Wrong Turn Read online

  Tanner frowned in the mirror.

  "Mohawk was once worshipped as a god. He compelled his followers to draw symbols on the walls of caves. These symbols drove his worshipers into a violent religious frenzy."

  Tanner, who’d dealt in magical items all his life, thought this over. "The symbols probably created a mild hypnotism. So you’re saying the symbols from the caves ended up in these books?"

  I nodded. "There’s three of these books. Mohawk wants this one back into play."

  Tanner made a disgusted face. The gravity of my task hit me. I was going to release evil into the world to save myself from an awful fate.

  I examined myself in the mirror. Could I really be so selfish? Tanner stood behind me in the mirror and put his arms round my waist.

  "I know what you’re thinking." His whisper sent a shiver through me. "You can’t look at it that way. You have to value yourself enough to fight for your own survival. Whatever it takes."

  He released me, helped me back to the table, and sat me in front of that creepy picture while he rummaged in the refrigerator. He was about to make me ingest some of the awful sports drink he loved. And I felt so bad I’d probably do it.

  I studied the picture while he filled a glass with ice. The woman holding the book had a sweet face ruined by evil, dead eyes. Her fingers curled around the edge of the book possessively. Was she dead or alive? I concentrated on the picture. Sometimes I could tell if a person in a picture was alive or dead. But this time, I only got a whiff of dry, dusty air. I turned the picture over. Scrawled on the back were the words "Devil’s Rest, 1973."

  Tanner set my neon-colored drink in front of me. "Any ideas?"

  "No." I hid the lie by putting the condensation-covered glass to my forehead. Tanner couldn’t know about Devil’s Rest or 1973. He’d only want to help, and it might get him killed. No. I had to do this alone.

  A plan pieced itself together. I’d get in my truck and leave everything, including Tanner, here. My friends and family would be pissed, but they’d be safe.

  Tanner watched me, brows drawn together. "You’re lying." One hand flashed out and snatched the picture from me. He held it close to his face, studying it.

  Don’t turn it over. Please. I sat still as possible, as though that would make my hasty prayer come to pass.

  Tanner squinted at me across the table. "What are you hiding?"

  Not waiting for an answer, he put the picture close to his face again, memorizing details. I held my breath and begged the universe to make him give it back. Don’t let him see the name Devil’s Rest. Tanner moved the picture a few inches away from his face, eyes moving back and forth. He turned over the picture. I wanted to scream at him to drop it, but Tanner had a stubborn streak.

  Now he raised his eyes to mine. "What’s Devil’s Rest?"

  I shook my head.

  He pushed the picture across the table. "I see plans forming behind those dark eyes. Tell me."

  "I’m leaving as fast as I can. Before anyone wakes up." I put my fingers on top of the picture.

  "What? Why?" Tanner, always eager to involve others, never understood the wisdom of going the course alone.

  "They’ll want to help." I said the words as though my family’s help came with cooties.

  "The more of us there are, the faster we can get it done." Tanner drank down his own over-sweet sports drink.

  "No way. Mohawk doesn’t want me to find his book. He wants me to fail so he can make me his slave. If they get in the way, they’re toast." I finished off my sports drink in three big gulps with a grimace and a shudder.

  Tanner thought this over in his usual solemn way, head lowered, hair fallen across his face. After a few seconds, he nodded. "You’re right. Let me go get a shower and pack. We’ll leave a note for them."

  This was the hard part. "You can’t go either, sweetie."

  He stood, came around the table, and shoved his way into the booth seat next to me, crowding me in. "I go where you go." Before I could answer, he kissed me.

  A few seconds later, I pulled away, heart hammering, body flushed. "I’m serious. You can’t go."

  Those eyes, molten green and hot as asphalt at the end of August, hardened. "Why not?"

  "There are a thousand ways this could go bad." I cupped his face in both hands, hoping to soften the blow. "I need to know you’re safe."

  Tanner snarled and pushed my hands down. "You don’t trust me."

  I shook my head. That wasn’t it. I trusted Tanner with everything I had. My body, my life, my belongings. The person I didn’t trust was myself. Things tended to go wrong around me, and people got hurt. Like Wade Hill. There was one who’d never speak to me again.

