“Don’t you need to run the shop? I don’t know how long we’ll be,” Donovan said.
“Rachel,” Raina called, and the barista looked up from the cups she’d been organizing. Obviously she’d been trying to listen in, because who wouldn’t, but I didn’t think she’d gotten close enough to hear anything.
“What’s up? Need me to cover the front for awhile?” she guessed, eyes darting between her boss and me as she put the pieces together.
“If you think you and Ashley can hold down the morning rush, I need to run an errand.”
Rachel glanced out the window, where the snow drifts almost reached the glass. “Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to be too crazy today. We can handle it.”
“Great. Thanks.” Raina smiled at Rachel, then leveled a glare at me. “Don’t you dare walk out that door.” She disappeared into the back, probably to grab her coat and change from her work shoes into boots.
“Think we should run for it?” Donovan murmured.
As tempting as it was, I shook my head. “She’ll just follow us, and then she’ll ban us from here for at least six months. Maybe we can convince her to stay in the car.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
We both knew there was no chance, but we waited in silence while Rachel filled up our to-go order and handed over eight coffees in cardboard carriers. I didn’t question the number, but Donovan frowned in confusion right up until the kitchen door swung open and Raina walked out with Camille, both of them dressed in winter gear.
“Rachel, all the baking is done and cooling. Ashley knows what to do,” Camille said as she tugged on her gloves. “Thank you for taking over.”
“Any time. Don’t do anything too crazy.”
Camille just smiled and ushered us out the front door of Buns ‘n’ Roses. Arguing with her would be pointless, so we just let it be.
“Should I call Will to come, too?” Camille asked as we headed outside and she detoured around the building, to the side entrance that led to the apartment they shared.
“I talked to him and told him you’d seen something. He’s going to cover for me at the station in case we don’t get back before shift starts.”
When I quickly glanced at Donovan, he gave the tiniest shake of his head, which I took to mean he hadn’t told Willeverything. I literally trusted my friends with my life, but Landon’s secrets weren’t mine to share, and I was already pushing it with Ori by bringing Donovan. Already, I was trying to figure out how we’d peel away from the search before the girls saw a coyote crawl out from under a rock and change into a teenager.
“I’ll be right back,” Raina said and hurried up the stairs.
“I wish you guys would stay,” I said honestly to Camille. “In my vision, something was chasing Landon. I just want you guys to be safe.” She was more reasonable than her girlfriend sometimes, but I wasn’t too surprised when she shook her head.
“We’re your friends and we love you. We’re not letting you go alone.”
When Raina returned a minute later carrying two big hunting rifles, I nearly dropped the coffee carrier I held. Logically, I knew just about everyone in the mountains kept a rifle, mostly to scare off any wild animals that got too close, but I hadn’t expected her to come down armed.
“Alright. Let’s go,” Raina said, handing one to Camille.
“Those can go in the trunk until we get there,” Donovan said, accepting that this was an argument he wouldn’t win. He locked the rifles in the trunk, then we all piled into his car and pulled out.
A few stray flakes of snow swirled around us when we arrived at the meeting place. No other car was in sight, yet Ori stood there with three other people, all of them looking quite impatient. It was plain to see that Ori wasn’t thrilled I’d brought more people, even after I whispered to him that they didn’t know. The peace offering of coffee helped a little, and all four quickly drained their cups.
When we’d pulled in, Donovan informed us that one of the men with Ori was Jean DeVor, Landon’s father. I didn’t recognize the other two, another older man and a woman roughly Donovan’s age, and they didn’t offer their names, leaving the eight of us to push our way into the trees in silence. Neither of them looked particularly comfortable with Donovan’s presence, even out of uniform, which made me think they were probably like Landon.
Even in my head, it felt so strange to think of them as shifters. That wasn’t a term I ever thought I’d use in real life. Shapeshifters and werewolves were the stuff of fiction, like the books I secretly binged at the shop. Now here I was, wandering through the woods with three of them and whatever Ori was. They’d still never told me how they were part of the mysterious community they talked about.
Donovan grabbed my arm, catching me when I tripped over a fallen log, and I put aside my deliberation of the politics of the paranormal community to focus on where we were going.
“Thanks,” I murmured, ducking my head. I could feel the judgment in the woman’s eyes without even glancing at her. The three of them were completely at ease traipsing through the frozen woods, despite only wearing light jackets more suited for a spring day. Donovan, Raina, Camille, and I were bundled up to our ears, only our eyes visible between scarves and hats.
“Did we really need them to come?” the unnamed man asked Ori, not bothering to lower his voice.
“Yes,” they replied, sounding like they’d had this discussion before. “Alex is the one who saw where your nephew is, remember?” I’d told Ori what I’d seen and they must have passed it on to the other three.
“Barely,” the man scoffed. “Telling us it’s by a ledge isn’t very helpful.”
