Callaway’s puzzled question followed her. “Is that a euphemism for something?”
Olivia answered, “Better wash her hands after.”
Red exited into the dining area. Pushing open the door to the ladies’ room, she sought the other temporal refugee where they’d first met. How much would have changed if she had listened before? Regrets were hard to shake when you kept reliving the past.
Elianna peeped from a stall. “Do you recall our dreary situation, or will you ignore me again?”
“I’m ready for that gold of yours.”
“Thank Hekate. I’ve been waiting for two days, teleporting everywhere for you.”
“I told you this was a wacky ride. You never know where I might pop up,” Red joked compulsively from her nerves and leaned against the door. “I know who shot me the first and last time.”
“Nadine Warner. At least, she checked into a local motel under that name. I witnessed the aftermath as your loved ones scoured this town for her.” Elianna explained at Red’s confusion, “I don’t reset when you do. My pattern is very tidy; I reset in ninety minutes. Always.”
“Not that,” Red said, goose bumps rippling up her legs as the implications weighed on her.
She’d died in so many horrible ways, sometimes in front of her friends or with them. Not only that, but she’d also been so reckless with her imitation immortality. She wouldn’t have kicked Lucas in the balls if she had thought it mattered. Had it happened in this loop? The mechanics of her time treadmill gave her a headache. Maybe she wanted to think each time the slate was wiped clean.
“Those timelines continue?”
“Of course they do,” Elianna said, incredulous, as if explaining that the sky was blue. “It’s precisely why this statue is so dangerous. Time is fraying like old yarn. The Fates have assigned all mortals their destiny. This defiles their divine plan. We need to tread carefully and stay close to your original journey.”
“I don’t want today to end the same,” Red said flatly. “Thanks.”
“Neither do I! We need to end this quickly and hope that Chronos can repair the damage.”
“Come meet the girl-power gang then. We only have so much time to catch Nadine.” Red brought her out of the bathroom.
“Are your friends…” Elianna started to ask shyly, tripping over her shoes.
“We’re as friendly as the Babysitter’s Club, not like Heathers.” Red frowned at the demigoddess’s lack of recognition. “I thought you said you watched our movies?”
“Not every single one. I prefer period pieces.”
“Put ’em on the Olympus Netflix queue, and you’ll really learn something,” Red said, feeling like Vic as she pushed open the back-room door.
“Who’s your buddy?” Stace asked, rising from her seat. Her smile was friendly, but she stared at Elianna like she knew she was different.
Red checked her phone for the time. “We’ve got five minutes, so I can’t give Elianna a proper intro, but she’s cool. Not from around here. Our bagel eater will be ordering right now. Her alias is Nadine Warner. She doesn’t matter as much as her unknown employer. She’s ready to call them in to extract the statue. They won’t leave survivors. We need her out of the game, away from the sea caves so we can destroy the thing.”
“You keep talking like we know what it is,” Olivia complained, straightening her blazer lapel.
“A God Trap,” Red said. She continued as horror dawned on the other witch’s face. “It might as well be a bomb. The clock is ticking. Aisha, can you pull her over after she leaves the diner? She’ll be in a dark sedan on the road to the caves.”
Callaway nodded, pulling car keys out of her uniform.
“Olivia, we need enough supplies to turn a cave into a prison box. Can you gather it and join us there?” Red asked. “I’m working on the idea that I can neutralize it with another relic, but I don’t want to bet it all on one shot.”
The blonde gulped. “Sure…”
“Sorry to take over the meeting, Stace,” Red said.
“Nah, I’m cool with it. I could use a fight this morning.”
“Good, because we’ll follow behind Callaway in case of trouble. Our best-case scenario is that Nadine cools off in a jail cell, cut off from her contacts. Then we’ll have the space to deal with the God Trap without worrying about a hit squad.” Red asked Elianna, “Can you teleport to Vegas and get that skull? Do the demigoddess routine.”
She vanished.
Olivia gaped at the spot where Elianna had been. “So that bathroom goddess remark wasn’t a euphemism for your period.”
