Because of his own past, he'd never wanted to pry into someone else's. He figured they'd tell him what they wanted him to know, and if they didn't volunteer it, then there was probably a real good reason why.
Far be it from him to stick his nose in it.
Jess inclined his head respectfully. "I'm sorry, Ren."
Ren wore an expression that said, You have no idea.
From up the hill where the cavern was, a fierce battle cry rang out. One that sounded like Choo Co La Tah's. Jess's heart seized as a bad feeling tore through him.
Please let me be wrong.
As fast as he could, he ran up the red-soiled hill while Ren turned into a bird to fly and Sasha took his wolf form.
By the time Jess reached Choo Co La Tah's private cave, Sasha, still in wolf form, was fighting a coyote and Ren was nowhere to be seen.
Neither was Abigail.
That didn't make him happy at all. Was she dead?
He ground his teeth as agony poured through him. It was the same aching, desolate feeling he'd had the night he sold his soul to Artemis.
Abigail was gone.
Please don't be dead.
"Jess?" Choo Co La Tah's voice pulled him back to their present situation. They were in the middle of an attack, and he had to focus if they were to survive. Six bodies of coyotes lay nearby as a gruesome reminder of everything at stake. Blood was splattered on the walls and pooled on the floor, under the bodies.
Choo Co La Tah took a step toward him, then slipped and fell on the blood-drenched ground.
He didn't get back up.
Jess sprinted toward the elder, who lay in a small crevice on his side. A quick visual skim of his injuries said that it was a miracle he was still alive.
Coyote had been playing for keeps. But by the looks of it, so had Choo Co La Tah.
Jess reached down to gently roll him over so that he could see the extent of his injuries. And they were extensive. The coyotes had torn him up badly. "What happened?"
He swallowed hard. "They jumped us."
"Us?"
Choo Co La Tah cleared his throat. "They took Abigail before I could complete the ritual. We have to make the offering by dawn ... or else."
Hell would rain down on them in biblical proportions. Boy, would his snooty neighbors be pissed. They didn't like him on his best day anyway. Not that he cared.
"Do you know where they took her?"
Choo Co La Tah rubbed at his bleeding forehead while Jess tried to tend the wound. "Most likely, Coyote's den ... and you can't kill him there, Jess. We have to get him here in the Valley."
Jess glanced around to see Sasha defeating his playmate. "Where's Ren?"
"He went after Coyote and Abigail. You have to find them, Jess. Bring them back."
"Don't worry. I won't fail."
He hoped.
* * *