“Well, it’s a good thing we won’t be here when they do.” We needed to pull over and perform the spell to find out where our next location was. We didn’t need to hang out in this city longer than we had to. Watch and make sure the wolves aren’t following us. When we’re cleared, let’s stop.
Okay. Aidan’s eyes stayed glued to the woods.
Keeping my eyes on the road, I took the phone out of my pocket and hit Beth’s name. It rang all of one time before she answered.
“Hey.”
“We need to stop and figure out our next move.” We’d become more of a target if we didn’t leave soon. “So we can get on our way out of here.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
I linked with Aidan. Is it safe to stop?
Yeah for a few minutes. Aidan frowned, not thrilled with the idea.
“Can you guys get the map out and pull over somewhere?” My heart was still pounding after what we’d been through.
“Sure. Let me get it all ready, and we’ll find somewhere to stop.” Beth hung up the phone, and after another couple miles, Samuel pulled over to the side of the road.
Once I’d pulled up behind him and stopped the car, I turned around. “The spell needs to be performed outside, but we should make it quick.” There was no telling when the wolves would be searching for us again.
We all climbed out, and Amethyst laid the map on the ground and placed gravel on the corners to prevent the breeze from blowing it away.
“Ivory, we need a drop of your blood for the locator spell.” I pointed to me and then Gabby. “If all three of us combine our blood, it’ll show us where the fourth girl is.”
Remus grimaced and stiffened. “Blood?”
“Oh, stop. Magic comes with a price.” Ivory smacked his arm. “Okay, so what do we do?”
“I’ll keep watch while you do this.” Aidan walked over to the other side of the car, on alert for the wolves.
I bit into my finger just like the previous two times and turned my hand over, letting several drops of blood hit the center of the map. Once again, my blood inched toward where we were now. “That’s odd. Why isn’t it going to West Virginia?”
“Because Gabby is here with you.” Samuel pointed to Gabby. “Your blood leads you to her, and she’s here in North Dakota.”
Beth nodded. “That makes sense.”
Gabby then pierced her fingertip and added her blood to the map. It inched toward North Dakota as well.
“Now it’s your turn.” I turned around and noticed that Remus had turned pale. He blinked and watched as our blood slid to Jamestown and stopped.
“That’s freaky as hell.” He shuddered.
“Okay.” Ivory bit into her wrist and turned it over, allowing several large drops of her blood to land on the map.
Amethyst spoke a few words that were inaudible, and then our blood headed west on the map.
“It never gets old.” Beth snorted as her blue eyes stayed on the map.
The blood left a faint trail behind as it slid across the rest of the United States. It slowed as it made its way to California and stopped right at Ojai.
“There. That’s where we go.” I couldn’t believe this was my first tour of the United States and I couldn’t enjoy it.
“Of course it would be twenty-seven hours from here,” Coral groaned.
Aidan banged on the car. “I think I see something. Let’s hit the road.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice.
Chapter Seventeen
Normally, I’d be complaining about being stuck in the vehicle so damn long, but not this trip. Not after a pack of wolves chased us down. I was enjoying the safety of the car, especially when Aidan took over driving.
We pulled into Ojai three days later, right when we were all becoming super restless. We’d spent the whole day in the car, and it was coming up on eight in the evening. Between the car ride and it being eleven on the east coast, I could barely keep my eyes open.
I’d found a quaint bed-and-breakfast for us to stay at. It was near the wilderness that our girl was probably living in.
The whole town was quaint and gorgeous. The buildings were older but well-kept, and the woods were thick and lush, providing shifters and witches with plenty of room to live in.
We pulled up to a house built on a large hill halfway up a mountain. A beige stone stairwell led to the front porch, and the support columns and window trims were painted white. The front of the house was spotted, and to the right, a large window framed the sunroom.
“This is so stinkin’ cute.” Ivory’s eyes lit up. “It’s like the perfect mixture of old with a modern flair.”
That was the perfect way to describe it. “We have five rooms reserved here.” We had been sharing rooms, but this place only had one bed in each room, with no pull-out couch. However, it was half the price of all the other places we’d stayed at.
Remus shut the door as Aidan popped open the trunk for us to get our stuff.
It wasn’t long before the ten of us were heading up the stairs and into the house.
We stepped directly into a living room with white walls. The flooring was maple, and the large stone fireplace matched the front porch. Right atop it was a huge flat-screen with a yellow couch in front of it. On either side of the couch was a brown wicker chair with flowery cushions. The window to the left had matching yellow swagged curtains.
“Welcome.” A lady in her mid-forties stepped from the hallway and into the room. Her brown eyes flicked to each one of us, and unease appeared in her eyes. “I’m assuming you’re the large group that’s staying here for the night.”
“Yes.” I stepped forward and smiled. “I reserved five rooms.”
“Perfect.” She waved us on down a hallway to the left.
Aidan adjusted our bag on his shoulder as he came beside me and took my hand. This looks like a nice place.
It did, but I’d booked this place for a reason. It was on the outskirts of the small city and right next to the mountains that stretched for miles.
“Okay, this side of the house is all yours.” She pointed down the hallway. “There are three rooms to the left and two on the right. Each one has their own bathroom. You can split up however you’d like.” She then faced the other way. “The kitchen is right past the living room on the left. There you can access the dining room and the back patio, where you can eat or hang out for leisure.”
“From what I remember of the description online, doesn’t the back way lead to a hiking area?” That’s where I planned for us to take off in the morning. I had a feeling we’d find the third girl there.
“Yes, it does. There is a walkway down the back of the house, and the others will lead you to the trailhead.” The lady ran her hand through her purple hair and sighed as her free hand tugged at her green sweater. “But you need to be careful. The wolves are a little more riled up than normal. Hikers have been seeing them more, which is odd. They usually keep to themselves unless they get hungry.” She took a few steps away from us.
“We’re experienced hikers.” Aidan tried to reassure her. “We’re equipped to handle all situations.”