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Mack did a quick sidestep to avoid running into him. “Problem?”
“Tore my damn leg open again.” Blood was beginning to seep through his jeans and past his fingers. It was a smell that would attract a hunter like Eleanor if she were anywhere nearby.
Mack took a handkerchief out of his pocket and held it out. “Here, use this.”
Jon accepted it with a grunt of thanks and quickly tied it around the wound, tightening it as much as he dared. A soft gasp made him glance up. Not ten feet away stood a thin, pale girl. He might have thought her little more than a wraith except for the heaving of her chest, the sharp tang of fear in the turbulent swirl of her emotions.
Mack’s sudden stillness suggested the FBI agent had also spotted her.
Jon didn’t dare move. If either of them did, he sensed she’d run. “Teresa?”
The girl nodded once, dark eyes wide as her gaze flitted between the two of them. “Is one of you Jon?”
“I am.” He straightened carefully, the knot in his stomach suddenly more painful than his leg. Given that she knew his name, the teenager had to have been talking to Maddie. Which meant Maddie had somehow helped her escape, but at what cost to herself? “This is Mack, from the FBI.”
“You have to get me out of here. She’s up there, she’ll come after me …” Teresa glanced quickly up the trail, then took a few stumbling steps toward them. “Please, we have to get out of here.”
Her dark eyes were frantic and glassy. Running on sheer terror, he thought, and shared a grim look with Mack. “You take her down. I’ll continue on.”
“You can’t take on Eleanor alone and expect to win.”
“I know.” He raked a hand through his hair and glanced up the trail. Maddie was up there, somewhere. And he sensed her time was running out. “I know your men aren’t far behind us. Take the girl to them, then come back up. But remember, Eleanor is a shapeshifter. Don’t trust any animal you see in this forest.”
Mack raised an eyebrow. “Not even a hawk?”
“Especially a hawk,” Jon said grimly. “I won’t be shapeshifting to fight Eleanor, so it won’t be me you see.”
Mack nodded, then squatted, making himself a less formidable sight to the frightened teenager. “Let’s get you down the mountain and see what we can do to find your mom and dad.”
Tears misted the teenager’s eyes. She edged forward, timidly taking Mack’s hand when he held it out.
“Please, we have to hurry,” she whispered, casting another fearful look up the mountain.
“Don’t you worry about that old witch. Jon will take care of her.” Mack’s gaze met Jon’s for a moment, and Jon sm
iled grimly. It wasn’t hard to guess at the unspoken words in Mack’s mind. I hope.
Mack and the girl headed back down the mountain. Jon gave the blood-soaked handkerchief a tug, testing its tightness, then glanced up the trail. Teresa hadn’t looked strong enough to make it too far on her own, so Eleanor and Maddie couldn’t be far away. He just had to hope his leg would hold out until he got there.
Fifteen minutes later, he leaned against the twisted wreck of an old pine and struggled to see past the sweat stinging his eyes.
Maddie was a mere fifty feet away, but it might as well have been a thousand. She lay on the ground, arms outstretched. He couldn’t see if she was tied. Couldn’t see if she was awake or hurt. In fact, he could barely see her at all through the ring of pale flame that surrounded her.
Trying to ignore the painful twist in his gut, he let his gaze travel around the clearing. There was no sign of Eleanor, but she had to be close. The taint of magic hung so heavily in the air that it was making him sick.
Or was that fear?
His gaze was drawn back to Maddie. Had she moved? Did she know he was near?
He pushed away from the tree and wiped the sweat from his eyes. An almost expectant hush hung over the clearing. Beyond the strangely colored flames, there was nothing that might indicate what sort of trap was waiting. He smiled grimly, his gaze drawn back to the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. Eleanor was there somewhere, waiting and watching.
Why make her wait any longer than necessary? The only way to discover what she planned was to walk straight into her trap—and hope Seline hadn’t underestimated the amulet’s power.
He dropped Maddie’s pack near the base of the tree, then limped into the clearing. A shiver of anticipation seemed to run through the air. He listened for any sound that might indicate an attack but kept his gaze on the figure lying in the center of the flames. Still no movement, no sound from Maddie.
He stopped three feet away from the flames. A tingle ran from the ground and up his body, and the amulet sprang to life, burning fiercely against his throat. He glanced down. He’d stepped into some sort of star drawn into the ground. Magic. But what had Eleanor intended it to do?
Laughter, high and unstable, shattered the silence. Eleanor stepped out of the trees, a predatory smile dominating her thin features.
