Page 62 of Soul Bound

“I don’t likenotknowing things.” He pouts. “This is new to me, I’m usually the one who has all the secrets. Does this have something to do with that Sterling guy you had me look into?”

“He has everything to do with it,” I admit.

“Bummer I couldn’t find anything on him. It’s like the man is a ghost. He doesn’t have a single digital footprint and I can’t even find something referencing him.”

“Try cross-referencing Sterling with Nicolai Volkov, they were associates at one point. Nicolai is now dead though.”

“Is there a death certificate for this Nicolai guy?”

Seeing as Pruitt ripped out his throat with her teeth… “Doubt it.”

“Not giving me much to work with, girl.”

“I know, I’m sorry, but anything you can find will be so helpful.”

“Alright let me look at this imaging and I’ll get back to you. God, I can’t believe you got me to talk on an actual phone, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done this. I didn’t even know my cell phone still worked honestly. Only for you, my little Winslow.”

I smile. “Thank you Whisper,” I tell him before disconnecting the phone.

The gray wolf lopes out of the woods and barrels at me at a speed that indicates he’s not planning on slowing down. I brace for impact, but I’m not prepared enough when he tackles me to the ground. I land on my back in the grass with a thud. A little dazed from the collision, I look up at the wolf to find him hovering over me. If it’s at all possible, I swear he has a wolfish grin on his face. He starts to lean down to lick me again but I stop him when I spot the blood on his chin fur. “Oh I don’t think so, buddy!” I shove his head away from me, causing him to nip lightly at my fingers. “Get that bloody mouth away from me, Ranger!”

The wolf chuffs before the sound of cracking bones happens again. Ranger, now in his very naked human form appears over me. He flops down on his side in the grass next to me, a smile on his face. God, how I love that smile. “My wolf likes you.”

“Your wolf needs to learn to keep his tongue to himself.” I scrunch my nose in mock disgust.

“You didn’t seem to mind what my tongue was doing earlier,” he slyly says. “Want to do it again?” he taunts.

“I’m not going anywhere near your mouth until you brush your teeth. You still probably have rabbit fur in there.” I cringe.

“Okay… I’ll brush my teeth,” he concedes. “But after, you’re mine again.”

“Deal.”

* * *

We haveno choice but to return to Montana. Whisper needed more time to track the cars that left the facility with the baby. It didn’t make sense to stay in Vancouver any longer, and I was anxious to bring the blood we had collected to Esme. She was optimistic Thalia’s blood would be sufficient enough to do the tracking spell, and I’m hoping she was right. If Whisper’s search turns up nothing and the spell doesn’t work, we are back at zero.

After we land in Montana, I don’t allow Ranger to head home, I insist we stop at Esme’s first. I’m running on close to twenty-four hours of no sleep, but the nervous energy coursing through me is keeping me awake and alert. Ranger was at least able to get some sleep on the plane. I found myself watching him sleep and when his face would contort and he would twitch in his sleep, indicating he was having another nightmare, I would place my hand on his arm, and he would instantly calm. I had nightmares for two years after I escaped from my house. I always dreamed that I was still tied to the bed and my grandmother stood over me screaming a prayer, her rosary beads in her bony grip. Her face would be distorted, looking similar to the ghosts I would see with milky blue eyes.

At Esme’s, I run up the creaky wooden steps to her office on the second floor. I hear the sound of Ranger’s boots hitting the steps behind me as I climb.

The second I walk through the door of Esme’s office, I’m swept into the tightest hug I’ve ever received. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Pruitt called me and filled me in on what happened. I’m so sorry you had to do that, Winslow.” She pulls back so she can look at my face, her obsidian eyes scan me. She frowns softly when her gaze lands on the wound on my cheek. “Those bastards. I’m really glad I gave you that knife though.”

“So am I,” Ranger agrees.

Esme lets me go from her tight grip. “You guys got the blood I’m assuming?”

I pull the vial out of my bag and hold it out to her. “Will this be enough?”

Esme takes the glass tube from me and examines it. “It should be. For a normal tracking spell, we just need a single drop, but this is different because it’s not the baby’s actual blood that we’re working with. I talked to some colleagues and they expressed concern that the spell itself may have to be adjusted to account for using different blood. We will give the traditional tracking spell a shot—I’m still hopeful it will work. If it doesn’t, we will have to make some adjustments.”

The tentative optimism this will work is slowly deflating.

“This has to work,” I say with more confidence than I feel.

“And if it doesn’t, we won’t give up looking for the baby.” Ranger squeezes my arm. “We’ll find another way.”

I want to ask himwhat other way? This is the only plan I’ve got. Unless he comes up with a plan, this is all we’ve got. Our only hope is that Whisper finds something that can lead us somewhere.

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