Page 35 of Gone Hunting

“She lives in a cave?” Celia asks, her focus sharp as she waits for my answer.

Around Celia, words don’t come as easily as I’d like. Liam beats me to the punch. “Totally. Mimi loves caves.”

“Why?” Celia questions.

Liam prowls ahead. “My family is a mix ofweresand humans,” he says. “Every few centuries, all the human andwerebreeding results in a witch. We hadn’t had a witch for almost three centuries before we got lucky and Mimi came along.”

“Yeah, lucky,” Koda mutters.

“That doesn’t explain why she lives in a cave,” Celia reminds him.

“Oh, yeah,” Liam says. “You did say something about that. Mimi was really fond of her grandfather, a werebear.” He laughs. “Don’t ask me how that happened, seeing most of us are wolves. But I hear my great-great aunt was kind of trampy.”

“Language,” Gemini says, looking at Celia.

“Sorry, Celia,” Liam offers. “That means she slept around a lot.”

A smirk forms on Celia’s lips. “I know what it means, Liam.”

Liam is halfway to the cave and unharmed. I look up at the darkening sky. I don’t want to run back through the woods in the rain. Celia will get soaked and, like Koda says, humans are delicate and a cold might kill her.

“We’re running out of time,” I say. “Let’s see if she’s here so we can get this over with.”

Liam bounds forward. His heart is so big he often forgets to be cautious when he’s around those he supposedly knows. I should remind him, but I don’t want to embarrass him.

“I still don’t understand why Mimi lives in a cave,” Celia says, keeping her voice soft so only I hear her. “Is it to honor her grandfather?”

Knowing she only means to speak to me makes me smile. “Mimi may be a hag, but she identifies more with thewereside, because of our magic.”

“I see,” she says, appearing troubled.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, taking a careful step around what resembles a patch of berries.

“Liam haswereand human in his blood.”

“That’s right,” I reply.

“How? Most of the humans I know are oblivious to the supernatural world.”

“The majority are. But in states where wildlife continues to thrive, you’ll find large populations ofwereswho’ve mated with humans. The magic we carry prevents non-werefamily members from sharing our secrets.”

I stop in front of what looks like a large pumpkin vine. If pumpkin vines had thorns.

“That wasn’t there before,” I say.

“No, it wasn’t,” Celia agrees.

“Neither was that,” Koda says.

He points to a bush spilling with raspberries the size of apples. The breeze picks up, causing one to break off from the branch and smash against the ground. It splatters like blood, soaking the dirt.

A small whimper echoes from deep within the soil. Our eyes widen and we back away from the bush.

“Tell me Mimi’s magic didn’t just makedirtcry,” Koda says. He scowls when no one answers. “Are you kidding me right now?”

“Keep your voice down,” I warn. Celia just reined in her tigress. The last thing I want is for Koda’s wolf to lose it, too.

Another wave of magic pummels us, this time stronger, turning pokes and prods into outright shoves.

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