Watch Fire

  Watch Fire

  Crossfire Series, Volume 2

  Jade Wolfe

  Published by Betsy Belle Books, 2017.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  WATCH FIRE

  First edition. October 18, 2017.

  Copyright © 2017 Jade Wolfe.

  Written by Jade Wolfe.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Watch Fire (Crossfire Series, #2)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Crossfire Series

  Watch Fire

  Chapter One

  Something wasn’t right.

  I stood near the pinnacle of Crow's Rock, looking down into the valley below. This was one of the highest points in this particular park. I loved looking out over the virgin forests and lakes that dotted the land. Fall was here, and the leaves were dying, so today I could see all the way to the bottom - the rocky outcroppings, the caverns that dotted the mountainside, even the muddy, swollen river rushing along the valley floor.

  I took a deep, cleansing breath. The landscape lent a kind of peace that I hadn't found anywhere else, not even at the home in Colorado with my foster parents Ed and Beezie. Red Rock was home to me now.

  Sure, there were plenty of things in these woods that would rip out my heart given half the chance, but I could still appreciate the wild beauty of the place, couldn’t I?

  I scanned the land below, pausing here and there to double check the shadows. That was where the nightmares hid, and it was my job to root out the nightmares.

  The afternoon sky was gray with rain clouds, so there were plenty of shadows today. There was a snappy chill in the air, too, so I'd thrown on a light jacket before I left Lucy's house. She might be a witch, but she was also my grandma – of course she wanted me to wear a jacket.

  She had tried to keep me from coming. "There's a storm blowing in, Indigo. The first of the season. You don't have to go out today."

  But she was wrong - I did have to come out, today and every day. This beautiful, foreign place was my responsibility now. Lucy knew that - she'd brought me here. She just didn't think I would take my duties quite so seriously.

  I strode across the top of the rock face, sticking close to the trees, scanning the cliffs below for movement.

  I was maybe four miles from home and halfway through my patrol, on the edge of the wildlife preserve’s official boundary. It was slow going on the cliffs, but easier down in the valleys. When the cliff top began to dip a little, I got my footing and started making my way toward the bottom of the rocks. I was almost there when I heard the soft padding of feet on the dead leaves.

  My hand went to the knife at my belt instinctively. I looked around and smiled when I saw the giant black wolf. Myla had the golden eyes of her bloodline, and she was tall enough on all fours to look me in the eye.

  She was a werewolf, actually, but the wolves here didn't turn. For whatever reason, they decided that remaining a wolf was preferable to spending part of their time as a human.

  I smiled when I saw her. "Hello, Myla." I didn't know if that was her human name or her wolf name, and I didn't care. It was the name she preferred, and I respected that. She caught up with me, her big feet sure on the rocks, and nudged my hand in greeting. Myla often patrolled with me. She and her pack were our allies here in the park.

  There were other werewolves here, at least one pack that saw us more as enemies than allies. Those wolves thought nothing much of plucking a camper or hiker off one of the marked trails and having them for lunch. My job was to prevent that from happening.

  I talked to her over my shoulder as we walked, dead branches snapping under my feet. "Myla, I saw a few footprints down on the river bank. They were off the marked paths, but they were human. Do you know anything about it? Seen anyone new around here?"

  It was probably just a particularly brave hiker, trying to show his stuff. That happened. People didn't believe that the warning markers were for them, so they got off trail. Maybe they were experienced, maybe they were daredevils, but a lot of them ended up in trouble, because these woods...well, they were different. Folks didn't usually realize that until they were faced with a pack of wolves and it was too late for me to save them.

  Red Rock Wildlife Preserve was part of the U.S. National Park Service. Everybody knew that. But thanks to my great-great-great grandfather and President Benjamin Harrison, it was also a corral, of sorts, for all of the supernatural creatures that roamed the land. They decided it was best to keep these creatures someplace where someone could keep an eye on them, and they were right.

  It was my job, handed down from ancestor to ancestor and finally to me, to maintain the magical borders of the park. I shared the job with three other witches, including Lucy, and I took it very seriously.

  Myla spoke to me. I felt the familiar pressure of her thoughts in my head, and then heard, A few people. Young. I let them catch sight of me and that sent them back to the path quickly enough.

  I laughed at that. I could easily imagine the faces of a bunch of teenagers, seeing a wolf that was most likely bigger and much more powerful than they were. "I bet they didn't even try for a selfie with you," I joked.

  A what?

  "Never mind." We were almost at the bottom of the mountain. Down here, the land was flat, but mountains rose up on either side. The valley floor widened slowly but surely until it met the riverbank and a tall stand of lacy willow trees. I waded through knee high grasses, looking for signs of passage. There weren't any, which was actually surprising. I expected to at least see broken grass where the deer had bedded down overnight.

  An uneasy feeling shivered through me. I slowed my steps and then stopped, looking around. "Something isn't right," I muttered again, more to myself than Myla.

