Page 28

Duncan and I headed north in his van, to-go cups of Americanos in the drink holders.

He’d intended to drive, but, after witnessing him pass out once that day, I’d talked him out of it by saying I knew the area where we were going better than he, so it would be best for me to take the wheel.

He’d given me a knowing look but allowed it and now sat in the passenger seat, his knees scrunched to his chest, the way I usually had to ride due to all the junk in the foot space.

Between us rested bags that we’d packed. I didn’t know what his held, but I’d tucked the potions and druid bath bombs I’d collected these past weeks into mine. Also chocolate. One had to be well-provisioned for an adventure, after all.

“Are you sure those two will assiduously guard the artifact?” he asked as we navigated highway traffic on the way north. We’d left Bolin and Jasmine climbing into the G-Wagon as we departed. “They looked like they were having romantic inklings.”

“He did save her life, or at least leap nobly to her defense and keep her car from being smashed to pieces.”

“I’ve leaped to your defense a number of times, and it’s yet to send you into my arms with smooches on your lips.”

“I’m old, divorced, and jaded. It takes more to prompt smooch desires in me.”

“You’re not old , my lady. You’re strong, vibrant, and delightful.”

“Words like that might make my lips twitch in your direction.”

“I do get excited by the prospect of twitching lips.”

“In your current condition, I’m not sure we should get you excited.”

“If there’s to be no more excitement in my life, I might as well die now.”

“If Radomir and Abrams are at that address when we arrive, things could get exciting.”

“Probably not in the lip-twitching sort of way though.” Duncan sighed. “Unless going into battle with vile nemeses rouses you more than I believe.”

“ Surviving such battles and lifting curses can get me pretty revved up.”

“Ah.” He rested his hand over his heart. “A reason to live.”

“To live and kick some ass.”

“Do you think doing so would prove my worth to the medallion?” His hand drifted to the wolf head hanging from his neck. “Ass kicking traditionally is how the alpha position is taken.”

“I don’t know what’s in the minds—do medallions have minds?—of these artifacts. Too bad that one wasn’t around when we were thumping my cousins. That should have proven your worth.”

“ You were the one to defeat the nefarious Augustus,” Duncan pointed out.

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been hurling explosives about.”

“Maybe I’m supposed to defeat your current alpha,” he mused.

“Lorenzo? Duncan, you can’t kick the ass of the old guy looking after my sick mother.”

“No? I may be at an impasse as far as proving goes then.” He lowered his hand.

“Don’t worry about the medallion. We’re going to force Abrams to lift the curse.

” I nodded firmly at him and didn’t mention my doubts about the address on the GPS.

Our enemies had so many addresses that it would be sheer luck if we stumbled across them there.

But maybe if the glowing mushrooms were delivered to that destination, it meant it was another potion factory.

The kind of place where magical substances were made and where help for Duncan might be found?

I hadn’t heard anything from Rue about discoveries she’d made along that line, but Abrams and Radomir’s operation was a lot larger.

“If only I could prove myself by finding a great treasure in the depths of a mysterious and hard-to-access body of water.” Duncan sighed fondly at a magnet nestled on the pile of junk in the seat well.

“Are you going to obsess about this the whole way up there?”

“Maybe. It’s not that long of a drive, is it?” He waved at the GPS map offering directions and a time estimate to our destination. “We’ll be there before dark. I need something to occupy my thoughts until then.”

“We could stop for an early dinner along the way.” I didn’t know if it would matter if we visited this place during daylight hours or at night. It might be easier to sneak in under the shroud of darkness, but who knew if it would even be worth sneaking in to ? Scoping it out first seemed wise.

“Are you asking if I’d like to join you for a restaurant meal? We haven’t done that since our first date.”

“That hardly counted as a date. You fished a rusty fork out of the lake, and we had to battle mongrel dogs and wolves on a dock.”

“My lady , what else would you want to do with a handsome gentleman? The teriyaki chicken skewers weren’t without appeal, but they were made much tastier by the hunger we worked up beforehand.”

“By battling wolves and rusty forks.”

“Precisely. You were at my side for both. It was wondrous.” He gazed over at me.

“I’m not sure whether to think you’re odd or to be pleased that you enjoy having my company for such endeavors.”

