Steam

  Lina.

  He cast his mind out, trying to listen for his brother, trying to sense Lina. He knew he couldn’t hear her thoughts the way he could Cail’s, but the calm feeling he had around her gave him hope he’d sense her.

  When he suddenly lost the truck’s scent, he stopped and turned around. A rough fire road curved up into the woods. He lifted his leg. After peeing on the trees on both sides of the fire road, he ran up it.

  Here he had the advantage of sight as well as smell. In the dirt, he picked out the newest tire tracks belonging to the truck. Being lesser-used than the main road, the scent was far stronger and not overlapped or diluted. Every time he made a turn or passed a branch road, he marked the trail. At one point he was forced to stop and detour, get a drink from a small, cold spring bubbling out of a rock outcropping, or risk dehydration. Wolf or not, his body wasn’t used to this altitude.

  By his best guess it neared ten in the morning. Clouds had rolled in from the east, threatening a storm. He only prayed it held off long enough he could find Lina before her scent washed away.

  He charged up the road, now little more than a rough track, when he heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. He jumped off the trail in time to avoid being run over by a pick-up truck.

  The driver never saw him.

  Brodey’s heart pounded. It was Lenny’s truck.

  He turned and started after it when Brodey realized he couldn’t sense Lina in the truck. Reversing course, Brodey scampered up the road in the other direction.

  * * * *

  Cail and the others screeched to a halt behind the SUV. “Where’s Brodey?” Cail asked as Micah, Doug, Oscar and Kael tumbled out of the truck’s cab. In the truck’s bed sat a green Park Service quad ATV.

  Zack filled them in. Cail handed the truck keys to Kael. “You drive. Micah, in back with me.” The wolves climbed into the bed and the two vehicles pulled out, racing north, Kael driving in the lead while Cail and Micah hung over the edge of the truck bed, their noses upturned, faces in the wind.

  They were still south of Fishing Bridge when Cail and Micah suddenly lost Brodey’s scent. Both men pounded on the cab roof and they pulled over. Cail and Micah jumped out and ran to the fire road.

  “Okay, here we are,” Cail said.

  “You sure?” Zack asked.

  “Yeah.” They unloaded the quad while Micah stripped and prepared to shift. “I’ll run the quad,” Cail said. “Micah will make sure we don’t lose him. You all follow us.”

  “Can you hear him yet?” Jan asked.

  Cail closed his eyes and sent his mind out.

  Nothing.

  “Not yet, sorry. We’re too far away.”

  Thunder boomed in the east. All the men turned. Dark clouds rolled across the sky, threatening rain.

  “Fuck!” Zack said. “We’ve got to hurry!”

  * * * *

  Lenny turned off the fire road and drove to a primitive trail head. Probably safe enough to hide the truck for now. Easy to get to later. Looking around, he found himself alone. He locked the truck and stripped, jamming his clothes and the truck keys into a knapsack he hung around his neck. Then he shifted and took off for his hide out. A storm was coming, and he wanted to get back before the rain started.

  * * * *

  Brodey’s heart sank when he felt the first icy drops of rain hit his back. When the bottom dropped out and rivulets turned the primitive truck track into a small river, he found it harder to follow the scent. As the rain poured, soaking him almost through to his dense undercoat, he realized tracking would be nearly impossible.

  Thunder cracked directly overhead, startling him. Fuck. He investigated several side paths and found no evidence of a vehicle. Slogging through the muck, the trail finally opened into a clearing wide enough a truck could have parked. Taking a chance, Brodey sniffed around in the mud.

  The slightest whiff of a sweet scent came to him. His head popped up.

  Lina.

  He circled the clearing three times as the storm’s fury increased around him. Finally, he thought he caught a hint of her scent on a bush near a faint path. With no other lead, he followed it.

  * * * *

  The four-wheel drive truck bogged down in the deep mud. They’d given up on the SUV ten minutes earlier, abandoning it on the trail behind them. Zack sat behind the wheel, trying to coax the truck up the steep, slippery slope.

