Jude frowned. “I guess I did.”
“So call down the lightning and fry those fuckers.” Out here it would be safe to do just that.
“That’s your plan?”
“Got a better one?”
Jude was silent for several heartbeats. “I don’t summon lightning. I control the flow of electrons and make my own charge.”
Mack took his attention off the road for a moment. Jude was a lot more powerful than he realized. Or maybe he realized and was afraid of his own power because the Coven had convinced him he was dangerous. “How do you control electrons?” He knew how electricity worked, could check the battery on a car and fix the lights, but that was it. “Do you actually make electricity?”
“You could say that. I can feel them, taste the charge.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s the same for those witches who can communicate with animals or control the weather. It’s just there, part of them. The same as your magic. How did you know to become a bear, not a wolf when you shifted?”
“I didn’t. I just did.” He’d felt the heat rising, and his parents had known he was getting close, so they’d gone on a camping trip. Being it the wild had tipped him over the edge, and he’d become part of it. The world had been so different. After that first shift, he was different. His hearing was better and so was his sense of smell. The strength had been a gradual build.
“Same for me. I just can.” He glanced down at his phone. “I guess we’re far enough from civilization.” He held up his phone. It had no signal.
Mack smiled. “Almost there.”
The place Mack led them to was a small clearing, not what Jude would’ve called a campsite at all. While it was obvious it was used—there was a small fire pit—Jude doubted anyone came here except Mack. They’d had to hike for an hour from the car park to get here, carrying the bags. Mack had crammed everything into two backpacks.
Jude sat and pulled off his boots. While they looked good and were great for wearing around town, they were not made for traipsing through the woods. “Don’t say anything.”
Mack had warned him, suggested that he wear runners or buy new boots. He should’ve listened. While he massaged his feet, Mack made a fire and set up the tent. Jude would’ve offered to help, but he figured he’d get in the way and he didn’t want Mack grumbling at him.
If Jude died out here, no one would ever find his body. They could both be killed, and eventually someone would stumble over their skeletal remains—that had probably been torn apart by scavengers and scattered wide—and wonder what had happened. He shivered even though sunlight filtered through the trees and the birds were chattering in the branches.
“Maybe we’re too far away from town and they won’t find us.” Maybe that would be a good thing. The idea of facing those creatures without a solid wall between them cut the marrow of Jude’s bones.
“Put your boots on or put them in the tent, unless you want something to crawl inside them.”
Jude couldn’t face putting the boots back on so pulled on his runners instead. But he followed Mack’s advice. “I’ve just remembered how much I don’t like nature,” he muttered as he zipped up the tent.
“What’s not to like?”
He hadn’t realized that Mack could hear him from the other side of the fire where he was setting up two little chairs and a big container of water.
“We’re too far from help. What if we need an ambulance?” Did Mack not worry about that kind of stuff? What if they got lost, or shot, or bitten by snakes? Aufhockers were not the only thing out here that could kill them.
“Worst case, we spend the night in one of your circles.” Mack smiled like everything was fine.
Jude wished he hadn’t given in and agreed to this. But when Mack had talked about the kids who lived next door, Jude wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if they got eaten. That and the Coven would have his magic for screwing up. “And the best case?”
“We eliminate the problem and walk out of here tomorrow.”
His mission for the Coven would be complete. “And then the Coven breaks the bond.” With no magic, he wouldn’t get the chance to be an investigator. He wasn’t minding the research.
Mack added some wood to the fire. “Will you be okay by yourself here for a bit?”
No, he wouldn’t fine for even five minutes. He’d probably get attacked by a squirrel or something. He tried to sound calm. “Where are you going?”
“I thought I might shift and go for a wander.”
“And how will I know it’s you returning not some random bear?”
“I’ll give you a sign.” Mack pulled off his shirt and undershirt, revealing the muscles Jude had only glimpsed when helping Mack undress for the shower. Then Mack unlaced his boots as though stripping right in front of Jude was perfectly normal.
Jude couldn’t help but watch. “I thought you shifted near the car.”
“I do sometimes. Sometimes I spend the night. Either way, I leave the car unlocked and a change of clothes on the passenger seat.”
“Even today?” Jude hadn’t paid attention to anything except how to make his backpack more comfortable.
“Yes. There’s a spare key in my pack.”
Which wouldn’t help Jude at all because he wouldn’t be able to find his way down the hill and to the car even if a random bear was chasing him.
Mack’s fingers closed on his belt buckle and hesitated. “I can’t do this in the tent.”
Jude blinked, then realized what Mack wasn’t asking. “You want me to go into the tent.”
“Just while I shift.” Mack wasn’t meeting Jude’s gaze. It was almost as if he were embarrassed.
“I’d like to see you shift. To see you as a bear.”
It was the wrong thing to say because Mack glared at
