Page 132 of Hunted in the Shadows
“The path of weather patterns does seem to be heading toward the west mountains,” she breathed, searching my face. “I know Tammy says to steer clear, but… we’ve been heading in that direction anyway, haven’t we?”
“A little backup wouldn’t hurt,” Cliff said. “I’m offended we’re benched on her roster, actually.”
“Tammy hates surprises,” I reminded him.
“She’ll survive. Just keep your head down if we cross paths,” Cliff said, directing this to Sylvia.
“Oh, youdon’twant me to introduce myself with a dramatic flourish? Thanks for clarifying,” she drawled.
I smiled as they continued, their back-and-forth like a balm to my nerves. I turned back to my phone, tapping out a response.
“We’re headed east anyway,” I lied through text.
Tammy replied with a thumbs-up emoji and left it at that. I frowned a little. Whywouldn’tshe want backup? Her silence the last few months preyed on me again, raising more questions than I cared to answer. Perhaps she’d been alerted to the trouble we’dcaused at the bayou outpost and wanted nothing more to do with us.
“She doesn’t have to know we’re anywhere near there,” I said firmly—though the words tasted like betrayal. Sneaking behind our mentor’s back, lying. “If the coven’s really heading for the Rockies, we’ll look into this shit ourselves.”
As silence settled, Sylvia returned to her perch by the window. She was back to her earth-toned form-fitting clothing, having buried the bloodied gown from Veloria behind the motel. She played with her knife as she gazed outside, her thumb running over the jewel in its hilt over and over. Her attempt at a relaxed posture couldn’t fool me.
“What are you thinking?” I asked softly.
She turned to me with a subdued smile. Even with a faint glimmer in her eyes, she said, “I don’t want us to get our hopes up.”
But I had a feeling we both knew it was too late for that. I tried not to think of the supposed prophecy Hannah had rasped, her brown eyes set upon me and bulging with horror.
Her love will ruin you.
It didn’t matter. Sylvia was here, and she wasmine—for now.
If keeping her meant losing myself, I’d pay the price a thousand times over.
Melanie
Interrogating someone shouldn’t have taken this long.
Perhaps this was another way he was stalling our journey—and I knew for a fact he was, to some extent. No doubt he thought I would abandon him once we were in the safety of Aelthorin. I hadn’t decided if that fear of his was well-founded or not.
I watched from the car, perched on the passenger’s side dashboard for the best view. The windows were rolled halfway down, letting in the cool night breeze. Crickets chirped in the grass, and mossy tree branches groaned in the wind. I saw him standing there, an imposing silhouette next to a slightly stockier man, both of them outlined by the warm glow spilling from the second-floor windows.
Glamour was effective with humans—he had proven that many times over, even with his unusual brand of it. He could convince them to share information, give costly items away at no charge, or even forget recent memories. Butstars, getting information out of this man would be so much quicker if he were held off the second story of the garage balcony by the back of his shirt.
I whispered a spell—the most familiar words my lips knew apart from the names of my children. I played with a small, crackling orb of flames between my palms, resisting the urge to fly through the window and question the human myself. The threat of being scorched alive usually yielded abrupt honesty.
But that would wake Hazel.
I leaned to peer at the backseat where my child of eleven summers was curled up, sleeping in a nest of white fleece blankets. Her scarlet curls popped against the white belly of the stuffed rabbit she snuggled against. Though it was three times her size, she insisted on sleeping with it each night, enamored. She loved all the gifts thatMother’s friendlavished her with, too young to understand yet that they were tokens of a guilty conscience.
A soft sigh escaped me. It was a wonder that Hazel was able to sleep so soundly at all, with the chaos of the last two months.Months—the thought struck me again like a blow. How had the weeks bled together?
At first, our upended life had been a constant state of frantic movements and frayed nerves—suddenly learning to relocate from place to place like nomads. Hazel had been so petrified, barely speaking for a week. These days, she eagerly peered out the car windows at every opportunity instead of staying plastered against my side. She asked questions ofhimwith enthusiasm, hanging on his every word.
I extinguished the fire and rubbed my face in my hands.She deserves to know.
Looking back outside, I stiffened at movement edging near our vehicle. One of the roaming dogs sniffed urgently and circled the car. I hissed for it toshoo, relieved when I spotted the humans wrapping up their conversation. If Hazel woke up and saw an animal, I’d have no chance of wrestling her excitement back into slumber. The taller man pointed at the stairs, and the stockier one turned and marched up them.Thank the stars. The two roaming dogs followed after their owner, bounding past the stranger in their midst.
I braced myself as the driver’s door opened and he slid behind the wheel, settling into the seat. My heart ached the way it did every time I looked at him—even when his back was turned to me.
“Under new management,” he announced without preamble. “This guy is a cousin of the previous shop owner. He wasn’t able to give me more than a vague secondhand description of a couple of men that passed through here two weeks ago, but I’d put money on it—those drifters are who we’re after.”