  “Fucking rain!” Jan swore as he and Rick struggled with Kael, Oscar, and Doug to push it free. Between the steep incline and the storm, it was obvious the vehicle wouldn’t make it.

  Micah shifted back, shaking his head. “I can’t smell him anymore. We can keep following the road, but I can’t guarantee I’ll find him if he leaves the path, even with scent marking.”

  Cail shut off the ATV and closed his eyes. Still no hint of Brodey’s whereabouts. He didn’t know what to do. “How are you guys at tracking?” he asked Doug and Oscar.

  Oscar shook his head. “Hearing and eyesight. Smell, not so much. Better than the average human, sure, but if you guys can’t track him, I damn sure can’t.”

  Doug shrugged. “Ditto.”

  Jan kicked the truck. “Fuck this shit! We can’t stand here with our thumbs up our asses! Lina’s out there somewhere with that psycho!”

  Cail turned to him. “Then what do you suggest we do? My brother’s out there too! He’s the best tracker there is. If anyone can find her, he can. I guarandamntee you if Brodey finds that fucker, he’ll kill him. He’s her best goddamned chance right now.”

  * * * *

  Lina struggled against the drug’s grip. She sensed Lenny moving around in the tent, but it was like her eyes and muscles didn’t want to cooperate. As upset as she felt, she was unable to summon the energy to get enraged enough to hopefully set fire to something.

  Preferably Lenny’s testicles.

  At one point she was aware of Lenny peeling back one of her eyelids and speaking to her.

  “Still alive there, Goddess? Don’t worry, you don’t have to be awake for this, just breathing. You might enjoy it more if you sleep through it anyway.”

  She thought about Zack, about Jan and Rick. Even about Brodey. They had to be coming for her, but the drugs negated all hope of her fighting or escaping. Lina took a deep breath and tried to focus, tried to recreate the out of body journey she had a few nights earlier.

  Concentration proved difficult. After another few breaths, she took the risk of letting herself sink back under the drug’s grip and sent her mind out again. The storm raging outside shook the tent, but Lenny took precautions and no water seeped inside.

  When Lina opened her mental eyes, she realized she stood outside the tent, in the frigid rain but not feeling any of it.

  Fuck, yes! That’s more like it. She retraced her steps, happily realizing she could sail down the path without worries of tripping.

  In her disembodied state she quickly covered ground in minutes that took her hours on foot. When she ran across the huge, black, green-eyed wolf, she ignored it at first, then pulled up short when she realized who and what it was.

  “Brodey!” she screamed.

  The wolf couldn’t hear her. His fur was matted to his body by the rain as he painstakingly followed the path, his nose to the ground, ears flattened as he swept his head from side to side.

  Tracking her.

  Her heart soared. She knelt next to him. “Brodey!” she screamed again.

  He continued, unaware of her disembodied presence.

  Fuck! Why could Zack sense her the other night and Brodey couldn’t? She walked around him, screaming at him, when a thought hit her. Maybe it would work.

  She reached out and touched his head, wincing as she pushed her ghostly hand through his skull.

  Brodey froze, as if listening.

  A little sickened, she pulled her hand out. She squatted next to him, threw her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his right ear. “Brodey! Please, you’ve got to hear me!”
/>
  His body tensed as his head jerked around, looking through, not at her.

  * * * *

  Brodey stopped short. He swore he heard her. Then that feeling, like someone had slipped inside him, through him, her presence. The calm.

  Okay, she’s a goddess. Maybe she’s figured out a new power.

  He waited, listening.

  “Brodey!”

  Faint, but unmistakable.

  He shifted back and crouched on the trail as the rain sluiced mud off his body. “Lina?” he softly called.

  “Brodey! Can you hear me?”

  “Where are you, honey?”

  Her faint voice sounded like little more than a dream. He wasn’t even sure if he heard her in his ear or in his mind.

  “I’m in a tent! I’m unconscious!”

  The thought that this could be some sort of trap flitted through his mind. “How do I know it’s you?”

  Lina struggled to think of something to prove it, the effort of staying in touch with him weakening her even further. “Princess Prozac!”

