Untamed (23 page)

“What are you doing?” Simon asked.

“I need my phone. There’s a map on it.”

“Show me.”

She pulled out her phone and called up the image of the map. He took the phone from her. “Where did you obtain this?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, I suppose not.” He handed it back to her. “Very well, proceed.” He gestured toward Tank and Rat Face. “You two, with me. The rest of you make sure our guest stays put.”

Ellie headed to the side yard at a brisk pace. By the time she reached the back yard, she was a good ten yards ahead of Simon, Tank, and Rat Face. Simon called out, ordering her to slow down.

She didn’t want to but she did. At least for a minute or two. The light was fading with the onset of twilight. The darker it got, the faster she walked. Twice Simon ordered her to slow and twice she did. But they were getting close to the lake and she needed to get a lead on them for her plan to succeed, so the third time he ordered her to wait, instead of slowing or stopping, she broke into a run.

* * * * *

Cam was hunkered down behind a clump of palmettos with his brothers along the side of the yard. The two men Simon had left were leaning against the car. One was smoking and diddling with his phone and the other was throwing a knife into the ground, over and over.

“Clint, if you work around to the back, you can get in through the kitchen and get Lily. Colton and I can take care of these two.”

Clint nodded. “Give me five minutes. I’ll text when I’m in place.”

“Go.” Colton said.

They waited as Clint disappeared into the darkness.

“They’re armed,” Colton whispered.

“Yep.”

“You prepared for this to get ugly?”

Cam looked at his older brother. He imagined Colton had seen a lot worse in his time with the Rangers. “Whatever it takes.”

It seemed like an hour before his phone vibrated. He didn’t need to look at it, he knew it was Clint. “You ready?” he whispered.

“Born that way, little brother.”

With that, Colton stood. For a man so big he moved very quietly, in fact, silently. They crept up to the edge of the yard. The men were on the other side of the car, their backs to Cam and Colton.

Colton signaled for Cam to take the right and he’d go left then held up one hand with three fingers extended. Cam nodded. They split up, hunkered down, and eased their way to either end of the car. Cam positioned himself in front of the car counted to three then stood with his gun trained on the man closest to him.

“Don’t move.”

“Mutha fuc—“ The second man never finished his sentence, nor did he have time to pull his weapon before Colton cold-cocked him in the back of the head with his gun then leveled the pistol at the man left standing between him and Cam.

“You’ll be wanting to toss that gun to the ground,” Cam advised the man. “Slowly.”

The man looked from Cam to Colton and then slowly pulled the gun from where it was shoved in the waistband of his pants.

“Keys,” Colton said and held out his hand.

The man placed the keys in Colton’s hand. Colton reached inside the car to release the hood of the trunk.

Between him and Cam, they had both of the men tied and in the trunk before Clint emerged from the house with Lily.

“You okay?” Cam asked her.

“Yeah. But Ellie went with them, Cam.”

“I know.”

“You know where they’re going?” Colton asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s go.”

Cam looked at Lily and Clint. “Why don’t you call the sheriff’s department and wait here on them? Colton and I will track them down.”

“Not a chance,” Lily argued.

Clint shook his head. “We stay together.”

“Fine. Let’s do it,” Colton said.

With Cam leading the way, they headed out into the darkness.

Chapter Fourteen

Ellie could hear the men shouting but she wouldn’t dare take time to look back over her shoulder. She had to make it to the yard of the secret house. She was running as fast as her legs would go, praying that she didn’t trip or fall. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like a big drum in her ears.

She raced around the side of the lake and headed for the yard. She was almost there when she heard the footsteps behind her. Fear had an added dose of adrenaline shooting through her and she ran even faster.

Oh god, she wasn’t going to make it. She heard someone getting closer. Just a few more yards, she was almost there. With a last burst of desperation-fueled speed, she made it to the back yard and kept going for several more feet before she tripped and fell flat on her face.

Ellie scrambled to her feet and looked in the direction of her pursuers.
What the hell?
She gaped at what met her eyes. Rat Face was standing at the edge of the yard with a look of bewilderment stamped on his face. Ellie started edging back slowly, ready to make a run for the house. She worked her hand worked into her bag and closed her fist around the keys.

Rat Face looked one direction then the other, then turned and shouted behind him to Tank and Dansforth. As she watched, Dansforth and Tank joined Rat Face. She straightened and crept closer. Was she protected by the darkness or was it like before and they just couldn’t see her?

Simon stepped up ahead of Rat Face and looked right at her. Ellie jumped about three feet back, nearly falling again. When Simon made a motion with his arms as if he was trying to move something out of the way in front of him, she went still. What was he doing?

“Did she go through here?” he asked.

“She just disappeared.” Rat Face replied.

“Into this… bramble?”

