“That sounds…” He laughed. “Sorry, that sounds as terrible as my day.”
She chuckled. “It is. But it’s the perfect thing to do when you can’t be out in the field. Besides, it’ll help out the deputies picking up my shifts.”
“All right, then. Let’s get this coffee down and get the day started.”
And so they did, making the trip to Zombie Donuts before heading into the station. Jenna helped him cook breakfast again. Birdie showed up about halfway through with two banker’s boxes of paperwork for Jenna to do. She stayed long enough to have a short stack of pancakes and inquire about how their relationship was going, then she went back to the sheriff’s department after Hank called to see what was keeping her.
The day seemed to drag on, but at the same time, it sped by. Five o’clock rolled around, and Jenna found herself on edge with the anticipation of what was to come.
She was quiet on the way back to Titus’s. They’d picked up cold-cut subs from Mummy’s Diner, but she wasn’t sure she could eat.
“You okay?” Titus asked.
“Yes and no.” She smiled. “I just want to get this whole thing with the wraith over with.”
He nodded. “Me too. There’s nothing I’d like better than for life to go back to normal.”
When they got home, they ate out on the back deck. Both mostly quiet, both lost in their own thoughts.
Jenna ate half her sub, then wrapped up the other half. “I can’t eat any more. Maybe later.”
He did the same. “When this is all over, maybe we’ll go into town and treat ourselves. Some celebratory hot fudge sundaes. Or the ice cream we bought last night. Whatever seems right.”
She smiled. “I’m in. Whichever way we go.”
They cleaned up the kitchen, still without much conversation, then went to change. Jenna decided on black tactical pants, a black T-shirt, and black combat boots. It wasn’t the armor she would have worn in service, but it was close enough.
She came back out to find Titus in the living room, wearing a very similar outfit in desert tan. She smiled. “Great minds, huh?”
“Yeah. Also? This whole SWAT look? Very hot.”
“Thanks.” She grinned despite the anticipation running through her. “You look pretty hot yourself.”
They settled in to read while they waited for Ingvar to arrive, but Jenna found herself staring at the same page in the magazine, unable to concentrate on the words.
Thankfully, Titus’s doorbell rang a few minutes after they’d sat down.
Jenna closed the magazine she wasn’t reading. “Ingvar.”
He nodded. “I’m sure.” He answered the door. The seer stood on the other side, the car service she’d used pulling out of his drive. She was all in black and wore all the same jewelry, except she’d added a circlet around her head made of tiny vertebrae. He moved out of the way. “Come on in.”
She shook her head. “I have already prepared myself. I don’t want to fight the energy of your home.”
Jenna jumped up. “Hi, Ingvar. Where do you want us to meet you, then? Around back? We can go into the forest from there.”
She nodded. “That’s fine.”
As Ingvar started down off the porch, Titus closed the door. “You ready?”
Jenna took a breath. “Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
They went out the back and down the steps. Ingvar was just coming around the side of the house. Dusk approached, darkening the horizon. She had a large cloth bag with her. Supplies for her work, no doubt.
“Take me to where you saw the wraith last. I’ll need some time to prepare the trap. Alone. When you return, the wolf must stay as far away as possible.”
“So you said.” Titus didn’t look happy.
Jenna did her best to intervene. “No problem.” She smiled at Titus. “I’m not sure I remember how to get there from here.”
His gaze was still on Ingvar. “Just follow me.”
They started into the woods, Titus in front.
Jenna dropped back to walk beside Ingvar. She started to ask her friend how she was feeling, but Ingvar was chanting softly to herself. More preparation for what was to come? Jenna could only assume so.
She picked up her pace to join Titus. “I don’t want to mess with Ingvar’s concentration.”
He nodded. He looked tense.
Jenna slipped her hand in his. “It’ll all be over soon.”
He glanced at her but didn’t smile. “I hope so. In the best possible way.”
Silence settled over them again, and they made the rest of the trek like that. What had taken a few minutes to run took about twenty to walk. Dusk fell hard, and within the cathedral of trees, it seemed far darker than it should have been.
In the distance, the familiar rushing water of the falls thrummed like white noise.
“We’re here,” Titus said as he came to a stop. “This is where we saw it.”
Ingvar closed her eyes and stretched out her arms. She stood that way for a few seconds, then opened her eyes and nodded, letting her arms drop. “I can feel he was here. Leave me to work now.”
Titus glanced at Jenna. “We can walk down to the falls.”
“Okay.” She waved at Ingvar, who was chanting again. “When should we come back?”
Ingvar stopped chanting and glanced in Jenna’s direction. Her eyes were completely black. “You will know.”
Jenna backed up, bumping into Titus. “Let’s go.”
They started walking, and she shuddered.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She sighed. “Nothing I can put a name to. I’m having some doubts, that’s all. That’s normal, I suppose.”
“Doubts about what?”
“Our success rate.”
“That seems normal.” He took her hand. “How are we going to know when to go back?”
“Beats me. She said we’d know.” Jenna shrugged. “Whatever that means. In the past I always stayed with the seer, but her skills have probably advanced with all her recent training. This might be a new technique. Hey, I know you have to stay back and all that, but I was thinking, just in case, maybe
