The Chase: Book 2 in The Hunt Series Read online

  I glanced at Caleb, but he was no help, he was staring at something in the group of trees. I wrote him off for a moment and turned to look at Dad and jerked back. The stark look of surprise on his face didn’t strike me as a good sign.

  “WHAT?”

  He didn’t say anything, but he did glance at Caleb who had finally turned back around.

  “How—" Caleb started.

  “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” Dad finished.

  “DO WHAT?” I started to panic and looked to Gearden, looking for reassurance, but he was gone from his perch. When I tried to look around for him, Dad stepped closer. “THE ROCKS, MAELEIGH.”

  Scared was starting to become irritation. “WHAT ABOUT THEM?”

  “MAELEIGH,” Dad said, stepping closer more. “YOU DIDN’T JUST FELL THE ROCKS. YOU THREW THEM INTO THE WOODS.”

  My mouth made an “o” in shock. “WHAT?”

  “GEARDEN WENT LOOKING FOR THEM. JUST TO SEE HOW FAR.”

  My brows knitted together as I started to pace, nibbling on my thumb. What the frack?! That wasn’t supposed to happen. I mean, well, obviously. And having them witness it—They were asking me how I did it. Weren’t they the teachers?

  Movement caught my eye and I turned to see Gearden jogging out of the trees. His sweater was missing and when he grew closer, I realized he was carrying a bundle in his hand, his sweatshirt. But he was holding it awkwardly.

  He gave me a quick glance and walked to my dad instead and opened the shirt for Dad to look in. Curious, I stepped up with Caleb, making a tight circle as we all hunched over his now dirty sweatshirt/bag.

  Inside the makeshift pouch were two stones, the ones Dad had me move. But they were a brighter color. Still their grayish grown but they looked cleaner, more polished. Caleb reached in to grab one but Gearden yanked the bag away. I glanced up in time to see him tell Caleb, “…Hot.”

  “Hot?” I asked, even more confused. “How is that possible?”

  Gearden didn’t answer me, but he held his hand out for Dad’s examination. “Burned my hand before I realized.

  “Oh my God!” I exclaimed, grabbing for his hand. He entertained me and let me look at it. The twist in my chest had my breath catching and I felt sudden tears itch the back of my throat. Before I could give into the need to let go and cry, he reached out with his other hand and gripped my chin up to meet his gaze.

  “It’s alright, we heal quick, remember?”

  I smiled halfheartedly but it was more to comfort him than myself.

  “But I don’t even know how I did it.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” He straightened and dropped the bundle of sweater and rocks in the dirt. “Have you ever seen anyone do that before?” He asked Dad.

  Dad stared at me for a moment before he answered, “NO. I HAVEN’T.”

  Gearden reached to take my hand but before he could get close enough, I pretended not to see and crossed my arms, hugging my arms. I needed a moment, to figure things out.

  I must have missed something because Dad waved in my face to get my attention. Glancing back up, he signed. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I MEAN, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU DID THAT?”

  For a split second I didn’t know if I should tell him. I wasn’t even sure if I believed it yet myself. It could still all be a dream. Hell, I could have fallen asleep when I meditated. Which means that the last two visits were dreams, too.

  “DO YOU KNOW?” Dad asked, imploring again.

  I looked up at Gearden and took the leap. “I WAS PICTURING MYSELF IN DANU’S THINKING SPOT.”

  Damn, saying it like that made me feel like I should probably have kept my mouth shut and hands still. It was too late now, though. I opened this can of worms and I was going to have to wrangle whatever mess came with it.

  “EXCUSE ME?”

  “What?”

  Caleb was the only person who remained speechless. Though, he really didn’t have to say anything. His shocked expression said it all. “Say what?” “Who?” “For real?” “Are you crazy?”

  Well, maybe not that last one. That was all me. At least, if they were thinking that, they were doing a good job at hiding it. For now, at least.

  I closed my eyes to give me a moment before I took on the onslaught of questions I knew was going to follow.

  “I think Danu’s been visiting me.”

  “Danu?” Caleb said, and I nodded.