Ellie’s mouth literally fell open in shock. What was he talking about? Tank joined them and started pushing his arms this way and that as if trying to move branches aside. When he reached out, made fists with both hands, and pulled back she squeaked in surprise. There were palmetto fronds in both hands, all tangled with moss and vines.

“Oh my god.” This was impossible but she was seeing it with her own eyes. Screwing up her courage, she moved closer, one-step at a time, ready to turn and flee.

But no matter how close she got they didn’t see her. They argued among themselves about how she could have gotten through “that tangle” and finally Simon shouted for them to be quiet.

“You,” he pointed at Rat Face. “Go that way. You.” He indicated Tank. ”Take the opposite direction. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

“What about you, boss?” Rat Face asked.

Simon reached inside his coat and withdrew a gun. “I’ll wait here. Make a hundred yard circle and work your way back to me.”

The men headed off into the darkness and Simon stood very still, looking one direction and then the other. “Where are you, you bitch?”

“Right here,” Ellie whispered. What did she do now? Why couldn’t he see her and how did she get past him?

She pulled out her phone. No service. Damn, she couldn’t call or text Cam. What should she do? With Simon standing not ten feet from her with a gun and his men out looking, there didn’t seem to be much she could do but wait so she sat down and did just that.

* * * * *

Colton tapped Cam on the shoulder. When Cam turned Colton motioned for silence then pointed to his right. Cam listened. He heard someone walking. They remained motionless until Colton nodded.

Lily followed behind Colton with Clint bringing up the rear. When they reached the stream, Cam turned west. “You sure you know where you’re going?” Lily whispered.

“Yeah. Positive.”

No one else spoke. Cam looked over his shoulder at Colton. “Last time we followed the stream for about twenty-six minutes before we reached the lake.”

Colton nodded. Cam wondered if his brother could mentally keep track of time, counting seconds, or some trick he learned in the Rangers. To Cam, every minute was feeling very long.

Several times Colton tapped his shoulder to get him to stop. Twice they heard voices. Once they heard a man grumbling about “finding that damn bitch.”

That gave Cam a sense of relief. Maybe Ellie had lost them in the woods and made it to the secret house.

It seemed they’d been walking through the dark woods forever when Colton tapped his shoulder again. Cam stopped and followed Colton’s actions, squatting down. Lily and Clint did the same.

“You’re sure you know where you’re headed?” Colton asked.

“Yes. I told you, twenty-six—“

“By my count it’s been thirty-five. Factoring in the dark, stopping and moving slow we should either be there or be damn close.”

“We’re almost there,” Cam insisted. “We have to be.”

“Then let’s go.”

They started again. A few minutes later Cam saw the glint of moonlight on water. He pointed and stopped. Colton stepped up beside him. “Whoever is out here has been working a circular pattern and unless I’m wrong they’re headed pretty much in the same direction we are.”

“The house is just on the other side of the lake. If we’re quiet, we should be able to reach it. We have to get to Ellie. That’s where she’d go.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

They had gone no more than twenty yards before they reached the lake. Cam increased his pace and was just at the turn of the lake bank when Colton clamped a hand down on his shoulder.

Cam’s first reaction was annoyance but that was quickly followed by gratitude when he looked in the direction Colton pointed.

Three men. One of them Simon Dansforth. They were standing at what should be the edge of the yard to the secret house.

Only there was no yard and no house. There was only a thick wall of undergrowth.

“What the hell?” Cam whispered.

Colton dropped down and pulled Cam with him. Lily and Clint followed suit.

“The house was right there. Just around the turn of the lake.”

“Well, it’s not there now,” Clint, commented. “You sure we’re in the right place?”

“Yes!”

“Well you’re obviously wrong,” Clint argued.

“I’m not.”

“Then where’s this damn house?”

“Enough,” Colton said. “Those men obviously think she’s around here or they wouldn’t be looking here, so house or no, we’re probably in the right vicinity. The question is do we take out those guys so we can keep looking, or try and work around them?”

Cam looked at Colton and then at Clint. “I’m not keen on the idea of killing,” Clint said.

“Me either,” Lily added and then a smile appeared on her face. “But I can provide a distraction.”

“No.” Clint said quickly. “There’s too much dry wood out here. We can’t risk starting a fire.”

“You’re right,” she said. “Sorry, just trying to help.”

“So we try and work around them,” Colton said. “I’ll take the lead. Keep it quiet.”

They all stood, but before they could take two steps, a voice behind them had them all freezing.

“Stop right there. Throw down your weapons.”

* * * * *

Ellie saw Tank and Rat Face return to Dansforth. They were clearly angry, and all three men were arguing about what to do. Dansforth said he’d called for backup, which should be arriving any moment.

“Like they’d fucking find us,” Tank argued.

Simon held up his phone. “GPS idiot.”