Red chuckled. “I’ll text more instructions on the road.”
With a small wave, Callaway left into the front dining area. Olivia tagged along, face drawn as if remembering grim bedtime stories. Would they have come if they knew they’d died in a past loop?
Red forced away her bloody memories. It wouldn’t come to that. They’d neutralize the threat and move onto the grand finale.
“I parked over here,” she said to Stace as they walked into the back lot. “Borrowed Zach’s ride since we’re going off-roading.”
“He owes us for this morning,” Stace griped, climbing into the SUV’s dented passenger side.
“Hopefully, it won’t take too long to air out the Bigfoot funk.” Red got behind the wheel, turning on the engine. Adrenaline simmered in her veins. The calm of a hunt came over her as her thoughts slowed, focused only on her mission. She drove around the side of the diner, waiting for the cop car.
The dark sedan exited the front parking lot first, making a right toward the cemetery road.
Callaway waited until it was almost out of sight, then followed. Red gave it a beat, then joined the convoy, keeping her speed at a crawl. On a country mile, three cars counted as traffic. They couldn’t crowd Nadine.
Red gave Stace the condensed version of how the statue worked. Ideally, she’d confess it all over wine. There was so much she wanted to say, but it’d have to wait until she knew there was a tomorrow.
“I’m sorry about your trip,” she blurted out at the end. “I know you haven’t told me yet, but it doesn’t sound like it was much fun.”
“I knew that meeting Jackson’s people wouldn’t be simple.” Scowling, Stace tugged on one of her dark curls. “I’m half-fae. Wolves have their own ways. I just didn’t imagine how awful it’d be. His grandmother hates me. No matter what he says.”
“At least you had Lashawn there.”
Stace shrugged, glancing out the car window. Tension corded her slight shoulders under her puffy yellow sleeves. “Not really. They all loved him, so I barely saw him after we reached the ranch. Didn’t really have anyone to stand up for me.”
“Oh damn, that sucks,” Red said, pinning down a sharp remark about Jackson. Where had he been during all of this? It put her own relationship drama into perspective. Things with Arno were strained, but at least Kristoff defended her.
“I was happy to come home early. Taking a sledgehammer to that statue will take the edge off.”
“You can get first crack at it,” Red promised.
Police sirens sounded up ahead. Stiffening in her seat, she pulled onto the shoulder as the traffic stop came into view.
In the distance, Callaway stepped out of her cruiser and approached the dark sedan. She stopped at the driver side. License and registration were produced out the open window.
Red squinted for a better look. They didn’t want to spook Nadine. It’d be easier if Callaway hauled her off. Considering how many bloodbaths she’d reset from, she wanted a peaceful resolution.
“I’m going to watch from the trees,” Stace said, creeping out the car. “She won’t notice me.”
“Be careful. I bet she knows exactly what’s behind the Dark Veil,” Red warned as the half-fae slipped into the forest, silent as a deer.
The next minutes were hell as she watched Callaway go back to her vehicle and sit down inside. Was she running the registration or pr
eparing the station for her arrival?
Red drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, muttering, “Go back to her, Aisha. Get her out of the car. What are you doing?”
Callaway returned to the dark sedan, handing over the paperwork. She beckoned the woman out of the car.
Nadine pointed a gun out the window, firing twice. Then stomped on the gas pedal.
Stace raced from the forest. She leaped for the bumper, grabbing it. The front wheel squealed on the road as she lifted the back, stopping the sedan.
Red drove to the prone sheriff, jerking the SUV into park. Kneeling, she pressed her hand against Callaway’s chest wound. She fumbled, pulling out her phone to dial for help, murmuring comforting nonsense to her friend.
With the ambulance dispatch in her ear, she didn’t hear the reversing car until too late.
14
Time loop #94 – July 3, Late Afternoon, Charm, Oregon
Red cursed loud enough for Vic to swerve near the highway exit to Charm. That fucking Nadine again. And they were trying to do it the easy way!
She should have just let Stace take a sledgehammer to her.
A vein pulsed in Red’s forehead, announcing a stress headache. She ranted, more to hear herself think than to inform him, until they arrived in the hills.
