Page 91 of The Thief

Lucian drew in a deep breath. “Turn around. Go left.”

“That’s not the way to the bar,” Bear pointed out.

“The wind direction carries her scent. Would you rather sit here and argue until it disappears?”

After backing up, Bear turned the car in the opposite direction. He’d never gone this way before and realized he needed to familiarize himself with every back road in this area.

They drove up a hill. When the car crested the top and angled down, a light shimmered in the woods to the right.

Bear stopped the vehicle. “Do you see that?”

Archer rolled down his window. “Get closer but not too close. It might be a trap.”

Bear parked at the edge of the road but couldn’t make out what he was seeing in the distance.

Lucian jumped out of the vehicle and crossed in front of the headlamps. Then he waved the men over.

Bear hopped out of the SUV and joined him.

“Someone else was here,” Lucian said, taking a deep breath. His nostrils flared as he turned in a circle. “It’s fear mixed in with exhaust fumes.”

Archer joined them. “Who else was here?”

Lucian ran his hand over his scalp. “How the hell do I know? I don’t own their scent.”

Archer pointed at the dirt on the side of the paved road. “Tire tracks. They go straight.”

Lucian pulled in another breath. “I smell her again. The wind changed direction. She’s here.”

Bear took off in a sprint. He couldn’t even feel his feet touching the ground as he neared what looked like rubber marks that veered off the road. As he drew closer, he glimpsed metal reflecting light and realized it was the back end of Mercy’s Vespa. The front end was in a deep hole with the back tire sticking up.

“I can’t see a damn thing!” he shouted at the crest of a hill. How far down it went, he couldn’t tell. “Mercy!”

Lucian sped onto the scene with a flashlight he’d gotten out of the glove compartment. “Take this. I see her.”

Bear gripped the light and shined it in front of him. The bottom was only ten or fifteen feet. He rushed down the hill, Lucian close behind him.

When the light landed on a body near a bush, Bear’s heart ricocheted in his chest. He recognized her floral pants, and it felt as if the breath was squeezed out of him.

Bear dropped to his knees. “Mercy?” He gently turned her over. Blood covered her face and the large rock beside her head.

“She must have been thrown off the bike,” Lucian said. “Is she alive?”

Her pulse ticked against Bear’s fingertips, giving him instant relief. “Mercy, wake up. You need to shift. You hear me?”

“If she has a brain bleed, she’s in trouble,” Lucian remarked. “That stuff is bad news.”

“You’re not helping. We need a Relic.”

“I’ll call Salem.”

Bear knew this was beyond Salem’s abilities. He didn’t have equipment for tests and scans, let alone an operating room. Salem would recommend taking her to a Relic, and time was of the essence.

Bear gently curved his arms beneath her and lifted her. Her head lolled against his chest, and the warm blood soaked through his shirt.

He wasn’t sure how he scaled up that hill while carrying her, but somehow he did. Lucian helped, bracing his back each time Bear lost his footing.

“We need help!” he shouted to Archer.

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