Page 78 of Sweetwater and the Witch

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty damn sure it won’t be helpful. When I say run, do it.”

It was her turn to sayshit, but she refrained because her mouth had gone dry with tension.

The battered sign appeared at the edge of the road.

WARNING

MIRAGE LAKE AND NIGHTMARE CAVE AHEAD

YOU ARE ENTERING A HOT ZONE

DO NOT STOP FOR NEXT THIRTY MILES

Ethan braked sharply. Harriet almost lost her grip on the back of the seat, but she deftly recovered her balance. Ravenna jolted against the seat belt restraints.

The Slider rocked to a halt.

“Out,” Ethan ordered. He unlatched his seat belt with one hand and flipped open the console to grab a flamer with the other. “Now.”

She was having an affair with a man who packed a tux and a flamer when he traveled. Her life had become very strange lately.

She got her seat belt unlatched. Without stopping to think, she grabbed the handle of the picnic basket because it was there on her lap and in her way.

She opened the door and leaped out.

“Harriet,” she called.

Harriet was already bounding down to the ground. No longer playing games, she was sleeked out, all four eyes showing. Ethan rounded the hood of the Slider and grabbed Ravenna’s hand.

“The cave,” he said.

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

They ran.

“I don’t think they will try to follow us inside, but if they do, we’re better off in the cave than we are out here in the open.” Ethan glanced down. “What the hell? Drop the picnic basket.”

“Sorry,” she muttered. She opened her hand and let the basket fall to the ground. “Wasn’t thinking.”

Even from a distance the currents of energy that wafted out of the mouth of Nightmare Cave pinged her senses, and not in a good way. Dread whispered through her. But this wasn’t the time to discuss the merits of what was obviously the only available cover in the vicinity.

“Ambush?” she gasped as they scrambled up the rocky hillside.

“Yes,” Ethan said.

At least she wasn’t wearing stilettos this time.

Harriet was racing alongside them. Her six paws made her more nimble on the pebble-and-boulder-strewn ground. She reached the shadow-drenched cave entrance first and paused to issue a series of urgent, encouraging chortles.

Ethan propelled Ravenna into a sea of churning energy. Instinctively she heightened her senses to suppress the force of the heavy psi. Before she could adjust to the atmosphere, Ethan was tugging her down to the stone floor. He fell on top of her, covering her body with his own. Harriet crowded close.

Down on the highway, the Slider exploded in a ball of flames.

Chapter Forty

Most of the force of the explosion was blocked by the sheltering walls of the large cavern, but not all of the sound waves were stopped. Ethan’s ears rang in the aftermath.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, levered himself up on his forearms, and looked down at Ravenna. Her eyes were closed and she was not moving. Panic shot through him.

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