  She sniffed the air, and then circled the ground around me. I watched as her trail spiraled out farther and farther until it reached the base of the mountains on either side. Her tail, naturally plumed, drooped low when she trotted back to me.

  Someone has been here. Someone bad.

  "Can you be more specific?" Bad described half the creatures in these woods.

  Strangers.

  I turned in a slow circle. Other than a few banshees, ragged and silent, watching me from the treetops, there was nothing out of the ordinary besides a feeling. As I looked, the feeling grew until I was uncomfortable. Strangers could just mean a couple of hikers, but I didn't think so. The way Myla was acting, this was some sort of threat, at least to her. Her ears were laid back and she wasn't wagging her tail, even though she stood right beside me.

  I held out my hands and traced a rune in the air, calling on the Air Elemental. She would find the trail of the intruder.

  I felt a cool breeze ruffle my hair and then swirl around my wrists, making my blood tingle a little as the Elemental arrived and drew instru
ction from my intent.

  As I watched, the breeze changed color and slowly became more visible to my eyes. In a moment or two it became a bluish rope of swiftly moving air, like those pictures of the jet stream on a weather map. It moved around me, circled Myla once, flowed between her legs. I thought about the footprints I'd found, imagined a stranger walking through this field.

  The ropy Elemental slipped away from my hands and glided away from us, seeking. It spread out, covering the grass, then folded in on itself and trailed away, toward the river.

  "Let's go," I told Myla. "She's found something."

  I looked around and Myla was gone. I smiled. The Elementals made the flesh and bone creatures nervous. I'd forgotten about that.

  I jogged to catch up to the Elemental, my boots and jeans swishing through the tall grasses. There were eyes on my back, probably the banshees, but I ignored them for now. Someone roaming through my woods, intent on trouble, was more important.

  How did I know they were trouble? Bad, Myla had said. Myla was at least four hundred years old - she'd seen her share of bad. I trusted her judgment.

  The Elemental almost lost me at the muddy river bank. I slipped in the muck, caught myself with an arm around a tree trunk, and kept going.

  I didn't have far to go - the Elemental stopped and hovered a hundred yards in front of me. I whispered a thank you and ran that way, stopping short when I saw a human body draped across a log, legs floating in the water.

  Chapter Two

  It looked to be a man from up here, but I didn't know if he was dead or alive. It had been raining for days, so the water was muddy, cold, and fast. His legs bobbed under several times, the current threatening to pull him down if I didn't get to him quick.

  I started down the steep bank, digging into the mud with my boot heels to keep from falling in the water, but something caused me to stop and look again. A flicker, farther down.

  The Elemental was still going. This wasn't the stranger that had walked through the field. Well, it probably was, but it wasn't the only one. My friend Air was still tracking someone. It had even slowed so that I could keep up.

  I looked from the man in the water to the Elemental, trying to decide. Should I keep going or save this guy? It wasn't much of a choice. He clearly needed immediate help.

  I was a protector, first and foremost. This man needed help. I made note of Air's direction so that I could explore more later, and then I mentally released her from her duty and slid down the bank to help the stranger.

  The water was louder down here, making it hard to think, and the cold spray was already soaking my clothes. The man was in rough shape. His dark hair was soaked, his fingernails were blue with cold, and his clothes - heavy jeans and a coat - were dragging him slowly off the log. Another hour and he would have drowned.

  I made it to the log just as a large branch spun too close and slammed into his thigh before spinning away again, on down the river. I winced when it hit. That was going to leave a mark.

  I knelt in the mud, shook him and spoke, knowing that he wasn't conscious but giving it a shot anyway. When he didn't answer, or even twitch, I checked his pulse. His skin was clammy. The pulse was there, sort of, fluttering under my fingertips. I grabbed his coat by the collar and attempted to pull him farther out of the water.

  No dice. The water soaked his clothes, making him twice as heavy as he probably was - and at six feet or so tall, that was saying something. Not that he was fat, but even through the clothes you could tell there was muscle there.

  I let go of him before the water could pull me in too and looked around. Where was Myla when I needed her?

  That was mean - Myla was a good friend, and if she knew I needed help she'd be here. For now, though, she was nowhere to be seen. I was on my own.

  I was also worried about the banshees in the trees. There were more of them here, near the bank, and I knew that if we hadn't found this guy when we did he would have become a meal for the creatures. They were watching my actions now with keen interest, so much that if I lost sight of the man, they'd be on him like cheese on pizza.

  That meant I had to stay within sight. The banshees wouldn't bother me, I didn't think, because they didn't want to risk the wrath of my fellow witches - Lucy, Pearl, and Miranda. Mostly Pearl. She got a little wild with her magic sometimes. Who knew what kind of retaliation she might dream up?