He cracked open a beer once they parked at his house. “Goddamn. So, what are we going to do?”
“We need to wait until Elianna finds me.” Red kicked a rock, then another. Restless energy made her want a punching bag. She’d spent eighty loops mapping out everyone’s movements in Las Vegas to escape. How many times would she go against Nadine, learning her schedule the hard way? “Hopefully, she grabbed that skull on the way.”
“Is this a bad time to ask for help unloading the van?”
Red flopped her arms up. “Why not? Nothing seems to kill me while I do this. It’s like the universe wants me to unbox your dishes.”
“I can’t complain.” He raised his beer can in a sardonic toast. “Let’s go check out the Sasquatch print.”
“I could draw it from memory by now.” She recounted the creature’s attributes like a bored museum docent until she announced Zach’s arrival.
Vic voted to keep him in the dark until the van was empty and the fire started. She told the tale over campfire pies. When Antonio arrived, she jerked her thumb toward the trees. “Meet your new best friend.”
The familiar chop of an ATV disrupted the boys’ attempt to nurse the injured creature.
Shackleford burst from the forest. He braked when Zach blocked him. His helmet bounced on his head, the pointed Kaiser tip glinting in the moonlight. He snarled, straining to spy the fleeing Bigfoot. “Out of my way, boy.”
“You’re not hunting Antonio!”
Red stepped beside Zach. “Easy, fellas. We’re really after the same thing—what’s happening in this town. Off-the-chart quantum energy signals, right?”
“Did you see how they spiked two days ago?” Shackleford asked eagerly, as he climbed down from his four-wheeler. He pulled off his helmet, grinning. “I’m Al Shackleford. Should’ve known more researchers would discover the Bigfoot migration.”
“Sure did,” Red said. She twisted around toward Vic by the house and motioned to put away his gun. If she would have to live this night over again and again, she might as well learn this oddball’s deal. She made friendly with Shackleford. “Have you seen anything at the sea caves near the cemetery?”
“My meters went nuts on that beach.” He leaned in, glancing around at the tree line. “I was followed on my way back. A woman in a black suit. Seen her before at my motel too.”
Startled, Red lifted her hand to her shoulder. “Light brown hair to here? Looks like ex-military?”
“That’s the one.” Shackleford bobbed his head, frowning. “Is she bothering you too?”
“I’d say so,” she said, fists tightening even as she kept her face blank. “Do you know anything about her?”
“She kept a low profile, but I overheard her on the phone. She spoke of a lost artifact.” Suspicion clouded his expression; he gazed into the forest then back at them. He dropped his voice, one eye narrowing more than the other, giving him a manic glint. “I think it attracts the Sasquatches.”
“Really?” Vic asked, almost sincere as he caught onto Red’s gambit to humor the cryptozoologist and stepped beside her with his beer. His holstered gun waited on his hip.
Zach sneered. “The Bigfoot has nothing to do with it.”
“Then tell me why—” Shackleford shouted.
Red interrupted the fight between Beastmaster and the X-Files before it began. “What else did she say?”
“Cryptic talk. I’d say the men in black have added ladies to their ranks. The glass ceiling in government cover-ups has been broken. She’s ready to play rough too.” Shackleford pursed his lips, clutching his helmet closer to his chest. “And I quote, there were to be no witnesses.”
She asked, “Did this woman mention any employers? Maybe a Bethesda Group or Uriel & Sons?”
“Didn’t hear that. I haven’t detected her specific organization. Yet. The only name I heard was a Mr. Gabriel,” Shackleford said. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Red nearly shit a brick. He continued, “Said he didn’t need to know it was missing.”
“That woman is dangerous.” It wasn’t only her sharpshooting. If she revealed Red, how many other assassins would follow? Gulping, she warned, “Stay away from her. She will kill.”
“Already knew that without your say-so, sweetheart,” he condescended. His tone might as well have patted her on the head. “I’m an experienced big-game hunter, a Wing Chun black belt, and a trained engineer. I knew that woman was following me before she decided to even do it.”
