Chapter 84 Served
“Nature calls!” Sage yelled to Canyon, heading for his truck.
She grabbed her purse and walked off alone in the bushes to pee, knowing Canyon probably was still watching her.
Finished, she cleaned up, then pulled Mina’s phone out and checked for messages from Bristol. There was one. Sage deciphered it:
Spooky here. Vod not at the Inn but are close. Females with them. Foxen all hiding. Abigail missing.
Ok no, Sage thought, looking up at the campsite. Canyon and Timber had their heads together near the grill. She melted into the underbrush and typed a message back.
Stay away. The vod want Abigail ONLY.
Sage watched the message deliver. She waited for a reply, her heartbeat loud in her ears. No reply. Sage shoved the phone in her purse and took it to the truck, saying a silent prayer to Rhen to watch over her family and keep them away from the vod.
Sage fixed her face, wiping the worry from it, not quite ready to discuss her family with Canyon yet. Soon, but not now.
She sat. Canyon came over with sizzling food on a cutting board. He handed her a plate, then scraped several stalks of asparagus onto it with a giant butcher knife. He sat with the cutting board on his lap, sliced up a steak for her, then scraped it on top of the asparagus.
“Looks delicious,” she said.
He pulled a fork out of his pocket and handed it over, then brought her ice-cold water.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling at him behind her lashes.
“Anytime,” he said, dropping her a wink.
He went back for more food, and within a few minutes, the three of them were eating heartily.
Sage finished the last scrap, then dropped her fork on her empty plate. “That was delicious.”
“Because I’m a master meat maestro,” Timber said. He held up his fork with a hunk of meat on it and pointed it at Wulf. “Hey Wulf, do you eat?”
:Eat? Yes, I like to eat—
Wulf’s screen flared brightly, and red blood spattered across it, while a wild growling came from his speakers.
Timber covered his eyes. “Dang, Wulf, I’m gonna need you to warn me next time. You’re gonna give me nightmares.”
Sage laughed, and Canyon did, too, and in the moments of comfort that followed, she found the strength to divulge another foxen secret.
“The giant spider in the hole,” she said.
Canyon nodded. “Kiki.”
“Kiki!?” Timber roared. “That scary-ass spider’s name is Kiki? Also, who the hell names a spider Kiki?”
Sage grinned, nodding. “Supposedly, she’s a demon from another world and Abigail brought her to this world promising she could mate with Khain… so now she lives in the hole, and if Khain ever goes to the Inn, Abigail has a way to release her.”
“Shit,” Timber said. “If there’s one thing Serenity does not need, it’s giant creepy demon spider babies.”
Canyon snorted laughter.
Sage laughed, too, saying, “Abigail thinks Kiki’ll eat him.”
“Oh, for real? Well, that’s different,” Timber said.
:4 p.m. Time for Timber’s 4th Foxglove application—
“I got it,” Sage said, getting up to grab her purse from the truck, then bringing it to Timber. He rolled up his sleeve.
She examined it, glad to see the weeping edges were almost closed. “It looks good,” she said.
“Yeah, thanks to you,” Timber said, grinning toothily, a grateful look on his face.
Sage gave him a small smile, then locked eyes with Canyon.
He blew her a kiss, mouthing, ‘Thank you.’ She couldn’t help but smile widely at him, warmth spreading through her.
She cleaned Timber’s wound, applied the paste and bandage, then cleaned up the detritus and dropped her purse near her chair.
Timber rolled his sleeve down, put his hands behind his head, and scooched down in his chair, getting comfortable. He closed his eyes, saying, “Feels like nap time.”
Canyon climbed up in the back of his truck and rooted around, coming out with a backpack and some folded chairs. He put the pack on his back and slung the chairs under his arm, jumped to the ground and held his hand out to Sage. “Wanna check out the bunker?”
She nodded, took his hand and pressed into his side, walking toward the edge of the bluff, feeling like everything would be okay, as long as Canyon was with her.
She stared at the view over the edge of the bluff as they walked, mesmerized by the contrast of the green trees, blue sky, blue river, and all the colors of Serenity laid out below.