  “The goddess, Danu?” Oddly enough, Gearden didn’t sound as doubtful as I had anticipated.

  “Yes.”

  When Dad didn’t say anything, I looked up at him. He didn’t look shocked. He didn’t look skeptical. He looked like he was trying to figure out the square root of pi. He was staring at something over my shoulder. I moved to sign to him what his thoughts were, but he turned before I could even begin. He paced away and withdrew his phone from his jean pocket.

  Caleb got in my face then, trying to ask me questions, but he was talking so fast I couldn’t understand him, and my brain wasn’t fully functional right then.

  Gearden said something to him that had the other boy instantly looking abashed and reigned himself in. He took a deep breath and started over. “Does she talk to you?”

  Cautiously, I nod. Gearden placed his hand on my back and lightly rubbed, though I wasn’t sure if it was to comfort me or him. I could feel the nervousness in him. It made Luna’s senses heighten, too. She seemed on edge because he was, I think.

  “Did she say why she’s visiting you?”

  My brows draw down a little as I think about that for a second. She hasn’t been very clear with her words. She liked to be mysterious. “Maybe.”

  “And?”

  “I think—” I glance up at Gearden tentatively. “She has plans for me.”

  Gearden’s hand on my back stills.

  “Plans?” Caleb asks, looking more confused than he started. I glanced over at Dad to see him still pacing with the phone now pressed to his ear. I could tell he took particular care to keep his body turned just right so I couldn’t read his lips or get any hints from his body language.

  I nodded, absently, to Caleb.

  “What does she say,” Gearden finally asked me. His hand resumed its caressing movements, but they seemed more purposeful rather than the absentmindedness it was before.

  “Honestly, I think she spent more time trying to convince me that she was real than anything else.” I chuckled. “That really irritated her.”

  “Tell me everything she’s said. Even the small things could be important.” He turned me around then, looking me in the eyes as he said it.

  “Okay.”

  Dad joined us then, his phone back in his pocket I assume. He looked more stressed now than he did before he spoke to whoever it was, he called.

  “CHANGE OF PLANS,” he said. “I’VE GOT TO RUN AN ERRAND. GEARDEN?”

  I felt Gearden respond, his body vibrating with his words.

  “WILL YOU PLEASE DRIVE HER BACK? WE’RE DONE FOR THE DAY.”

  “WHAT? BUT WE BARELY JUST STARTED!” I exclaimed.

  “ITS UNAVOIDABLE.” He didn’t seem apologetic and I didn’t really know what I expected when I knew that it wasn’t like a student called from the college looking for a last-minute meeting. Whoever it was he just spoke with, it had something to do with what I did to those rocks.

  Danu, what did you do? I wondered, watching as Dad nodded to the guys and jogged to his car.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Gearden and Caleb walked me to the Jeep, this time, though, I sat shotgun, leaving Caleb to ride solo in the back. I purposefully kept my gaze on the scenery outside the window. I didn’t want to engage with any conversation, if they tried, that is. I was too busy trying to figure out how the hell I made those rocks into balls of fiery hell.

  Whoa. Wait.

  Just as we turned onto the long driveway to Gearden’s house, I turned in my seat.

  “It was a weapon.”

  I could tell I jerked him out of his own contempl
ative thoughts because I could swear, he jerked. Glancing at me and doing a double take, probably because I wore a look of complete horror on my face, he clenched the steering wheel a little tighter. “What? What’s a weapon?”

  “Me. What I did with those rocks. I made them into a weapon.”

  He slowed as he stared at me for a moment, maybe too long as he was driving. He shook his head and tried to focus again on the drive to the garage. He pressed the button to the door, and we idled in the car while it opened.

  “What do you mean?” He didn’t look at me and I could tell from his guarded posture that he didn’t want Caleb to know we were talking, at least not about something like this. Which told me that said he understood what I was saying and gave me a sense of foreboding.

  I took his lead and sat forward. When the door opened, he pulled in and parked. As we all got out, I said, “The rocks, turning into some kind of magical fireballs.”

