Under the Moon (Goddesses Rising) - By Natalie J. Damschroder Page 0,34

to the cabin, then stopped and turned. “Maybe someone should search the place, make sure no one’s been here.”

“No one has,” Quinn said. She pointed to the top step, one above Sam’s. “Look at your feet.”

The car’s headlights showed light gray dust coating his boots, and dark footprints marred the steps he’d climbed. The top step was unmarked.

“They could have gotten in another way, and how did you keep that from washing off?” Nick asked.

“Trade secret,” Quinn replied. “I’ll do a perimeter check, but I’m sure no one’s been here. I’d feel it.” As much as the bar was home, this cabin was her heart. It had been in her mother’s family for generations, and the two of them had come up here for what her mother called their goddess weekends. They talked about things every mother and daughter needed to discuss, but here was also where Quinn learned how to be a goddess, even long before she came into her power. It was also the last place she’d been with her mother after her father died, before her mother caught the infection that killed her.

She only needed normal instinct to know it was fine, but Nick didn’t operate that way. So she walked around the building with him on her heels, his flashlight flicking at the ground, then the windows, then back to the woods surrounding them. The rear porch, which overlooked the Paw Paw River, held the same layer of untouched gray dust, as did all the windowsills. No one could have gotten to the back doors or windows without evidence. Even goddesses couldn’t fly.

“Could they booby-trap it?” Nick asked. “You know, do the kind of stuff they did in the hotel?”

“I don’t know, Nick,” Quinn said wearily. “All I can tell you is that I don’t sense any use of power.”

“Would you? Without having power yourself?”

“Yes. Like you’d sense a presence in the room even if you couldn’t see or hear them.” She was exaggerating her sixth sense, but they could stand here all night playing the what-if game. They were exhausted and hurt and needed rest.

“All right.” Nick led her to the front and unlocked the door, letting the other two go in while he unloaded the car.

The cabin was small and square, with a central living/dining/kitchen area and two bedrooms, one on either side, with one bathroom next to the smaller bedroom. It had plank walls and large windows framed in plaid curtains that matched the rugged, squishy sofa and side chairs. Shelves held hundreds of books, old videocassettes and DVDs for the small TV/video combo unit, and bins full of old board and card games from Quinn’s childhood. It smelled slightly stale from being closed up and a bit musty from the rain, with a hint of gardenia that Quinn knew had to be her imagination after all this time.

“You can have the first shower,” she told Sam. She was desperate for one, so Sam had to be twice as much. She got a stack of big, fluffy towels out of the linen closet and handed them to him. “There should be shampoo and soap and everything in the shower stall.”

“Thanks, Quinn.” He disappeared into the little room, and she gathered sheets to make the beds. Nick joined her in the main bedroom a few minutes later.

“This is a nice place.” He shook out the top sheet for the double bed, then bent to tuck it in on his side. “How come I’ve never seen it?”

“It was my mother’s.” She tossed him a pillowcase and bunched up another to put on the second pillow. “We used to come up here together. You and Sam are the first men to be here in decades. Since my parents first got married, I guess.”

“I’m honored.” He dropped the cased pillow against the headboard. “Sleeping arrangements? I notice there are only two bedrooms.”

“You and Sam can share.”

Nick stared in horror at the bed. “No way! I’m not—”

“In the other room, Nick.” She laughed. “There are twin beds in there.”

He groaned. “Twins? Come on. My feet will hang off. Geez, half Sam’s body will hang off, and he was just flipped on his head.”

“I’m sorry—that’s all I have. Unless you want to share with Sam in here.” Those weren’t the only alternatives. They could let Sam have this slightly bigger bed, but all of Quinn’s defenses were down, and sharing a room with Nick would be too dangerous. And sharing a room with Sam, after she’d pushed him away,