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Witch’s Peak

Hiking boots—check. Bug spray—check. Magical compass—always checked. Confidence and self-assuredness—missing in action.

Maybe Harry would find it in the mountains, although what was more likely was developing a severe case of poison ivy. But threat to her sensitive skin aside, she’d been unable to put what happened during the Night Drop out of her head and enough was enough.

It was time to find out what the hell wanted her to go to Witch’s Peak.

Dropping her hiking gear by the front door, Harry did one last check and grabbed another water bottle for good measure. As she turned, Nora stood in the living room, her small body taking up practically the entire room.

“What are you doing?” Nora noticed the equipment. “Are you going alone? Are you going with the girls?”

“Uh, no. I thought I’d do some exploring.” Harry paused. “You’ll be okay keeping an eye out for Grace, right? I’m not sure how long it will take Cassie to get here from where she is and—”

“Me and the child will be just fine. My concern is with you.”

“I’m fine,” Harry lied. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gone on a hike and I figured I could use a little time and space to clear my head. That’s all.”

“I’m not certain I like this idea.”

Harry chuckled. “Did you not just drop me off in the middle of nowhere and tell me to find my way back home? I’ll be fine. You forget that I grew up on these mountains, Aunt Nora.”

“Yeah, I dropped you off with an entire team at your back, and you know I love you, dear, but you’ve spent the last thirteen years being citified.”

“It’s like riding a bike… and I have a built-in compass that will direct me home when I’m ready.” She pulled her aunt into a firm hug. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“I know you will be eventually, but it’s my job to worry about you until you manage to muddle your way there. And don’t give me any of that nonsense about being an adult.” Nora pulled away gently, shooting her a small smile. “You’ll learn soon enough with Grace that worry isn’t something you can flip off because someone is technically a grown-up. Adult decisions have the potential for larger, more adultish mistakes.”

“Gee. Thanks for the pep talk,” Harry joked.

“Just keeping it real, my dear. Be careful.”

“Always.” Harry collected her gear and tucked everything in the hatchback, and then she was off, armed with both the coordinates of the original drop-off and the general idea of where she’d felt the strange secondary magic.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t drive to the exact spot. She had to park a good eight miles away, almost near Rocky Mountain Pack lands, and then hike the rest of the way. It was daylight. She was experienced. She had an actual internal compass. Her hope was to find the magical source, check it out, and get back well before nightfall.

She’d thought about asking Elodie or Lenny to go with her, but replaying their last conversation, she decided against it. She needed to have a much larger one-on-one with her friends, and something in Harry’s gut told her whatever lay in wait at the top of Witch’s Peak was time sensitive.

She steered Nora’s hatchback onto one of the old logging trails, wincing as she bounced, nearly smacking her head on the roof. The twists and turns were almost nauseating and she reduced her speed to a crawl by the time she reached her destination.

A familiar truck sat parked in the small scenic overlook, and as Harry parked alongside it, Jax, his backpack making his broad chest even more impressive, rounded the corner.

Her heart stuttered at the sight of him leaning casually against his tailgate, waiting as she climbed from Nora’s car.

“Off for a little daytime excursion?” She kept her tone light, her nerves wreaking havoc on her insides.

“Guess I could ask the same of you.” His face was devoid of emotion as he watched her pull out her gear from the hatchback.

She ignored his gaze as she ran through her mental checklist one last time, donning her pack like armor as she turned to face him. “Guess I have Nora to thank for your presence.”

He didn’t confirm nor deny. “I told you I’d go up to Witch’s Peak with you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but that was before Grace went snooping into my emails and told everyone my personal business, and before everyone held a trial and convicted me before giving me the chance to explain. And in case you’re wondering, that everyone includes you, too.”

She started walking, not bothering to go around him, and brushed her shoulder against his as she headed toward the tree line.

So maybe Nora’s suggestion of giving everyone time to cool tempers only fueled her own. It hurt thinking they’d all thought the worst of her and her ability to stick around, and then not allowed her to explain.

Harry let the hurt spew words from her mouth. “I got this, Jax. Don’t feel obligated to stick around after I disappointed everyone once again, in true Harlow Pierce fashion.”

“So then why don’t you go ahead and explain?” Jax’s heavy footsteps followed.

“Nope. The time for that to happen was when everyone jumped to conclusions about my plans and my intentions, and immediately thought the worst of me. Right now, I have other concerns that need addressing.”

He grumbled and caught up to her quickly. They hiked in silence for a long time, automatically falling into a rhythm without needing to talk. Despite Harry’s speech about not talking about what happened at Pierce House, her anger grew with every mile they hiked.