  An expedition like this could change everything. Tanner and I had gotten together in the midst of extreme danger. Another bout of extreme danger might be too much. I cut the thoughts off cleanly. What needed doing? Pack for Devil’s Rest. Go talk to Hannah.

  I climbed over Tanner to get out of the booth style dining table and went to my bed. There I lifted my mattress to access the storage underneath and pulled out both my witch pack and the traveling hatbox I used for a suitcase. The latter had been a gift from Hannah. She’d bought it in Austin from an artist who’d painted runes and ravens all over it. I hefted the hatbox onto the table, opened it, and began tossing in the freshly laundered clothes.

  Tanner followed. "That Queenie woman was right about you."

  "Huh?" Busy calculating what I’d need for three days—because nothing mattered after that—I barely heard Tanner.

  "Look at me." He grabbed my wrist, hard enough to make me gasp at first, then loosened his grip. "Stop packing." He spun me to face him. His eyes burned into mine. "That woman said you live like a ghost in your own life. That’s what you’re doing right now by not wanting me to go with you."

  "Hey, you’re right. Let’s all go. Go tell Dillon and Finn to get the kids ready to travel." I threw another handful of underwear into my hatbox. "No, wait. Let’s go get Hannah first. She really needs some more fucking trauma in her life."

  Face reddening, Tanner narrowed his eyes into angry slits. "Don’t blow me off." His voice rose to a shout on the last couple of words. Someone’s dog started barking. He took a deep breath and spoke nearly in a whisper. "Do not blow me off. You know exactly what I’m talking about."

  I yanked my wrist away from him. "No. I most certainly do not. All I know is my whole life is a circus of tragedy and danger, and I don’t want you dragged into it."

  Maybe a quick session of mattress rodeo would soothe his hurt feelings. I sidled close to him and brushed my lips against his.

  He wasn’t finished saying his piece and talked against my lips. "Then let me go with you. Finding stuff like this book is what I do. I can help you."

  I drew back to stare at him. What he said was true. But what else came with it? Danger for him. Maybe death. I shook my head.

  "Let me go take care of this. I’ll make up for it when I get back." I trailed my fingers down his bare chest.

  He moaned and planted soft kisses along my jawline. "I know exactly what you’re trying to do right now."

  "Me too." I popped open the button on his pants and dipped my fingers inside, still thinking about the time and getting out of here before people started stirring, and tugged him toward the bed.

  Tanner didn’t let me pull him. He planted his bare feet and stood like a statue. "You’re avoiding the subject. I said you live in your life like a ghost. In order to keep from thinking about it, you’re trying to get me naked."

  I glanced down at the front of his pants. "You want to be naked with me."

  He put his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. "But I also want to talk to you about this."

  "About what?" I let my chest rub against his.

  His eyes slid closed, and he pulled me against him hard enough to make us both grunt. He shook his head and pushed me away.

  "Listen, please." He held up one hand. "That lady, Queeni
e, said you walk in your own life like a ghost. I know what she’s talking about. You tiptoe around like you don’t belong here rather than just living. Not wanting me to go is part of it."

  My face heated. "That’s not true."

  He rolled his eyes and huffed out an ugly laugh. "Of course not."

  I closed the distance he’d put between us, pressed my lips against his hot skin, and slipped my arms around his waist. "I can’t risk you going with me and getting hurt, maybe even dead. What if I lose and he takes me as his…concubine?" The idea made my mouth dry, and I swallowed hard. "He’ll kill you if you fight him. Or he might kill you for fun. Or he might take you as well. This is no game."

  "And what we faced together a few months ago was a game?" He cupped my chin and tilted my head to look at him.

  I shook my head. "No. It wasn’t a game either."

  "I helped you then, and I want to help now." He slid one hand under my shirt and ran his fingers over my bare skin. I shivered.

  "Not this time." I tugged him toward the bed, to make that the last thing we did together, rather than argue.

  But Tanner pushed my hand away and stepped around me to open the door. The sound of frogs singing drifted into the camper. "I’m going to shower and pack my bag. If you’re not here when I get back, we’re done."

