Chapter 5
FIVE
My love for Wesley had snuck up on me. Upon first meeting, I’d considered him a cantankerous curmudgeon. We’d bonded fast. He missed his daughter, my mother, and said he saw a lot of her in me. He wasn’t too fond of my dad, who he believed stole my mother away. They’d made amends, though.
For me.
If left to his own devices, Wesley probably would have hated my father forever.
I would never pretend that my father was perfect — not by a long shot — but he was a good man.
He just didn’t understand the paranormal stuff.
He hadn’t wanted me to move to Moonstone Bay.
He’d fought my intentions, and when he lost he turned pouty.
Things changed after he visited and we talked everything out.
He even understood why I was staying, and he’d come to terms with it.
My love for Aurora, Booker, Lilac, and Galen had been much quicker.
Sure, Galen irritated me during our first meeting — he was so bossy — and there had been a split-second when I’d been attracted to Booker.
Things happened as they were supposed to, however, and my love for Galen was all encompassing.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t still irritate me.
“What’s your plan?” Galen demanded as Booker looked over Wesley’s four-wheelers.
I glanced over at him, taking in the rigid set of his shoulders and the hands he had planted on his hips. I recognized his bossy stance well.
“We’re going to look for Wesley,” I replied. “I should think my plan is rather obvious.”
“But you don’t know that he’s out there.”
“If he is I’m going to find him.”
Galen growled and turned his back to me to pinch the bridge of his nose. That was his “calm down and count to ten” stance.
Booker abandoned the four-wheeler and put his hand on my arm to stop me when I moved toward Galen. I had no idea what I was going to do — other than make things worse, of course — but I was keyed up and ready to fight.
Booker gave me a soft head shake and then moved closer to the best friend he would never claim because of some macho game the two of them insisted on playing. “What do you expect her to do?” he asked Galen.
“We’re starting the search here,” Galen replied. “One of Julian’s security guys is a world class tracker.”
“Aren’t all shifters world class trackers?” Aurora asked blandly. “I mean, that’s a dog thing, right?”
If looks could kill, Galen would have struck her dead with a single glare. “Are you trying to give me an ulcer?” he growled.
“Not last time I checked, but I can add that to my to-do list.” Aurora was unflappable. She knew how to read her friends.
“Stop talking to me,” Galen barked, his eyes moving back to me. When he spoke again, he used his most reasonable voice, which only further irritated me. “Hadley, don’t you think we should search the immediate grounds and outbuildings first?”
“We’ve already searched them,” I replied.
“Okay, but we’ll do a more thorough search.”
“He’s not here. I would feel if he was.”
Galen cocked his head, curious. “You can feel him? Magically?”
Explaining this to him wasn’t going to be easy. “There is a certain recognition when I’m close to people I care about,” I replied. “I feel it for you … and Booker.”
Booker smirked. “Your girlfriend is feeling me.”
Galen didn’t look at Booker before punching him in the shoulder.
“It’s not a conscious thing unless I really concentrate,” I continued. “I can’t find him here.”
Galen eyed me for several seconds. He didn’t ask — he wouldn’t — but he was wondering if my lack of contact signified that Wesley was dead.
“I don’t feel he’s dead,” I volunteered, relieving his pressure. “I know I can’t know that, but I don’t feel it and I have to follow my instincts.”
Galen’s face softened but he didn’t immediately speak.
“You’re the one who told her to always follow her instincts,” Aurora noted. “She’s like a toddler with her magic because she’s still learning. You’ll confuse her.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
Galen’s glare was back in an instant. “Are you trying to kill me, Aurora?” he snapped. “Why do you always have to take it to a weird place?”
“That’s what I do,” Aurora replied. “Besides, I agree with Hadley on this one. He’s not here. He would’ve been found by now. Hell, Wesley has shifters on his payroll. Are you suggesting they didn’t use their abilities to find him?”
Galen opened his mouth, then shut it. “I have to wait here to organize the search crews.”
“Hadley will be with us,” Booker offered. “We’ll take care of her.”
“Besides,” Aurora added. “She’s stronger than you. She’ll be fine. And less distracted than if you came with us.”