“ Both should delight you, I would think.”

We chatted amiably until we’d turned off the highway and were drawing closer to Maple Falls and our destination.

Now and then, nerves intruded as I let myself think about what would happen if we didn’t find a solution for Duncan, but I mostly managed to distract myself.

His flirting, if that was what one would call it, helped.

Maybe he was doing it intentionally, knowing I was worried.

It seemed like I should be the one trying to distract him. Maybe we managed a bit of both.

Our banter had more lapses as we passed through town.

Despite my earlier suggestion, we didn’t stop for dinner.

I didn’t want to dillydally. After everything that had happened lately, being away from Sylvan Serenity made me uneasy.

Radomir might even now be rounding up thugs to more forcibly search my apartment, thugs who could endanger the tenants.

After all the violence on the premises, I was surprised more people hadn’t moved out.

The GPS led us up a winding road that climbed into the hills.

Fortunately, it was paved, and, now and then, we spotted residences through the trees to either side.

With twilight descending, a couple of the homes had lights on.

Judging by the number that didn’t, this was another second-home area, probably sparsely populated by full-time residents.

Since we’d last been through Maple Falls, the snow on the ground had melted, but the white blanket covering Mount Baker was visible at various points as the van climbed in elevation.

To our left, there was a cluster of mailboxes, followed by a lit gate with a sign proclaiming the name of a community and that it offered kayaking, fishing, and hiking, as well as resort amenities.

“Guess that’s not our destination.” I nodded to the map, the GPS wanting us to continue for another mile.

“It didn’t look like the type of locale where one would set up a potion factory.”

“You don’t think Abrams likes to take breaks from mixing magical ingredients to hop in his kayak?”

“I believe he’s reached the age where kayak-hopping may be contraindicated.”

“But evil-overlord, take-over-the-world activities are fine.”

“Oh, you can engage in those at any age.” Duncan waved airily as we continued on, the headlights of the van the only illumination now.

“You’d think a certain amount of youthful ambition and vigor would be required.”

“For those who crave leaving a legacy, ambition never goes away. We don’t know, however, that taking over the world is their goal. They never confided in me.”

“Whatever they’re angling for with the werewolf artifacts, I doubt it’s anything wholesome.”

“No.”

We bumped off the pavement and onto gravel. Did delivery vans truly take mushrooms all the way back here? If there were any more houses along the route, I couldn’t make them out in the twilight gloom.

To the right, the trees we’d been driving through thinned and then disappeared altogether as the view opened up, revealing a steep cliff dropping sharply away.

Only the most modest of low guard rails blocked a car from going over.

On the other side of the road, an equally daunting vertical rock face rose up toward mountain-goat territory.

Normally, heights didn’t bother me, but my palms grew damp as I imagined another car coming from the other direction.

Would there be room for it to pass us on the increasingly narrow road?

“There’s no way a FedEx truck comes up this,” I stated.

“Maybe deliveries are dropped off back at the cluster of mailboxes we passed.”

“Yeah.” I glanced at the map. We’d reached the end of the line. In fact, it looked like we had missed a turn. “Crap.”

“I didn’t see any driveways or side roads we could have taken,” Duncan said.

“The GPS might have been leading us astray all along.” With few options, I continued on. “I’ll turn around as soon as I can.”

Duncan peered out the side window at the deep descent. “There’s a stream down there.”

“I’m not stopping so you can magnet fish.”

He laughed. “I don’t believe we would find much in such a remote locale.”

“You’d have to go back downstream to where the kayaking happens.”

“Most assuredly.”

I spotted a turnout ahead and let out a relieved breath. Though I didn’t like that it was on the side of the road with the drop-off, it was wide enough that we could use it to point the van back in the other direction.

“I’m turning around there,” I said. “We can go back and check the addresses on the mailboxes. See if we’re even in the right spot.”

As I pulled onto the turnout, a distant light came into view around a bend farther up the road. It was halfway up the side of a treed slope.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.

Duncan had noticed it too. “That’s a much more likely location for someone to live while plotting to take over the world.”

“No resort amenities there, I’ll bet.”

“Continue on?” Duncan extended his hand toward the road.