Chapter Thirty-seven
The rumble of thunder and chant of rain provided a soundtrack to the rest of our evening. Skyla and Inyoni stayed in the living room and shuffled cards for a game of rummy while I went into the loft and read a mildewy mystery novel I had found in the same cabinet where the board games were stored. Skyla and Inyoni eventually dozed off, squished together on the futon like a couple of kids in the backseat of a long car ride.
Despite their awkward posture, they must have slept deeply, because the shriek that ripped through the silence failed to wake them. Or had I heard it only in my dreams? Either way, it felt real and immediate.
“Skyla,” I hissed, sliding from the loft. I slipped to the floor and knelt to unearth my boots from underneath the futon. She didn’t wake, so I said her name louder. “Skyla.”
Skyla blinked and rolled her head around to face me. “Hmmm?”
“When was Kalani due back?”
Inyoni was awake now, too, quick and alert. She checked her watch. “A half-hour ago.”
“What is it?” Skyla asked, whipping off her blankets and reaching for the knife stuffed between the cushion and armrest. The light from the kerosene lamp on the coffee table glinted on its edge.
“I think I heard something. It sounded like a scream. I think it was Kalani.”
“It’s not like her to be late,” Inyoni said. She stood and gathered her sword and a flashlight, which she passed to Skyla. Then she dug out another flashlight from her bag and clicked it on. The three of us went to the front door, and Inyoni shoved it open with a screech of protesting hinges. We peered into the darkness.
My heart rose into my throat. “How? How did they find us?”
Skyla froze, her body language indicating she was fierce and ready to fight, but she said, “We don’t know that it’s Helen. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
“You didn’t hear that scream,” I said. “Whatever provoked her to make that sound… it wasn’t her own shadow.”
Inyoni’s face hardened. “Kalani is tough and formidable. Maybe it was Helen you heard screaming.”
We stood in a semicircle around the porch door and held our breath, listening. The rain had eased and pattered softly on the leaves. An owl hooted. Something splashed far out in the lake, and then nothing. “What do we do?” I whispered.
“Call for her?” Skyla asked Inyoni.
Inyoni shook her head. “No, it will give away our position.”
“If someone’s out there, they already know where—” Skyla’s statement was shattered by a scream, this one unquestionably terrorized and full of pain.
“Kalani!” Inyoni jumped from the steps, blade drawn, flashlight bouncing in her other hand. She dashed into the yard, turning her light in an arc around the tree line.
“Inyoni, wait!” I yelled. “We need to stay together!”
“No. We need to get you the hell out of here,” Skyla said, grabbing my wrist in a painful grip. She tugged me off the porch, moving away from the tree line and toward the truck.
“We can’t leave them,” I said, pulling hard against Skyla’s grasp. Damn, but she was strong.
“We can leave them and we will. They’re warriors, Solina. Let them do their job. Let me do mine, too.”
“Your job is to run like a coward?” I asked, planting my feet as we neared the truck.
“No, it’s to make sure you escape and live to fight another day.”
“But I—” A shadow moved in my peripheral vision, startling me into silence. Snarling and gnashing its teeth, a familiar shaggy figure emerged from the tree line opposite the one into which Inyoni had disappeared. The wolf’s amber eyes glinted in the beam of Skyla’s flashlight. The wolf raised his snout and bayed at a moon that was lost behind a thick layer of clouds. Chills broke out over my neck and shoulders, and I stepped closer to the truck. Skyla’s plan to run suddenly sounded like genius.
“Come back to finish what you started?” Skyla brandished her knife at the wolf. “Didn’t get enough of an ass-kicking the last time and now you want some more?”
Headlights and the rumble of tires interrupted her patter. The beams, like spotlights on a stage, lit up the scene; Skoll’s fangs gleamed in their glow. At least, I assumed the wolf was Skoll; it made sense, if Helen was sticking to the old ways. The car, a dark sedan, stopped, and its engine shut off. The headlights flickered off. The wolf growled again, but he held his place. Skyla and I found it prudent to do likewise. The driver’s door opened, and in the momentary glow of the interior light, I saw a familiar face.
“Aw, Nate,” I said. “Tell me you’ve come to rescue me.”
Nate shut the door and fell into darkness. His shadowy figure stepped closer to us, but Skyla waved him back, brandishing her knife and flashlight. “Afraid not, my dear,” he said.
“That’s a shame,” I said.
“A terrible waste, yes. I had grown quite fond of you after our introduction.”
“I liked you, too,” I said, breathing hard with the effort of keeping my terror at bay. “But apparently I’m not a great judge of character.”
Nate chuckled, completely nonchalant. “If I come closer, I think it is safe to assume you will roast my chestnuts, no?”
I split my lips and showed him my best man-eater smile. “Oh, yes.” I would have given him an example, except it would have wasted energy that was better saved for battle. My fire was there, though, sizzling under the surface, ready when I needed it.
“And Helen Locke is quite insistent that nothing harm you other than Skoll, lest her plans fall awry.”
“Right. The wolves eat the sun and moon to bring about Ragnarok. Been there, done that.” It was an old cliché, but I could think of nothing more apropos. “How does she even know it will work this time?”
“Well, Solina, one good truism deserves another. How about, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?’”
“So, we’re going to sit here and wait for Skoll to finish what his brother started? I don’t think so. Skyla and I put up a good fight, and I’d rather take my chances with you.”
“That might not be a terribly unpleasant proposition, Miss Mundy, if you were a regular woman. But I’ve tasted of your fire and found that one time sufficient.”
