Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) (19 page)

For a moment, we all three stood
there. The sight was breathtaking. We were on a hilltop with the
bus at our backs, giving a clear view of what lay before us. A few
feet from where I stood, the drop was vertical enough to make it
seem like the edge of everything.

Beyond and below it, hills rolled with
grass so green it looked airbrushed. The sun shone, lighting up a
perfect blue sky. Everything in between was mountains and tall
pines and such openness that it made a person insignificant in
comparison.

Here and there, lakes dotted the
mountainsides. Ribbons of cobalt-blue streams interrupted the
shades of green that were grassy fields, patches of forest, and
valleys that even from here were covered in brightly colored pink
and orange flowers.

I wasn’t sure if it was my wolf senses
widening to take it all in or the deceiving vastness of the
landscape itself. It all felt so much bigger than anywhere else. My
wolf strained excitedly at the prospect of exploring it
all.

“
It looks like it goes on
forever,” I said, breathless and cold but hopeful for the first
time since leaving Virginia. Something about the beauty of this
place told me it might all be okay. I couldn’t describe
why.

“
Uh, are you sure we’re in
the right place?” George asked.

“
This is the place on the
map,” Wes said. He stared conversely down at the map and then up at
the view before us.

“
It looks a little sparse
on man-made structures,” George said. He turned a slow circle in
every direction. I did the same and then checked the map over Wes’s
shoulder. No cabin, though the map had us where it wanted
us.

“
That’s the map from Edie,
right?” George asked.

“
Yes.” A hint of
irritation crept into Wes’s voice.

George wandered around the side of the
bus, checking what scenery it blocked from view. He returned a
moment later. “There’s a trail on the other side,” he
said.

Wes and I followed him around and sure
enough, there was a narrow lane of dirt winding into the
trees.

“
It’s not much,” Wes said,
“but it’s what we’ve got.”

“
Someone should stay with
the girls,” I said.

We all shared a look. “I will,” George
said.

“
We’ll be back in a few,”
Wes said. “Come on.”

I followed as he led the way onto the
trail. The air turned cooler and I pulled my arms tight around me.
“Colorado’s summer is a little chilly,” I said.

“
Have you forgotten
Virginia humidity already?” Wes asked, moving branches aside to let
me pass.

“
Point taken. Colorado
wins.”

The path wound around, taking a hard
right away from the edge of the hill we’d stood on. A rushing sound
built in my ears, growing louder as we walked. We followed the
trail until the trees around us became more widely spaced and then
abruptly gave way to a clearing. I stopped and stared, a breath
sticking in my throat. It was something out of a fairy
tale.

The clearing itself was little more
than thick, green grass with a large yellowing patch in the center.
It was almost strange how perfectly square the space of deadened
grass looked before the green, healthy stuff began again. But
beyond it, like a perfect backdrop, a cliff rose and towered over
the treetops that bordered the far side of the space. Its hues of
brown and red and orange clay were mesmerizing. Mountains in
Virginia did not compare to this. And in the center, a giant
waterfall fell—the rushing sound I’d heard. Its spray of water was
a mixture of clear blue and foamy white froth. It looked like an
entire bottle of bubble bath had been poured in a tub.

“
Beautiful,” I
breathed.

“
Amazing,” Wes
agreed.

I stood a moment longer, enjoying the
beauty of the falls. I could smell the moisture in the air but it
was nothing like the humidity of home. It tasted light and fresh on
my tongue. Again, my wolf begged to be let out. I shoved it aside
and took a step forward.

“
I wonder why there’s that
patch of dead grass in the center,” Wes said, wandering closer with
me. “It makes an exact square.”

“
Odd,” I said.

My attention was taken
with the waterfall and a large bird that circled overhead when my
nose and forehead
thunked
against something hard. “Ow.” I stepped back,
rubbing at the sore spot on my face. I blinked at the space in
front of me. There was nothing there but empty air.

“
What the hell?” Wes
muttered.

“
I could swear I ran into
something.”

“
I know. Look.” His hands
were flat in front of him, palms out. A vein in his forearm bulged
and I realized he was exerting pressure against …
something.

“
What is it?” I
asked.

“
I don’t know.”

He straightened and began running his
hands right and left, then up and down. I did the same. The
material was cool and smooth underneath my fingertips. My hands
rippled over the shape. It was rounded and tapered in and out, as
if notches had been fitted into place.

We exchanged a look.

“
Stacked wood,
maybe?”

Wes cocked his head sideways in
thought. “You go right, I’ll go left?”

