Page 131 of Hunted in the Shadows
The trunk slammed shut. Hannah handed off the keys, and we loaded ourselves into the car. The seats were comfortable enough to provide a halfway decent sleep on the nights we needed to camp on the side of the road.
Hannah scooped the Yorkie into her arms and stepped back a good distance to avoid getting sprayed with gravel as Cliff made Brandy take off like a rocket. Cliff hollered with joy while Sylvia clung to me for dear life, but she was screaming with laughter—a beautiful sound that I made sure to memorize.
28
Jon
The storm that got us stranded was well and truly gone, leaving behind a landscape that was somehow an even lusher green than before. After being at a standstill for days, long distances seemed to pass us by in a blink.
A mere day on the road had transformed the scenery around us. Much of the land was flat in northeast Texas, but here and there, piney woods rose in the landscape.
“It’s so beautiful,” Sylvia sighed, her nose pressed to the window.
Cliff ran his hands over the steering wheel wistfully. “Right?”
She snorted but didn’t tease him for misunderstanding—this time.
I didn’t keep a lot of photos on my phone. There never seemed to be a point when they didn’t aid an ongoing case. But as Sylvia gazed outside in wonderment, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a keepsake. After I snapped the picture, I found myself sending the rolling landscape in a text message.
Sylvia, seeming to sense my hesitance, looked over her shoulder with a frown. “Sending it to my aunt,” I explained. “She can show my mom in a couple weeks.”
A gentle smile lit up her face. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”
A few minutes later, my phone chimed. I expected it to be mytia, but instead, Tammy’s name appeared on the screen like a stop sign to all other thoughts.
I straightened in my seat, immediately tapping the link to a news alert video she had sent.
“Unprecedented weather has Oklahoma communities puzzled,” the news broadcast announced.
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
“What?” Cliff asked as Sylvia flew in closer for a better look.
I drank in the information, unable to believe what I was hearing.
The past few days, there had been summer-like storms passing through Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri. The latest was an abrupt snowfall laced with fog in Oklahoma. The broadcast showed footage of people in downtown Tulsa, confused and delighted by the snowy day. The reporter also noted that cicadas had made an unusual appearance, extremely out of season given the sudden temperature plummet. Each word sent my heart pounding harder, and I sensed Sylvia’s rapt stare upon the screen.
Another chime. Tammy had sent a still image from the broadcast, zoomed in on a close-up on the insects. Their wings—usually translucent—were an iridescent red, sending some locals into a fearful rant about an omen of the end of days.
I waited for an explanation from Tammy, but her next message surprised me more than anything.
“You see this shit? Steer clear. I’m handling it with a crew. Best to keep smaller numbers to avoid much more attention. My gut tells me it’s the W.V. coven on the move. Heard whispers of expansion stirring in the west mountain region. We’ll intercept them there.”
“Fuck,” I said, grimacing. “She thinks it’s the West Virginia coven.”
Cliff groaned. “Oh, those guys suck. I swear that the blonde bitch at their head is the one who cursed me.”
I smirked. “If we run into her, I’ll be sure to ask her why she thoughtsquirrelswere a fitting punishment.”
“Who knows why witches do what they do?” Cliff scoffed. Glancing at me, his frown sobered. “For that matter—what are they doing so far from home?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted, scrutinizing the video again. “Newsworthy chaos isn’t their M.O. I mean, usually they’re pretty predictable, but this seems more like Veloria.”
Heaviness settled in the car at the mere mention of the village, and I knew the three of us were stifling matching sets of vivid, gnawing memories. Sylvia massaged her right shoulder like she could clean away the warrior rune.
“Unprecedented weather, mutated insects…” Cliff gave a ragged sigh. “Yeah, that could be a gem as much as anything else.”
I exchanged a tentative look with Sylvia. After the setback we’d experienced, it seemed almost too good to be true.
