Chapter 15
“What’s going on?” Raven glances at Greyson as he slows the SUV.
“There’s a lot of humans up ahead.” Greyson breathes deeply through his nose. “This isn’t good.”
“Why would there be a bunch of humans at the border to Montana?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Could there be an issue with volcanic activity? Yellowstone is in Wyoming and Montana. It could have something to do with that.” Kira sits forward.
“Yellowstone is a hotbed for volcanic activity. Let’s check it out and see what’s going on because we need to get to Montana as quickly as possible.” I glance out the windshield.
“Agreed.” Raven nods.
Greyson accelerates and we bump down the road again until flashing lights in the distance flare through the trees. “What is happening? Why do they have emergency vehicles?”
“There’s a blockade at the border. There are also state troopers and the fire department there.” Greyson leans forward. “What the hell are we going to do?”
“Is there a way around this? Another place along the border maybe that’s not so heavily guarded?” I ask.
“Maybe but it will set us back. This is the closest we can get to Etna. It’s a straight shot from here.” Greyson shakes his head.
“Wait. Draven you got us through a security check before when we went to go retrieve the hammer. Can you do that here?” Raven asks.
“I don’t know. There were only a few firemen there. I’ll need to get closer to see how many people we’re dealing with.” Draven runs a hand down his face.
“What did you do?” Kira asks.
“He never told you?” I ask.
“No. I knew that he helped you retrieve the shield but never any details.” She shrugs.
“Because I was an asshole the entire time. It wasn’t my finest moments.” Draven frowns.
“We were in Colorado to help them with your dad’s golden bulls, Kira.
The fire department was evacuating Grand Junction and blocking the road to keep people out.
Draven used his magic to convince them to leave so we could get through, but he’s right.
Other than that and the end of our journey, he was an asshole. ” I grin at him.
“He’s redeemed himself, though.” Raven nods to Draven.
“She’s right. Don’t worry about the past. We wouldn’t have gotten even this far if you hadn’t shown up when you did in the fight for Artemis.” I shake my head. “All of you.”
“Thank you,” Draven says, turning red. “Should we get closer and see if we can get through?”
“Yeah, this is the best route, and if they have it blocked here, they are going to have the entire southern border blocked off. We may have to get out and hike to the mountain.”
“Let’s hope we don’t have to do that, but at least this time we’re prepared if we do,” Raven says.
“You packed hiking gear?” I ask.
“You didn’t see it in the trunk?” Raven frowns.
“I saw packs back there but thought it was just more supplies. Good to know we’re prepared for anything.” I nod.
The SUV creeps down the mountain road. The lights grow brighter the closer we get to the border, and I flinch.
Humans are everywhere. They have men in white coats with machinery checking the ground and a line of state troopers watching the road.
Huge cinder block walls line the border, keeping everyone out.
“That’s too many humans,” I whisper.
Raven turns in her seat. “I know that’s a lot of people, Draven, but Aggie said you need to be stronger.
I watched you catch them from a hundred feet away with your magic and lower them gently to the ground.
You’ll never know if you can persuade this many humans unless you try.
That could be something you need when the shifter war comes. ”
Draven’s eyes widen. “You’re right. It could be the difference between the humans finding out about us or not.”
“So you’ll try? It’s not like they will know what’s happening if it doesn’t work.” I shift forward in my seat.
“When fate warns you to be stronger, you listen.” Draven shrugs.
“Okay, try it. Kira is there any way you can mess with the scientists’ equipment?”
“Maybe,” she says. “What are you thinking?”
“It may help Draven convince the others if the scientists pack up because of equipment malfunction.” I run a hand down my face.
“Yeah, I’m going to try it because I have never affected machinery from a distance before and that could be useful as well.” Kira nods.
I switch spots with them, sitting in the very back to watch what they’re doing. There are no outward signs that anything is happening until one of the scientists curses.
“Is the generator out of gas?” he growls and stomps to another piece of equipment.
“I just filled it up, sir,” another man says, frowning.
“It’s working, Kira, you’re doing it,” I whisper so I don’t distract her.
“All the equipment just shorted out at the same time,” another scientist with horn-rimmed glasses says.
“We need to get the equipment back to the lab. This could be more of the mysterious failing of technology happening all over.” The first man grabs a device and starts typing on it.
