ow! Damn bugs!” I slapped the back of my head, trying to thwart the tiny critter that had just attacked my scalp. I hated these strange bugs. “Am I the only one who’s getting bit?” I asked as I looked around, and no one else was cursing and swatting at invisible insects.

  “Nothing’s biting me,” Bookie offered. Fudge shook her head. Tank and Dax ignored me as they stood at the edge of the camp and talked. Tank’s eyes were rolling like marbles downhill every time he looked at Fudge’s horse, and I knew he was complaining about the pace.

  Tiffy laid a hand on my shoulder. “They aren’t bugs,” she whispered.

  “What do you mean? What is it?”

  “It’s my friends.”

  Great. Tiffy’s invisible friends, the ones I’d asked for a meeting with, were pulling my hair. “Could you ask them to stop?” It was a long shot and all, but I was willing to try anything.

  “They probably won’t listen. They like your hair.”

  I looked around, trying to catch sight of one flying by my head. As crazy as it all sounded, as little proof as I had, my gut was telling me there was something to her friends. I’d lived a lot of years being told the Dark Walkers didn’t exist and I knew they did. Why should I listen to anyone say Tiffy’s friends didn’t? I looked around, debating on how crazy I might seem if I tried to speak to one now when I couldn’t see a thing.

  “So you’ve talked to them?” I asked, keeping my voice low enough that hopefully even beast ears couldn’t hear, as I wasn’t ready to totally blow my reputation.

  “They’re still debating what to do with you,” she said as she dragged a stick through the dirt by her feet, making circles.

  “I thought they wanted to speak to me?” I asked.

  “They think you’r
e S.P.I.T.T. now.”

  “They think I’m spit?”

  “Not like saliva. Suspicious Person In Their Territory.”

  “Ow!” At least two hairs got ripped out just as Tiffy finished speaking. “There’s nothing suspicious about me,” I said, a bit louder in case one of them was listening, as I rubbed the back of my head, trying to determine if I was developing a bald spot back there.

  Bookie glanced over but tried to pretend he wasn’t looking. It was almost as bad as when he’d seen the book with the half-naked guy on it. I looked around; no one else was paying attention to us, and Dax was gone.

  “Sorry, that last one was my fault.”

  “You pulled my hair?” I asked.

  “No, but they get mad when I win.” She pointed at her feet and I saw three circles running a diagonal. With a few Xs spread out.

  I leaned back and looked around the area again.

  “Hairy’s throwing off some serious waves lately,” Tiffy said, jumping us into the next weird subject.

  I swear, someone needed to make up a decoder for this kid. “Waves?”

  She leaned in closer and whispered, “Magic.”

  Maybe not so weird. I’d been feeling something too, and had wondered if it wasn’t out of the norm.

  “Only people like us will notice.”

  “You mean people with magic?”

  “Yeah. There are some humans that are sensitive to things, but that’s not usually enough to pick up on actual levels,” she explained. “I think it’s you.”

  “Me? Why would it be me?”

  “I think Hairy likes you.”

  That was when I knew I had to call it quits on this conversation, at least for tonight. I stood and grabbed the blanket from my bag, shook it out, and then settled the rest of my stuff into a makeshift pillow.

  Dax walked into camp a couple minutes later. He hadn’t announced it, but I knew he’d done a check of the perimeter. I glanced over at him, knowing the area was safe. Still, as I settled down on my hard bed, I transferred the knife at my hip to my hand and pulled the edge of the blanket over me.

  Dax threw down a blanket only a couple of feet from mine on the opposite side of the fire, and I realized this was one major reason I didn’t leave. Even when he was the biggest dick, when the shit hit the fan, the guy had my back.