“Damn straight,” I said.
I looped my arm over her shoulder, and walked with her to gather up our sister for a proper celebration.
Chapter 21
Okay. So everything wasn’t exactly going my way. But Myra winning the Cake and Skate for her team had done a heck of a lot to cheer me up.
There were no updates from the vampires or Wolfes, which worried me. I would have expected there to be enough of a trail to track down Ben, or at least Jake.
The doctor told me Jame was sleeping peacefully and healing well. Well enough Granny Wolfe had joined the hunt, leaving three pack members behind to guard Jame.
The dry morning had turned into a sunny afternoon. Tourists and locals took full advantage of it. Plenty of people walked and played on the beach. Plenty of people wandered into the shops, which were staying open late in hopes of making up some rain-delayed revenue. The town felt the most summer-like it had all year.
There were even kites in the sky.
I still had a few hours before dinner with Ryder at Jump Off Jack, but was too restless to sleep. I went home and changed into my shorts, tank, and running shoes.
A lot had happened in a very short time and I needed to clear my head, think through the details. A quick jog on the beach, alone with my thoughts sounded like heaven.
I stretched at the bottom of my stairs, then took off at a slow, easy pace down the road to the bottom of the hill, past a few houses to the narrow band of green that would take me to the hidden foot trail through bushes and down to the sand.
The late afternoon was warm, the wind just strong enough to cut the humidity. I headed north, into the wind, toward Road’s End. I always ran into the wind so I could have it at my back on my way home.
The steady rhythm of my breath, the thump, thump, thump of my shoes hitting hard-packed wet sand, the shivering hiss of the ocean next to me soothed me, focused my thoughts. The muscles in my shoulders relaxed, my body warming, sweat prickling at my neck, under my breasts, down my back.
I felt like I could run forever.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Road’s End had that name for a reason. An outcropping of land reached out to cup the beach and cut it off from continuing north. If the tide was low enough, I’d be able to pick my way over water and rocks, and around the bend to a procession of little pockets of stony coves. But the tide was coming in, and I didn’t want to get stranded on the other side.
So I slowed, paced the curve of land, the rise of stone cliff at my back, and then stood just at the water’s edge, staring out to sea.
Clouds gathered fast, moving ashore with an unnatural kind of speed. Lightning flashed. Thunder rolled. The sudden storm was urgent, as if warning of an even greater danger approaching.
“Thor?” I asked. Rain fell in hard, heavy drops. I felt like I should run. Thunder roared again, urging me to turn home.
I turned. I didn’t even see the man before I was aware of his presence behind me.
But with that presence, I felt fear.
I tipped my head down so I could better see him out of the corner of my eyes as he stopped behind and slightly to the side of me.
“You are a sweet surprise.” His voice was low, cultured, carrying an accent I could not place. But my brain wasn’t trying to place his accent, it was screaming:danger, death, predator.
I had not brought my gun and carried no other weapon. My phone tucked into my back pocket wasn’t going to bring anyone here fast enough to save me.
I suddenly knew I was very much in need of saving.
I had a moment to wish I was connected to someone in some sort of magical way that allowed them to see through my eyes or hear my thoughts to know that I was in trouble.
But I was just a Reed and those kinds of abilities were beyond me.
What does a Reed do?My father’s words echoed in my mind.We face the storm.
Thunder crackled. Lightning shattered.
I anchored myself with the roots of my family that reached deep and strong in this land. Then I turned and faced the man.
