Page 23 of Shift of Destiny
He stumbled, but recovered and kept going. “You’re okay with that?”
“Hell, no. They stink. They probably want to eat me or hump me. And not the fun way, either.” Just the thought of Richie pawing her nauseated her.
His hold tightened, and she felt a growl emanate from his chest. “You’re mine.”
Possessiveness usually turned her off, but not from him. “Yes. And you’re mine.” For as long as she could stay without endangering him.
They crested the slope and plunged down into a rockier section. She heard the gurgle of water somewhere below. He pushed off with powerful legs, and suddenly, they were flying through the air, until he landed with a stomach-flipping dip and took two steps, then jumped again. She wanted to see, but was glad she couldn’t, or she’d have given away their position with little shrieks. She’d have had to give back her fearless princess card.
Once they hit the bottom of the ravine, he plunged into the shallows of a splashing stream and ran until he came to more rocks, then jumped again. He barely seemed winded when he finally set her down. “I think we lost them. I parked my truck on the trail access road just on the other side of this rise.”
“Did you call the sheriff?” She stomped quietly to get some circulation back into her legs.
“Yes. Help is coming, but not right away, and I couldn’t wait.” He lightly brushed her swollen cheekbone with his thumb. “I’ll kill whoever did this to you.”
She couldn’t see his expression, but the undercurrent of wildness in his tone made her want to kiss him. Her newly perky hormones apparently didn’t care that they were still in mortal danger.
“His name’s Richie, but he’s not worth killing. Maiming, maybe.” She sighed. “Witzer will just send more.”
“We’ll deal with him next.” He kissed her, then came back for seconds. He slid his hands down to her waist and around, then stopped. He patted her lower back. “What’s this?”
“Flashlight. Richie stashed me deep in a cave, then left it out front as a marker.”
“How did you get out?” He took her hand in his and started walking. “Rock to your right at two-o’clock.”
She moved closer to him. “Luck.” She made herself say the rest. “And magic.”
He was silent for a few strides. “And you’re okay with that, too?”
She knew his real question was whether or not she’d accept him. “More than okay. It saved me.” She squeezed his hand. “You saved me.”
“Working on... Down!”
He pulled her on top of him so fast her head spun. It didn’t help that he rolled them several times sideways, landing next to a small clump of an evergreen shrub, his rock-hard body atop hers. The tension in his body kept her quiet as a church mouse. After several long, silent moments, she heard a low whirring sound, but couldn’t see anything but Chance’s broad chest. A flash of memory reminded her how lickable his chest was, and how much he liked that.Later,she admonished herself.
“Four-propeller drone with a searchlight and a camera,” Chance whispered in her ear. “Question is, friend or wolf?”
She guessed he wasn’t feeling any more charitable toward wolves than she was. An idea bubbled up. Mr. Maxen seemed to think she had a gift for knowing the truth. “Let me see it. Maybe I can tell.”
He rolled slowly aside. She craned her head until a flash caught her attention, and she found the drone.
So far, her magic had worked based on need, on goals, like getting out of the cave and hiding. They needed to escape, meaning theyneededto know who operated the drone. She imagined an invisible tethering thread, then traced it back to its source. An image came to her, hazy at first, of a joystick, operated by a man, intent on a display screen. He appeared to be in a van. On instinct, she looked at the man through the van’s rear view mirror, and saw an overlay of lupine features.
She shook her head to clear the vision, and sternly squelched the little voice that said it was just her vivid imagination running wild again. “Wolf. I think. I’m still finding my way with magic.” She congratulated herself for not stumbling over the word this time.
He tightened his arms around her a moment. “It will come.”
They watched as the flashing drone followed a zigzag pattern down the hill where they’d come up. It occurred to her she might be prejudiced by her limited bad experience. “Are there good wolves?”
“Your chest is glowing.”
“Huh?” She looked down. Her light was face down in its makeshift sling, but glowing around the edges of the frame. “Mirror. It’s how I got out of the cave.” It faded as she spoke.
Maybe her use of magic had energized it, which meant she’d really worked magic, and a wolf really was operating the drone. That was her theory, and she was sticking to it.
