“I’ve already told her it’s the brownies, but only by a smidge.”
I laughed again, and took a sip of coffee. “So where exactly are we going?”
The amusement left his expression, leaving me mentally kicking myself. “The Marin pack’s territory is the St. Erth forests, which basically rings Maldoon. The clearing in which we found Kate lies at the source of one of Manton’s Gully creek tributary feeds.”
Which didn’t tell me a whole lot given I didn’t know the Maldoon area at all. “Will there be much walking involved?”
“Yes.” He glanced down at our feet. “But you’re both wearing sensible shoes, so you’ll cope.”
“Hey, you’ve witnessed the level of my fitness when it comes to walking, so don’t be so certain of that.”
Bet he was too busy witnessing said action from behind and not really paying too much attention to anything else, Belle cut in, and then grunted when I elbowed her. Hard.
“Yes,” he said, with an amused glance our way. “Which is why I’ve brought along a backpack with water and energy bars. It’s a bit of an uphill hike.”
“Great.” Not.
Silence fell as we continued on up the highway, but in little more than twenty minutes, we were approaching Maldoon. Aiden turned off onto a gravel road before we got to the township, and the small suburban houses gradually gave way to acreage. Eventually he turned right onto a tiny dirt road and drove up into the scrub-covered hills until we came to a dead end. I frowned as Aiden sto
pped. The path beyond seemed little more than a damned goat track.
Goats and werewolves would certainly be the only ones comfortable using it, Belle grumbled.
She grabbed our backpack, and then opened the door and climbed out. The wind that whipped past her was icy, and I shivered. I really should have brought my coat.
“If you’re cold, there’s a couple of spare coats in the back seat,” Aiden immediately said. “But to be honest, you’ll probably only be wearing it for ten minutes or so given the climb.”
“I’ll grab it anyway, just in case it rains.” I undid the seat belt then twisted around and spotted the two lightweight green wind jackets. “Belle, do you want one?”
She hesitated and glanced upward. “Yeah. That’s sky is not looking promising.”
“It’s not supposed to rain until this afternoon, so we should be right,” Aiden said.
He climbed out and then held out a hand to help me. His touch lingered perhaps a little longer than necessary and it had both anticipation and frustration stirring. I really, really hoped fate didn’t conspire to interrupt any more of our dates, because one kiss and brief touches were never going to be enough.
A sentiment he shared if the flare of desire in his eyes was anything to go by.
We put on the coats while he grabbed his pack and slung it over his back. “This way, ladies.”
We followed him around the dead-end barrier, then up the goat track. It was as rough as it looked and the incline grew steadily steeper, until my legs started to burn and my breath was little more than short, sharp pants for air. I tugged off the coat and tied it around my waist, and, a few minutes later, did the same with my sweater. Thankfully, I was wearing a tank top underneath—though I’m not entirely sure I wouldn’t have done the same if I’d only been wearing a bra.
If the rasping coming from behind me was anything to go by, Belle wasn’t faring much better, despite being far fitter than me.
Aiden did at least take pity on us unfit souls, stopping twice so that we could catch our breaths and grab some water. He even resisted teasing us, though the amusement crinkling the corners of his bright eyes suggested it might have been a hard task.
The scrub and trees became denser the farther we moved away from any sort of habitation. Unlike the forests around Castle Rock, this area didn’t appear to have much in the way of old mines or tailings. There were animals here though, if the occasional rustling of unseen creatures scurrying away from our presence through the undergrowth was anything to go by. For the most part, though, the area was so quiet that I could clearly hear the soft bubble of a creek some distance away.
I was just about to call for yet another break when the path started to level off. The trees around us were thick and tall, and shut out much of the wind as well as the light, leaving the path in deep shadow.
But shadows weren’t the only things here.
There was also magic.
Wild magic.
A force that not only felt feminine, but also had an odd sort of cognizance.
Both had been evident when I’d first called to the wild magic for help in dealing with Waverley—the vampire who’d tried to drain me and who’d left me with a neck scar to forever remind me of my brush with death—but not in the force I’d used to finally kill him. There’d just been power. Mind-blowing, incredible power.