“I am going to kill you,” Galen seethed as he glared at one of his lifelong best friends.
Aurora lightly patted his cheek. “Funnel that rage into finding Wesley. Hadley will be fine with us. I’m driving. It’s all good.”
“I’m driving,” Booker corrected. “You’re not any better behind the wheel than Hadley.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” Aurora said.
Booker shrugged. “Take it however you want. I’m driving.”
Galen’s shoulders slumped and he moved to me, grabbing the front of my shirt and hauling me in for a kiss. “You be careful,” he whispered. “If you find something come back here to get backup. Don’t investigate it yourself.”
We both knew that might not be possible, but I nodded all the same. “I’ll be careful, Galen.”
He gave me another kiss and released me. His eyes moved to Booker. “Take care of our girls.”
“I will,” Booker said on a grin.
“That is so sexist,” Aurora whined as she stomped toward the four-wheeler. “I’m stronger than him. I don’t need anybody to take care of me.”
“I love you too, Aurora,” Galen called out in a voice guaranteed to irritate her.
She flipped him the bird and climbed into the backseat. “Let’s go,” she barked. “Wesley needs us.”
BOOKER KNEW WESLEY’S RANCH FAIRLY well. We’d been on search and rescue missions on the property quite a few times. Twenty minutes in, he was already frustrated.
“Cast the spell again,” he ordered.
I had to hold back a weary sigh. I’d cast three locator spells so far. They’d all started out okay before fizzling out. I wasn’t an expert despite the training I’d been putting in, but it felt as if something was interfering with my magic.
I lifted my hand and concentrated. The ball of light formed almost immediately, squealed, and zipped off.
“This one won’t work either,” Aurora said from behind us. She sounded listless and bored. “Either Hadley is too scattered to use her magic because she’s worried about Wesley or she’s being blocked.”
“Do you feel blocked?” Booker asked me.
I shrugged. “I feel as if the spell is launching fine but it’s running into a wall or something. Out there,” I added, waving vaguely.
Booker frowned. “Maybe there is a wall, something trying to keep you out.”
“Me specifically?”
“Maybe Wesley was taken as a message to you.”
My stomach constricted.
“Good job, moron,” Aurora complained.
“It’s not as if she hasn’t thought about that,” Booker shot back. “I’m not saying that’s what happened but … .”
“It could have,” I finished when he left the sentence hanging.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“What should we do?” Aurora wasn’t giving up. “If Hadley is running into a wall because she’s being targeted, what can you and I do to cast a locator spell?”
The question threw me. Could they cast a locator spell? Then I got excited. “Maybe you can create a water ball and Booker can use his mind magic to … look for Wesley’s mind specifically.”
Booker arched a dubious eyebrow. “We’ve never done anything like that.”
“You can do it.” I refused to let go of the idea.
Booker was a naysayer by nature. When he opened his mouth a second time I knew he was going to shoot me down. Aurora cuffed the back of his head before he could utter a word, however, and he sighed instead.
He nodded. “Tell me what I should do.”
They bandied about ideas for several minutes. I sat and listened because there wasn’t much I could offer. I barely understood my own magic, let alone theirs. It didn’t take them long to agree on a tactic.
“Let’s do it,” Booker said after they’d gone over the plan three times. “It can’t hurt to try.”
Aurora built a small water ball. It glowed faintly with her siren magic. When Booker added his magic, he prettied it up so it glowed red and was easier to see.
“You always have to be flashy,” Aurora complained as she stared at the floating ball of water.
“We need to be able to see it, Aurora,” Booker replied as he sent the ball careening into the woods.
Aurora seemed antsy as she scanned the trees for signs of movement. “There.” She pointed after a few seconds. The ball had reappeared and seemed agitated, chittering like a rabid squirrel.
“Well, let’s see if this worked.” Booker shifted the four-wheeler into gear. “Hold on.”
He might have talked big about his driving ability, but he was a daredevil behind the wheel. I held on even though I was strapped in, and closed my eyes when Booker took a hard turn. I was grateful I hadn’t eaten this morning.
I focused on not wetting my pants for so long that I almost tipped forward when Booker came to an abrupt stop.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
I opened my eyes. Wesley owned hundreds of acres and obviously didn’t know every nook and cranny of the property. I vaguely recognized the field we found ourselves in.
