“Just a minute,” Sunny said. “She hasn’t said anything other than my name yet.”
Technically, I’d told her to look up, but I wasn’t going to split hairs.
A sad and sick expression crossed her face. “Are you a ghost?”
I shook my head. The glow on my skin started to dim, and I could feel my energy fading fast. Whatever surge had brought me here was rapidly running out. I had to be expedient with my reply just in case I disappeared before I could get my message across. “Right, left, elephant tree, dock, Destiny’s Child, blue—”
With a sharp inhalation, followed by a coughing fit, I came to in the darkness and all the pain that came with it. Then the exhaustion of what I’d done caught up to me, and, blissfully, I passed out.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Jo Jo – If war is what they want, war is what they’ll get.
I’d only been gone for a minute to get my keys, and when I got back outside Etta was gone. I forced my coyote to surface, a harder feat than I imagined. The moonstone really did have suppressive power, and I could make the shift. I needed my nose honed to the scent I’d detected near my truck but couldn’t quite get a handle on. The only thing I knew for certain was that it didn’t belong to Etta.
“Doc!” I shouted. “Chav!”
The duo was out the front door of the cabin in seconds.
“Where’s Etta?” Billy Bob snarled. He sniffed the air like a predator. “Tom.” A low growl reverberated from his chest. “Tom Warrant.”
I swallowed the bile climbing up my throat. “War?”
“Yes,” he said. “War. He was here.”
I climbed into the truck and barked, “Are you all coming or what?”
Billy Bob held up his hand. “My phone,” he said. “It’s ringing.”
“We don’t have time,” I implored them. “Etta could be hurt… Or worse.” I tried to push the “or worse” from my thoughts. That kind of thinking wouldn’t serve Etta or me.
Chav shook her head. “It could be William. Maybe he’s calling to taunt Billy Bob with his triumph.”
“Would he do that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “He’s a sociopath, and he likes to think he’s the smartest person in the room. Anything is possible.”
I fought back the urge to charge off blindly, then nodded. “Okay.”
Doc ran inside and grabbed his phone. “It’s Sunny!”
His announcement gave me hope. Right now, I’d take any of her whack-a-doo visions if it would offer a clue to finding Etta.
The worried wolf shifter stepped outside with his phone in hand. “Can you say that again?” he asked her.
“Right, left, elephant tree, dock, Destiny’s Child, blue,” Sunny replied. “That’s all she said.”
“She? Who, Bette?” Had the hedgewitch sent Sunny more clues about Etta. “Bette is here. Why wouldn’t she come and tell us herself?”
“Who’s Bette?” Sunny asked. “You know what, never mind. There is no time for explanations. The person who sent the message to me was Etta. She said, right, left, elephant tree, dock, Destiny’s Child, blue. That was all she could tell me before she disappeared.”
“You saw her?” Chav’s face blanched. “Is she…?”
Sunny quickly assuaged her friend. “No, she wasn’t a ghost. She was something else. I could see a tether on her spirit, and it was tugging on her hard. I think it’s what snapped her back to wherever she is.”
“Could you see anything else?” I asked. “Any landmarks or signs?”
“Sorry, Jo Jo.” Sunny’s voice was tense. “I didn’t have a vision. She just kind of… showed up. I wish I could tell you more. If I do see anything, I promise to call right away.”