Red snorted, remembering how long this dude had lasted in the real supernatural world.
“Wing Chun has black belts?” Vic asked faux-innocently, then sipped his drink.
“Never mind that.” Shackleford flushed. “Whatever you people are doing, I want in.”
Zach countered before she could say anything, “Leave that Bigfoot alone then.”
“Fine, fine,” Shackleford grumbled, “What are you, a stinking environmentalist?”
Zach tipped his chin up. “What about it?”
Red broke their stare-off, already tired of the macho posturing and being called sweetheart. She needed to know when the beach was clear of murderers. If Shackleford wanted to roll with the real hunters, she was ready to let him try. “That woman is staying at your motel under the name Nadine Warner. Keep an eye out for her movements. Don’t make contact. Let us know when you see her come and go.”
“How will I inform you?” Shackleford asked, back straightening like a soldier on duty.
Vic suggested, “Call the diner and leave a message. The waitress will pass it along.” He rolled his wrist as he bullshitted a reason. Red was impressed by how passable it was. “We can’t be connected on the grid yet in case they’re monitoring the cell towers.”
“Good thinking.” Shackleford put on his helmet. “What will you do?”
“Um,” Red looked to Vic. The less this yahoo knew, the safer he’d be.
“We’ll take more readings of the area with our sensors,” Vic said smoothly. “EMFs.”
Shackleford nodded. “Good. We’ll need more data, and you’ll be safer here in the rear. I’ll take up my post on the front.” He climbed back on his vehicle and revved the engine.
Vic gave him a thumbs-up. He muttered to Red as the cryptozoologist disappeared onto the road to town, “That fucking guy, am I right?”
Zach commented, almost impressed, “You know how to speak to the tinfoil hat types, Constantine.”
“It’s a gift.”
Red rubbed her face, sighing. “Did you catch that bit about Mr. Gabriel?”
Vic bobbed his head, jaw tightening. “Is this Nadine another one of his assassins?”
“I don’t think she’s after me. The only time
s she’s attacked have been when I was close to the statue, or I tried to stop her from retrieving it. She could have gotten me on my bike after she picked up her bagel in the first timeline. If it’s the same Mr. Gabriel, the relics trade explains how he had the money to hire the Lopes Pack. Those dogs weren’t cheap.”
Zach scowled. “He can’t know you’re alive.”
“I’ll worry about that once I know I survive tomorrow. At least Antonio is safe for the night.”
Vic asked, “Where is that demigoddess friend of yours? I want to hit that cave soon.”
“I don’t know. Give me a minute.” Red pulled out her phone and stepped away. She called Kristoff, nibbling her lip as she waited for him to answer. They were meeting tonight, but considering how it had turned out last time…It was something she still hadn’t processed. Even with Shackleford distracted by surveillance, their date night was doomed by fate.
“Hello, darling,” Kristoff said. “I was about to step into the shower. Just got back into town.” It was so good to hear his voice.
“Hey.” Her mind blanked. She hadn’t practiced this conversation into the ground. After a beat, she found her weak-sauce train of thought. “I can’t explain it, but I have a bad feeling. I think your brother needs you.”
“Is Arno in trouble? Did you hear something?”
“More like I saw it in a nightmare. Call him.” Red brushed a stray tear from her cheek, trying not to wail into the phone and tell him everything. Despite everything she’d seen, she still wanted him by her side, sheltering her from this storm.
The stress of being strong in the face of her unrelenting immortality, picking up the pieces after every grisly death, smothered her. A god’s weight pressed on her chest. Kristoff’s voice was the signal that she could let down her burden. It was a sign of safety.
Not now. He couldn’t save her.
She stifled a hiccup. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe.”
The line descended into silence only the dead could manage. He asked, “Why do you sound so sad?”
Red smiled, tensing her muscles into the position, hoping it brightened up her tone. She deflected his concern back to Arno. “Because I’m worried about you Novak boys. If he’s okay, then call me back later to tell me I’m being silly.”
Witch in Time: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Red Witch Chronicles 6) Page 20
