Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles #2) (12 page)

He chuckled and walked to the car. “Luc and I will go for a drive.”

Cordelia turned around and led the way into the hut. A fire was roaring inside a metal fireplace, and as soon as they were both inside, Cordelia threw her arms around Katelyn and began to cry. Katelyn did, too, feeling such tremendous relief that she had to sit down on the sleeping bag stretched out on the floor before she fell down.

Cordelia moved two grocery bags out of the way and plopped down next to Katelyn, burying her face in her hands.

“Oh, Kat,” she said brokenly. “I want to go home!”

“Why?” Katelyn blurted, then caught herself and put her arms around Cordelia again, and her friend leaned her head on Katelyn’s shoulder. “I mean, oh my God, Cordelia, look at your family. Your father’s . . .” She trailed off, realizing that Cordelia already knew how bizarre her family was.

“You don’t know what it’s like to be born a Fenner,” Cordelia said. “We have the blood of the Fenris Wolf running through our veins. In the werewolf world, we’re revered. We’re like gods.”

Katelyn thought about Regan and Arial, overdressed and over made-up, slinking around like they were practicing for some Southern Gothic play. The delight they’d taken in ordering Cordelia to run away as fast as she could before they caught her. Justin said werewolves were aggressive, but the Fenners were flat out extreme. That didn’t sound very godlike to her.

“What’s it like in Dom’s pack?” Katelyn asked. “You’ll be with him, and he’s the alpha, right?”

“Kat, Kat,” Cordelia hitched. Then she lifted her head. “I’m nearly eighteen years old, the daughter of the alpha. If I join another pack, I’ll be a traitor. How would
you
treat an outsider who had been branded a traitor?”

The question was absurd. Katelyn didn’t live in a world where thoughts like that occurred.

“I thought you called Dom,” she said, a bit at a loss.

Cordelia wiped her face with both hands. “I did. I didn’t know what else to do. But he wants me to declare my loyalty as soon as we get to Louisiana. In front of everyone. I — I need time.” She dropped her hands to her lap and stared pleadingly at Katelyn. “I need my daddy to forgive me and take me back.”

Katelyn played with the slick fabric of the sleeping bag, unaccountably disappointed. She didn’t see leaving with Dom and Cordelia as a clearer path to her own happy ending. Cordelia might be the daughter of an alpha, but Katelyn was just a
mistake
.

Except . . . I’m immune to silver
, she remembered.

“Maybe Daddy just needs time,” Cordelia said, reaching into one of the grocery bags. She pulled out a packet of tissues and blew her nose. “If I can just go with Dom without declaring myself, and then Daddy asks me to come home . . .” She stared at Katelyn with huge, pleading eyes. “You’ll come with me, right?”

Here it was, the time for her decision. Katelyn looked at her friend, and her mind raced.

And then it came to her.

“Cordelia, your father wanted you to find the silver mine,” she began.

Cordelia nodded. “Kat, I — I hid some stuff from you. That book Mr. Henderson wanted? I had it. And my daddy had Mr. Henderson over for dinner and asked him to help him find the Madre Vena. I didn’t tell you that, either.”

Katelyn thought of the business card she had found.
Maybe Mr. Henderson is not around because he’s busy looking for the mine
.

No, she didn’t buy it.

“Mr. Henderson is missing,” Katelyn said carefully. “Could something have happened to him?”

“Missing?” she asked, growing pale. “What do you mean?”

“He stopped coming to school. They don’t know where he is.” Katelyn would never tell her what people were saying about Cordelia and him.

Cordelia covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes grew enormous and she went from pale to chalk white. “The Hellhound,” she whispered. “It guards the mine. What if it got him?”

The door to the hut opened and Dom Gaudin stood in the doorway. Cordelia visibly jerked, and she grabbed Katelyn’s hand. She looked even more terrified.

“Ladies?” Dom Gaudin said. “We can’t risk staying here much longer. Is Ma’amselle McBride coming with us?”

“Don’t leave me,” Cordelia said under her breath. “I need you, Kat. I risked my life for you.”

She did. Katelyn owed her.

