Page 42 of Dark Witch: Twin Destinies

Negal nodded. "We should be able to do it." He looked at Jasmine. "Anyway, we need to carry her, and we can move much faster when she's not slowing us down."

"She is right here." Jasmine glared at him.

"I'm sorry." He offered her an energy bar. "You seem to be feeling better, so you should eat."

"Thank you." She took the bar from him. "Is that a consolation prize?"

Negal chuckled. "No, just nourishment."

Aru shook his head. "We can't get there today. It's getting late, and it will be nighttime by the time we climb that slope. I need to call Julian and hear what he recommends. I also need to check with Edgar if he thinks that he can land nearby, in which case we won't set up camp but return to home base so Jasmine's foot can be looked at."

The truth was that heading back for the night would be better for Jasmine and make Aru's meeting with the queen and Clan Mother more private.

32

JASMINE

When Aru mentioned the prospect of making it back to the hotel for the night, Jasmine perked up. She couldn't hear most of what he talked about with Julian and Edgar, but when he was done and turned to her, he looked less worried, which was a good sign.

"As soon as you are ready, we will head toward the flat shelf that's halfway down the slope. Edgar says he can land the chopper there to pick us up, and he can be here well before it's too dark to fly around these mountains. Julian will wait for us at the hotel as there isn't enough room in the helicopter, and if he clears you to continue, we will tackle the base tomorrow,"

Jasmine was relieved they were returning to the hotel, but she didn't like the idea of going through the base.

"The stick is pointing in that direction, but it doesn't mean that the pod is located in that base," she said. "It could be somewhere much farther away."

"I'm aware of that." Aru picked up two of the backpacks. "But we must go through it in case it is there." He chuckled. "The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if the pod is right under that base."

That wasn't likely given Syssi's vision, but then visions were not a literal representation of things. They were more like hints, and Aru might be right.

"Okay." Negal crouched in front of Jasmine. "Hop on."

"Thank you."

It was beyond awkward to ride on the back of a god, and not because he was an alien. Negal was with Margo, and it felt way too intimate to have her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs around his torso, and her breasts smushed against his back.

Soon, though, the awkwardness became the least of her troubles.

A sharp pain shot through her ankle with every step Negal took, but she gritted her teeth, determined not to complain.

The descent of the mountain was treacherous, with loose rocks and steep inclines that made every movement a challenge, but not so for the gods, who navigated the terrain as if they were experienced mountain climbers.

More annoying was the realization that they weren't even tired. If not for her injury, they could have kept going, probably even after the sun went down. With their enhanced vision, they could easily trek by moonlight and starlight.

Today, though, their objective was just to get to where Edgar could land. That meant rushing down the slope. It seemed a daunting challenge to her, which was made even more urgent by Aru's determination to make it in time for his mysterious phone call at precisely four o'clock.

Why couldn't he just make the call during the trek? They all had satellite phones that were supposed to work everywhere.

Or he could just call for a break.

Jasmine would love to rest her throbbing ankle, even if it was for a few minutes, and if Aru needed privacy for his phone call, he could walk far enough away from them so that he wasn't in their earshot.

Was it because the call would last so long that it would be dark by the time he was done, and a lift-off to the hotel would be impossible? That did not seem likely, given there was plenty of time until the sun would set over the tall mountain range surrounding them.

He must have his reasons; besides, it wasn't her place to make suggestions.

She had one job on this mission: to point them in the direction of the pod. The problem was that she wasn't convinced of any real magic in her scrying.

The concept of psychosomatic responses made her question the reliability of her intuition. What if her mind was playing tricks on her? Convincing her hand to move in a certain direction and point to a path that might not be real?

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