Page 19 of Heartless

“No problem.” Her smile was wide, although her eyes were bouncing between the siblings, her hand playing with the silver locket at her throat. “When Darkness’s truck had to go to the shop, I was happy to volunteer.”

Vail made a low sound. “Driftwood’s truck is sick?”

“Terminal,” Darkness muttered. “Now are we going, or what?”

I unslung my arm long enough to climb in the back with Vail. Chastity gave us both time to buckle up, and then we were rolling. My phone buzzed in my pocket, letting me know Liam was on our tail, and I felt Vail give me the side-eye. But Darkness was turning in his seat, his mouth crimped into a hard line as he studied me. “What’s your deal? Are you one of the assholes keeping V from her family?”

Before I could answer, Vail leaned forward, her hands gripping the headrest like it was his neck. “How many times do I need to say it, Darkness. He’s a friend. And he’s offered to help find Driftwood. What more do you need to know?”

“I need to know his reasons for coming along,” he replied, but turned back around. “Don’t think I won’t find out.”

There was brutal certainty in his voice, and I figured we’d be having more than words down the track. But for the moment I just reached out and took Vail’s hand. “What’s the plan?”

“We go to the North cabin,” she said without hesitation, although her brow scrunched up again at Darkness’ grunt. “What? You got a better idea?”

“No,” he admitted, “but Trey’s been keeping an eye out and there’s been no sign of him.”

“Trey?” Vail sounded slightly ill. “Why’s he involved?”

“You have to ask?” Darkness drummed his fingers on the dash. “Don’t tell me you forgot how the Horn works, little sister.”

Vail muttered something rude under her breath, but when she lapsed into silence, her foster brother punched up the heat and began arguing fastest routes with Chastity. I was barely listening, since Vail had reached over and touched my thigh. “Is it going to be a problem?”

I gave her a slow blink. Partly because the excess heat was turning me into a furnace, but mostly because her finger was on the seam of my jeans. But I knew who she meant. “Not unless he’s a problem for you.”

She sighed, but lay her head back, and I knew she wasn’t going to talk about it with an audience. But there was still some tension around her eyes, like she knew Trey Barakat couldn’t be ignored forever. According to everything our investigators had turned up, he was part of her life on the Horn, whether she liked it or not. And since the sum total of that information still didn’t tell me what he was, or why he was interested in Vail beyond the obvious, I had Liam fifty yards behind us, and armed to the muzzle.

Before long, we were driving through the Gateway, a natural cliff face bordering the only road into the Huntington Reserve. It was also the border to my clan lands, and I felt it slip by with a jolt in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t stop the tension climbing into my shoulders, and when Vail’s hand snuck back over my thigh I gave her a rueful smile. She’d made the journey in reverse only a couple months ago, and survived everything the shifter world had tossed at her. Including a bunch of shit that I’d regret to my dying breath.

Not that thoughts of the cold, dark ground were welcome at the moment. This was my first trip into the mountain country known as the Horn. I was itching to see where Vail had grown up, but the wolf in me wasn’t fond of new territory. The closest town was barely a blip on the map, although I craned my neck to get a look at Vail’s old high school. Less Gothic than the academy, with more metal siding and graffiti than I liked, but she gave it a kind of wistful look. My stomach pinched a bit as I imagined the wheels turning in her head. Coming home meant going back to the human world in every way, and the shifter in me didn’t like that one bit.

The Horn was a steep, slow drive, even in Chastity’s powerful truck. She had been chatting with Darkness about classes and weekend plans, despite the fact he was chewing his thumbnail to the bone and limited to grunts. I admired her grit, especially since it was now past one in the morning and the road was an icy tube, surrounded by the darkest mountains I’d ever seen. “How high are we going, Darkness?”

“All the way.” He glanced back at Vail. “You want to stop at the cabin first?”

“Sure,” she replied and stretched, her knuckles cracking. “I could do with a coffee and a pee break.”

He nodded, but then motioned Chastity to the side of the road. Even with my shifter senses, it took me a moment to make out the guy standing there next to a trail bike. He was shaggy-haired and bearded, and at least a decade older than us, but he gave Darkness’ knuckles a friendly punch as he leaned in his window. “Hey, Barber. What’s up?”

“All quiet, D.” The guy’s eyes slid over Chastity in appreciation before roaming into the backseat. When his gaze settled on Vail, he gave a loopy grin. “Shit! Little V! The Devil know you’re back?”

Before she could reply, Darkness was nudging him back and buzzing up his window. The guy disappeared in a swirl of snow, but not before he’d wagged his bushy brows at Vail. Chastity broke the silence with an uneasy laugh, playing with the locket in the V of her shirt. “The devil? This is starting to sound like a Dante poem. Where exactly are you taking me, Darkness?”

“I’m not taking you,” he bit out, then sighed. “Shit. Ignore me. This is just… complicated.”

She nodded, but there was no more happy chatter as we climbed the mountain. The truck was being put through its paces and I could tell Chastity was knuckling the wheel a little. When Darkness finally pointed her towards an off-road track, she swung left with a sigh of relief. Less than thirty feet on, we were pulling up in front of the Chance residence.

The cold air was a shock to the system after the warmth of the truck, but I lingered outside, taking in the log house. It was what I’d expected, with wood walls, log beams, and a sturdy stone chimney. Simple and rustic, it had a wrap-around porch, and for a moment I imagined my brothers tumbling off it, maybe swinging from the old tire hanging from a nearby tree. I could see the appeal, but I had to wonder what it was like to grow up here, without a pack of shifters to watch your back.

Vail had already hopped onto the porch and opened the door. I followed her in, but stepped aside as she paused just over the threshold. Peering above the doorframe, she stood on tiptoe, easing a rifle down from its bracket. “How did this get back here? I was sure I left it with…”

She broke off as the bearded guy from down the mountain suddenly appeared in the doorway, grinning at her. “Gunning for bear, little V?”

She gave him a cool look and headed further into the cabin. “That was your nickname in high school, wasn’t it, Barber?”

He grunted. “Chewed up a townie a week on the football field,” he bragged, his smile falling away as he leaned against the frame and looked at Darkness. “There’s a truck of law enforcement types idling on your perimeter. Followed you all the way up, and armed to the gizzards from what I could see.”

I’d crossed the room and was studying a bunch of picture frames, the foster siblings caught in various poses with an older version of Darkness. But when Vail made an alarmed sound, I moved back her way and stroked a hand down her back. “It’s probably just Liam. Was it a black SUV?”

---