I nodded and we each took a measured
step away from each other while keeping our hands pressed against
the invisible surface.

“
Still there?” he
asked.

“
Yes. You?”

“
Yup. Again.”

We each took another step. Then
another. I ran my hands up and down. Still, the tapering. Like
slats. Like logs. Like …

On the next step, I looked down to
steady my feet. My eyes caught on the line of yellowed grass.
“Wes,” I said. “Look.”

I crouched down, running my hand all
the way to the ground. The line of my hands, pressed against the
invisible surface, matched the line where healthy grass gave way to
deadened weeds perfectly.

Wes’s eyes widened and he looked
around at the square before us. “Keep going,” he said, excitement
creeping into his voice.

I straightened and shuffled sideways
as I felt my way to the edge and then around the corner. As soon as
I did, Wes disappeared from view. I yelled and popped my head back
around.

“
What just happened?” he
asked.

“
You
disappeared.”

“
Okay, let me try.” I
waited while he moved to the opposite corner and around the other
side. As soon as he rounded it, I lost him.

“
Are you thinking what I’m
thinking?” he asked as he reappeared.

“
The cabin.”

Wes nodded.

I stepped back and squinted, trying to
see something out of nothing but empty air. “But how do we make it
visible?” In answer, he pulled the phone from his pocket and began
hitting buttons. “Who are you calling?”

“
Edie.”

While Wes waited for Grandma to
answer, I wandered. When I’d reached the back corner, I could still
hear the sound of Wes’s baritone voice, but it was muffled. There
were definitely walls—or something like it—separating
us.

Behind me, the rushing water poured
over the falls. Farther out, birds called. My mind hummed with the
girls’ snoozing and George’s ever-present buzz of worry. He was
pacing. Whatever he’d been able to read from me, it wasn’t enough
to soothe him. If we stayed gone much longer, he’d come
looking.

I rounded the space and found Wes as
he hung up. “What did she say?”

“
No answer. I left her a
voicemail.”

I frowned, doing my best to stamp out
the panic that automatically rose. “I hope everything’s all
right.”

“
I’m sure she’s fine. In
the meantime, we need to figure out how we can see this thing so we
can get George and the girls off the road.”

“
She could’ve told us this
before we left,” I said.

“
I don’t think she wanted
us walking around with all the information at once.”

“
Why not?”

“
She wanted us to call and
get it.”

“
Why?”

He gave me a pointed look.

“
Wait, did she think we
were going to run?”

“
You have a history of
blowing off the plan,” he said.

I didn’t bother to argue. He was
right. Didn’t mean I liked it.

With nothing else to do, we went back
to feeling along the surface of the outer wall. I rounded the same
corner I had before, but this time I kept going once I’d lost sight
of Wes. About halfway in, I stumbled as my foot caught on something
solid over the grass. I felt my way up an invisible step. Then
another.

My hands found the wall again but the
texture had changed. The beveled wood gave way to a smooth panel
that rose as far as I could reach and extended all the way to the
ground. The seams were tight with the slightest ridge on one side,
top and bottom. Hinges.

I kept going. My hands brushed and
then closed over something rounded—just the right size for my palm.
A doorknob. I twisted and pushed and it gave under my
grip.

“
Wes,” I called as it
swung outward, “I found a door!”

From the other side, I heard the creak
of hinges and then, “So did I.”

I pulled the door open and stepped
back. Unlike the outside, the view of the interior was completely
visible. Dark mahogany floors met warm cherry wall panels, lighting
the space naturally with sunlight that poured in from skylights
overhead. Dark burgundy rugs covered the entryway and beyond that,
a narrow hall ended in what looked like a living room at the other
end.

A door closed and footsteps sounded,
paralyzing me with the sudden fear that maybe we weren’t actually
alone out here in this invisible cottage after all. Wes appeared at
the far end of the hallway. “Looks like you found the front door,”
he said.

“
Dammit, Wes, you scared
me.” I willed my heart to slow to normal speeds before George came
racing up the path and thought I’d disappeared into thin
air.

Wes grinned. “Look at this place. It’s
great.”

I hesitated, casting a wary glance at
the peaceful forest behind me. I remembered Grandma’s description
of this place, how it was hidden to everyone except hybrids because
of some sort of ward Astor had put on it. I wasn’t sure how it
worked or which sort of hybrids the ward preferred. What if I
wasn’t the right kind? Or Wes? What would happen if an intruder
tried to cross the threshold?

“
Come on. It’s fine,” