Page 18 of Woodland Web

“I’m coming with you and the others. You’re not going into Devil’s Gulch without me.”

And this time, I couldn’t find a reason to say no.

CHAPTER NINE

Tad and the others were already at the office when Killian and I showed up. Hank was sorting out several weapons I had never seen—it wasn’t like we kept much in the way of weaponry at work. But we’d need them to go after the sluagh. On the way over, I’d informed Millie that we were going to take care of the creature and could they be ready if we needed them. Since bullets wouldn’t work against the sluagh, I didn’t want the officers going in expecting they could take it down that way.

Hank spread out what he had been able to gather. There were two crowbars, a couple of daggers, a crossbow and a quiver of bolts, and he held up what looked like a blowgun.

“A blowgun? Really?”

He nodded. “I know how to use it, and I’ve fit it with iron darts. I’ve added a tincture of iron to the needles, so that it will get into the creature’s bloodstream. The trouble with this is that I have to be at a certain distance. So I can’t be upfront to fight it. I’ll need to be back a ways.”

Killian shook his head. “I’m going with you in my wolf form. I can grapple it that way, and while it might be strong and dangerous, so am I when I let my full wolf out. You know wolf shifters are stronger than the animals we belong to.”

Tad nodded. “I always thought so. Then you can go in the lead. I’m not good for much fighting, not with a bum leg, but I can use the crossbow. I can shoot from a distance too.”

“I’ll go in my bobcat form,” Caitlin said. “I can leap from a tree limb and surprise it.”

“I wish we could just blow it up,” I said. “Millie will meet us there with the cops, but she can’t officially ask them to destroy it until it puts one of us in danger. So I’ll have to engage as much as I can. I’m glad you left Wren in the dark. She’d want to be here, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.” I worried my lip. “I guess I’ll take one of the crowbars. What magic I’ve got won’t work against the creature.”

“We’d better get going, then. I also have three daggers with iron blades,” Hank said. He handed one to me, one to Tad, and kept one for himself. “Let’s go. We definitely can’t let the sluagh breed.”

And with that, sans our usual gear, which would do no good at all, we headed for the van. Killian disrobed in the bathroom, as did Caitlin in the powder room, and I packed their clothes in two bags after they emerged in their wolf and bobcat forms.

“I guess we’re ready,” I said, not feeling ready at all. But I wanted this over and done with as soon as possible, and so we headed for the van. Tad drove, while the rest of us sat in pensive silence as we made our way to Devil’s Gulch.

* * *

Devil’s Gulch was a dark, foreboding part of the Mystic Wood. Near the southern edge of town, the surrounding neighborhood was weathered. While you couldn’t call it a slum by any sense of the word, the houses were definitely not affluent.

The gulch itself stretched the length of four city blocks, and the undergrowth in the deep ravine was thick and difficult to navigate. There were a few trails running through the gulch, but they, too, were overgrown and seldom touched. The city wouldn’t send workers out to clean up the gulch unless there was a reason, and that reason had to be important enough to convince the crews to enter the dark thicket.

Even when I was little, I remembered my mother forbidding me to walk through the gulch because there were too many dark spirits and deeds attached to it. There had been one incident where a child molester had managed to hide out there for two weeks before police caught him. They found the abducted child near him, inside a tent, but the young boy was dead and so the charges were upped to murder. But before he ever made it to court, the perv offed himself in jail.

My mother had muttered, “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” when she heard. But even though he had been caught, she cautioned me against going there anyway because of both the potential for spirits and the thought that if one freak had chosen to hide out there, another could easily do the same.

Tad pulled into the turnout that led down into one of the main trails winding through the ravine. “Here we are. The culvert isn’t far from here—about half a block to our north. We should have some sort of plan going in.”

“We use me as bait so Caitlin and Killian can distract it while you and Hank shoot it,” I said. “That’s the best idea I can think of.”

Killian raised his hackles and growled. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around his head, kissing him on the muzzle.

“I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it’s got to be,” I told him. “We have to draw it out and since I’m the most likely-looking potential victim, I’ll go in first. Just make sure you’re close enough to start shooting. I’ll try to get out of the way so do your best to avoid shooting me, please.” I stared down the sides of the ravine. “Crap, that’s not an easy hike. I’m glad I wore walking shoes and jeans.” I’d changed clothes before we headed out for the office.

“We’ll make sure you’re okay,” Hank said. He held my gaze and I realized that this was his chance to make amends to Tad and me, and he was counting on it.

“I trust you,” I said. “All right, let’s go in.”

I led the way over to the edge and after a moment to scan the sides, I picked out the easiest route downward. I set foot over the edge and, using my walking stick, began to ease my way down the sides.

The footing was slick, but manageable. The soil wasn’t dry yet. We still had so much spring moisture in the air, and the rain would return several more times before summer arrived, but at least it wasn’t a mudhole all the way down.

I slowly inched my way along the slope in a downward direction, angling myself so that I wasn’t trying to hike straight down toward the bottom. Moving sideways made the descent easier and I gnawed on my lip as I zigzagged my way toward the bottom. It took me more than ten minutes, though if I was better at the descent, I might have been at the bottom in just a few.

Finally, after slipping a few times and almost rolling down the hill, I managed to step off the slope and onto the shore next to the creek. I waited while the others followed me down. Killian was first, and was at my side within minutes, as was Caitlin, who came soon after. Hank took longer, because he was helping Tad. Finally, they made it down.

The walking space on either side of the creek was narrow, but it was wide enough for us to form a single-person line and file through the ferns and skunk cabbage that filled the cushioned floor. The water was running high, but the creek wasn’t all that wide. If I fell in the creek, I’d be fine. Wet and cold, but all right.

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