Was it a bit of a double standard? Yes. Her own mistakes supplied the ammunition for Jax and the others to think her capable of walking away from Fates Haven, and everyone in it, again . But that had been in the past. She’d hoped that everything she’d done since returning to Fates Haven had shown them that history wouldn’t repeat itself.

It hurt more than anything to think they’d always kept that expectation of her in the back of their minds, and it made her wonder if she’d ever truly get that clean slate they all boasted about, or if she’d always be labeled the Runaway Witch.

Harry plowed through a tight stand of trees, knocking an offending branch away from her face with a magical wave of her hand. She released it just as emphatically, and the sharp pine needles snapped back toward Jax with gusto.

“Fuck.” He cursed as it smacked him in the face. “What the hell, Harry?”

“Sorry. You’re so quiet with all your cougar stalkiness that I forgot you’re back there.”

He scoffed. “You’re the one that said you don’t want to talk. So now you’re saying you do? Fuck, you are so frustratingly stubborn, I swear—”

“ I’m frustratingly stubborn?” She whirled around, nearly headbutting his chin he was so close. “You can look in the mirror and say the same thing to your reflection, buddy. I mean, not now because we’re in the middle of nowhere and there are no mirrors around, but later. Later, take a good long look.”

He folded his massive arms over his chest, the textbook image of stubborn.

Harry growled. “You want to know why I haven’t made any bold, elaborate plans to stay in Fates Haven?”

“That question has run through my mind once or twice.”

“Because what if there’s not a place here for me anymore?” Harry blurted. She ignored the shocked look on Jax’s face and continued before losing her nerve. “Lenny and Maddox have Once Upon a Tattoo, and Elodie and Silas are doing whatever strange mating dance they’re doing and about to be business enemies. Nora is on the freaking town council for crying out loud, and Marie is now making penis pastries. And you…”

His eyes flashed a gorgeous, liquid silver. “And I what?”

“You’re now the head cougar in charge, Jax. You’re running both the Rocky Mountain Pack and your business.”

“And?” Jax’s tone was way too calm.

“I feel like everyone has their solidified, designated roles here. You’ve all found your thing. Your place. What if I gave mine up permanently thirteen years ago, and Fate doesn’t deem me worthy enough of a second chance?”

Jax opened his mouth to counter, but Harry couldn’t hear it.

A magical rush surged through her body, igniting her own magic. The dual sensations sucked all the oxygen from her lungs and forced her to her knees. Jax was there in an instant, large hands gently cupping her cheeks.

His mouth moved, but his voice sounded muffled as the unexpected magical presence pulsed through her head and chest. “Harry! Come on, baby. Talk to me.”

That secondary magic yanked hard, toppling her into his arms. Time ticked away at a snail’s pace until she sucked in a lungful of air, and with painful slowness her other senses gradually returned.

Worry was etched in every line of Jax’s face.

“I’m okay.” Her voice sounded raspy even to her own ears.

“Baby, you look the exact opposite of okay right now.”

“We really need to talk about your flattery skills.” She smiled wanly, her hands latching on his shoulders as she used his bulk to return to her feet. She wobbled, but his tightened grip kept her upright and firmly against his chest. “See. All good.”

He frowned as he stepped slightly back and studied her from head to toe, looking for any sign of injury or illness. “Yeah. We’re not doing this. I’m taking you back home.”

“No. We’re on the right track. I can feel it now.”

“ It? Harry, it dropped you to your knees and scared about twenty years off my life. I know you think you need to follow this feeling, but it’s pretty damn obvious that it doesn’t want to be found.”

“It’s not that it doesn’t want to be found…” Harry tried making sense of that magical signature she could now feel wrapping around her own. “I think it just has rusty people skills… like it’s been out here by itself for a long time.”

“Great. An antisocial it feeling hiding in the middle of a mountain. Like that isn’t the recipe for some twisted horror flick.”

“You and Grace and your horror movies,” Harry teased. “The two of you should have a binge watch.”

“Sure. I like horror movies… when I’m sitting on a comfortable couch, a beautiful brunette tucked tight into my side and her face burrowed in my neck. And locked doors. Locked doors and bright lights are a must.”

“And not the beautiful brunette?”

“Right now, that beautiful brunette is hell-bent on sending us up the side of a mountain toward something with antisocial tendencies and rusty interpersonal skills.”

Harry’s lips twitched. “It’s a magical signature, not an ax murderer.”

“Guess we’ll soon find out if you’re insistent on doing this.”

“I am. I mean, if you’re chicken, I can always go it alone from here.”

