Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jared

It feels as if every living thing within five miles of this place should know we're coming; that's how much noise Landon makes while we're attempting to sneak up on our enemy's stronghold.

"Can you be any louder?" I hiss for the third time.

Landon just glares back at me. "Everything is covered in leaves, genius. What do you want me to do? You're not exactly Mission Impossible over there, either."

I think I'm a great deal quieter than he is, but it won't get any better if we keep bickering. Instead, I ignore him and veer further away, hoping it'll be less obvious if we split up the noise.

When I reach the top, I'm relieved to discover tall green hedges blocking me from view of the windows. It's also a lot windier up here, so the blowing leaves and creaking branches provide a fair amount of covering noise.

Rising above the hedge, a pristine white building sits rather close, clearly old but maintained. I run up and crouch next to the green wall, and Landon joins me a moment later. We both listen intently, but there's no sound aside from nature.

Landon's eyes meet mine. "Now what?" He asks in a low voice.

"I guess… we could walk around and see if there's a way to get through the hedge?"

He shrugs and nods, and we start our route along the back side.

It isn't a hedge so much as tall skinny evergreen trees planted so close together they grew into each other. The tips are about eight feet high, and the bushy branches end inches above the ground. In a pinch, we might be able to shimmy under, but I'd rather not.

Unfortunately, it's a solid green wall all the way around to the other side. We follow it quite a way down what we assume is the driveway, only for it to end at a low stone wall. Peeking around, I note that the other side is exactly the same, and there's no gate between them.

We duck back to the safe side to regroup. I glance over at Landon. "Any ideas?"

His expression is thoughtful, obviously already trying to come up with a plan. "We can't go up the drive. It's like fifty yards with zero cover."

"Agreed."

"There's a couple cars parked in front, but I didn't see any activity, and the windows are dark. Not that it means anything, it's still daytime."

"Okay…"

"I don't think there's much else we can do aside from hang out a bit and hope we get lucky. Why don't we go back to the house and see if we can, like, peek through the trees or something?"

I shrug my acceptance of his idea and follow him back the way we came. His plan reminds me of a cartoon villain, but I don't really have any better suggestions, so it's worth a shot. We've just gotten close to the front of the house when the unmistakable sound of an approaching car reaches my ears.

We both drop to the ground, as if someone could spot us through the thick foliage.

Fearless super spies we are not.

The car rumbles up—some kind of sports car, or at least something with a souped-up engine—and comes to a stop just feet from our hiding place.

My heart is practically in my throat. Landon and I stare at each other with wide eyes, and I completely stop breathing when the car doors open.

"I can't believe he called us back here this soon," a reedy male voice grumbles. "I didn't get home until dawn." As if to emphasize his point, he yawns audibly. "Why can't someone else do guard duty tonight?"

A deeper, gruffer voice answers. "Because he doesn't want everyone to know what's going on yet, dimwit. Consider yourself lucky that Alpha trusts you enough to be involved."

The doors slam. "But why does he need guards? The witch built him an impenetrable magic prison. That freak's not getting out of there, period."

Footsteps crunching across leaf-strewn pavement move away from us. "He doesn't trust that witch any further than he can throw her. Did you know she killed her own mother for more power? That's cold, man."

"Yeah, she gives me the creeps. I mean, she's hot, but something about her screams crazy. I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole."

The deeper voice laughs. "You're full of shit. If you got the chance, you'd hit it."

"Hell no," reedy voice insists. "I've made that mistake before, and I learned my lesson. You don't touch crazy. Not even for a hookup. Especially for a hookup. It's never worth it."

Their conversation stops right before a knock sounds, and a few moments later a door opens, then closes again. After that, it's just us and the wind in the trees.

I push out a heavy breath and breathe in again deeply. "I don't think I'm cut out to be a spy," I admit with a sheepish grin.

"Same," Landon agrees, his face flushed. "I have many talents and spying isn't one of them. Let's get out of here."

"I'm right behind you."

It's not until we're safely back on the trail with a fair amount of distance between us and the house that I dare to talk.

"So, I guess your instincts on that were dead on."

"Which ones?"

"This being the right place, first off. And he's definitely being held against his will. I'd say you were right all around."

"Yeah, I guess I was." Even though I just admitted he was right, Landon doesn't seem cheered by the thought.

"Everything all right?" I nudge him with my elbow.

"Not really. We know where he is, but we also know he's being guarded, and they've got him in some kind of magical prison. We have no way of getting him out of that, and Azalea is clearly still working with them. So I'm not sure how much it helps."

We clear the trees and find ourselves back at the trailhead, where my truck waits. I hit unlock on the remote and we clamber inside.

"That's true, but… she's not the only witch around." I start the engine and flash Landon a grin, then turn my tires toward home.