Breaking Out (4 page)

“You’d look good stretched out on a rug, Miss
Ranger.”

She laughed out loud, glancing at me. “You a
bear, too?”

“Leopard.”

Now that her attention was off of Jay and on
me, her eyes narrowed. I felt a soft wash of magic, probably her
checking out my aura, but my walls were steel and my magic was
stronger. Unless the ranger was as old as some of the oldest fae,
she couldn’t know I was anything other than leopard.
Nope, no
secrets here, lady. You can be on your way now.

“You two are an unlikely pair. How old are
you?” she asked.

“Twenty.” Jay responded. That was the truth.
He was a few years older than me, although sometimes he acted like
a junior high student.

“Eighteen.” I echoed. Although my real age,
seventeen, was considered adult by supernatural standards, I’d
added a year to the fake drivers license in case we ran into some
human cops.

“I’ll have to make sure you get back to your
campsite in one piece—maybe see some ID. I don’t want to find out
you two are lying about your ages. Runaways are more frequent then
you might think.”

“The campsite’s a long walk away.”

“Then lets get started.” She turned back
toward her horse.

“Guess you’re watching us walk after all.”
Jay grinned, pleased by the opportunity to spend time with the hot
female ranger. “You’re lucky ‘cause I’m great from every
angle.”

I frowned, looking up the hill in the
direction of camp. That was going to be one hell of a walk,
especially barefoot. The ground was rough, but if I used any magic
to protect our bare feet, she’d know right away. Good thing
shifters healed quickly. I tried another tactic, “Aren’t you afraid
some hiker’s gonna freak when they see us nude?” And if she let us
shift, I’d be shifting to leopard this time around.

“You’re not all that scary and it’s better
than running into a bear and a big cat.” She fished in her
saddlebags, drawing out two towels and tossing us one each. “Wrap
these around yourselves.”

I knotted it at my waist and Jay cracked up,
adding an accent. “Aye, laddie, you’re lookin’ a fine sight, tis
true. But your tartan seems to have faded in the wash.”

“This is serious.” I hissed, annoyed that
we’d gotten ourselves in this ridiculous predicament. Thank the
gods Sash and Rick weren’t around. I’d never live this down.

As I struggled to secure the knot so the
towel wouldn’t slip off my hips, I stole another glance at the
female. If she’d been any other species I would have heard her
coming, but because she’d taken the lines, she’d appeared without
warning. I should’ve been prepared for something like this.

Jay got my attention when he slapped at his
hips. “This is all muscle, me lad.”

“Good thing, ‘cause walking up that hill
barefoot isn’t going to be easy.” Samson began barking at the
horse, making an enormous racket. I whispered, happy that Samson
had given me the opportunity to speak privately. “You’re coming
onto a fae
.”

“Holy crap. Dangerous?”

“I’m pretty sure she’s full blood, but she
doesn’t seem dangerous. It’s just so weird to see her working as a
ranger. The fae don’t usually take jobs in the human world. Maybe
she owes a debt. Or maybe she is half fae and likes living
here.”

Jay handled the situation in his usual way.
“Your lead,” meaning he’d follow mine. Although he was more than
capable of thinking on his feet, Jay would always defer to me when
there were other supernaturals involved. I had a lot more
experience with different races, having spent time in both Faerie
and the Demon Realm.

But here was a fae who didn’t advertise the
fact, even though she knew we were shifters and not human. She
remounted her horse, soothing him with a few gentle words. Her
movements were graceful, but her manner was more American girl than
Fae lady. Maybe she’d left her sidhe to explore the human world and
had been gone a very long time. There was no way to tell how old
she was by looking at her, which was the case with all the
supernatural races I’d come in contact with.

I had an idea that would save all of us a
whole lot of time. She’d be surprised, but too bad. “You could take
us back through the lines.”

Realizing she’d been outed, she looked
uncomfortable, almost nervous. “I’d rather make you walk.”

“Why? Your magic not up to snuff?” Jay
teased.

“Shut up and start walking.” Whoa. That sure
didn’t sound anything like a Fae lady. Jay managed to push her
buttons without much effort. I noticed her palming her revolver and
suddenly she was no longer the friendly park ranger looking out for
our best interests. This female was dangerous. If only I could talk
to Jay mind to mind.