Jax scanned their surroundings and sighed. “Where the witch wanders, the shifter follows. So… after you. Lead the way.”

This time, they set a new pace, Jax walking at her side as she followed that tug up the side of the mountain; and with each step they took, she became more and more certain that the tug was leading them to Witch’s Peak.

Something told her that they’d soon come face-to-face with the fuel of all those Fates Haven stories.

H ARLOW P IERCE WAS literally the only person on this planet for whom Jax would dare hike to Witch’s Peak. Even for his mother, he’d give it a hard think before shooting the idea down, and that woman had suffered through seventy-two hours of labor and his nearly sixteen-inch head—if she were to be believed.

Jax scanned the sky and the quickly sinking sun, cursing at the diminishing light. “Harry, we—”

“Just a little farther.” She charged ahead as if she’d somehow found a fourth wind.

“You said that at least a half dozen ‘little farthers’ ago. There’s already no hope of getting back to the cars before nightfall, but if we veer left, I’m pretty sure we’ll run into at least one of old man Winters’s hunting cabins. We can lie low there for the night, and get started again in the morning.”

“It’s seriously not that farther.”

“Harry.” He caught her arm and dragged her to a slow stop. “I know you want to see this through, and I want to help you, but we can’t do anything if we walk off the face of a damn cliff or into a bear trap. Plus, I don’t know if you noticed since you’ve been practically running up this mountain at inhuman speed, but this fog is getting ridiculous and it’s getting cold… almost unnaturally so.”

As he spoke, his breath clouded around them, making his point.

She nodded, finally relenting. “Fine. We’ll call it a night, but I have a better plan than finding one of old man Winters’s hunting cabins.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“That cabin right up there on the summit.” She nudged her chin over his shoulder and he turned. The fog obscuring the way slowly parted, and even Jax felt that something else filling the air around them.

“Where the hell did that come from?” he asked warily.

“I don’t know, but that’s where it is telling me we should go.”

He scanned the log cabin critically, unable to sense anything ominous other than the fact it basically appeared from thin air. “Let me go first.”

She rolled her eyes. “And what will you do if you come across anything of the magical persuasion? Hiss at it?”

“Humor me, will you?”

“Fine.” She gestured for him to take the lead. “But you’re being ridiculous.”

“You can call me ridiculous after we get inside and there isn’t an ax murderer about to dismember us and make us the main ingredient in their stew.”

Taking her hand, he took the lead up the steep slope. The closer they got to the cabin, the colder the air got, freezing his cheeks by the time they reached the front steps.

“Hello?” he called out, repeating himself a few times before peering through each frosted window. “Is anyone in there? We were hiking and lost track of time. Do you think we can come in and get a little warm?”

No one answered despite the gleaming light coming from inside.

“Stay behind me,” Jax directed Harry as they slowly climbed the stairs. He glanced around at their surroundings, hopefully avoiding a rifle barrel aimed at their heads, and knocked on the front door.

A second knock and the door slipped open…

He shared a look with Harry, who shrugged, looking woefully unconcerned. “You don’t find this the least bit fucking weird?”

“There’s nothing about this entire thing that isn’t fucking weird, Jax. I’m just finally accepting that just because something is weird, doesn’t mean it’s dangerous.” She tapped her chest. “I don’t know how I know, but we’re meant to go inside. Trust me.”

When she put it that way…

He turned to the open door and, ready for anything, called his cougar close to the surface as a second set of senses. “We’re coming in, so don’t shoot.”

He could practically hear Harry’s eye roll.

The inside of the cabin definitely didn’t look like the home of an ax murderer. A welcoming fire was ablaze in the massive stone fireplace, and a small army of oil lanterns created a golden glow in the large single room. In the corner, a full-size bed, adorned with patchwork quilts and fluffy pillows, looked as inviting as the plush couch catty-corner to the fireplace.

It looked like a hunter’s cabin, but chic, straight out of some country living magazine. Hell, it looked a lot like his own cabin.

“Ooh, hot chocolate.” Harry scurried toward a small kitchen counter with two mugs, a boxed mix, and a kettle. “And there’s even marshmallows. You want some?”

“Do I want to drink mysterious hot chocolate in the cabin in the woods that appeared out of thin air?” Jax asked, incredulous.

“Well? Do you?” Harry smirked, waiting for his answer. “You’re the one who wanted to find somewhere to lie low until the morning. Well, it found us. So what will it be? Hot chocolate? Or whatever sour drink you’re currently tasting right now, judging by the look on your face.”

Fuck it.

“Sure. I’ll take some if you’re making it,” he grumbled, ignoring her soft chuckles.