Tank fell silent but didn’t look happy.

From the corner of her eye, Ellie saw movement. She was on her feet in a blink. It was Cam. Colton, Clint, and Lily were with him.

As she watched, they all ducked down. She waited, watching. If Dansforth had called for reinforcements, Cam and the others could be sandwiched between the two groups.

She saw them. Just as they started forward, three men showed up behind them and somebody yelled out. “Sir! We’ve apprehended four people.”

Dansforth called back. “Bring them up!” He then began a slow turn, calling out loudly. “I know you can hear me. No one has to get hurt. Come out and I’ll let them go.”

Ellie felt sick to her stomach. She was terrified and didn’t trust Dansforth, but she couldn’t let Cam and his family get hurt. As Cam, Colton, Clint, and Lily were herded toward Dansforth, she started to him as well. All of a sudden, Rat Face yelled out “Holy fuck!” She knew they could see her again.

Her eyes went to Dansforth. “Let them go.”

“When I get what I came for.”

“You have to let them go”

“My dear, I don’t have to do anything. Deavers!”

One of the men behind Cam’s family grabbed Lily and shoved a gun against the side of her head. The other three men leveled their weapons at Cam and his brothers.

“No!” Ellie screamed. This couldn’t happen. Cam and his family had been so good to her, had taken her in and cared for her. She couldn’t take it if something happened to them because of her.

If only Dansforth had never known about her father, about her, none of this would have happened.

But he did and now he threatened the people she loved. Terror filled her. She had to stop him, but how?

At that moment, the gem from her necklace sent a shock into her chest that jolted her nearly off the ground. It arced through her body and down to the tips of her fingers. It was no more than a split second. Just enough time for her to scream “No!” and raise her hands, palms out toward the men.

Blinding light shot from her hands, like twin beams, splitting the darkness and making the air sizzle. One beam separated into three writhing tendrils, striking Dansforth, Tank, and Rat Face. The other did the same, slamming into the men holding weapons on her friends. Upon impact, there was an enormous flare and then an instant later, darkness.

Dansforth and his men were gone. “Cam!” she screamed.

He raced to her, followed by his brothers and Lily. When Cam swept her off her feet and hugged her tight, she clung to him.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. Oh god, I was so scared.”

“What the hell was that?” He asked when he put her down. “That light?”

“I don’t know.”

“And how the hell did this get here?” Colton asked, gesturing to the house.

“It’s always been here. It’s just… hidden.”

“Hidden? Honey I’ve seen a lot of cloaking technology and this is definitely some next level shit.”

“Seriously,” Clint agreed. “I know that house wasn’t here before. What the hell’s going on, Ellie? Cam?”

Ellie looked at Cam. “Tell them,” he said.

“Okay.” She opened her shoulder bag that she had slung across her body. From it, she took the scroll and the box containing the egg. She tucked the scroll under one arm and opened the box.

“What
is
that?” Lily asked.

Ellie filled them in with everything she knew, . “Remember what Teddy and Alex said? They said I had to read the scroll.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Clint said. “I mean, what the hell was that laser thing you did?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. I didn’t know I could do that. I was just terrified that you were going to get hurt and it just happened.”

“I think she needs to do it,” Colton said in a quiet voice of authority.

Everyone looked at him and finally agreed. “Thank you,” Ellie said gratefully. “Cam, take the scroll and unwind it.”

He did and held it up so she could read it. She removed the egg from the box. Its glow pulsed when she touched it and then flared brightly.

“Oh my,” was all Ellie managed to say before she was catapulted into a realm of light that danced and swayed around her and through her, consuming her. It was, for lack of a better word, bliss.

She heard the song. It floated with the light, sung by a thousand voices. She added her voice to the chorus.

Cam saw Ellie’s eyes glow with the same light as the egg and his heart raced. Should he tear the egg from her hands? “Ellie?” he called to her. “Ellie. Can you hear me?”

Her mouth opened, but what emerged was not just her voice. It was the sound of a multitude of voices, singing in a harmony more beautiful than anything he’d ever heard.

“I call upon magic, upon the powers of light. Dispel the darkness that steals our sight. Restore the magic; bring back our might, so that once more the Fae may dance by night. Beneath the sun, beneath the moon, in forest and stream, give back commune. As daughter of king and the child of mage, I call you now to hear my plea. As I wish, so mote it be.”

A spark of fear caused the hair on the back of Cam’s neck to stand.
Fae? Daughter of king and child of mage?
It sounded like some beautiful but bizarre magical chant and that was so far out of her purview that he stepped back in fear. What the hell was happening here?

Twice she sang the song. As the final syllable passed her lips on the third time, the egg cupped in her hands literally exploded. Because the light completely blinded him, he threw his hands up to shield his eyes.