Destiny Gift (The Everlast Trilogy) - By Juliana Haygert Page 0,72
said it had been a spur of the moment thing? I glanced around. Micah was buying something inside the diner, and the waitress melted before him—poor girl. I knew how she felt.
I shook my head and returned my gaze to my mochaccino. “No, it’s okay. You don’t need to say anything.”
“Let me say what I have to say.”
I brought my eyes to meet his, hoping my expression looked as courageous as I wanted to feel. “I’m not ready to hear it.” I saw Micah leaving the diner. My salvation. “Forget it.”
I slid into the car and closed the door.
Outside, the guys exchanged a few words before joining me in the SUV.
Micah had just pulled back onto the interstate when his cell phone rang. He answered the phone, then said, “Hey, Morgan. I thought you had become bat food.”
A loud sigh of relief escaped my lips.
Micah pressed the speaker button and we heard Morgan speaking. “I have some nasty cuts, but I’ll survive.”
“How did you escape?” I asked, leaning forward, wedging my shoulders between the front seats.
Morgan said, “When you guys showed up at the door, your auras offset mine and they forgot about me. I was able to get to the car, but then couldn’t find you.”
“Why didn’t you call sooner?” Victor asked. “We could have waited for you.”
“I lost my phone. I found it on a bush near where the bats first assaulted me.” Morgan paused. “By the way, did you guys watch the news?”
“No,” the three of us answered in unison.
“A few moments ago, the motel exploded. To me, it seemed like some fireball was hurled from above.”
“Omi,” I said.
“I think so too,” Morgan said. “And I’m guessing he’s after you three.”
“We’re almost to Cathedral Rock,” Micah said.
“Good,” Morgan said. “Don’t stop. I’m on my way, but I guess I’m still a few hours behind.”
“We’re on it,” Micah said.
We wished him good luck, and he wished us the same after asking to be called and informed of any changes.
“Morgan is alive,” I whispered, resting back on my seat. At least there was one piece of good news among so many tragedies. “But Omi is after us.”
***
The parking lot of the Back O’Beyond trail seemed as if it had been abandoned for many years. The grass surrounding the dirt lot was dead and the low wooden fence that delineated the place was cracked, brittle.
“Now for the bad part,” Micah said as he examined the rotten board covered with a map of the trail. He had my bag over his shoulders. Before we left the car, he’d shoved some survival stuff into it, like extra water and power bars, and offered to carry it up the steep climb. I stared upward at the towering spires and was grateful he was playing pack mule.
I approached him. “What?”
“We have to walk almost a mile up the trail to reach Cathedral Rock.” He pointed to the trailhead. “And it’s steep. Not even bikes or horses can be used for this part.”
“You’re kidding,” Victor said. “It’ll take hours to reach the top.”
Micah beckoned toward the trail, inviting us to follow him. “Better we start soon, then.”
I turned to the trail and almost bumped into Victor. He looked down at me and my breath caught.
“Excuse me,” I whispered as I walked past him.
I saw, from the corner of my eye, his hand stretching, coming toward me, but then he pulled it back and, with a sigh, followed me to the trail.
The path was marked by small piles of stone, showing us where to go. Despite the darkness from the sky and the death-defying situation, every once in a while I looked back, amazed by the gorgeous view. After forty minutes, the trail became unbelievably steeper and trickier; I was thankful for the footholds carved into the stone.
I wasn’t a good hiker. My palms sweated, my breathing and my pulse sped up, and occasionally dizziness and nausea overwhelmed me. It wasn’t easy to keep up with the guys, and being so near Victor didn’t help me. He kept looking over at me, which caused my heart to skip some precious beats.
Once, when I caught him shooting me a sidelong look, I missed a foothold and slid a few feet down the rocks on my knees. He caught me and held my arm, saving my slippery mishap from becoming a bloody accident. Under Micah’s observation, Victor hauled me up and, feeling my scraped knee, I bumped into him.
“Are you okay?” he asked. His hands snaked around my