  I scanned this side of the bank, but there was nothing here to help me. I didn't know what I was looking for, exactly, just something to help me hoist this dude out of the water. A strong length of vine, maybe. But I didn't see any of that.

  I looked back at the man. I could use magic to lift him, but there were two problems with that. One, I wasn't good at that kind of magic, so I might drop him and lose him to the current. Two, using my magic would weaken me. I knew it and the banshees knew it. I didn't trust them to not take advantage of that and pluck him from the bank the moment I got him onto firm ground.

  So...back to looking. I walked back into the field a little way, not so far that I could see him, and checked the trees. There was nothing there, but when I turned back toward the river I saw something interesting, and I smiled. Then I frowned, because it was exactly what I needed, but getting to it would be a real bitch.

  An ancient oak stood thick and strong on other side of the river, leaning out over the current. Some kids, or maybe fun-loving adults, had slung a rope over one of its thickest branches. Now it drifted lazily in the wind, just over the water. At least a hundred and twenty feet away, across rushing water.

  I needed to be a bird, for about ten minutes. As far as I knew there was no magic for that.

  I stared at the rope. It was thick, but it looked old. If I swam across to it, I'd be just as exhausted as if I used magic to get it. Either way, I was putting the guy in danger.

  There was one way, but I'd only tried it once, and I didn't even know if I could pull it off again.

  It was worth a shot, right?

  I took off my boots and socks, then felt the cold, soggy ground with my bare toes. I called the Earth Elemental, not sure if he would even come - we weren't well-acquainted. But thankfully, he came. I felt the ground pulse beneath my feet. So far, so good.

  Next, I envisioned what I wanted. I hoped I was doing it right. Since I was the only witch at Red Rock with this particular talent, I didn't have Lucy to teach me how to use it. I was learning as I went.

  I gasped when it worked. From my side of the bank, the ground shuddered and rose up from the water, making a slim bridge. Water lapped at the edges, trying to find a way over. I was so excited it worked that I forgot to move for a moment, until I felt a sharp nudge under my feet. It was the Earth Elemental, implying hurry. I ran.

  It took me maybe three minutes to get across the bridge, snatch the lowest branches and swing myself up into the tree. The higher I climbed, the more it swayed, as if trying to shake me off. I held on tighter, especially when I got to the branch I needed and started the long shimmy out to the rope.

  It took another two or three minutes and three ripped fingernails to undo the twisted knot. Cussing, I looped it around my waist, tied it, and shimmied back.

  When I risked a glance at my impromptu bridge I saw that it was sinking. Slowly - there was still time - but water was starting to slosh over onto the path now. Three branches from the bottom I let go and fell to the ground, landing in a crouch. My knee twinged a little, but I ignored it and ran.

  Or waded, actually. The water was a good inch deep and rising fast, so cold that I couldn't feel my toes anymore. Another couple of minutes and it would be strong enough to sweep my feet from under me. Ten feet from the edge of the bank, I stumbled, turned it into a jump, and landed on my side on the bank with a heavy grunt.

  My ribs felt like I'd gone three rounds with a giant.

  I loosened the rope and got it underneath the guy's armpits, just as the banshees started shifting restlessly in the trees. They didn't think I could save him, not after a
ll that running and climbing.

  I wondered as I worked if they were right.

  No - I wasn't about to go through all this crap just to let the banshees eat him. I got the rope tight, gave it a couple of tugs to be sure, and braced myself higher up the bank.

  Then I pulled.

  Nothing happened. The guy didn't even budge. In fact, he might have slid the other way, farther into the water.

  His coat was caught on the log, enough to hold him in place. I went back down the bank to take it off, checking his breathing while I was down there. I felt for a pulse again, too, but my fingers were numb.

  I dragged his coat - a slick, puffy nylon number - off one arm and then the other, yanked it from under the rope, and threw it aside. It was going to get ruined in the mud, but that was the least of this guy's problems. Time for round two.

  This time I managed to slide him forward until only his knees were left in the water. I caught my breath and pulled again. The rope burned my hands, and at some point I fell to my knees, but I kept pulling until he was all the way out of the water and laying mostly at the top of the bank.

  Then I just sat there and caught my breath. I really needed to start working out. I laced my boots back on, too. I was going to need the traction they offered.

  When my legs would support me again I went to him and turned him over. Dark hair, dark eyes, puffy, pale cheeks and a soft chin. His lips were as blue as his fingernails. I had no idea who he was.

  He was a little slimmer without his coat, but that didn't make me feel any better about getting him all the way back to Miranda's house so that she could fix him up.

  As I considered my next step, it started to rain. Hard.

  I glared up at the sky. "Really?" I asked.

  The sky didn't answer.

  Sometimes I could influence the weather, but the skill was iffy, and I didn't want to take the time to fiddle around with it right now. The rain was cold, trickling down the back of my neck, and he was already soaked through. I would be, too in a couple of minutes. OK, we weren't getting home anytime soon.