Icy fingers clawed their way up my back. Had
she been looking for me or did she just stumble upon us like she
said? Her aura was fluxing all over the place, a sign of emotional
distress and also a great indicator that someone wasn’t telling the
truth. She might be working for someone else. Naberia? No. It
wasn’t likely that a fae would work for a demon.

“Are we really walking back to camp?” Jay
asked. I nodded. He mouthed a few curses.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Stay close in case.”

He gave me a subtle thumbs-up, understanding
exactly what I meant. If she threatened us, I’d get us back to the
camp via the lines and we’d take off, then come back for Samson,
who was perfectly able to take care of himself. In fact he’d
probably be able to find us no problem.

Because the trail was steep, it took two
hours. We stopped once, Samson, Jay and me jumping under a
waterfall to cool off and ease our aching, bloody feet. It was at
least eighty degrees when you came out from under the trees, and
the sun was strong. We’d end up sunburned as well as
sore-footed.

The ranger and her horse led our expedition
up the trail while Samson brought up the rear, burying any stray
drops of my blood as soon as they hit the ground. Before I’d left
home I’d changed my look, my scent, even my aura, but my blood was
my blood: irrefutable evidence that I’d passed this way. I was
beginning to think that Sinlae must’ve
seen
how some of
Samson’s more practical talents would come in handy. I patted his
head and promised him he’d get a fish of his own for dinner. His
rear end wiggled.

We froze when we entered the site we’d
chosen. None of our stuff was there. I gestured to Samson, who
sniffed around then took off in a sprint, running over to a trio of
large bushes hidden behind a boulder. All of our stuff had been
tucked away.

I glanced at the female. “Did you move
it?”

She lifted her chin the way Sinlae did when
she was going to lecture me. “It’s not wise to leave your camp
unattended. I was teaching you a lesson.” A lie. She knew who I
was. Holy crap.

“Did you look thru our stuff?” Jay asked. My
dad’s note was there. Our cash cards, both sets of IDs, our
phones…

“No.” Major flux in her aura—another lie.

Jay didn’t know she was lying. “Well, here’s
your towel back, honey.” Jay tossed it to her, but she ducked and
it overshot the mark.

“It’s yours now, bear.” She smiled a fake
smile, dropping the fish we’d caught on the ground. At least she’d
been willing to carry them back for us.

“I’m Jay. You?” He stretched out his hand and
waited.

“Celine.” She didn’t take Jay’s hand, so he
shrugged and dropped it. Fae were picky about who they touched.

She glanced at me, questioning. “Charles
Crawford” I said.

“Join us for lunch? We’ve got plenty,” Jay
offered, glancing my way. I nodded. Maybe we could find out what
sidhe she called home. Samson whined behind me, afraid he’d lost
dibs on a whole fish.

“You can have some of mine, you big pig.” I
rubbed his head, keeping him close.

“Sorry. I have to check in. We’ll meet again,
boys
.” She turned her horse north, Jay shouting out, “I’m
twenty!” He frowned when she didn’t respond, shouting even louder.
“You didn’t look at our IDs.”

Celine twisted in the saddle, her smile
reminding me too much of the former Queen of Faerie, Fionna, my
creep of an aunt. The hair on my arms stood on end.

She’d said she was reporting to someone and
that she’d be back. This wasn’t good.

As Celine and her horse disappeared around a
bend in the road, Jay and I looked at each other with the same
worried expressions. We washed off in the river, changed into jeans
and tee shirts, eating our lunches in silence. Only Samson looked
happy.

“She went through our stuff, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Do you think she figured out who you
are?”

“We can’t take any chances. My dad’s note was
there.” It might give her too many clues.

“Burn it,” Jay said. My head snapped around.
“You said we can’t take chances,” Jay added.

Frowning, I pulled the note out of the pack,
reading it one last time and tossing it into the small fire we’d
built to cook our fish. I stared at the fire for the few seconds it
took to shrivel and turn to ash. The words would stick with me no
matter what. We packed up quickly and took the lines to our next
destination.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Are you
kiddin’ me?”

“What?” We’d appeared in the middle of a
small stream. My bad.

“The water’s over my ankles. My boots are
soaked.” He lifted one foot, watching the muddy water drain out
over the top of the hiking boot.

