“Mac is already on the—” The rest of Tala’s comment was cut off as Aiden growled, “Are you all right?”
“For the most part, yes.”
“Which no doubt means you’re bruised, bleeding, or close to exhaustion.”
“Only one of those three is correct,” I said, a smile twitching my lips.
He sighed. It was a sound that was both relieved and frustrated. “Where are you taking Mia?”
I hesitated. “I’m not actually sure. This thing is damn strong, Aiden.”
“Stronger than four witches combined?”
“Possibly.” I glanced up as the wail of a siren bit through the silence. An SUV appeared in the distance, red and blue lights flashing. “Mac’s almost here. I’ll call again when we find a safe house.”
“Okay.” He paused. “Is Mac going to be safe out there alone?”
“I think so. This thing isn’t going after randoms, Aiden. It has specific targets, and it doesn’t appear to be deviating.”
“Is that why you think I’m also in danger? Because she appears to be going after both parties involved in the extramarital activities?”
“Yes.”
He grunted. “Then let’s hope the charm you made stops this thing, because there’s no way known I’m getting locked up with Mia.”
“Why? Don’t you trust yourself not to fall back in love with her?”
It was out before I could stop it, and I winced. He’d already said he could never forgive someone who’d so readily betrayed his trust, and I had no right—and no reason—to doubt that.
But sometimes the inner green demon popped up before I could stomp her back down.
He made a low rumbly sound that had the tiny hairs on the back of my neck rising. “Even suggesting that is offensive, Liz.”
I sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry. It’s just—” I waved a hand, though he couldn’t see it. “This whole situation is just getting to me.”
“Which is why we need to talk.”
“But will it actually achieve anything?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer that, but rushed on to add, “Look, Mac is here. I’ll call later.”
And then I hung up.
He didn’t call back. He probably knew I wouldn’t answer.
I touched the unconscious woman’s neck again, just to be sure nothing had changed, then glanced around as Aiden’s truck pulled to a halt a few meters away.
Monty jumped out and walked over. “There is a driver, I take it?”
I nodded. “An O’Connor wolf. I don’t think she’s badly hurt—not by the hone-onna, at any rate.”
Monty squatted and peered in through the window. “There are a few minor threads of magic caught in her hair, but they’re the remnants of a control spell rather than anything more serious.”
“That’s what I figured.” I pushed to my feet. “Do you want to keep an eye on her while I hunt around for a bit of bone?”
“Bone?”
“It came off the hone-onna’s leg when I kicked her. If I can find it, I might be able to use my psychometry to find her.”
“It would certainly be a whole lot faster than my spell.”
“If it works. No guarantee that it will.”
“No guarantee that it won’t, either.”
“True that.”
I walked back to the spot where I’d been attacked and then tried to remember the direction the shard had speared off to. After a moment, I headed to the edge of the road, slid down the slope, and then paused again, drawing in the air, searching for the scent of darkness. I didn’t find it, but I did find the smell of blood. It was only faint, but it was nevertheless noticeable—at least to my newly sharpened olfactory sense.
I followed my nose several yards to the right and then bent. Caught in the spiky branch of a scotch thistle was a bloody bit of bone. I grabbed a tissue from my pocket and carefully retrieved it. Even though there was no direct contact between the bone and my skin, my psychometry talent once again stirred to life. There were secrets to be mined from this bit of bone.
I hesitated, then tightened my grip around it. The tissue made for a slightly fuzzy connection, but I wasn’t overly worried about that given what I was dealing with. For all I knew, the hone-onna might have deliberately shed this bit of bone in the hope that I’d pick it up. Maybe she wanted to use it to find me just as I did her.
And yet it wasn’t a location that rose, but rather the image of a woman. She had crimson hair, silver eyes that gleamed with power, and a mark that ran down her face and ended in an odd sort of hook near her mouth.
For one horrible instant, I thought it was a maker’s mark, which would have meant she was either a dark sorcerer or the apprentice of one. But the image shifted—sharpened—and it became clear that it was just an ill-healed scar. She had three more near her collarbone, though they resembled the slashes of a large cat. Or maybe a disgruntled spirit.
This, I suspected, was the witch who’d called the hone-onna into the reservation. I had no idea if she was a full-blood royal witch or not, but she was definitely someone who’d been well trained. She might not be a dark sorcerer, per se, but she was definitely walking that line.
What the shard of bone wasn’t telling me was whether someone had paid to unleash vengeance, or if she too was a woman betrayed.
I pulled another tissue from my pocket, wrapped it around the bone fragment to provide more of a buffer between it and me, then carefully placed the bundle in the breast pocket of my coat and scrambled back up the hill.
Mac had pulled up in front of the upturned car and was now walking toward Monty.
“The ambulance is only a few minutes behind me,” he said. “Are we dealing with any serious injuries?”
“The driver is unconscious, but there’re no obvious external injuries,” Monty replied. “The hone-onna has left the area, so you should be safe. Unless, of course, you’re married and cheating on your partner.”
“A wolf stupid enough to stray is a wolf who’d be nutless pretty damn quick.” A smile tugged at Mac’s lips. “I’m under strict orders not to delay you two, so you’d better go.”
I nodded and retreated to Aiden’s truck, climbing into the passenger side while Monty jumped into the driver seat. With the upturned car blocking the road, we had to head in the opposite direction for a couple of klicks to find a road that would take us back to Castle Rock.
“Any luck?” Monty asked.
“Yes indeed. But a quick scan provided expected results. It appears our hone-onna—”
“Okay, I think I’ve been extremely patient about all this,” Mia cut in. “But really, what the hell is going on? And what the fuck is a hone-onna?”
“It’s a dark spirit,” Monty said. “It’s been called into the reservation to hunt and kill those who break their marriage vows and have an affair.”
“Then why the hell is it coming after me? I was never married.”
“In most Australian States, a de facto couple holds many of the same rights as a married couple,” I said.
“Many isn’t all.”
“Semantics generally don’t matter to dark spirits.”