Page 33 of Firefighter Midlife Wolf

“None taken at all, hotshot. Darcy might be blood, but I can’t exactly consider her to be family at this point.”

“What about any of her other relatives?” Sean asked. “Are there other elementals who might be able to help us?”

Verna shook her head. “I can’t say that I know any. My brother and his wife have been dead for a long time now. Her family was always very secretive, a necessity to keep themselves safe from humans. I honestly don’t know anyone else who can help.”

“I think I might.” Hayden hit the brakes and made a hard right turn. “We’re going to the packhouse.”

Jessica’s heart leaped. “But what about the rest of your pack? We can’t risk their lives.”

“I know, but letting Darcy go loose in the city will risk the lives of everyone in Eugene. The packhouse is outside the city limits, so there’s less danger to the general populace. More importantly, we have several witches in the pack. They might be able to come up with something. I’ve seen them do some pretty incredible stuff. I can’t say I understand it all, but I know it works.”

“An excellent idea,” Sean agreed. “I’ll call Lori and give her a heads up.”

Verna leaned forward against her seatbelt. “Are there woods near the place?”

“All of the woods you could ask for,” Hayden confirmed.

“Sounds like a plan, then. My magic is much stronger when I’m surrounded by nature. It won’t be enough to fend her off alone, but I want to be as useful as possible.”

Jessica turned to Hayden, worried all over again about how much he might be sacrificing for her sake. “Are you sure about this?”

He took his eyes off the road long enough to look into hers, and she saw all the promises behind them. “If there’s anything I know about life, it’s that you have to have the right people around you. I can’t do my job unless I know the other firefighters are right there alongside me, relying on their training and instinct, watching out for each other. It’s the same with the pack. We’ll have backup. Maybe we’ll even have time to put a real plan together before we have to go back and find Darcy.”

“Yeah.” Jessica forced a deep breath and leaned into the back of the seat, trying to relax. It was impossible, but she still had to try. She thought about Paige and how special their time together had been recently. She thought about her connection with Hayden and how much she wanted to explore that once she had the chance. There was so much she still hadn’t done in life, yet right now, her own was hanging in the balance. She had to trust Hayden, Verna, and Sean—as well as herself—and see where this went.

“Shit!”

She saw Hayden’s knuckles go white just as something slammed into the back of the car.

16

Jessica’s head slammed forward with the impact. The car careened in its lane, but Hayden kept it under control. Her breathing came hard, and adrenaline shot through her. “Is anyone hurt? Jack?”

“I’m good,” he replied quickly.

She craned her head around. They were still speeding along the road, and Darcy was right on their tail. Her angry face was easily visible through the windshield, and she held the steering wheel right up at the top as she rammed into them once again.

Jessica felt the tendons stretch in her neck. “She’s trying to run us off the road.”

“She’ll do it, too,” Verna added, grunting with the next impact. “You might as well pull over, Hayden.”

Jessica knew things must be serious if Verna was actually calling Hayden by his real name.

“I can’t do that, not yet,” he insisted, swinging the car into the other lane for a moment to dodge Darcy’s next attempt. “We’re not far from the packhouse.”

“But she’s already found us,” Verna said sadly. “The packhouse was a great idea if we had time, but we don’t. She’ll send the whole thing up in smoke without more than a thought. As a matter of fact, she could do the same with this car if she wanted to. Don’t forget that we’re sitting on a tank of gasoline. I need to just take care of this. I might not be all that old for an elf, but I’m too young to run.”

“Son of a bitch.” Hayden curled his hand into a fist and pounded it into his leg. “Fine.”

Verna opened the bag she’d brought with her. “I should have at least something to keep her occupied for a little while. As soon as I’m out of the car, the rest of you need to get the hell out of Dodge.”

“Absolutely not!” Hayden insisted.

“No way,” Sean chimed in.

“We can’t do that,” Jack added.

Jessica knew how they felt. They couldn’t just leave Verna in Darcy’s hands. She was a tough woman who was probably capable of more than they knew, but she also meant something to them. “We’re going to get this figured out, Verna. Here. Maybe this will help.” She pulled the necklace over her head.

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