He slipped off his backpack and checked the windows and door before heading toward the fireplace and adding a few more logs. Summer shouldn’t be this damn cold, even here on Witch’s Peak, and yet it wouldn’t surprise him if they woke up to a few inches of snow.

“Here. All warmed up and ready to drink.” Harry handed him a mug that was emblazoned with the Fates Haven logo: Become Fated in Fates.

“Guess there’s no point in being surprised, is there?” he asked, bemused.

“At this point, I would say no.” She kicked off her boots with a wince and curled up on the couch. “I don’t know what it is about this place, but it feels familiar and yet I know I’ve never been here. It almost reminds me…”

“Reminds you of what?”

She shook her head, chuckling, a pink hue rising on her cheeks. “Never mind. It’s silly.”

He sat next to her and forced himself to get comfortable. It didn’t take much, the cushions molding to his body.

“Silly or not, we’ve obviously got some time to kill here.” Jax grabbed one of the throws behind his head and draped it over her lap. “It reminds you of what?”

“A long time ago, I used to dream about having a cabin high in the mountains, one that only”—she cleared her throat—“one that only you and I knew about. It had a large stone fireplace and a simple bed covered in handmade quilts. This place really could’ve stepped right out of my imagination.”

“You never told me that you pictured a place like that for us.” Jax studied her as she gazed into her mug and shrugged.

“It was one of those things that I thought about but didn’t think would ever really happen.”

“And now?” Jax teased, glancing around.

She chuckled. “Now I’m really not sure what’s happening, but I know it’s something that needs to. And, yes, I know that’s oddly cryptic, and I’m not trying to do it on purpose. It’s like my descry abilities have been given a boost. Normally, I have to know exactly what I’m searching for in order to find it, but this time? Not so much. It’s finding me. Here.”

“Then I guess we’ll be staying here for the time being, huh?”

Harry’s eyes widened. “Shit. Nora! I have to let her know I’m not making it back tonight so she doesn’t call out the rescue squad.”

“Wouldn’t want a rescue squad interrupting our peaceful solitude.” He pulled out the satellite phone from his bag and tossed it to her with a smirk. “Glad one of us remembered the hiking essentials.”

She grinned but rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I’m a little rusty…”

He nursed his hot chocolate while she spoke to Nora, reassuring her aunt that all was well. By the time she coaxed the older witch off the phone, he’d gone from feeling as though he’d hiked an entire mountain to being wired and on edge.

With not a lot of options of things to do.

“Your peaceful wooded wonderland doesn’t happen to include a treasure trove of board games or something, does it?” he joked.

“Can’t say it did, but I wonder…” A warm breeze swept through the room—her magic—and it turned her toward the antique chest at the foot of the bed. Grinning, she pulled out a small rectangular box. “Feel like Jenga?”

“Jenga.”

“I mean, unless you’re afraid your skills are a little rusty and you can’t take the pressure.” She obviously referred to the Jenga challenges they had as kids and the all-night tournaments.

“You’re on, Pierce. Set it up, and I’ll let you knock ’em down.”

She snorted, settling on the rug right in front of the fireplace. “Sorry, buddy, but this witch has nerves of steel. If anyone is knocking over the blocks, it’ll be you.”

They got comfortable, and after a round of rock, paper, scissors to see who drew first, they worked into a rhythm, each plucking a log from the tower before the next turn started.

About four turns in, Harry’s gaze dropped to her block and she chuckled. “Um… I’m not so sure this is regular Jenga.”

“What do you mean?”

“Check your blocks, Jax.”

He glanced at the first two blocks he’d pulled, both blank. Next, he glanced at the third: Pick one article of clothing to come off—both yours and your partner’s .

Jax plucked his fourth block: Stand behind your partner and get handsy for 30 seconds. “What the hell kind of Jenga game is this?”

Harry picked up the box and laughed, turning the front cover toward him. “Jenga for Couples. Well, I guess this was a bust.”

“Hold on now.” He stopped her from cleaning up. “What was on your block?”

“Mine?” She inspected her latest pull and read: “Sit in your partner’s lap for the rest of the game.”

Their gazes stumbled together, and suddenly the chill in the air disappeared entirely and the room got really, really warm.

“What do you say, sweet pea?” Jax flickered his gaze to her mouth. “Want to play the mysteriously appearing adult Jenga you found in an old chest in your mysteriously appearing cabin in the woods? I should warn you that I still plan on winning.”

Harry’s lips twitched as humor danced in her eyes. “Something tells me that if we play this, we’ll both end up winning.”

He sure as hell hoped so.