The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,65
answered the door. The seer stood on the other side, the car service she’d used pulling out of his drive. She was all in black and wore all the same jewelry, except she’d added a circlet around her head made of tiny vertebrae. He moved out of the way. “Come on in.”
She shook her head. “I have already prepared myself. I don’t want to fight the energy of your home.”
Jenna jumped up. “Hi, Ingvar. Where do you want us to meet you, then? Around back? We can go into the forest from there.”
She nodded. “That’s fine.”
As Ingvar started down off the porch, Titus closed the door. “You ready?”
Jenna took a breath. “Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
They went out the back and down the steps. Ingvar was just coming around the side of the house. Dusk approached, darkening the horizon. She had a large cloth bag with her. Supplies for her work, no doubt.
“Take me to where you saw the wraith last. I’ll need some time to prepare the trap. Alone. When you return, the wolf must stay as far away as possible.”
“So you said.” Titus didn’t look happy.
Jenna did her best to intervene. “No problem.” She smiled at Titus. “I’m not sure I remember how to get there from here.”
His gaze was still on Ingvar. “Just follow me.”
They started into the woods, Titus in front.
Jenna dropped back to walk beside Ingvar. She started to ask her friend how she was feeling, but Ingvar was chanting softly to herself. More preparation for what was to come? Jenna could only assume so.
She picked up her pace to join Titus. “I don’t want to mess with Ingvar’s concentration.”
He nodded. He looked tense.
Jenna slipped her hand in his. “It’ll all be over soon.”
He glanced at her but didn’t smile. “I hope so. In the best possible way.”
Silence settled over them again, and they made the rest of the trek like that. What had taken a few minutes to run took about twenty to walk. Dusk fell hard, and within the cathedral of trees, it seemed far darker than it should have been.
In the distance, the familiar rushing water of the falls thrummed like white noise.
“We’re here,” Titus said as he came to a stop. “This is where we saw it.”
Ingvar closed her eyes and stretched out her arms. She stood that way for a few seconds, then opened her eyes and nodded, letting her arms drop. “I can feel he was here. Leave me to work now.”
Titus glanced at Jenna. “We can walk down to the falls.”
“Okay.” She waved at Ingvar, who was chanting again. “When should we come back?”
Ingvar stopped chanting and glanced in Jenna’s direction. Her eyes were completely black. “You will know.”
Jenna backed up, bumping into Titus. “Let’s go.”
They started walking, and she shuddered.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She sighed. “Nothing I can put a name to. I’m having some doubts, that’s all. That’s normal, I suppose.”
“Doubts about what?”
“Our success rate.”
“That seems normal.” He took her hand. “How are we going to know when to go back?”
“Beats me. She said we’d know.” Jenna shrugged. “Whatever that means. In the past I always stayed with the seer, but her skills have probably advanced with all her recent training. This might be a new technique. Hey, I know you have to stay back and all that, but I was thinking, just in case, maybe you should be in wolf form. Not that anything’s going to happen, but…you know.”
“Yes, I know. I’m faster that way. And the wraith is afraid of the wolf.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ll be ready.”
“Thank you. I figure as long as he can’t see you, it should be okay.”
They went down a small embankment and came to the water’s edge. The falls were to their right about thirty yards away. The sound was so much louder here.
Titus picked up a flat stone and skipped it down the river. Then he turned and pointed in the opposite direction. “Let’s go upstream a little. Maybe we can find the right angle to see the moonbow.”
“All right.” She picked her way up the bank with Titus right behind her. At a small bend, they saw the moonbow appear in the mist. It was beautiful, and Jenna took it as a sign that the night would go well. “That’s really cool. I’ve never seen it before. Heard about it, always wanted to see it. Never had the chance.”
“I’m glad it was with me.”
She nodded. “Me too.”
She looked farther upstream, then behind them. “Do you hear that?”