  “Okay, babe. How do I find you?”

  “I can’t do this much longer. We’re at least two miles up this trail, in a clearing.”

  Lightning flashed, a loud, thunderous crack splitting through the wet air. Almost immediately, more thunder boomed nearby and he smelled ozone. That strike landed close.

  Brodey shifted and ran.

  * * * *

  The men slogged up the trail on foot despite the storm. They all jumped at the nearby lightning strike. Ten minutes later, Micah shifted to human form. “We’ve got a serious problem.”

  Rick, red in the face, screamed, “Why are you stopping?”

  Cail held up a hand, his nose in the air. “He’s right. We need to turn back. Right now.”

  Zack pushed through them. “Fuck that shit! We need to find Lina!”

  Oscar shook his head. “You can’t hear and smell that?”

  “Smell what?” the dragon men and Zack screamed.

  Micah headed down the trail. “Fire. We need to get the hell out of here. Now. It’s coming this way, and fast.”

  Chapter Six

  Brodey smelled the smoke. The rain let up even though thunder still rumbled nearby. He charged up the trail, caked in mud and feeling the effects of altitude. He didn’t know how long he ran, but when he started feeling calm again, he knew he was close.

  It took him another fifteen minutes to locate the clearing. He crawled on his belly, staying on the outskirts, watching and listening. He heard Lenny moving around inside the tent, felt Lina’s presence.

  He closed his eyes and tried to find Cail. No luck. Then he tried to recreate the brief connection he’d had with Lina.

  Inside the tent, Lina sensed Brodey close by and reaching out to her. She tried to respond, but however she’d managed to connect with him before she couldn’t recreate it. As the drug wore off a little she could wiggle her toes and fingers. Not wanting Lenny to see that, she listened for him and heard him at the far end of the tent.

  She risked barely opening one eyelid. He had his back turned to her as he thumbed through an ancient book. She closed her eyes again and forced her breathing to remain deep and steady despite how cold she felt.

  Outside the tent the storm lessened, but Lina had a feeling there was something on the way even worse than the ass kicking Brodey would give Lenny. The jerk had left the gun on top of his duffel bag not too far from her.

  Her heart raced when Lenny stood and turned, studying her. Apparently satisfied she still slept, he unzipped the tent flap and walked outside.

  Lina forced herself to move. Her arms and legs didn’t want to obey immediately, but she managed to slowly roll over and reach the gun.

  * * * *

  Holy crap! Is he that much of a fucktard? Brodey watched Lenny step out of the tent and look around before walking to the edge of the clearing, near the drop off. There, he unzipped to take a piss.

  Brodey didn’t know or care if Lenny was armed. He silently charged across the clearing and hit the dude square in the back. Lenny let out a shocked roar as he went sailing off the ledge.

  Shifting in mid-stride, Brodey turned and raced to the tent. “Lina?”

  He ducked in and found himself staring into the barrel of the gun.

  She burst into tears.

  “It’s okay, babe. I’ve got you.” He took the gun from her and gently peeled the tape from her mouth.

  “Where is he?” she asked.

  “I don’t think he’s dead. We need to hurry.” Brodey heard a roar from outside. “Oh, fuck.”

  A dark shadow rose over the tent. “Can you get the rest of the tape off?” he asked her.

  She nodded.

  “Good. Get free and run like hell. I’ll catch up with you. We’ll worry about those cuffs later.” He winked as he touched his finger to the end of her nose before ducking through the tent flap.

  Outside, Brodey came face to face with a… Well, he honestly didn’t know what the fuck it was. Fugly, nasty, and mean easily described it. Eight feet tall, two-legged, looking like a frog and a lizard gang-banged a chicken, which then proceeded to lay one ugly-assed egg.

  He shot it, but that only seemed to piss it off. The thing took a swipe at him with its reptilian tail, knocking Brodey’s legs out from under him. He rolled onto his back and emptied the gun into it, then scrambled backward as it tried to nail him in the nuts with its tail.

  “Lina,” Brodey screamed, “now would be a great time to randomly blow shit up, sweetie!”