“The boots we bought don’t fall apart when
they get wet.”

“Yeah, but they’re gonna be effing
uncomfortable.” He started walking toward the right bank of the
stream.

“So we’ll hang out until they dry off.” I
followed, catching up.

Jay looked around at the dry landscape.
“Why’d you put us here?”

“I checked the coordinates and the view on
Google Earth. It looked pretty secluded. The streambed had been dry
in the picture.”

“When was that?”

“A few days before we left Crescent
City.”

“That was over two weeks ago. Where are
we?”

“Near Napa.”

“Oh yeah?” His mood had brightened. “We’re in
the land of wine and grapevines and
wine
?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re still twenty.”

“Why didn’t you make us older on those IDs? I
would’ve enjoyed a glass of honey wine.”

“Honey wine is made by the demi-fey and used
in Faerie. This is the land of cabernet and chardonnay.”

“How do you know about those wines?”

“My dad drinks wine from all over the
world.”

“And blood,” Jay teased.

“Only from my mom.”

“That’s what he tells her.”

“It’s the truth, dumbass.” Garrett had fallen
hard for my mom before I was born. They were good for each
other.

“But Garrett has donors, right?”

“He takes their energy, not their blood.”

His brow wrinkled up. “Can
you
take
energy from people? Have you tried with me?”

“I’m not a vampire.” I batted at a persistent
fly, irritated that he’d even ask. “Have you ever felt me draining
your energy? Jeez, Jay. I’m not some leech.”

“The queen drained her people’s magic.”

“You’ve become some kind of expert?”

“Well, she did, right?”

“Well…yeah. She blocked their access to the
lines then…”

“Then?”

“Drained away some of their magic.”

He nodded, looking way too smug. “And you’re
also part demon.”

“So?”

“Isaiah can sap some energy.”

“How do you know that?”

“He told me.”

“He’d never drain someone unless he had no
choice.”

I fisted my hand, hiding the scar on my palm.
Jay was one of the few people who knew how I got it. A few months
ago my mom sent me to the DR to protect me from Fionna. Isaiah was
training me, working me hard, physically and mentally. I was angry
because I’d wanted to be included in the group that was going to
Faerie to rescue my dad, Garrett, so I figured I’d run a little
experiment. My birth father, Kennet, had used his mind to force
people to do what he wanted them to, so I tried it on Isaiah,
encouraging him to let me go to Faerie. He flipped out and gave me
a taste of my own medicine, taking over my mind and forcing me to
place my palm on a hot grill. It was a lesson I’d never forget.

I hadn’t healed the scar on purpose. The ugly
lines had become my personal firewall against using the magic I’d
inherited from Kennet without first thinking about the
consequences.

Jay and I made our way up the sloping bank of
the small stream just south of Santa Rosa, throwing down our packs
and sprawling on the dry grass. Samson continued to splash in the
water, chasing the occasional dragonfly.

“Char, I don’t know half of what you can do.
I’ve watched you practicing when you thought I was sleeping. It’s
spooky.”

“I was just playing around with fae light.” I
pulled off my boots. “I can always tell when you’re awake. Your
breathing changes.” I lifted up on one elbow and looked at my
friend. “I’m not trying to hide anything. Night is quiet and I can
concentrate better.” I got that he was worried about me and felt
powerless to help me. But coming on this trip, making me laugh,
keeping me fed—all of that was a huge help.

“Yeah, but if the shit hits the fan, you’re
gonna have to use your magic in the daytime. You should be
practicing more often.” He took off his boots, scowling as he wrung
the water out of his socks. Then he grunted and gave me one of
those looks that usually meant he was overthinking things.

“What?” I asked.

“If you do need to drain my energy in order
to save our lives, I’d be cool with it as long as you gave me a
heads up or somethin’. Maybe a code word?”

I laughed. “I’d never…” But I
had
practiced mind control using Jay as a guinea pig, Linn too. Isaiah
had suggested it and they’d both agreed. I’d been very careful,
only asking them to take a few steps or pick up an object. Isaiah
believed that I should be proficient in using every bit of my
magical arsenal, especially since my bloodline was ancient and
unique. As far as anyone knew, demon, fae and shapeshifter had
never been combined in one creature before.