Wesley had called it a grazing field. He moved his herds to various fields so he could focus on watering and recovery for the previous feeding grounds.
The herds stayed on a specific field for a week before being moved.
He’d explained the entire process to me at one point but I couldn’t remember all of the finer details.
“What is that?” Aurora asked in an awed voice, drawing my eyes to a spot in the middle of the field.
I unfastened my seatbelt and exited the four-wheeler. I didn’t look anywhere but at the huge symbol that had taken over the center of the field. I had never seen anything like it.
“Hadley, wait.” Booker scrambled to keep up with me, but I ignored him.
“This isn’t some sort of weird branding thing, is it?” Aurora asked. She’d kept pace with me.
“A branding thing?” Booker scoffed. “Do you think they fashioned a huge metal brand for a giant and asked him to come out here and stamp the land or something? Good grief.”
“No, nimrod,” Aurora shot back. “I’m suggesting that maybe someone used magic for a controlled burn to mark the field. Maybe that’s how they keep track of when the cows graze where.”
Booker turned contrite. “Sorry. That’s actually kind of smart. I can see Wesley doing something like that.”
“He doesn’t,” I said in a low voice. “They each have numbers and he goes in order. One through five. He doesn’t do this.” I was mesmerized by the symbol. “That’s not Wesley’s brand anyway.”
Booker agreed. “Wesley’s brand is an entwined W and M.”
“For May and Wesley,” I murmured.
“Yes, although he told me he’s going to have Lilac design a new one adding an H.”
I snapped my eyes to him.
“For you.” Booker bobbed his head. “You’ll inherit all of this when he’s gone.”
I’d thought about that, briefly, in the past. Galen and I had even talked about it. Wesley’s ranch was beautiful, but I couldn’t imagine leaving the city and I had no idea how to take care of a ranch.
“I don’t want to talk about that now,” I said. Given Wesley’s disappearance, that vague, far-off possibility was now all too real. “I want to know what that is.” I pointed to the symbol. “Anybody recognize it?”
Booker went back to staring. “It looks magical.” He lifted his phone to take a photo. “We can try to do a reverse image search, see if it’s ever shown up on a paranormal message board or something.”
“I didn’t know you could do that,” I admitted.
He shrugged. “Just a trick of the trade, my dear.”
I went back to staring at the symbol. It was curved on two sides with lines through it. I could almost feel it humming. It didn’t feel dangerous as much as alluring.
“It does look as if it was burned into the ground,” Aurora offered. She was hunkered down, a good thirty feet away looking at the symbol from a different angle. “I’m sure it wasn’t a blowtorch or anything.”
“No, it’s definitely magical,” Booker agreed. His eyebrows moved toward one another as he studied it. “This is so weird.”
“Where are we in proximity to Wesley’s house?” I asked as I edged closer. I wanted to test the lines of the symbol to see if I could get a better feel for the magic.
“Why?” Booker challenged.
“I’m trying to figure out if Wesley could walk out here of his own volition,” I replied, sneaking forward another couple of inches. “I lost track of where we are with all the twists and turns.”
“The sun is right there.” Aurora pointed. “It’s still early. It rises in the east and sets in the west, so that’s southeast right there. You really should learn these things in case you’re ever lost on your own.”
“Why would I when I have you?” I teased, slipping forward a bit more. I could feel the magic. It was excited at my presence.
“We’re about two miles from the ranch house in that direction,” Booker replied, pointing. “We took a roundabout way here. It would be about a forty-minute walk through some dense foliage for Wesley.”
“So not impossible but not likely,” I surmised, inching closer still. I couldn’t go much closer without crossing the symbol line, and intrigued as I was, I had no intention of doing that.
“Pretty much,” Booker agreed. His eyes moved to me and I thought his eyebrows would fly off his forehead. “What are you doing?” He’d just realized how close I was to the symbol and started in my direction to drag me back.
I was jolted by the change in his demeanor and fell forward enough to drag me over the line.
I opened my mouth to apologize to Booker but light flashed all around me and I left my world to enter a new one.