  “They weren’t fireballs.” The look he tossed my direction told me he thought I was exaggerating.

  I gave him a look of my own that dared him to walk down that dangerous path and he turned to open his door. “Why else would she give that ability to me if she didn’t want me to use it. You can’t tell me that you’ve seen that before. At least not from someone just learning.”

  He didn’t answer. When I met him at the door to the mud room, he gave a small shake of his head. “Not here,” he said.

  Alright. Fine. I’ll wait.

  I went inside ahead of him as he spoke with Caleb. When I walked in the kitchen, I found Bri and Ro sitting at the table. Both were texting on their phones but looked up when I entered. Bri smiled in greeting while Ro just went back to his phone. My feelings weren’t hurt, I knew that he cared, in his own way, and that was all I could ask for.

  As I approached the table, Bri did an elaborated sign for “how” and then looked up in space grasping for what the next signs were. I giggled and saved her, signing, “How did it go?”

  Her grin grew as she nodded.

  I started to tell her it was “fine”, but I stopped when I realized it didn’t go “fine” at all. When I tried again, Gearden walked in, catching my eye. I turned to him, seeing that Caleb didn’t follow him in. He looked at Bri and then Ro, before saying, “We need to talk. Upstairs.”

  I turned back around to see Bri standing from her chair and Ro still tapping on his phone. Gearden must have said something more because the next instant, Ro was shutting off his phone and unfolding his legs from under the table. Gearden came up behind me, reached for my hand and tugged me along towards the stairs.

  When we were all gathered in the media room, Ro back to typing on his phone from the couch and Bri perched on the coffee table, Gearden started to speak. When I planted myself next to Ro, he froze, thumbs hovering over the screen. I could feel him waiting for my next move. Ignoring him, I just kept my gaze on Gearden. He was talking too fast though. Whatever he was telling Bri and Ro- even while he pretended not to care- I couldn’t understand a single word. He was talking too fast. I knew Bri and Ro were saying things, but I could only catch the tail end of things. Finally, having had enough of being left out, I jumped up, cutting Gearden off.

  “I can’t understand any of you!” I shouted, hoping it was clear enough.

  Gearden looked shocked while Bri stood up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to give me a quick squeeze before letting me go and facing me fully. “We’ll get an interpreter.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Gearden

  “If we call Sally, we might as well tell Dad,” I told them. I understood Maeleigh’s need for an interpreter, however Sally’s silence couldn’t be guaranteed. She didn’t answer to me; my dad was her alpha.

  “Do we want to do that?” Ro was the most cautious out of all of us, and for once, I agreed. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell the adults just yet. What if we were wrong? What if it scared them? Like it did me.

  Quickly, I glanced at Maeleigh, hoping she didn’t catch that last part. I never wanted her to think I was afraid of what she could do. Not because of pride. Because it would hurt her feelings. No one wanted to be feared, at least not those who weren’t already evil. When she didn’t show any change, relief came over me for a moment. “What about your dad?” I asked her.

  She shook her head though. Then, as if she were ashamed, she admitted, “I don’t trust him with this. Not yet.”

  Ro was right, and yet, I didn’t think there was any way around it. I looked at Bri. “Call her.”

  She did. Her aunt answered on the second ring.

  “Hi, Sally.” Bri greeted. There was a short pause. “Yes, we’re good. I, uh, well, we need you to interpret for us, for Maeleigh.”

  While Bri talked to her on the phone, I glanced at Ro who had finally put that damned phone away. “Get Dad.” Thankfully, he didn’t pitch a fit and walked out to get him.

