Jo glimpsed the chalet through the pine boughs. Relief flooded her. But it quickly dried up. The windows were dark and the chimney smokeless. No one was there.
She got the key from the spot they had hid it. Her eyes blinked with weariness. She thought about grabbing some socks, but didn’t want to take the time to put them on. She had to get going. That wicked blade was heavy on her mind. She handed the key to Ben. “Get in and lock the door.” Jo turned to leave.
“Where’re you going?” April grabbed the back of Jo’s shirt.
“To find the others.”
Drew and April shook their heads vehemently.
“Jo, are you crazy?” Drew’s eyes were wild with astonishment. “No, no. We’ll go with you.”
“Listen, guys, I need to get there fast.”
April frowned, glancing at her damaged leg. Ben patted his rotund belly. “Hey, I’m no hero,” he admitted. “But, I still don’t think you should go. If Galen’s with them—”
“They’re going to kill Galen,” Jo blurted. “And the others are dinner.”
April grimaced and a small whimper came up from her throat.
“I still think Galen can protect them—and himself,” Ben said.
Jo was unconvinced. Ben hadn’t seen the vicious weapon they planned to use and the loathing in their eyes when they spoke of him. “Maybe. But something’s wrong. Where is everyone? If they took off after me but couldn’t keep up, wouldn’t they have gone back to make sure you guys were Ok?”
All three friends stared back at her, their eyes squinted with worry.
“I had time to escape, find my way to that cabin, and now we’ve hiked all the way here.” Jo frowned. “So, where are they?”
“It’s probable they’ve been captured,” Ben said matter-of-factly.
The word ‘captured’ was a knife in her heart. “They’re out there because of me.”
Ben shook his head. “Jo—”
“I gotta go. Make this a vampire free zone, Ben, Ok?”
“No problem.” He pulled some mangled, green foliage from his pocket. “Monkshood,” he explained to her perplexed face. “I found it by the river.”
“Monkshood?” April asked.
“Wolfsbane,” he answered.
“Well…that explains it.” April hunched her shoulders. “Jo, take this.” She pulled her bracelet off and handed it to her.
Jo pushed the bracelet over her hand. “Thanks. Maybe I should take a flashlight.”
“I wouldn’t,” Ben said. “You don’t need a spotlight on you. And you’ve been without one most of the night.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jo agreed. What’s a few more hours in the dark?
Jo turned to go.
“Wait.” Drew went inside the cabin. “Ow!” He appeared at the door with a skinny, jagged piece of kindling in his hand and his thumb in his mouth. He handed her the stick. “Watch out for splinters,” he mumbled.
She took the stick from him and grinned. “Thanks, Drew. It’s…it’s what I’ve always wanted.”
The friends relaxed in a moment of humor, grinning and looking keenly at each other’s faces. Jo knew that each one of them understood it might be the last time.
She wanted nothing more than to go inside with them, eat something hot, and crawl into that soft, warm bunk bed. She took one last look at their worried faces. April’s eyes were tearing. It was now or never. Jo turned and stepped off the porch and sprinted down the driveway to the gravel road. She took off jogging towards the entrance of the trail. Her friends’ voices called out with promises of prayers and orders for her to be careful.
The half-moon gave her just enough light, as it had all night. Her boots striking the gravel and insects chirping were the only sounds until she came within earshot of the river. She panted from the jogging; she was taxed and tired. Sweat trickled down her neck.
In the bleached-black light, the bridge came into view. She sped up with the intention of dashing across it so fast that her feet would hardly touch the wood, so fast that she would barely see the plunging, threatening water.
The river shouted in her ears as her foot hit the bridge. She revved up her pace. She was half-way across when the toe of her boot got caught between two wooden rungs. Her body went forward, her boot stuck in the rung. She twisted to the side, put her hands out to brace herself and collided with the slats. The stick jumped out of her hand on impact, tumbling into the dark, flowing water below. Her shoe popped loose. Forward momentum sent her over the edge. She cried out, louder than the rage of the river, grasping the splintery wood slab, holding onto it with all her might. She dangled a couple of feet above the rapids, her legs stung by freezing drops of water. She struggled to pull herself up, but her arms didn’t have the strength. Pain was severe in her scraped hands. She squeezed them, kicking her feet…slipping…straining…hanging by the tips of her fingers until there was nothing left of them on the wood. She screamed and headed down into the violent torrent.
A hand clamped her wrist. It pulled her upwards. The roiling rapids fell away. She glimpsed the hand, a bare arm, and a dark head coming closer. Jon!
Her feet touched the bridge and she jerked her wrist free. She dashed back the way she’d come, scanning the ground for a weapon. Her heart hammered against her chest. How would she fight this demon?
“Jo!”
She skidded to a halt in the dirt and whipped around. Fear drained out of her like water. “Galen!”
He ran towards her. She leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him. His arms wrapped around her, lifting her off the ground. His wavy hair was silky on the side of her face. She laid her head on his shoulder. As her feet touched the ground, her cheek slid down to his chest. She stayed pressed against him with her eyes closed.
“Jo, I thought I’d never find you.” Galen’s deep voice was low and soft. “Thank you. Thank you,” he whispered.
Jo wasn’t sure who he was thanking. She could feel his chest rise and draw back in. He was trembling—or was that her? She lifted her head and looked up at him. She couldn’t hold back the tears—all the tension and fear inside her escaped, spilling from her eyes.
He smoothed her hair away from her face, holding her cheeks gently between his palms. “Jo, are you all right?”
She nodded and sniffed.
