Page 65 of Into the Night

This isn’t over yet. They’ll bide their time, bring in reinforcements, and eventually, they’ll come for us again. Maybe not now, or out here, but eventually.

“We’ll go and talk to Henry when we’re back. Maybe he can warn them off.” It’s like Griffin has read my mind.

Henry can have a word with Jed, and tell him to leave me alone, but I doubt it will do any good. They’re convinced that what they’re doing is for the greater good. Jed probably thinks he’ll be a hero when he prevents the prophecy from coming true. Martin will probably become a martyr for the cause.

Standing cautiously on weak legs, I hobble to the mouth of the cave where a stiff breeze whips around me, flicking strands of my blonde hair across my eyes.

The view is spectacular. If our situation wasn’t so shitty, this would be a sight to behold. But right now, not knowing who or what is going on below, it feels claustrophobic. The drop to the bottom of the cliff is so steep, that one wrong step, and someone could easily fall to their death.

Hopefully, its precarious position means we don’t have to worry about anyone sneaking in here.

“How did you get us up?” I can’t figure out how Griffin would have carried me up here when it doesn’t even seem doable on his own.

Griffin joins me on the ledge, fingers curling around my hip to ease me back from the edge. He shakes his head, following my nervous gaze to the bottom, where jagged rocks and dense forest await.

“Not up. Down.” Griffin gently turns me by the shoulder and tips my head, so I’m looking up at the spot above us where he’s pointing. We’re practically at the top of the cliff. The drop down to the ledge we’re standing on isn’t huge, and the slope is much less severe.

Nodding, I can see how he could have made his way down with me in his arms, but it must have been tricky.

“How did you even know about this place?” Folding my arms across my chest, I protect my body from the biting wind. When we’re inside the cave, it’s warm and sheltered, but out here, the wind would cut you in two.

“John. It was on a map he left behind.” Griffin’s words are clipped. There’s something else behind his answer that he’s not being open about.

Pretending I don’t know that he just fed me a half-truth, I rack my brains for any mention of a map or a cave in the discussions between Evan and Ben on where to search for him, or in the releases from Henry.

“A map? I didn’t hear about any map.” In the days and weeks that we spent out here searching for John, knowing there was a map that he left behind would have been helpful.

“It only just came to light.”

Came to light. Not, I found it when I moved into the ranger’s cabin, or Henry found it when they did another search of his car.

“This could be big. Does Ben know?”

Griffin frowns, and nods at the same time.

When he doesn’t answer, I step closer and stare up at him, wide-eyed. “I’ve lived here, roamed these forests my whole life, and I never even knew this cave existed. And you’re telling me John’s map showed that this was here?”

Griffin nods again, eyes widening slightly as he realises where I’m going with this.

“I…” He rubs his temples, trying to remember. “I think so. My beast remembered it, not me. He just seemed to know where he was going.” Griffin squeezes his eyes shut, trying to force the memories forward, a pained expression on his face. “I think John showed it to me on a map the first time he convinced me to come out here. He said if I needed to get away and clear my head, escape the turmoil he could sense inside me, this was the place.”

Glancing over his shoulder, I look out over the treetops, deep in thought. We’re missing something big here. Something important.

“Why would he not have shown us this place? Especially the boys. I don’t remember hearing Ben or Evan talk about it. They covered every blade of grass in these mountains searching for him…”

I don’t need to say it. They looked everywhere except here. Nobody looked here, because they didn’t know it existed.

But why keep it secret?

The back of the cave slopes down further, a curved wall hiding how far back it goes. Curious as I am, now isn’t the time to get lost caving in the pitch black. The main chamber is small, but who knows how far back the small tunnels might go.

“I don’t know.” Griffin looks at me with sympathy. “I wish I did. Maybe something will come back to me, but I can’t concentrate right now with the beast inside me pushing to get out.”

Closing his eyes, his fingers stroke up and down my arms, and he dips his head, sucking in a deep lungful of my scent to calm himself.

I stare all around me, trying to picture John. It’s easy to imagine him hunkering down here during a storm. He would have loved it, sitting here sheltered from the rain, watching dark, heavy clouds blow past. Maybe even enjoying the show as lightning strikes below.

But what about this place made him keep it from us? John was usually an open book.

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