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He immediately pulled out and hit the accelerator. I dropped the watch into my lap and pulled on the seat belt. “Turn right onto the Midland.”
He did so, tires screaming, and then motioned to the watch. “That watch looks vaguely familiar—who does it belong to?”
His nostrils flared as he spoke but if the owner’s scent lingered on the watch, then he either didn’t know him or wasn’t about to say.
“I don’t know. Your sister gave it to me.”
“My sister?” Confusion briefly crossed his expression but was quickly replaced by understanding. “Katie.”
“Yeah. And wild magic isn’t supposed to be able to interact—in any way—with either people or an object without direction from a witch, so it’s just more evidence to the
fact that Gabe’s spell has indeed made her this reservation’s protector.”
“A protector who only interacts with you,” he said, voice grim. “And to think we’d come close to evicting you—”
“I think it’s a fairly safe bet Katie would somehow have made her feelings known had that actually happened.”
“She never was one for keeping her mouth shut.” He paused, and sorrow stirred through his aura. “Except at the end of her life.”
I reached out with my free hand and touched his leg. “She’s happy, Aiden. She’s where she wants to be, doing what she wanted to do.”
He gave me a lopsided smile. “I know. I just wish I could talk to her, even if for only a few seconds. Left onto the freeway or onto the overpass?”
I briefly gripped the watch tighter. “Over.”
We sped through a roundabout and then took a sweeping curve to the left. This area seemed to be a mix of new and old houses on larger blocks, but the death rolling from the watch still held some distance. Whatever was happening to the watch’s owner, it wasn’t happening here.
We quickly moved out of the residential area and into scrublands. As we began to climb a long hill, I said, “Right at the road near the top of this.”
He did so, the tires once again screaming in protest. “This road skirts the back edge of my pack’s territory.”
I glanced at him sharply. “Does this watch belong to a pack member?”
“The faint scent emanating from it suggests it does.”
“Would you be notified if any pack members were missing or under threat?”
“Normally, yes, but I’m gathering this threat is still eventuating.”
I hesitated. “The threat has been and gone. Only death is gathering now.”
He swore and pressed the accelerator harder, though the big truck didn’t have a whole lot more speed to give. We swept past the raised banks of a reservoir and then around another left turn.
“Right at the next road,” I said.
“Which is another of our boundary roads.” His voice was grim.
I didn’t say anything. There was little point given I had no idea yet where this trail would end or who was involved. We sped down the narrowing road; the sweeping fields of grapevines on one side and thick scrub on the other were both little more than a green blur. We skidded around sharp bends and roared through gullies shadowed by gum trees that arched high overhead. And still the watch pulsed, an agony that went on and on.
“Left or right,” Aiden said, as we approached a T-intersection terrifyingly fast.
I hesitated. The watch was finally beginning to lose its life, which meant the owner had finally stopped fighting. But agony was still his to hold. I shuddered and said, “Left. Are we still on the edge of your pack’s territory?”
“No.”
Which didn’t mean anything. I knew it. He knew it.
We continued down another small road. There were open fields on one side, wilderness on the other. The pulse in the watch was fading faster. I ripped off the silk glove and gripped the watch tightly. Horror squeezed through me, making my breath catch and my heart ache fiercely. Dear God, the pain….
