An animal.
A cat.
Lucille Ball. She was sitting on the shoulder, as if she was waiting for them.
“Pull over. That’s Link’s cat.”
“I wonder how she got all the way out here.” Sampson stopped the car a few feet away from Lucille.
The cat didn’t move until they both got out. Then she trotted off into the trees.
Nox took off after her. “I think she wants us to follow her.”
Sampson shook his head. “It looks more like she’s running away from us.”
“But toward what?” Nox asked. Ridley had told Nox a story about how Lucille had practically led Rid and her friends to her cousin Lena when she was missing once. He had no idea how much of it was true, but that cat was definitely different.
Lucille scampered ahead, stopping every now and then to make sure they were still behind her. Nox wasn’t that interested in chasing mangy cats through the bushes, but he followed her anyway.
If that stupid cat was in the car with them … she could be leading us to Rid.
Nox wasn’t so sure when the cat led them through a cluster of trees and he saw Link slumped against a trunk ahead of them. The ridiculous spiked blond hair and threadbare Black Sabbath T-shirt were unmistakable. Above Link, the branches were cracked and broken as if he’d hit every one of them before he finally made it to the ground.
Headfirst, knowing him.
“What are you doing out here, Link?” Sampson asked as they made their way through the brush.
Link barely moved. His skin was smudged with black smoke and ash, and one side of his shirt was singed above the burns running down his arm.
Nox leaned closer and grabbed a handful of Link’s ripped shirt. “Hey. Wake up.”
Confused didn’t begin to describe the expression on Link’s face. He opened and closed his eyes, shaking his head at the sight of Nox. “Aw, great. I’m in Hell. My mom was right.”
“You’re not in Hell. You’re in New Jersey.” Nox squatted in front of him. “Where’s Ridley?”
Link jerked his head up at the mention of her name. “Wait. You don’t know where she is, either?”
Nox stiffened. It was the million-dollar question, and Link didn’t have the answer any more than he did.
“We were hoping you knew,” Sampson said.
Link rubbed his eyes, wincing as he lifted his arm. “It all happened so fast. ‘Stairway to Heaven’ came on the radio. That’s all I remember, until this black truck ran a red light and plowed right into the Beater.” His face clouded over as he realized what he was saying. “Aw, man. The Beater.”
“Mangled,” Nox said, with a shred of satisfaction.
Sampson nodded. “You don’t want to know.”
Link pressed his hands against his temples. “The driver didn’t even try to swerve out of the way. It was like he was headin’ right for us.” He rubbed his eyes like he was fighting the worst headache of his life. “The only thing I remember after that was the sound of metal crunchin’ and Ridley screamin’. There was so much smoke I couldn’t see her. I kept callin’ her name, but she didn’t answer. Then the Beater caught on fire.”
Sampson examined Link’s eyes. “Do you remember how you got here? You’re pretty far from the crash site. I doubt you walked.”
Link squinted, as if he was trying to piece everything together in his mind. “I didn’t walk. I Ripped.”
“And you didn’t take Ridley with you?” Nox snapped. He didn’t bother to hide the rage in his voice.
Why did she leave with this clown in the first place?
Link shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. I reached out for her, but she wasn’t in the passenger seat. The fire kept gettin’ bigger, and then my shirt started burnin’. I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t tryin’ to Rip, but the next thing I knew, I was out here.”
Sampson glanced at Nox. “I bet it was some kind of defense mechanism. An Incubus fight or flight response.”
“A cowardly one,” Nox muttered. “All you had to do was get her out of here. You had her back for, what, two hours? And this was the best you could manage?”
“It’s not like I had a choice.” Link was trying to stay focused, but his vision was fuzzy. He fell back, pushing his hands against his temples.
Nox grabbed his arm and yanked hard. There it was. The Binding Ring—the one that should’ve been going off like a three-alarm fire.
It was completely dark now.
They all stared at it in horror. Even Link looked like he wanted to chuck it in the bushes.
“Maybe it’s broken.”
Nox’s voice was hard. “Maybe you were just born an idiot.”
Link rolled to one side. “I was right the first time. If I’ve gotta listen to you, Rich Boy, I might as well be in Hell.” He winced, sounding more miserable than pained.
“This is real productive,” Sampson said. Now everyone was annoyed.
Even though the hybrid had ruined everything, Nox knew it wasn’t that simple.
Link didn’t have a choice, but I did. I chose not to fight. I chose to give in—to give up everything so she’d have a better shot at being happy.
Or at least staying alive.
Nox sighed and bent down in front of Link. “Think. Do you remember anything else? Were there any other cars around, or people who might have witnessed the accident?”
Link shook his head. “No. The only car I saw was the truck that hit us. It wasn’t a pickup like the junkers folks drive back home in Gatlin. It was one of those fancy black Raptors with the big tires and everything.”
A black Raptor.
Sampson stared at Nox. “You know what that means, right?”
Nox nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“What am I missin’?” Link asked, pushing himself off the ground.
Sampson grabbed his arm and pulled him up, so fast that Link’s legs dangled above the ground for a second. “Do you remember if the truck had a huge bird on the hood?”
“Yeah,” Link answered. “Full-on Big Bird sized. How’d you know?”
Sampson dropped him. Link stumbled, like his knees were going to buckle, and Nox grabbed him before he could fall.
“It’s a raven.” Nox tried not to think about all the things that might be happening to Ridley right now. “It was one of Silas Ravenwood’s trucks.”
CHAPTER 2: LINK
Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)
Silas Ravenwood. The thought sent Link reeling. It was a punch to the gut multiplied by a hundred.
What if she didn’t make it?
Don’t do this to me, Rid. I just got you back.
“I’m the one they wanted. This is all my fault.” Link couldn’t bring himself to look at Sampson and Nox as they searched the area. Link hadn’t been this banged up since he stopped being a hundred percent Mortal. But he felt even worse on the inside, like his heart was limping, too.
All he could think about was Ridley. He slipped his hand out of his pocket and stared at the lifeless ring on his finger.
Where are you, Rid?
“You’re right. Your fault. No one’s arguing with you,” Nox said, walking ahead of them. He didn’t bother to turn around.
Link ignored him. “She must’ve made it out of the car. Like I said, I reached for her and she wasn’t there.”
“Or whoever was driving Silas Ravenwood’s truck grabbed her,” Nox snapped. “Did you think of that?”
Link frowned. “Are you sure it was Silas’ car?”
“Everyone knows that truck,” Sampson said.
Link stopped walking. “I’m the one who killed Abraham Ravenwood, not Rid. His psychotic grandson shoulda taken me.”
“Finally we agree on something,” Nox said.
Link’s expression hardened. “You can stop actin’ like you’re a big hero. The way I see it, we both let her down. At least I’m man enough to admit it.”
Nox’s eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t the one
behind the wheel.”
Link stepped forward, moving closer to Nox. “You might as well have been.”
Nox’s hands curled into fists. “You have no idea how much I wish I was. Then I could’ve done something. Unlike some of us.”