  Knowing I was beat, I waited until the door slammed before I got up and finished my packing. I grabbed my bags and a wad of cash I kept for rainy days and slipped out of the camper.

  Next door, in Tanner’s seventies era camper, the lights shone and the sound of water hitting the walls of the shower drifted through the night air. Sadness rose up, swelling in my chest. I took out my phone and dialed Brad Whitebyrd’s number. He picked up on the fourth ring, his voice thick with sleep.

  I didn’t bother with pleasantries. "Get up, get out here, and stop Tanner from leaving in about ten minutes."

  "Who is it?" Jadine’s voice asked.

  "Peri Jean, what is this about?" Brad groaned.

  "Mohawk’s ready for me to find his book." Brad knew all about my bargain with Mohawk from his sister, Mysti. "Tanner wants to help, and he can’t. Stop him." I hung up and walked to Hannah’s camper, teeth clamped on my lower lip to keep from getting all weepy. Control yourself. I heard Priscilla Herrera in the command and was still puzzling over how I felt about that when the door to Hannah’s motorhome swung open.

  She peeked out. "Hurry if you’re going to leave him behind."

  She motioned me inside her luxury liner. A divorce settlement from her husband, a major league baseball player, let her do everything first class.

  "Did our argument wake you?" I hoped not. I didn’t want to hear what Hannah thought about the things Tanner and I had said to each other.

  She shook her head. "I was already awake. Leon likes to leave early."

  I raised one eyebrow. I knew they’d been dating but hadn’t realized they’d progressed to the point of sleepovers, even sneaky ones. Sounded like a good arrangement right then. At least everybody in the world didn’t know their business. I might try it with Tanner’s replacement. My heart gave a little ache at that.

  "I didn’t hear much, really." Hannah rubbed my back. "I only know what I do because Tanner said that last bit to you after the door was open. So Mohawk’s back?"

  Hannah amazed me. She could take a few random facts and figure out a world of information.

  "I’ve got seventy-two hours to find that stupid book or I become his bride." I screwed up my courage to ask her the question I’d come to ask.

  Hannah made a face. "Do you want me to come with you? I can be packed and ready in ten minutes."

  I shook my head. "I meant what I told Tanner. I don’t want anybody else involved in this. Too dangerous. That’s why I’m here. I need your gun."

  I stood still, my heart thundering. I’d never asked anybody for a gun in my whole life. This was the first time I honestly thought one might help me.

  Most people would have asked me a zillion questions. Hannah just nodded and walked to the back of her fancy motorhome. A cabinet opened and closed. She came back holding a little zippered pouch in zebra print.

  "This one’s not registered to anybody. I got it after the business with King and the Six Guns. I keep thinking Corman’s going to come back to finish things." She held the cute little pouch out to me. I took it, surprised at its weight, and tucked it into my hat case.

  Hannah cleared her throat. "The only thing is…well, I hate to say this. But I don’t think it’ll kill Mohawk."

  I raised my head so we could look at each other while I had my say. "It’s not for him. It’s for me. I won’t let him take me alive."

  Hannah and I stared at each other for several long seconds. She held out her arms. I went to her, and we hugged tight.

  I spoke first. "If we don’t see each other again, I want you to know I’ve been grateful to have you in my life."

  She pulled back from me and put her hands on either side of my face. "Same. I love you."

  We hugged again, this time harder. I pulled back and said, "I need to go before Tanner gets out of the shower."

  She nodded and wiped at her cheek. "If you do make it back, you need to think about what Tanner said. About tiptoeing through your life."

  "Thought you didn’t hear much." My skin heated as I tried to remember everything Tanner and I had said.

  "I heard that. And he’s right." She opened the door for me, indicating she’d said her peace.

  I walked out but turned back to her. "He won’t be here when I get back. And he’s wrong anyway."

  She smiled. “Tanner might surprise you. Most guys would have taken the piece of ass and let you go."

  My face heated. Didn’t hear anything, my ass.