Dom turned his head and spoke in French to someone who was still outside.

Her stomach in a knot, Katelyn took a breath and whispered in a rush before she lost her nerve, “What if I looked for the mine? And if I find it, you can tell your father that you found it.”

“Oh,” Cordelia murmured. “Oh, would you do that?” She looked over Katelyn’s shoulder at Dom. “Maybe I should stay. Help you. But the
Hellhound
. . .”

“The time’s come,” Dom said, coming into the hut. “We don’t want to linger on Fenner territory. It’s time to go. With, or without you, Miss Kat?”

“Without,” Katelyn said. “I have to stay and try to get the others to see reason, to get Lee to forgive Cordelia. Then . . .” she thought of what Luc had told her in the car. “Maybe then there can be peace.”

Dom sighed heavily. “Peace is a dream I once cherished. I would urge you to abandon it, but I can see that you have not lost hope. It is not an easy thing to leave all that you know behind. I must warn you, though, we cannot risk coming back for you.”

“I understand,” Katelyn said, even as she could hear Cordelia crying.

From a distance she heard a sort of whistling sound. Dom spun around with what Katelyn recognized as a French curse falling from his lips. “We will be found. Hurry.”

He grabbed Cordelia around the waist and ran with her, propelling her toward the idling BMW. Katelyn ran behind, but before she could climb in, Dom held up his hand.

“I’m sorry — we must go and we cannot go the way you were brought. If you are caught with us you are dead. Your home is that way,” he said, pointing through the forest. “Go quickly before they find you here.”

Then Dom turned from Katelyn and jumped into the car as well. The wheels kicked up dirt and pine needles, then disappeared down the road.

7

Katelyn had never been a fan of conspiracy theories, but as she watched the car disappear, she began to believe. The Gaudins had told her the Fenners were nowhere near, but had they simply lured her to the hut, then dumped her there? Alone?

She realized she had no way home. All she had was her cell phone. She stared down at it, wondering if she dare call Trick or Justin. Now that she knew where Cordelia was going, she wasn’t sure if there was anything to be gained by bringing Justin into the picture. Handsome and charming when he wanted to be, not entirely to be trusted. She was certain he would be able to tell that Cordelia had been in the warming hut — and that the Gaudins had been, too.

But if she called Trick for a ride, she’d have to explain what she’d been doing out there alone. Maybe he’d come anyway, if she could even manage to describe where she was. She tried her GPS function, but it wasn’t working. Maybe the warming hut was a known landmark.

It was a bad idea to go into the woods by herself. If this were a horror movie, she’d tell that moronic girl on the screen that she deserved to die a hideous death because she was too stupid to live. But Gaudin had said the members of her pack were coming — and they would kill her.

Swallowing her pride and her anxiety, she texted Trick, but it didn’t send. She winced and tried calling him. Another fail. So, no calling for help.

That left the “dying in the woods” option.

Her heartbeat picked up as she stared out at the vast expanse of trees, and jerked. There were some blotches on the trees and they were
glowing
a bright red. And she could see streaks of shimmering crimson in the dirt where the car had been.

She trotted to the closest tree and peered tentatively at the glimmering blob. It was a handprint. Maybe one of the Gaudins had touched it while making sure there were no Fenners around? The streaks of red on the ground were like neon tire tracks. Correction: they
were
tire tracks.

She didn’t know how she was seeing them. Maybe they were heat generated. If that were the case, they would disappear as they cooled. Now was the time to strike out, instead of waiting until morning.

But Dom had said they weren’t going back the way they had brought her. Which meant at some point they would split from the trail they were on. And if she was very lucky there would be a fainter set of tracks showing the other path. Decided, she headed out.

The tire tracks were still glowing. In fact, the forest itself was glowing — branches, leaves, even pebbles and earth — shimmering, shining. It was like a fairyland. Entranced, Katelyn had trouble concentrating on the path of the tire tread as she took in the luminous night. Was this how werewolves saw the world? It was so beautiful it made her gasp.