  Inside the tent, Lina finally freed her feet and stumbled over to the tent opening. Brodey grabbed the cockatrice’s tail and struggled not to let it hit him with one of its clawed, chicken-like feet. Lina felt dizzy, woozy, and more than a little nauseous. She had no idea how to blow shit up, randomly or otherwise. She only knew she feared for Brodey’s life.

  As exhausted, sick and cold as she felt, she found it damned hard to summon anger. The cockatrice slung Brodey through the air, slamming him into a lodgepole pine. She screamed and scrambled through the tent opening.

  Brodey jumped to his feet, launched himself at the cockatrice, and started pounding on it to keep its attention off Lina. She sank to her knees in the mud, crying, trying to figure out what to do.

  When the cockatrice grabbed Brodey by the neck, Lina’s heart nearly seized with panic. With a loud sob she envisioned throwing a fireball at the beast, but only a puff of steam drifted from her cuffed hands.

  She gasped. It was a start.

  Brodey’s voice gurgled as he desperately struggled to peel Lenny’s fingers from his neck. Lina focused, remembering how pissed she was at her men, how enraged she felt when Edgar shot Zack—and got really mad that Brodey’s life was in danger. Despite the drug’s hold on her system, she even tapped into how unfair it was she had PMS on her vacation. She managed to pitch a ball of energy at the beast.

  It squawked and dropped Brodey, swatting at the fire that erupted on its feathered flank. Brodey fell to the ground where he coughed and gasped for air.

  Encouraged by her success, Lina felt stronger. She unsteadily rose to her feet and struggled to focus. “Hey, Brod,” she said.

  “Yeah, hon?”

  “Original recipe, or crispy?”

  The cockatrice looked at her.

  “Definitely crispy,” Brodey gasped.

  She let loose another blast of energy. That one hit Lenny square in the face. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground, trying to put the fire out. Brodey found a large rock, picked it up and bashed Lenny’s head in.

  When the cockatrice lay still and unquestionably dead, Brodey dropped the rock and raced to Lina’s side in time to catch her as she collapsed. He scooped her into his arms and carried her back into the tent. They were both covered in mud, and her clothes felt damp.

  “Hey, babe, don’t give up on me.” He rubbed her hands, trying to rouse her.

  Exhaustion claimed Lina. “I want to go to sleep.??
? She shivered.

  “I know, sweetie, I know. Let’s get these cuffs off you.” He spotted a key ring on the makeshift altar. Sure enough, a standard handcuff key opened the cuffs. He freed her and scrounged through the stuff in the tent until he found a heavy blanket. She shivered as he wrapped it around her and held her close.

  “I’m so cold,” she whispered, her teeth chattering. She huddled closer to Brodey for warmth. “Where’s everyone?”

  Brodey now had time to think of that himself without the funky chicken trying to kill him. “I don’t know babe.” A faint scent came to him as the cold breeze pushed through the tent opening.

  Oh, fuck.

  “Babe, we’ve got to move. Now.”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you have to, or we’re going to look like Clucky out there. Wildfire. We need to go. Please, sweetie, you promised me no roasted wolf.”

  She opened her eyes and smiled. Then she reached up and touched his cheek. “You came for me.”

  “Yeah. Your guys were scared shitless. Lucky for you, I’m a damn good wolf.”

  “Are they okay?”

  “They were when I left them at West Thumb.” He pulled her into a sitting position and opened a bottle of water. After a quick sniff to make sure it wasn’t drugged, he made her take a drink, then took a drink himself.

  “Lenny was smaller than me, I can’t wear his pants.” He looked around, spotted a knife on the altar, and sliced a section from the tent. He wrapped it around his midsection and tied it in place with a piece of cord. “Hey, haven’t worn a kilt in a few years.”

  “You Scottish?”

  “Aye, lassie,” he said with a brogue. “Born and raised.”

  “Frrrreeeeedom!”

  He burst out laughing. “Yeah, baby. I’m free in this thing all right. At least I’m not flashing you anymore.”

  “You can flash me anytime.” She smiled, but it looked lopsided, drunken.