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He couldn’t consider what it was. Not now, not when he was helpless to do anything about it. Old fears surfaced, stories of horned demons, Satan’s creatures roaming this forest, and he forced himself to push those terrors aside. His girls needed him. His. His girls. The thought bolstered him, dissipating the fear with something stronger. Love. Scarlett had calmed that restlessness he’d lived with all his life. Given him a purpose greater than spite. And he had to find them. He had to find them.
The forest dimmed another shade, drifting from pink to purple, and behind him, he heard the distant roar of trucks. The forces had arrived and he only had a twenty-minute lead. Please let Georgia have made it to the house before them. Please let both she and Mason be secreted away in one of the many hiding places they knew well.
The guild would see their cars, but they’d see his and Scarlett’s too. There was nothing he could do about that.
He began to turn toward the stream where he’d first kissed Scarlett. She knew that route, she’d take it, wouldn’t she? A fox darted out in front of him very suddenly, causing him to emit a short yell as he stumbled to a stop. The fox stared at him, wide-eyed and then darted in the other direction, stopping, looking back once, and then disappearing into the darkening forest. Camden paused for a moment and then, for reasons he couldn’t quite articulate to himself, he followed it, moving in the opposite direction from which he’d been going. Toward the canyon where the bones had been found.
He ran through the trees, his breath coming short, gun gripped in his hand. “Camden.” He heard his name, said in a hushed whisper and spun around, lowering the gun to his side.
“Scarlett?” he gasped.
“Here.” He moved toward her voice, a strangled moan of love, of relief, of thankfulness coming from his throat when she stepped out from behind a tree. He rushed forward, taking her in his arms and she yelped in pain. He let go, stepping back and looking down to see her arm hanging at her side, blood splattered on her clothes. “Oh hell, Scarlett, you’re—”
“Yes. Cam, you have to come with me. I heard their trucks. They’re here. Sister Madge tried to kill me, or not her but some, oh God, one of the teachers burned in the fire I think. She had these shears. This is her blood on my shirt, not mine. Sister Madge knows about Millie. I discovered something very important. I have to tell you everything. Everything.”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Scarlett, it’s okay. I’m here. We’ll go through all of that later. Right now, we need to find Haddie and Millie.”
She bobbed her head again. “Haddie and Millie are fine. They’re back there. We heard someone coming. We didn’t know who it was. I came to see. Thank God, it’s you. Thank God, Cam.”
Haddie and Millie are fine. Relief all but punched him in the gut. “I wish you’d led with that,” he said, taking a moment to pull her—gently—into his arms again, holding her for only a moment before letting go. “Mason said something took them,” he said. “An animal or—"
“No, no, no. That wasn’t right. There’s something I have to show you. Cam. You have to prepare yourself.”
She held out her hand and he took it, unease causing goosebumps to form as he followed her through the woods. But he took comfort that her distress was not apparently caused by whatever she led him toward. She was afraid of what was currently outside these woods. The threat didn’t come from within. Although the sky had deepened further, the moon was peeking through the gaps in the trees, shining down and outlining the forest in muted golden light.
With trust, Camden followed Scarlett to a more open area, a large rock between two trees. “It’s Camden,” she called and a moment later Millie and Haddie rushed out. He went down on his haunches, opening his arms and pulling them both into his grasp. They squeezed him back and, for a moment, the world was right. They all were safe. Safe and—mostly—unharmed and he was with them.
A horned creature stepped out from behind the rock and Camden released the girls, coming to his feet and drawing his weapon. Scarlett stepped forward. “No!” she cried as the thing slunk back, presenting his shoulder as he dropped his head in submission. Camden lowered his weapon. “No, Cam,” Scarlett said. “He’s a man. He’s . . . he’s your brother, Camden.” Camden stepped back. His brother? What? “I think he found those horns and that fur in the cave. I think it belonged to the indigenous man, Taluta’s husband. It’s old, Cam, old and falling apart.” Camden’s head swam. She was saying words but none of them made sense.
