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My admission makes the guys chuckle, and Rome looks super proud of himself.
“Alright, I’m done. How about everyone else?” Rip asks, this time sounding more excited than I thought he would.
“Yeah, I’m done,” I reply, jumping up and not wanting to waste any time. I feel like I’m so close to at least getting some of the answers that I want, and I really hope I’m right. If all this hunt reveals is more questions and no answers to the ones that we already have, then I think I might just give up entirely and leave it alone for a while.
We all grab a bag or a spade, as Ace calls the dogs so that they can come with us again in case we get lost again.
“Mason, I’m assuming that you have the compass and the coordinates?” Rome asks as we step out of the door and into the backyard. I’m glad that I decided to bring a sweater because although it’s reasonably warm during the day at this time of year, the mornings and evenings still have a chill to them.
Mason nods, “Yep, we need to be heading in this direction.” He instructs us as he starts to walk across the yard heading to the right of the house this time. He adds, “It’s actually not too far in the woods, whatever it is.”
“I hope it’s a building and not something that we have to dig,” Rip replies, looking at his spade disdainfully and making me repress a smile.
“Either way, I just hope there’s something there,” I reply.
“I think we all do, there’s so much we don’t know, and the only person who could answer all of our questions would be Jynx’s grandmother, and unless you guys want to do a séance or something, there isn’t any way to contact her,” Rome replies, starting to sound as frustrated as I do with the lack of information and answers that we have.
“Gerald knows things but is so fiercely loyal to your grandmother that he won’t even tell you. It’s actually admirable,” Mal adds as we reach the treeline, and Mason starts to concentrate more on guiding us to the right place.
“Admirable but still damn annoying. If I didn’t respect and like him so much, I would’ve attempted to torture it out of him by now,” I reply.
Rip chuckles, “I love how you say attempt. I think we can all agree that Gerald could withstand torture; the guy is a dark horse himself.”
“Oh yeah, definitely,” I agree.
We carry on speculating about what could be at the coordinates, as well as what could’ve happened in Gerald’s past, to give him the extensive skillset that he has now, as we follow Mason, who looks damn sexy as he concentrates so hard.
“Despite his fear of being alone in the woods at night, thanks to the trauma he went through, he’s the best out of us when it comes to navigating. That’s why none of us were surprised that he found you first in the woods. We were surprised that he’d done it under the same circumstances that caused our sister to disappear,” Mal explains quietly to me, as the sound of the others talking drowns out our conversation.
“I will forever be grateful to him for coming for me, I don’t know what would have happened if he didn’t, and I know how hard it was for him to overcome his deep-rooted fear to come for me,” I reply.
“That’s the thing though, I don’t think it was hard for him, he knew he was the best tracker out of us, and he reacted without thinking. He just came for you because he knew that you needed him. It was that simple,” Mal replies, pride evident in his tone for his brother's actions.
“He’s amazing,” I reply, emotions battering my chest. Even back then, he cared so much for me that his first instinct was to find me when I needed him.
“He is, but I’ve always known that. I’m glad that he’s got someone else who can see it too,” Mal smiles softly.
“You know you’re amazing too, and I find myself becoming increasingly more grateful for you and the others and how much you have changed me and my life for the better,” I tell him in a rare and unexpected show of feelings that takes me completely off guard.
His smile grows, and seeing that I’m already feeling uncomfortable, he simply threads his fingers through mine and kisses the back of my hand, making heat rush to my cheeks.
“We’re nearly there,” Mason calls from the front, interrupting all of our conversations and making us pick up the pace so that we can see if we’re approaching anything interesting.
“There!” Rome exclaims, and we strain to see where he’s pointing. I don’t see anything at first, but as he explains more, I start to make out the vague shape that he’s talking about.
“Are you sure that’s what we’re looking for? It's just a lump in the ground,” Rip replies descriptively.
“This is where the coordinates led us, and there’s nothing else even remotely out of place apart from that lump in the ground. Everything else is flat,” Rome replies.
“Well, let’s go and check it out,” Ace grins as he rushes over. “Holy shit, it's not a small lump in the ground; it’s actually quite big.”
We all spread out around it, trying to see if there’s anything that stands out about it or whether we should just start digging and see what we find. I feel a bit ridiculous, if I’m honest because it really does just look like a small hill, nothing of real consequence.
“Over here!” Rome yells from the other side of the hill.
I quickly make my way over to him, and as soon as I see what he’s talking about, my excitement starts to rise again.
“Are those steps?” Ace asks from beside me as we try to get closer.