  Maeleigh stood with her arms crossed under her breasts, an angry she-wolf through and through. I couldn’t help the rush of desire that coursed through me at the sight of her. My wolf wanted to come to the forefront as well, taking notice himself. I tamped him down, keeping him leashed was the best thing for us both right now. If I gave him even a tiny inch, he would probably take over and that was the last thing either of us needed. What we needed, was to figure out what was going on with Maeleigh. And quickly. Her dad didn’t seem to be comforted with what he witnessed his daughter do at the campsite. He didn’t hide his phone conversation, and it was apparent he was talking to someone supernatural. I couldn’t tell though if it was druid or not. They knew their stuff though, because they drilled Ben about what he saw Maeleigh do. How long did it take her to do it? Did she use her fingers to gesture the rocks or did she only use her mind? How far was she standing from the rocks? How far did the rocks fly when she sent them launching into the woods? When Caleb started talking to Maeleigh, I almost wanted to slap my palm over his mouth to shut him up. I wanted to hear as much as I could from Ben’s conversation. But I couldn’t do it without drawing attention from Maeleigh and her dad.

  I told him to do some research on all that we’d seen this morning and get back to me at the end of the day. He seemed eager to get started and hurried to his car parked on the driveway and drove off. Probably headed home where he and his parents housed all the old books and journals our pack had collected over the years.

  Back in the media room, Bri hung up the phone and raced from the room, returning with the tablet. “She’s out of town for a meeting today. But said she could take a break and do it via video call.

  She dragged a padded stool from the corner of the room and propped the tablet up, making the call as she did. Just as Sally answered, Ro walked in, followed by Dad.

  “What’s this about?” Dad asked, looking more than just a little irritated. Ro probably had to pry him away from some conference call.

  “There’s been some new developments. With Maeleigh. We’ll make this quick.”

  Dad nodded; his irritation dissipated a little. When he settled on the couch, he eyed the tablet and Sally on the screen for a second, raising a brow at me. “For Maeleigh,” I explained.

  He nodded and waited. I was thankful he gave me the reins on this.

  “Okay,” Bri said, standing back. “How’s that?”

  On the screen, Sally waved to Maeleigh and signed something, to which, Maeleigh signed back. “We’re ready,” Sally announced.

  “Alright,” I said, and everyone got settled. “Maeleigh had her first druid lesson today with her dad. Except, it didn’t go as you’d expect.” I gestured to her. “Why don’t you tell it.”

  There was a delay as Sally interpreted for me and then Maeleigh dug right in, with Sally as her voice. “First, Dad had me meditate. He said to picture a peaceful place, somewhere I felt safe. And I did.” She took a collective moment, then, “When he moved on to moving the rocks, he said to envision the feeling I got when I was in that place and move some rocks stacked on top o
f each other. At first, it didn’t work. But then—”

  Sally cut off. Frowning, I watched as Maeleigh took a moment more. She looked like she was afraid to reveal what she would say next. “Maeleigh,” I said softly, knowing Sally was there to help me. “It’s okay.”

  Resolved, she took a deep breath. “I tried it again, only this time I closed my eyes and imagined myself in that place again. I saw the rocks there. And when I tried to move them, they did. They fell into—Well, they fell.” Sally seemed confused with that last part. I wasn’t sure if it was Maeleigh’s doing or her own.

  “When I opened my eyes, they were gone. It wasn’t until Dad and Caleb told me what happened that I learned I had done more than just make them fall.”

  “What happened?” Dad interjected.

  “They flew into the woods. Like catapults,” I told him. “And burning hot.” I looked at him and watched the information sink in. He seemed just as worried about that information as I was.

  “I had no idea what I was doing! Other than moving them, I didn’t know I would do that,” Maeleigh said. She looked like she was about to have a panic attack. Crossing over to her, I sat beside her to wrap an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to me. I felt her body quivering minutely, telling me she was even more shook up about all this than I’d initially thought.

  “Tell them what you told Caleb and I. Tell them about Danu.” I knew it would reach everyone differently, but it needed to be said.

  She took a deep breath and brought up her hands to sign. “Dad asked me where I imagined myself at, when I meditated. I didn’t think it was important until right then. I didn’t even know it was real until today.”

  “What was real?” Dad pushed.

  With a nervous glance my way, she went on. “That I’m being visited by the Goddess Danu.”

  “Say what?”

  “Come again?”

  I could see that even Sally was asking more than what was being said in the room, but Maeleigh was reaching her breaking point. It was all overwhelming.