Chapter 13 #2
“West,” Nico chimed in. “I like the direction of the sunset; it feels like a good omen.”
Wilson nodded, lips twitching in an almost smile at him. “Works for me. Get the truck ready? Keys are already inside.”
“On it.” Nico started down the steps to move the truck near the ramp for Wilson.
“I need to grab a coat and make sure the oven’s off.” Wilson disappeared back inside. Octavia stood to start after him, but December shook her head.
“It’s too dangerous for you,” December said. “I’ll go. Watch his back.”
Octavia dropped into her seat, shoulders sagging. I caught Jonah’s eye once December went inside. He tripped over his feet when he finally saw the come here motion of my hand.
“What’s the protocol for an active site with a confirmed target?” I whispered, dipping my head to catch his gaze. If I wasn’t good for anything, I could at least be good for this.
“I…um…” He stared down at our shoes, fumbling for the answer.
“Jonah.” I rested a hand on his shoulder. “I need you to find an anchor point.”
He frowned, his skin a burning red when he finally met my gaze.
“Go somewhere you’re safe. Lock the door behind you. This job is a hard one…even for a seasoned hunter.”
“For you?” he asked, tone full of shock and hope.
“I know you can do it.” I ignored the question, too ashamed of reality. “I know you’ll be able to watch over Octavia while we’re away. I trust you.”
Jonah’s shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath. Uncertainty became low tide as he said, “She can’t go inside until we do a full sweep. We may have to relocate her. I’ll monitor her for signs of possession. And salt the area to make sure anything that lingers keeps away until morning.”
My smile didn’t quite reach my eyes, but at least it was present and accounted for.
“Good. Grab the emergency kit from the RV. I don’t think we’ll take long, but just in case we do, you may need it.”
Jonah hurried to the RV, nearly falling over his feet twice on the way.
My attention had nowhere else to go but her.
She’d already been watching us. Me.
“Hey.” I swallowed, moving close enough to kneel in front of her. “You’re going to be okay here. We’re going to find this thing and put it to rest.”
“Are you 90 percent sure?” she asked. I expected it to be slight, but Octavia’s mouth quirked up. Her voice was still raspy, but the light in her eyes had returned. I resisted the urge to take her hand in mine. Touching her outside the context of sheer panic and imminent danger seemed taboo.
“Ninety-five, would you believe it?” I teased back, even though my heart wasn’t quite in it. My gaze flickered to her neck and the darkened black-and-blue bruise that spread every minute.
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” Her gentle reminder pulled my eyes back to hers. “So don’t look at me like you need absolution.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, holding back the apology that bubbled at the base of my throat. She didn’t need to hear my shame at a time like this. This woman didn’t deserve to carry the burden of my insecurities.
“I’m sorry for insinuating you enjoyed this part of the job. For thinking…you got off all the scares and terror.”
I raised a brow. “You thought I got off on it?”
“You seek it out. All of this, and then you make it into a story to tell on a stage. It didn’t seem too far-fetched to think you were some daredevil, tornado chaser with a fascination with death and darkness.”
“Do you drink?” I asked.
She frowned. “What? Why?”
“After this is over, I want to buy you a drink,” I said. “Talk to you without all this background noise. I’m a little tired of all these assumptions about one another. What about you?”
“Yeah, that sounds…nice. And I’ll say yes under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You let me come with you guys to look.”
I shook my head before she had even finished the sentence. “No. We don’t need your help.”
Her expression hardened. “I know these grounds like the back of my hand. And I have another means of transport. You all can’t take the RV. It’s too slow and the terrain’s too bumpy. Without Esther, we only have one truck.”
“We’ll manage.”
“Was all the stuff you said about the woman you think I am just an attempt to get on my good side?”
I frowned. “Of course not.”
“Then, according to both our notes, I don’t back down from fights. I need to do this. See it through. The world…my world has been split open. And I can’t sit here doing nothing, Rae. I need to get answers before this fear starts eating me.”
Octavia’s voice had become steadier than my own.
I’d leaned into her, finding a stable pillar amid my exhaustion.
Of course, I pulled back in a heartbeat because she couldn’t see the fear buzzing behind my eyes.
Couldn’t note that I saw her as a source of support.
I only offered her a smile of admiration and a nod of approval.
“I’ll get Kat and Frog ready.” She pushed out of the seat, descending the stairs without another word. This woman’s tenacity tugged on my heart. As she disappeared into the stable, I willed myself to remember my job was to anchor, not the other way around.
December rode on Frog with Octavia, and I took Kat. Jonah hopped in the back of the truck with the guys.
“You don’t have to push her too hard,” Octavia said before we set off. “You’re still new at riding, and she’s faster than Frog. I don’t want to have you falling off.”
“Got it.” There was no time to argue, and she was right; we didn’t have the bandwidth to add a grievous injury from a horse fall to our list.
We split from the guys, cutting through the wind to our first target. I dug my nails into Kat’s rein, doing everything in my power to keep looking forward and not thinking back to the distorted voice in the hall. Octavia rode with a straight body, mouth pulled tight in focus.
“Hey!” December’s voice cut through the galloping hooves. “Stop, stop!”
Octavia pulled on Frog, and he yielded. I had a harder time getting Kat to stop, but once she noticed her companion doing so, she gave in.
“What’s wrong?” Octavia asked.
December pointed a few yards away. “That tree.”
“Yeah?” Octavia followed her finger.
“What is it?” I knew full well when December stopped to share something in times like these, it was best to listen.
“Is it an American elm?” she asked.
Octavia shrugged. “Maybe. I wouldn’t know.”
“It looks like an American elm,” December insisted.
“Point,” I told her firmly. “Get to it.”
“Elmwood,” December started. “Elm trees are associated with the Underworld. Death and transition. They’re used as landmarks or boundary markers. There’s not a lot of research in the Guild’s database, but some of it shows the tree could be another source of power. Spirits could harvest from them.”
“You think Arnold’s buried there?” I asked.
“The location could explain its quick recharge,” she said.
“It’s worth a shot.” Octavia tugged Frog in that direction. Kat followed without prompting.
The elm tree stood on top of a small hill. The surrounding air buzzed with the smell of smoke, as if lightning had struck here one too many times. I glanced at December, wondering if she picked up the same thing. She offered me a solemn nod.
“See that?” Octavia dismounted and held out her hand to help December down.
“Marker.” December hurried to the base of the tree where a weathered wooden cross leaned over in the dirt.
I took a little longer to catch up, untying the shovels from Kat’s back.
“The grass is different here.” December dropped to her knees, fingers pressed into the earth. “Drier.”
It didn’t look any different to me, but I’d take her word for it. I offered them shovels and then pulled out my walkie.
“Hey, we think we found it,” I told the guys. “Come back. You’ll see us before you get to the lake.”
“That fast?” Static challenged Nico’s voice. “You sure?”
Octavia and December started digging. Though I couldn’t make out the difference in grass before now, underneath the surface lay lighter, grittier dirt.
“Positive.” I shoved the walkie back on my belt and joined in on the digging.