Page 53 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

The gifts and notes could have been decoys, designed to keep Raven from looking for her…and she may never have set foot in a single one of those cities.

Connor and Liam leave their discussion with a few other members of the sheriff’s department who joined the search today and cut across the clearing toward us, eyes narrowed on the conversation.

Of course, Connor already has that look, like he’s ready to intervene if he needs to—and defend me to the death, even against the man who is the law up here, despite the name of the mountain.

Liam just looks concerned, prepared to try to talk us down. By the time he reaches us, his reddish brows cut deeply over his green eyes. “What’s going on?”

I sigh, shoving my hands through my hair again. “They’re not going to send the dogs back out.”

“Shit.” Connor looks over to the Asheville team, who seems to be packing up, preparing to hike down the mountain. “They’re done?”

As the sun starts to set, it’s exactly what we should be doing, too.

We don’t want to get stuck out here again like last night. But at least there’s no storm heading our way this time.

Vibrant shades of orange, pink, purple, and blue streak across the sky.

I wish I could enjoy them.

But I can’t.

I couldn’t enjoy anything while she was gone, and now that she’s back, it’s almost worse.

The uncertainty.

The wondering.

The constant worry that we’re missing something important.

Liam claps me on the shoulder, squeezing gently. “Head home. Go check on her. I know how worried you’ve been all day.”

I scrub my hand over my beard. “She was terrified last night…”

He raises a brow. “The storm?”

Connor and Liam know her almost as well as I do. Which means they understand her astraphobia, and the fact that she wouldn’t have been out here during a storm like that the night before we found her in the river if she’d had a choice.

I shake my head. “No. I mean, that was part of it, but she had a flash of a memory.”

Tony’s eyes widen. “Maybe you should have fuckin’ mentioned that sometime today!”

“It wasn’t anything she could pinpoint. Fire, and then a feeling, something having to do with the lightning and thunder, maybe a gunshot. She says they’re just flashes, no real substance to them, but I suppose any memories are better than none.” I release a heavy sigh. “Unless maybe what we suspect is true.”

I look at Connor and Liam, because we’ve already had this conversation earlier this morning when I collected them from their cabins on our way up here.

The more we look at the facts that we do know, the more it becomes evident that Willow wasn’t up here alone.

Something or someone drove her to that river.

Scanning the clearing and the diminishing daylight, I resign myself to the fact that we aren’t going to get anywhere else tonight, especially with the dogs and the handler already heading out of the clearing to travel down the mountain in front of us.

“Let’s start back. If we can’t do anything more with the dogs tonight, I might as well see if she’s had any luck remembering anything today.”

Tony nods his agreement. “Is she with Raven?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

Connor grumbles, already stalking toward the game trail and the way to the river, the easiest path down the mountain. “I can’t believe she hasn’t posted some bullshit gossipy story about her yet.”