“Um, guys,” Raven says, wringing her hands together. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all. They have cell phones.”
“Shhh, let them work. I think all the monsters are either at Etna right now or the academy. They aren’t roaming around here to sense us.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Raven frowns.
“We need to go,” horn-rimmed glasses guy says. “Pack up the equipment quickly and let’s get it back to the lab. I think we have enough data stored there anyway.”
Several of the state troopers glance around and shuffle their feet. Firemen scramble like they are going to leave but one large state trooper shakes his head.
“Hold the line. No one but the scientists leave.”
“Shit.” Draven squeezes his eyes shut and lifts his hands higher. “He’s not taking the suggestion of fear. The guy in charge won’t let any of the ones I have convinced leave.”
“Some minds must be stronger than others or he’s not motivated by fear only honor and duty. It’s not your fault. I noticed just about every single other person getting nervous and ready to leave. You did good.” I clap him on the shoulder. “Both of you did.”
“Looks like we’re finding another way around this?” Greyson locks gazes with me in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, we don’t have a choice in the matter. Let’s go.”
Greyson turns the vehicle around and barrels down the bumpy mountain road until we come to a turn and head back north, but the scene is much the same as before except there are no scientists taking what probably amounts to volcanic activity readings.
“Odds are they only have the roads blocked off. They won’t expect people to hike to get to an area that they have been warned is dangerous.
” Raven taps her fingers against her lips.
“I say we cut our losses and hike from here. If the map is accurate, this is the closest place other than the road we were on before.”
“I don’t like it, but you’re probably right. We will just waste more time driving up and down the border, only to realize that we should have gotten out and hiked much sooner.” I unclip my seat belt and move to the middle seat.
I push the back door open and round the SUV to the trunk and pop the hatch. My arm strains against the weight of the heavy packs as I pull them out of the trunk and check them. Hiking and climbing gear just in case we need to scale the mountain.
“Perfect.” I grin.
“We won’t even need to see Pan because we’re prepared this time.” Greyson pulls his pack over his shoulders and clips the belt around his waist.
“Pan may not even show because of it,” I say with a twinge of disappointment.
“Unless he has a cryptic dire warning for us,” Draven grumbles.
“His are less cryptic than Adrian and the fates combined. He doesn’t see the future, though, so there’s that.” I shrug my own pack on, making sure to clasp both my bag and medical supplies to it.
We’re going into the last leg of this journey and usually that means everything is about ten times harder than anything we’ve faced so far. Considering I nearly died earlier today, my hands shake with nerves. I ball them into fists so no one can see my weakness.
“You ready to head out, B?” Raven grips my shoulder.
“Yup, let’s get this over with and go back to our friends.” I square my shoulders and tilt my head higher.
“Yes,” Raven says. “I want a good fight, and this mission has been quiet compared to previous missions.”
“I nearly died, Raven.” I roll my eyes.
“While I had to shoot stupid arrows at a giant instead of actually getting my hands dirty.” She sticks her tongue out at me.
“Which way do we need to go?” I ask.
“We should go about a hundred yards to the east before we try to cross the northern border. I’m hoping the blockade will be gone by then and we can cross through the trees.” Greyson glances down at the map in his hands and points to the east of our current location.
We trudge through the surprisingly quiet forest with little trouble.
“Where are the dryads?” I whisper. “They aren’t giggling or messing with us at all.”
“Don’t ask questions. Just be grateful,” Raven says. “They haven’t noticed I’m here yet.”
“Are you sure they haven’t left their trees because of all the activity? There are a lot of humans trampling the place.” Kira frowns.
“I mean, it’s possible but that’s not like them because the humans can’t actually see them. Much like the monsters’ spirits are invisible to the humans.” I step over a fallen branch.
“It might be the fact that this whole area is a hotbed for volcanic activity, and they feel the difference and are scared of an eruption,” Raven says.
“That’s probably the most likely scenario. They will be back once we get the hammer back and everything eases up.” I nod.
“Let’s keep going east for a little while. I still smell the humans.” Greyson taps his nose.
“I think I smell it too,” Kira says. “That’s so weird.”
“You’ll get used to the heightened senses eventually.” Greyson smiles at her over his shoulder.
“Good to know it’s not always like this.” She shudders.
“There.” Greyson points up ahead. “Do you smell that?”