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Elara glances over her shoulder, seeing the edge of a large white orb peeking over the horizon. “Whoa, how long were we in there?”
Kira arches a black brow. “Wanna stay and do a seance?”
Jordyn bends down to pick up her towel as well as everyone else's. “No,” she says emphatically. “I’m not staying here. I react to mosquito bites.”
Kira rolls her eyes. “Next time, I’ll bring insect repellent.”
Giggling again, they make their way over the uneven ground, going slowly in their wet sandals. Well, Elara and Jordyn do. Kira lost hers after her wild jump into the water. Dripping and with their hair hanging in wet strands around their faces, they make their way back to the small parking lot. It’s a few minutes’ walk, probably a bit longer seeing as none of them have their phones with them. A torch would’ve been handy right now.
“Are you okay, Kira?” asks Jordyn. “You really should’ve taken your sandals off before jumping in.”
“I have no regrets,” Kira replies with a grin. As if to prove her point, she prances forward, using her towel like a billowing scarf as she twirls around.
Jordyn shakes her head. “I’m not sure that’s a very good id?—”
Suddenly, Kira cries out as she collapses. Elara lunges forward, snatching at her friend’s arm, but she’s too far away. Kira turns into a heap on the rocks.
Elara rushes over, Jordyn by her side, kneeling beside Kira, who’s sprawled on the hard ground, gasping softly as she clutches her knee. Elara can see she’s in pain, and the rapidly purpling skin on her bare leg makes it clear why. Jordyn kneels next to Kira, and they both wince as something crackles as Kira shifts her knee.
She smiles tightly, although her eyes are watering in pain. “Okay, now I have some regrets.”
Elara smiles crookedly, appreciating her friend’s attempt at humor even though it’s the closest that she’s ever seen Kira to tears. She must be in agony, which means there’s no way that Kira can make the walk back to the car. Elara doubts she and Jordyn will be able to carry her, in the near-dark, over uneven, rocky ground. Not without risking doing more damage. That leaves only one option—one of them has to go for help.
“I’ll go back to the car and use my phone,” Elara says. “There should be some signal there.”
Kira nods as she bites her lip, but Elara can tell that Jordyn isn’t happy with the idea. Neither is she, truth be told, but soon the moonlight will be the only light to see by, and the mosquitoes nipping at them will be the least of their worries. It’s now or never.
“Fine,” Jordyn mumbles. “Just be careful.”
Elara nods, already turning back toward the road. At least there’s a path not far from the swimming hole to the car. True, her wet sandals aren’t doing any favors for her feet, and it’s hard to see as the sunset fades, but at least she knows where she’s going. Going as quickly as she can, conscious that she doesn’t want to end up like Kira, she breaks into a run the moment she hits the sandy path.
Elara reaches the car in record time, glancing down the highway to see if there’s anyone around. Of course, she’s not lucky enough to have someone come along at precisely the right moment, but at the very least she would have taken someone driving by in the long minutes it takes her to dig through the mess in the car and find her phone. And as she finds there’s no signal. And as she realizes she’s going to have to walk further up the highway.
Elara curses under her breath, pulling on a t-shirt and jamming her cell phone into the side of her bikini bottoms. A few quick strides and she’s at the road. She bites her lip as she looks one way, then the other. The highway looks deserted in both directions, no hint of headlights to suggest that help is coming.
She’s about to turn right, the direction back to Mercy City when a high, keening howl splits the night air. Elara stills, her heart hammering against her ribs. They should’ve left far earlier than this. Now there’s a freaking coyote out here or something.
Crossing her arms, she hesitates as she wonders what she should do next. Walk up the highway and try to get a signal? Or go back to Kira and Jordyn and see if they can carry her out, hopefully without making her injury worse?
Elara doesn’t get as far as making a decision. There’s a rustle and she whirls around. “Jordyn? Kira?”
But it’s not her friends.
It’s not even human. Nor is it a coyote.
A large black wolf prowls toward her, eyes glowing the color of amber.
A scream lodges in Elara’s throat, trapped by the hard knot of terror that’s ended her ability to breathe.
She takes a single step backward, every fiber of her being getting ready to run when the wolf breaks into a run. Leaps.
And attacks.
2
Elara
Although consciousness comes slowly, clawing at Elara’s mind like a timid puppy, the pain bursts through like a rabid rottweiler.
