“Tanner, River, Rose,” I said. “Everybody. What are we going to do about finding Abi and Cliff?” The faces turned toward me revealed I wasn’t the only one wavering at the edge of being too tired to move.
“Let’s go back to the farmhouse,” said River. “If by some extraordinary chance Abigail and Clifford have been returned, we celebrate. If not, we check in with Christoph and James and the others. We eat. We make a plan. Those who need sleep can sleep. And we keep going until we have an answer.”
The windows running along the backside of the farmhouse were dark. As the Pearmains’ grandsons approached, lights came on at the corners of the overhanging roof. The rocking chairs were empty.
We trudged up the porch steps in silence, the first person inside the house flicked the switch to the kitchen, and the rest of us fanned out to turn on lights in every room, on both floors. We broke into teams of two without discussion to look under beds, rummage through the root cellar, and check the attic. When we reconvened in the kitchen, empty-handed and lacking clues, Kaz and Belle fired up flashlights and volunteered to check the outbuildings. The others elected to stay in the house and fix food while Tanner and I went out the front door to check the cars and the driveway.
Maritza’s bright pink Volkswagen was gone.
Ambient light from the nighttime sky created navy blue shadows. I loved the hours after dusk and walked through the dark without fear. This night, a crawling sensation kept the fine hairs on the back of my arms and neck alert.
Tanner’s silhouette glowed in the light emanating from deep inside the house. He lifted his gaze skyward, throat and shoulders outlined in soft yellow, the back of his head and body limned with chalky blue-black. He searched the sky then the darkened woods to either side of the rutted driveway and cleared his throat.
“When I went after Jessamyne last night, I thought I would find her here—or nearby—and there would be an exchange, that she would entrust me with Cliff and Abi, or leave me with a guarantee they were safe.” He shifted, searched his bared forearms, with their uniform patches of reddened skin, and flexed his fingers. Long, loose hair and shadows masked his facial features. “When I ended up at the tree and felt the surge of her power…” Tanner stopped, touched his chest. “Why didn’t I say no?”
I made no comment.
He reached for my jaw. “I’m the last thing you need in your life right now, Calli.”
I cleared my throat. Stuck my hands in my pockets to keep me from touching him. “Didn’t we have this discussion a couple hours ago? On the ground beside my house?”
“Can we talk a little bit more?” he asked, taking another step closer.
“You’re not the only one with baggage,” I said. “The day I met you, I had come here straight from Rowan’s clinic. I went to see her because I was convinced I was pregnant. I’d had sex with a shifter, and the condom broke and my period was very late. And I’m kind of fuzzy on the timing, but a day or two later, a spell my ex-husband had tattooed on my body almost burned a hole in my belly. I have teenagers, Tanner, and a job that means a lot to me. I just found out I have a grandfather I don’t remember ever meeting and that my father wasn’t the most loyal husband.”
My body had gravitated closer to Tanner’s as I spoke, until the fronts of our chests were touching and my fingers were looped through the waistband of his jeans.
“But you know what?” I continued. “I like how I feel when I’m around you. You wake me up to a part of me I want to know more about. And without the interference of that tattoo—which you removed—I’m feeling my magic in ways I haven’t felt since I was six years old.”
“Are you saying my crazy ex cancels out your crazy ex?”
“Totally,” I said, balancing on the balls my toes. I couldn’t see his face very well, other than the outline of the lips coming to claim mine.
The kiss I wasn’t ready for earlier blossomed into an electrical current, running its thrum and hiss between his torso and mine. I pressed closer, ready to own that Tanner’s response to me was something I deserved. And as I tilted my head, he slid his fingers through my tangled hair and held me tight.
His other hand grabbed the side of my butt and brought me against an alive and insistent part of his anatomy. I wrapped my leg around the back of his thigh, rolled my tongue over my top and bottom lips, and went for his mouth.
Tanner let go of my ass. With both hands now cupping my head, he danced us farther from the Pearmains’ front porch, deeper into the shadows close to the gate. My feet stumbled over the uneven ground even as my lips and tongue kept contact with his. When did kissing become such a frenzied thing? And wasn’t I supposed to be searching for Abi and Cliff?
Tanner’s back landed against the side of a truck with a thump. My eyes flew open. The laugh burbling up from my chest stopped short, and I opened my eyes.
This was his truck.
My hands were on the zipper of his pants, the top button undone. Tanner’s mouth followed mine as I broke away, leaned back, and pressed a finger to his lips.
“Tanner.” Guilt surged through me. Guilt and fear. Here I was, getting lost in Tanner’s kisses when I should be finding my friends. “Your truck is here,” I whispered, “and it wasn’t here ten minutes ago.”
He wrapped his arms around my back and held me close, his mouth near my ear. “Can you sense her
