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“Could it be Calla?” said Hunter, voice softer than thought.
“I doubt it.” Calla Dean was the only person in town who wanted this war against the Guides. For years, Michael had assumed he and his brothers were the only full Elementals in town. They’d lived in fear that the Guides would discover their existence and send someone to kill them. They’d taken great care to hide their abilities and live in secrecy.
Then Calla Dean had come along.
Like Hunter, she was sixteen years old and a junior in high school. Unlike Hunter, she was a Fire Elemental with a psychotic streak. She didn’t want to hide. She wanted the Guides to come—and she’d done everything she could to get their attention. Innocent people had already died because of Calla’s obsession with this war.
She wouldn’t be sneaking through the trees. She’d be lighting them all on fire.
Maybe he should wake Nick. His brother would be able to read the air and tell them what he sensed.
No. His brothers were safer inside the house, asleep and oblivious.
Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he’d eventually believe it.
“What do you feel?” he asked Hunter.
Silence for a moment. “Not danger. They’re just . . . there.” Hunter glanced over again. “Is Hannah here?”
“Why would Hannah be here?”
Hunter gave him a look. “To spend the night?”
“No, she did not spend the night.”
Hunter shrugged and looked at the woods again. “Gabriel thought you were sneaking her in since we hadn’t seen her around lately.”
Typical Gabriel. “For god’s sake. She’s been busy. Would you just go back in the house?”
Hunter stayed right where he was. “Whatever. She’s your girlfriend.”
Yeah, and Michael had been avoiding her since the first night he’d sensed someone in the woods. Hannah was smart and fierce and had the uncanny ability to look right through him.
He wasn’t ready to share his secrets. Not yet. Not ever, if spilling the beans meant putting Hannah and her son in harm’s way.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew something was up.
She wasn’t happy either, considering she hadn’t responded to either of his texts earlier this evening.
A branch snapped, and Michael froze. Casper growled.
A shadow slid between the trees. Hunter shifted forward, his stance getting lower. He put a hand on Casper’s collar.
“Take it easy,” Michael said, his voice as low as he could make it. “Just wait.”
Hunter didn’t say anything, but metal clicked.
Michael looked down. A gun had appeared in Hunter’s hands.
Michael caught his wrist, keeping the weapon pointed at the ground. “What the hell do you think ‘take it easy’ means?”
The shadow in the trees stopped short.
“If it’s a Guide, they’ll be armed,” Hunter hissed. “Don’t be stupid.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. Michael wasn’t sure he wanted Hunter to put the gun away. He could feel his heart in his throat. Hunter’s breath was shaking, just a bit.
The woods hung still now, no sense of motion at all.