Go
, she told herself, and although she had planned to carefully walk the route, she broke into a run. She could almost see her entire body shining as she raced beside the orangish streaks on the ground. Instead of being afraid, she was exhilarated, and she ran even faster. She didn’t know how she kept from tangling her feet together but she kept going. Her arms flew out to the sides and brushed silvery leaves as she flew past. Faster, and faster. She laughed and the sound echoed in her head.

Supernatural
, she thought.
I’m supernatural
.

And it felt good. Wonderful. She had never felt so strong. Before she realized what she was doing, she vaulted over a tree trunk, did a flip, and stuck her landing. Then she started running again.

And finally there were two sets of tire tracks and she veered off to follow the fainter ones. She could barely see those but she ran as fast as she could through the dark twists and turns. And finally the glittering streaks were gone.

But as she slowed to a halt another sense took over. She could smell the faintest scent of wood smoke: it had to be a cabin, hopefully her grandfather’s. She ran toward it, and just as she began to tire, she caught sight of the cabin itself. Somehow she had gotten around behind it and she was approaching from the back.

Am I busted?
she thought, and cautiously approached, spinning various stories about why she had been out in the woods after midnight.
Going for a walk?

When two girls had been murdered, and a teacher was missing?

She walked up onto the back porch and tried the kitchen door. Locked, but she had a key — her grandfather had made a duplicate for her because he had rarely locked his doors until she’d arrived. She kicked off her muddy boots and almost fell through the doorway. Grabbing a glass, she went to the kitchen sink. The curtains were open and she stared out into the back yard. If there were no Fenners on duty tonight, then why not? How had the Gaudins made sure she wouldn’t be seen when she got into the BMW?

Maybe they lied to me. If Dom thought I’d be going with them, it wouldn’t have mattered
.

She gulped down glass after glass of water. She was starving, too, but she didn’t want to risk waking up her grandfather and having him ask awkward questions. She went upstairs, pausing by Mordecai’s door. She didn’t hear him snoring. What if he’d done a bed check and found her gone?

Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she cracked open the door. Although the room was dark, she could see into it. There was his bed.

With no one in it.

Her heart sank.

What if he’s out there looking for me?

She shut the door and went into her own room. Sweaty from her run — just how far had she traveled? — she decided to take a quick shower. She hastily shampooed her hair and put on an oversized Samohi — Santa Monica High — T-shirt and a pair of sweats. Time to sleep.

Taking her blanket and pillow, she went down the stairs into the living room. As usual, a fire was blazing away. Her phobia about fire had been so great when she’d arrived that she couldn’t even handle being in the living room — a fact she had kept well hidden from her grandfather. But after struggling with her conscience, she hesitantly threw the business card in the fire to erase possibly incriminating evidence — thereby protecting the pack. Despite the fire, she felt a cold chill. She sacked out on the leather couch and stared at the blaze as she kept replaying the entire weird night.

I’m going to find that mine
, she swore.
I’m going to find what’s in it. And I’m not going to get killed by the Hellhound in the process.

She didn’t realize she’d dozed off until she jerked awake to the sound of the front door opening. Footfalls crossed the room well behind the couch, then went up the stairs. A door opened and closed. Her grandfather.

I should let him know I’m home
, she thought. She lay on the couch for a couple of minutes debating what to do. Maybe he hadn’t realized she’d been gone. But maybe he’d been looking for her. Finally her conscience won out. Nothing in her wanted to, but she knew what it was like to worry. So she went and crept up the stairs, facing the music, and rapped lightly on his door.

“Grandpa?” she called softly.

“Katie?” There was a rustling, and then he opened his door. He was wearing pajamas. “Is there something wrong?”

“Oh.” Holy cow, she
wasn’t
busted. Now what? “I thought I heard a noise.”

He frowned, looking concerned. “Like what?”

Like you?
Maybe she’d awakened him when she’d come in, and he’d gone outside to look around. She shrugged. “Um, maybe like a car?”

He covered a yawn. “I’ll go see.” He took his rifle off the wall and she followed him to the front door. He opened it, peered around, shook his head, and closed the door. Then he went to the back yard. She started to get scared, wondering if there were Fenners out there. What would happen if he spotted one of them?

“Nope.”