“Tell me what happened.” His hands moved to her shoulders. His eyes scanned her and they flashed with anger. “What’d they do to you?”
Jo became cognizant of her scraped, bruised skin and her dirty, blood-stained clothing. Her cheeks warmed. “They took me to those caves we passed on our walk.” She shook her head. “But, they didn’t do anything to me.” She looked him in the eyes. “I was bait.”
His lips parted. “What?”
“One of them wants to kill you. Red was supposed to kill me.” She licked the dust from her lips.
Galen’s fingers slid down her arms to her hands, turning them over in his. He grimaced. Even in the bleak light, the tears in the flesh of her palms were visible. She stared down at her small, tortured hands lying in his larger, stronger ones. Jo blinked and a tear fell and landed on the side of his palm.
His eyes looked into hers. “Jo, I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
“How’s that?”
“I shouldn’t have let Red in.”
“I think you were outnumbered on that one. But, who knew?”
“I did,” he stated emphatically.
“Galen—”
“I should have followed my senses. I almost got you killed.” His mouth twisted, as if he was in pain.
Jo turned her hands over and tried to grip his. “This is not your fault.”
He looked down and shook his head, arguing with her in silence. He took a deep breath. “That’s the last time I let that happen.” His eyes met hers, a moonlit tempest swirled inside them. A cool mountain zephyr moved through his hair and fluttered wisps of it around his face.
Jo’s hands relaxed
and curled slightly within his palms. His fingers gripped them with care. Their warmth was comforting, strengthening her, the way she had seen April strengthened at the foot of the knoll.
He blinked slowly, his tense jaw relaxing. His pursed lips parted. They both let their hands drop. He cleared his throat and shifted his feet in the dirt. Jo was amused at his sudden discomposure. He set his fists on his hips and looked at her with his head cocked. “What were you doing on the bridge—or should I say, off the bridge?”
She grinned shyly. “I was…I was on my way to save you.”
The smirk on his lips burst into a smile—the first one she had ever seen on him. It was wide and bright, showing his straight, white teeth and a small dimple on each side of his moon-glazed face. It was disarming. A seed of yearning began to grow. She wanted to be back in his arms. That’s crazy. “How did you end up on the bridge?” She asked him.
“I followed a hunch.”
“A hunch?” Her forehead wrinkled.
“Ok, my ‘sense’. You know—the one that tried to warn you guys.”
She sighed and half-grinned in acknowledgement. “Can you use that sense to find Dove and Mike and Lary?”
“No. Where are the other three?”
“They’re at the chalet, but—”
“How’d they make it back?”
“After I got away, I found the little cabin and killed the vampire guarding them—well, with the guys’ help—and we found our way back.”
He shook his head, grinning at her.
She shrugged. “Ok, so what does your ‘sense’ say about Dove and the guys?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It doesn’t work with them.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll have to explain it some other time. Right now, I’ve got to find them.”
“Yes, well, I’m headed to the caves. You need to get back to the chalet.”
“No way, kid. You’ve got that backwards. You’re going back to the cabin.”
“Galen,” she stepped closer. His face was ivory under the veil of soft moonlight. “Listen, one of the vampires has a nasty looking weapon and he means to kill you with it.”
Galen smirked, his eyes light, like a cat in the dark. “He can’t hurt me, Jo.”
“Are you crazy? Look what they did to Red?”
“And what are you gonna to do? That same weapon could just as easily be used on you. And that is not going to happen. Not on my watch.” His eyes skirted away. He clamped his lips together as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have. His eyes slid back to hers.
There was that ‘watch’ word again. She appreciated the fact he didn’t want her to be hurt. It was flattering and caused a warm sensation from her head to her heart.
The river roared through the gulley. A swish of cool air tossed a few locks of golden hair across her eyes. She brushed them aside with her fingers. She couldn’t move her gaze from his. He curled his bottom lip in and licked it. The moon shone on the moist area, drawing Jo’s eyes to it. She swallowed. He flipped his hair. It was glossy with celestial light. She was suddenly gripped by an unexpected fearfulness.
“Seriously, Galen, they want to kill you. Please go back.”
“And leave you out here alone?”
“I can defend myself. I know their weakness.”
He shook his head. “Jo, they’ll eat you up—literally.”
She glared indignantly. “I don’t think so.” She thought about her friends out in the cold night—and Jon and Morgan. “I’ve got to go. Go back to the cabin and keep the others safe.” She walked past him.
He trotted in front of her and put out his hands to stop her. “You’re kidding, right?” He was back to that cold voice and disapproving expression.
“Go to the cabin, Galen.”
His defiant gaze locked on hers.
Jo shook her head. “We don’t have time for this.” She tried to step around him, but he blocked her. “Galen—”
His jaw was set. His hands were back on his hips.
Jo huffed. “Fine. We’ll both go.”
His shoulders slumped. “All right, we’ll go together, but stay close to me and do what you’re told.”
Jo bristled at his words, but didn’t want to waste any more time arguing. “Ok.” She took off jogging—carefully—across the bridge. Her feet hit the trail on the other side and she broke into a run. She did not stay ‘close’ to him.
In a second, he was running beside her. “You don’t listen very well.”
She glanced over at him, but didn’t say anything. She concentrated on her breathing and keeping her pace. Even with adrenaline flowing, her sleep and food deprived body was not moving as fast as she would like it to. Her feet screamed with stinging pain where blisters had long since formed and popped and the skin was rubbed raw by her shoes.
She had to admit, as they ran side by side, she was relieved not to be out in the dark by herself, or going up against the creatures alone. But how was she was going to protect both of them?
Chapter 30