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t door. There was a newer weatherboard building added on to the rear that more than doubled the barn’s original size. There was a smaller shed to the right of the building, and what looked to be a cabin behind it.
My gaze drifted back to the small shed and that odd sense of trepidation became full-blown fear.
Something was very wrong.
“You know what?” I said abruptly. “I don’t think we should be taking the younger soucouyant anywhere near that place. In fact, I think the best thing we could do right now is damn well put it back into water.”
Monty twisted around to look at me, his expression confused. “Why? With five of us, she’s not likely—”
“Monty,” Aiden said, “trust me when I say it always pays to listen to Liz’s gut, no matter what common sense might otherwise say. It’ll save your life. It’s saved mine.”
Uncertainty flickered through the confusion, but all Monty said was, “I think it unnecessary but... is there a dam or something nearby, Ranger?”
Aiden nodded. “There’s one just up the road.”
“Good.” I twisted around to check where Ashworth was. His truck was just pulling up behind us. “Let’s force this soucouyant back into the jerry can, then Belle and I can take her up to the dam. If there are guests inside the house, Aiden can evacuate them while the three of you check out that small shed. If she’s not there, then she’ll be damn close.”
Monty’s eyebrows rose. “You can feel her from here?”
“Magically? No.” My brief smile was tight. “It’s more my psychic radar screaming to keep the hell away from that shed that leads me to believe she’s there.”
“Huh,” he said, still looking unconvinced. “But I guess if you’re right, you’ve saved us some time.”
And time was not on our side. I shoved the thought aside, climbed out of the truck, and then grabbed the jerry can.
“What’s happening?” Ashworth said as he got out.
“Liz’s gut,” Aiden said, as if that explained it all.
And I guessed it did, at least to Ashworth and Belle. Eli, however, looked a little perplexed.
“When Liz’s gut suggests a certain course of action,” Belle explained, “the wise should listen. It tends to be right more than it’s wrong.”
“And in this case,” I added, “it’s suggesting that we don’t take this soucouyant anywhere near that house.”
Ashworth grunted. “That does make sense, actually. If the spells around the younger one are fading in any way, it could lead to the older one sensing her presence.”
“Are we going to try and evacuate those inside the house?” Eli asked. “Or do you think it’s already too late?”
“Liz,” Monty said at the same time. “Attention this way.”
“Sorry.” I tuned the others out and then nodded. As one, Monty and I picked up the threads of our spells and once again began shaping the sphere into something that would go into the jerry can. With a bit of effort and a whole lot of sweating, we succeeded.
After the lid was screwed on tight again, I glanced at Aiden and said, “Is there more rope in your truck? We left the other one back at the reservoir.”
He nodded. “In the right rear storage compartment.”
“Be careful in there, all of you,” I said. “I really don’t like the feel of this.”
“The three of us should be able to handle her,” Monty said.
I couldn’t help glancing at Ashworth. His expression suggested he was thinking the same thing as me—that pride often came before a fall.
But I hoped that wasn’t the case here.
I picked up the jerry can and moved back to Aiden’s truck. Belle climbed into the driver seat, adjusted it to fit her longer legs, and then took off. We’d barely gone half a mile down the road before we spotted the dam—it was large, long, and oval in shape. At the far end of it was a jetty that looked close to collapse. The dam had obviously been a popular swimming hole at some point in its life, but if the jetty was anything to go by, hadn’t been used in a very long time.
Either that, or the kids who used it had something of a death wish.