They reached the bunker and took the stairs that led inside.
Light from a square opening at the far end showed them a bunker full of windswept dirt and leaves and branches, but nothing else.
“Smells like pee,” Sage said, wrinkling her nose.
Canyon snorted. “Let’s get outta here.”
Up top was a different story. The air was fresh and the view was spectacular. Walking near the sides was dicey, because the ground fell away several hundred feet quickly, the bunker jutting out above the river below.
Canyon took the rucksack off his back and set it in the middle of the bunker’s concrete roof. He strolled to the edge and looked over, then returned to his ruck. Sage sat down and watched him work.
In no time, he had a folding tent set up with a double bed roll inside, and chairs at the entrance.
He offered one to Sage. She got up and sat in it, smiling at him.
He sat next to her and took her hand. Sage looked out over Serenity and the area beyond, some small part of her mind on her family, but most of her thinking about Canyon.
Canyon stretched his legs out and relaxed in the chair, his hands folded over his belly, also looking out over Serenity, giant waves of satisfaction rolling off him.
Sage couldn’t help but sneak peeks at him.
His calm expression made her feel like everything was going to be okay.
Silently, she picked out landmarks: Blue River, the bluffs, Twilight Boulevard running through downtown, Interstate 90 bisecting town, all the train tracks and trestles, the bear statue, the wolf statue.
Big Claw Woods, Serenity Hospital, Serenity Fire Department, and Serenity Police Department were all easy to find, while the catamount statue lay behind them and couldn’t be seen from this vantage.
“I might know where my pendant is,” Sage said.
Canyon turned his full attention on her, taking her hand and rubbing her palm with his thumb.
She watched him, spellbound, then remembered what she was saying. “There's a cavern up Morning Bluff at… ah, well, Abigail owns an inn up there, and the cavern is on the grounds.”
“We’ve been looking for the Morning Wood Inn,” Canyon said. “That’s how we ended up meeting Number Six and Number Thirteen, and of course Kiki.”
“It’s easy to find,” Sage said, frowning. “Right off the main road.”
“We looked. It’s hidden from us.”
Sage searched his eyes, then nodded. “I’ll take you.” Nerves filled her belly. “Tomorrow,” she added.
He nodded. “First thing.”
“Okay.” Sage tried to calm herself with deep breaths.
“So… the cavern. I was looking for my phone in a tunnel we use for storage and ah… something called my name.” Canyon didn’t seem disbelieving, so she kept talking.
“I think it was the pendant. It made a door appear, carved right into the rock. The door led into the cavern—and there was a man’s wallet and phone inside, just sitting on a table.
They were Conri’s, I’m sure of it.” She shook her head. “I didn’t realize it then, though.”
“When was this?
She counted on her fingers. “Four days ago.”
He looked out over Serenity, one hand stroking his stubble. “He was in the cavern?”
“Maybe. I didn’t see him, just his stuff.”
Canyon nodded, his eyes far away. “I’ll let Trevor know,” he said, getting up.
“Please don’t tell him about the pendant,” she breathed, suddenly nervous he would take it.
Canyon dropped back in the chair. “The pendant was there, too?”
“I think. I didn’t see it but there was a metal box hanging from the ceiling, and the pendant called my name from inside.”
He nodded. “I won’t mention it—only Conri’s stuff.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose and walked away, calling, “Be right back.”
Sage watched him go, nervous that Trevor would think she was involved in Conri’s disappearance. She looked back out over the town, then beyond, her gaze bouncing across acres and acres of cornfields. And beyond that? Chicago, where she’d never been, and never would get to go, because of the Tether.
Canyon returned. He sat in the chair and took her hand again.
“You game for sleeping on top of the bunker?”
She smiled at him, feeling scared, but also safe, because she was with him.
“Okay.”
He kissed the inside of her wrist, his blue eyes sparkling.
“All right,” he said. “It’ll be an adventure.”
Sage glanced over the side, where the ground was over a hundred feet below. “Adventure…” she repeated, her insides fluttering, and she wasn’t sure if it was the height… or being with Canyon.