Huntsman - Morgan Brice Page 0,1
a little discombobulated over not actually having even interviewed. Jeffries had assured him they’d work everything out when he got there, and that he would explain it all. So Liam kept driving, but now he was running toward something instead of just away from the Huntsman.
He had his phone plugged into a cigarette-lighter adapter to play music and run his GPS, but the farther he got into the mountains, the more often the signal dropped. Once he was north of Utica, towns became fewer and farther between. Plenty of mountains, lakes, and forest filled in the gaps.
He had done a little research on his destination. Out of curiosity he had looked up Fox Hollow after Dr. Jeffries had called the first time. Fox Hollow had been partly settled by people from Lily Dale, a small community south of Buffalo founded by believers in the Spiritualist Movement—psychics, mediums, and those who believed that not only was there life after death, but that those with special talents could “pierce the Veil” and communicate with departed souls.
Liam had heard about three of the most famous Spiritualists, the Fox Sisters. They gained fame in the late 1800s for their ability as mediums, only to fall into disgrace when one of them claimed their ability to speak with the dead was all a fraud. She recanted later, but the damage was done. Their followers were shamed and hounded, no longer welcome among their peers. A group of refugees from Lily Dale set out for a place where they could be safe and welcome.
Legend had it, that place was Fox Hollow, a hamlet where misfit paranormals had created a haven for those who didn’t belong elsewhere.
Liam pulled himself out of his thoughts and forced himself to pay attention to the road. There were no streetlights out here. Once the sun set, the darkness out here was really dark.
Liam knew if he could shift into his fox-self, he’d be able to see just fine. But so far, he hadn’t figured out how to drive a car as a fox, and while Dr. Jeffries told him that Fox Hollow was both shifter-aware and shifter-welcoming, Liam didn’t want to bet on the tolerance of the county mounties or the state cops.
Just keep driving. Once I’m in Fox Hollow, I’ll be safer. Not too much farther now.
Liam had stopped at an ATM for cash and to fill the gas tank before he left Ithaca. He’d loaded up on road food and plenty of coffee so he could drive straight through. That would still get him into Fox Hollow late, but Dr. Jeffries had assured him that no matter what time the call came, he would be over to give Liam the keys and help him get settled.
He passed a sign by the side of the road that read: Fox Hollow, 10 miles just when the engine started to rattle and clank. A mile or so later, the noise grew alarmingly worse. Cursing under his breath, Liam pulled off to the side. The state highway didn’t have a generous berm, but there hadn’t been many cars for the past half hour. He was unlikely to be sideswiped but equally unlikely to have a passer-by offer to help.
Then again, since he hadn’t gotten a good look at the Huntsman’s face, Liam wouldn’t have dared accept help from a random driver.
With a sigh, he grabbed his phone and dug in his wallet for his roadside assistance card, hoping that he wasn’t too far from civilization to get a tow that didn’t cost a fortune.
“We’ll have someone out as quickly as possible,” the customer service operator assured him, remaining vexingly light on the details. “Stay where you are, remain in your vehicle to be safe, and we’ll send a tow truck.”
“Can they tow me to Fox Hollow? That’s where I’m headed. I don’t know if they have a place that can fix cars.”
“You’re in luck,” she replied. “They do. I’ll take care of that for you. Just sit tight.”
Liam tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel, feeling twitchy about waiting for a stranger, alone in the dark. While he had heard plenty of people talk about the gorgeous, rugged scenery of the Adirondacks, Liam had apparently skipped over the parts about how dark, empty, and vast the area could seem.
He debated, then discarded, the notion of shifting to his fox to get a sense for his surroundings. He didn’t know how quickly the tow truck might arrive, and while the area might tolerate shifters,