Wild Hunt - Kali Argent Page 0,39

that she said would be a lie. Instead, she pulled in a sharp gasp as a shiver of excitement raced down her back.

“We’re here.”

There was no sign welcoming them to Cuna Mundo, nothing to distinguish the town line, but she knew the landscape. She knew the big boulder on the side of the road, the one she and Jess had secretly carved their initials into the summer before they’d started high school. She recognized the iron fences with their wooden posts, as well as the big tree she’d fallen out of when she’d been nine. Luckily, she hadn’t broken anything, but she’d scared the hell out of Jess.

“Right up here.” She pointed ahead of them through the windshield. “There should be a turnoff on the right. Yes!” Still pointing, she jabbed her finger excitedly. “Right there. That’s it.”

The big arch that welcomed them to Coyote Ridge Ranch had faded and rusted over the years, but it was still the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. The fields were a dull yellow now, but come spring, bright green grass stretched for miles.

Damn, she missed colors.

Following the winding gravel path to the modest ranch house tucked behind a grove of trees off the highway, Cade pulled to a stop and cut the engine. “Be careful.”

“I know.” Neither of them could be sure what awaited them within the house. “Hold on.” Without opening her door, she stuck her head out of the broken window and closed her eyes. She sniffed the air, pleased when she didn’t find anything out of place. There also weren’t any footsteps or heartbeats nearby, human or otherwise. “It’s okay. There’s no one here.”

She’d known the likelihood of Jess still hanging around the ranch was remote, but that didn’t stop her from feeling the pang of disappointment.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Cade ejected the clip in the 9 mm, checked the number of rounds, then slid it back into place with a snap. “Not that I don’t trust you, but…just in case.”

Meeting him at the front of the SUV, Mackenna nodded her approval. Her instincts and senses said they were alone, but still, best to be cautious.

The steps creaked beneath their boots as they ascended to the covered porch. The front door was completely missing, but a crack in the frame showed where it had been forced open at some point. A thick layer of sand covered the hardwood floor in the entryway, but it remained smooth and unblemished without any signs that someone had been there recently.

Mackenna just prayed that Jess hadn’t been there when the door had been knocked down. “Raiders?”

“Yeah, probably. Come on.” Cade led the way into the house, the muzzle of his gun pointed straight ahead. “Everything still clear?”

Standing very still, she closed her eyes again and focused her hearing, searching for even the quietest of sounds. A breath. A whisper. She heard nothing.

“Clear.”

It felt premature to take that as a good sign, but relief washed over her when she detected no odor inside the house beyond the musty scent of abandonment. As far as she could tell, death hadn’t fouled the place.

One by one, they searched the rooms, Mackenna pausing occasionally to listen for anything or anyone that shouldn’t be there. Closets had been stripped bare. Blankets and pillows had been pulled from the beds. Both bathrooms had been pillaged for supplies. In the kitchen, she found a half-empty bottle of dish soap under the sink, but the pantry and cabinets stood completely barren.

A Christmas tree still perched in the corner of the living room, a reminder of happier, simpler times. The lights no longer twinkled, and a layer of dust had settled over the colorful bulbs, but it seemed even Raiders couldn’t bring themselves to destroy it.

Mackenna recognized it as another clue. “I think Jess left pretty soon after I disappeared.”

Cade looked skeptical. “What makes you say that.”

“The tree is still up.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, “but even if she had left in January, we have no way of knowing where she went.”

Maybe not, but it meant she hadn’t died from the virus. It meant there could be a chance she was still alive. “She might have gone to Olympus, to the safe haven.”

Cade reached out to stroke her cheek, but he didn’t smile. “I really hope that’s the case, but it seems unlikely. Did she have any other family?”

She shook her head. Like her, Jess had never known her father, and her mother had succumbed to her battle with cancer a year