  Brad Whitebyrd sat on the hood of Tanner’s truck when I came out of Hannah’s motorhome. I walked over, climbed up, and gave him a hug. He put both arms around me and rested his cheek on my shoulder.

  "You should call Mysti. She'd help you." He ended the hug and stared hard at me.

  "So would everybody in this camp, including your wife. It might get them killed." My voice trembled on the last word.

  Brad hung his head. He wouldn’t offer up his pretty bride as a sacrifice to my drama, and I'd never ask him to.

  "Goodbye," I whispered.

  Orev perched on the rearview mirror of my truck. "Caw caw caw."

  I opened the truck’s door and laid a towel on the passenger seat while he worked his way inside. Then I climbed into the driver’s seat and drove out of there like the devil was riding my bumper.

  A few miles down the road, I stopped at a convenience store and looked up Devil’s Rest on my phone. It was south and west of San Antonio. At least seven hours from my current location. I got on Louisiana State Route 6 and drove into the darkness of the new morning.

  That final bit of nighttime and the lonely highway woke up the ghosts of my regrets. Tanner. Leaving the way I had was a bitch move, one he didn’t deserve. I’d become attached to him and then let myself get scared about it. I should have done things differently. I should have said goodbye to my family.

  "I’m sorry. I’m sorry," I whispered, tears dripping from my jawline.

  The yellow stripes disappeared under my headlights with no answer. Maybe there wasn’t one.

  I crossed the Texas-Louisiana border just as the sun peeked over the tall pine trees. It rose blazing into a sky already white with humidity and chased away the velvet of the morning like a mean dog protecting his yard. I kept driving and stopped in Lufkin at a McDonald’s for breakfast but couldn’t make myself order more than coffee, which I drank while sitting on the hood of my truck, smoking. I offered Orev cat food, but he flew off and came back later with a snake which he ate right in front of me.

  I turned away and text messaged Cecil about what had happened and what I’d be doing. He tried to convince me to wait for the family to join me, but I wouldn’t even tell him the name of the town where I was going. C
ecil finally gave up, told me he loved me and to call if I decided to quit being a jackass and accept his help. I wanted to ask if Tanner had left Sanctuary but couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  I got in my truck and checked the map function on my phone to see how much farther to Devil’s Rest. Five and a half hours from Lufkin.

  Just to torture myself, I went into my contacts and pulled up Tanner’s. A picture of him smiling, the sun peeking out from behind his head. I had treated him shabbily, like he didn’t matter. He’d responded the only way someone with any self-respect could. By removing himself from my life.

  My finger hovered over the call button. The urge to call him itched, nearly impossible to resist. It wouldn’t cost me anything but pride to apologize. He certainly deserved it. But I couldn’t make myself call. After a couple of wasted minutes, I put the phone away, started my truck, and got back on the road.

  I pushed the speed limit as hard as I could, ever aware of the minutes passing. As I moved west, the trees got shorter, and the sky stretched open, endless and blue, the sun a frying egg in the middle. The landscape grew sparse, the road ribboning out with waves of heat rippling above it. My phone said it was eighty-two more miles to Devil’s Rest.

  Those final miles beat with urgency. Any minute saved might be the one that allowed me to find the book. A green sign that said Devil’s Rest and pointed left onto a rutted and forgotten-looking asphalt road marked the final turn. I fishtailed as I made it.

  The town of Devil’s Rest would have reminded me of Gaslight City had it not been for the huge expanse of sky hovering over it. In East Texas, the pines would have hidden the sky, wrapped it in their web of secrets. Devil’s Rest’s stark openness made it seem harsher, more mean. I drove through town on a street called Veterans Drive, not sure how to proceed.

  I had the picture of the woman holding the book, but I didn’t know her name. I didn’t even know where she’d lived or what the book had compelled her to do.

  Tanner’s knowledge of magical items would have been useful here. The voice sounded like some creepy mixture of Priscilla Herrera and me. I ignored it and the flash of remorse it brought. I pulled into the slant parking in front of a row of buildings and already had the truck in park before I realized I was facing a bridal shop, with an out-of-date wedding dress in its dusty window. It would have to be a bridal shop.