Christmas Griffin - Zoe Chant Page 0,44

her what he’d just heard.

She looked concerned. “Are they in trouble?”

“I think so.”

“Can you tell where they are?”

“Not from here. And not from just their telepathy. It’s not directional, like hearing someone shout out loud. Hard to trace back to the source.”

“You don’t have to explain that to me.” Delphine pulled away.

He raised his eyebrows. “Thought you might find it helpful. You don’t need to guess what’s going on if I’m that guy who narrates his own every action.”

“...Oh.” She leaned against him again. “Thanks. I’m sorry for being so suspicious.”

“This is new for you, same as it is for me.”

“I never thought about what it would mean, having someone who knew my secret. I never planned—” She looked as though she was about to say more, then shook her head. “Forget about me. What about this kid? How can we find him to check on him?”

“Easy.”

She stared at him, waiting for him to continue, and then swore. “For goodness’ sake. Did I hit my head? You heard him using telepathy, you can respond to him just the same.” She paused. “You could have while we were still in the air.”

“I wanted to keep you in the loop.”

Again, she looked surprised. Hardwick filed that away in a folder labelled fucking Belgraves and squeezed her hand.

*Hello!* he called, sending his telepathic voice as wide as he could. *Can you hear me? Do you need help?*

There was a pause. Then: *No-o! I don’t need any help!*

Pain shot through Hardwick’s head. He hissed and bit back a curse.

Delphine pulled off one glove and put her hand on his forehead. “Let me guess. Whoever it is, they’re completely fine?”

“Got it in one,” he gritted out.

She rubbed one thumb over his temple. He leaned into her caress.

“Bet he doesn’t want his parents to know he’s in trouble out here, either.”

“Good point.” Hardwick laced his fingers through hers so her hand wouldn’t get cold. “One sec.”

*Hey, sure. You don’t need any help. Maybe you could help me. I’m trying to find the Heartwell lodge—*

*Don’t tell them I’m here!*

*Buddy, I don’t even know where ‘here’ is. What are you doing?*

*I’m not lost!*

Hardwick grimaced. “Ow.”

Delphine squeezed his hand silently and he added:

“He says he’s not lost.”

“You don’t say. You know, this is all sounding really familiar. Stuck out in the snow, trying to convince yourself everything’s fine, you can totally handle it…” She stared up at him, her honey-colored eyes worried. “I know he’s a shifter, whoever he is, but we can’t just leave him out here.”

“I know.” He scanned the mountainside around them. *My name’s Hardwick Jameson. I’m on vacation here, seeing a friend of mine. Jackson Gilles. Do you know him?*

*You know Mr. Gilles? That—doesn’t matter! ’Cos nothing’s wrong. I—argh!*

Hardwick was still wincing from the ‘nothing’s wrong’ when the kid’s voice suddenly cut out. Delphine tugged on his arm.

“There!” She pointed at a patch of snow further along the ridge. “That collapsed just as you got hurt.”

“Let’s go.”

They hurried up the slope. The snow here was deep, but there were enough rocky outcrops that they could scramble up to where the snow had collapsed without getting too deep. Hardwick kept a careful eye on Delphine. Her lips were pale and pinched, but she was refusing to say anything was wrong, even though he knew she must be comparing this to what had happened to her.

He kept talking to the kid the whole way. The kid responded mostly in groans and complaints that this was so embarrassing, and they should just leave him here to die. Hardwick took that as a good sign.

The snow crumbled a bit more as they reached it, as though something was disturbing it from underneath. Hardwick pulled his jacket off. “I’ll shift and start digging,” he said.

Delphine took his clothes and knelt down. “Can you hear me?” she called. There was a muffled screech in reply, and she went pale. “Cole? Is that you?”

Another screech… this one definitely closer to the ‘embarrassed’ side of the equation than the ‘in mortal peril’ side.

Hardwick dug into the snow with his foreclaws. They weren’t well designed for scratching at snow, but he managed to haul the slip away within a few minutes. He stayed in constant communication with the kid, and when they figured he was getting close, he eased off on digging.

*How you going in there?*

*I can see something—wait! Hah!*

Hardwick lurched backwards just in time to avoid a plume of red flame bursting from the hole. Delphine yelled in surprise, then darted forward before