Wild Sign (Alpha & Omega #6)(82)

This trip had eased something in their relationship, but Tag wasn’t sure it was a good thing. Tag had not gone full berserker since he’d joined Bran’s pack. He didn’t want to be friends with Charles. He wanted Charles to be the demon wolf who would keep Tag from doing anything terrible.

His mind kept trying to put pictures of the terrible things he’d done as a berserker in his head, so Tag started out of his hotel room. He’d run down to the river and then see if he needed to continue to run.

He was so intent on his aim, he almost missed it. He’d gotten halfway to the river before turning back to see what was nagging at him. And that was when he realized the Suburban was gone.



* * *



*

CHARLES WOKE UP with the splash of cold water on his face.

He blinked at Tag, who stood in the doorway of the hotel room, an empty glass in his hand.

“I couldn’t wake you up any other way,” he said, taking a step back. He grimaced. “Smells like magic in here.”

Charles sat up and swung his feet to the floor. Tag wasn’t wrong. The room reeked of magic, a cloying and smothering thing that kept trying to run over his thoughts and send him back to sleep.

Charles, using the time-honored tradition of “hot and cold,” located the source in the pocket of the slacks Anna had worn yesterday. He extracted a small, crumpled piece of paper with a series of runes drawn on it, and shielded himself the best that he could from the immediate need to lie down and sleep again.

Charles closed his eyes and pulled on his grandfather’s teachings. Breathing deeply, he made a fist around the paper for a beat of five. At the end of the count, he opened his eyes and his fist—which now held a handful of dust. Clarity of thought returned to him, along with an icy realization.

Anna was gone.

He dressed rapidly, assessing the room as he did so. She’d taken the flannel shirt he’d worn yesterday when he and Tag had cleaned out the storage unit. She’d taken her hiking boots and her carry gun. That didn’t make him feel better at all. He walked to the bed and put his hand on the side of the mattress she had been occupying, but it was cold to the touch.

“What woke you up?” Charles asked.

“The sounds of the night are different here,” Tag said. “A semi drove down the highway and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I decided to go for a walk by the river, but when I got outside—the Suburban was gone. I knocked on your door and you didn’t answer, though I knew damned well that you were in here. And that Anna was not.” He growled. “I should have noticed when the Suburban started up. I think that whatever kept you sleeping seeped through the walls and got me, too.”

Charles nodded and got out his laptop. “The SUV is LoJacked. I’ll get someone working on locating it—I’m not up to such delicate work right now.” Brother Wolf was frantic, and keeping him under control was an effort. “Could you see about finding us an alternate vehicle? Leave a card and we’ll make it right.” He thought about the hiking shoes. “Make it a vehicle that can go wherever the SUV could go. I think she’s headed into the mountains. Back to Wild Sign.”

Seeing the gleeful joy that lit Tag’s face, Charles felt a moment of remorse for whoever had the best off-road-capable vehicle on the property. He grabbed his laptop and opened it up, then picked up his phone.

“Ben,” he said. “I have a vehicle I need you to locate. It’s LoJacked. ASAP.”



* * *



*

BY THE TIME Tag drove around the corner with an early-seventies British Land Rover in pristine condition, Charles had the SUV’s location—and the path it had taken to get wherever it was. The beacon transmitted to his phone along with his current location, so they could tell when they were getting close.

He climbed in the passenger seat and buckled in. “I need you to drive,” he told Tag. “If you wreck this vehicle, it could mean Anna’s life.”

Tag nodded and put his foot down on the accelerator, heading toward the place where they’d camped that first night, though from the information Charles was getting from Ben, they would be turning off the road well before they made it to the campgrounds. Charles took the opportunity to call his da.

The cell phone went to voice mail. He left a very brief message and then called the house.

“Bran’s phone,” Asil drawled. “If this is anyone except Charles calling at this hour, I recommend hanging up now before I figure out who it is. If this is Charles, your father left for your location about two hours ago by air. About five minutes after I arrived from Billings.”

“Thank you,” said Charles. “If Da can’t get in touch with us, we are on our way into the mountains, probably heading toward Wild Sign. Tag and I were spelled asleep and Anna took off in the Suburban. Presumably the Singer’s doing. If he can’t contact me, because cell reception is likely to be spotty in the wilderness”—which was one of the reasons why Tag was driving; when they inevitably lost contact, Charles wanted to be watching the location data so he’d have the most up-to-date information—“have him contact Ben Shaw, who has a LoJack trace on the Suburban that Anna took.”

“Got it,” said Asil briskly. “Will he know how to contact Ben Shaw?”

“Ben’s in Adam Hauptman’s pack,” Charles said.