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“The big secret is that hunters still work with witches.” For it being such a secret, he hadn’t lowered his voice. “The factions, especially ours, pay the covens a ton of money. Dad’s adamant about using them. He’s convinced it’s the leg-up we need to beat the monsters.”
As I tried to wrap my head around the idea that witches weren’t a myth, I gasped and asked, “Witches are still around? We were told they were extinct.”
Hocus pocusandbippity boppity boowere a bit beyond the realm of believability for me.Although, believing in watches wasn’t much stranger than believing in shifters. But I’dseena shifter, so it was hard to deny they existed.
Nodding, Kyle answered, “True, there aren’t a lot of them out there, but there’s still some. These witches have been helping hunters from the beginning. They’re from the same family line. Once you’ve made your pledge, you’ll be able to practice with the weapons they create. Wait till you see all the crazy gadgets they’ve come up with to help us subdue the shifters. They use magic to create it all, and get paid a pretty amount to do it.”
My eyes widened at that. It took a lot to give the hunters the edge they needed. I hadn’t yet faced a shifter—I’d only seen video footage—but I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t worried about how I’d cope when I faced one.
“They even create these powerful concoctions to help with healing whenever one of us gets maimed by a beast or vampire.”
I’d spent years studying Kyle, trying to be like him. I’d never managed, and right then I struggled not to show my skepticism at the existence of magic and witches in modern times. “Why are you telling me this now and not waiting until I’m pledged?”
He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but he had to know exactly what would happen if our father found out he’d told me. “Because you’re my little sister, and I want you to know that I’ll always have your back. Once you’re out in the field with me, I want you to understand that there will be times you’ll get hurt. It’s inevitable.” He exhaled, showing that he hated the idea of me being out there as much as I did. “But we have tools to mitigate the damage. I won’t let anything happen to you, Tor. I’ll never survive losing you.” His voice cracked and rose an octave, thickening as if he had trouble getting the words out.
My throat tightened. There was no way I would survive losing him, either. We were all each other had, really. Our father certainly hadn’t been there for us on an emotional level. On any level.
I leaped into my brother’s arms and hugged him tight. “Same with me, Kyle. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you.”
“It’s a good thing you won’t ever have to know what that’s like. You’re stuck with me, kid.” He squeezed me tighter and tugged on my sweaty ponytail.
It was the last time we were…friendly. Not long after that, I shifted for the first time. And then I ran.
When I’d shifted back to human and recovered from the shock, I knew I’d have to run before my family set out to kill me. It’s what I’d have done, what my father had taught us to do. I’d been under no illusions about my brother’s feelings towards me. He believed me to be a monster better dead than alive…
My eyes misted at the memory as I lay in the hospital bed, a tear trickling down my cheek as it hit me harder than I wanted it to. Furiously wiping it away, I let the emotion fade, but I held on tight to the possibility of magic.
I’d always been so skeptical about witches, preferring to believe Kyle had been pulling my leg, but now I wondered if it was possible to find a witch who’d sympathize with the shifters of Blackwood Creek and help Ridge with his dream of making it a haven for shifters. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try. Once Ridge was back, I’d discuss it with him.
After everything that had happened—Deputy Hill’s murder and hunters infiltrating the town, using the town’s own people to spy and report to them—I wanted to make this dream a reality for him.
Though morning had taken its sweet time, it finally arrived. I launched out of bed, being extra cautious because of my injury, and dressed in clothes the nurse had found in the ER’s lost and found. I might not have been as put together as a Greenthorne—I looked forward to hearing Audrey’s assessment of my outfit when I saved her—but nothing was holding me back now that I was going after Ridge.
Standing in the sterile room and watching the clock tick ever forward, I fiddled mindlessly with the antique engagement ring Ridge had given me. I twirled it around my finger and pulled it off, staring at the beautiful heirloom. I went to the bag Diana and Margo had left when I’d first been admitted and placed the ring safely in the side pocket. It would be awful if anything happened to it. I sure as hell couldn’t take the risk of losing something so precious to Ridge and so important to the Blackwood family on a rescue mission.
Not wanting to waste another moment, I headed to the nurse’s station and asked if they’d watch over my bag. After a couple of missteps—I was still aching from the silver—I made it to the door. Clawson wasn’t waiting for me, and I instantly worried he’d left without me.
I had information he didn’t, and my plan was to reach the hunters’ compound with or without the sheriff. But I’d prefer to have him by my side on this mission.
Just as the sun’s rays of reds and yellow started gracing the sky, my fears that Clawson had left without me dissipated when he pulled up in his personal vehicle. He’d arrived at first light, just as he’d promised. The tight bands around my chest loosened and I breathed easier, relieved to see that he was a man of word.
I scurried into the passenger seat, and as soon as the seatbelt clicked into place, Clawson peeled away from the hospital, and we headed through the still-sleeping town of Blackwood Creek in silence.
For the first time since she’d woken up and realized hunters had taken Ridge, my wolf finally settled enough for me to ease the rigid control I’d had to maintain. She was easier to control now that we were going after Ridge and bringing him home.
The sound of the vehicle eating up the miles on the road was broken when Clawson turned to me with a sigh. “Just so we’re clear, I’m only bringing you along because you claim to know where the hunters have taken the other shifters. Could you at least tell me the town’s name? I could get shifters in the area to do some recon for us, see what we’re up against.”
I swallowed a laugh at his not-so-subtle interrogation technique. If I gave him anything, he’d find a way to go off on his own and leave me behind. I needed to know for sure where they’d taken Ridge, so we’d have to do some detective work first. Having the sheriff along would make that the easy part.
“Sheriff, I assure you, I know where they are. I wouldn’t lie about that when their lives are at stake. But it’s not as simple as a town or a point on a map; otherwise, I would have told you as soon as I woke up. There are no marked roads or signs saying: ‘Hunter Camp This Way.’ Their camps are always off the beaten track, but I’ll know how to get there.”
Truth be told, whether healed one hundred percent or not, I was our best chance at saving Ridge and the others. I was the bargaining chip.
Clawson kept his eyes on the road, but his attention stayed on me. “How do you know this?”
I couldn’t tell him everything. Not now. Not before I finished this and ended the threat. But I had to give him something. Sighing, I said, “I crossed paths with hunters several times when I was on my own before meeting Ridge.”
“I knew it.” Scoffing, Clawson gripped the wheel tighter. “I knew you were a lone wolf before you arrived in town. It’s the only explanation for you going feral.”
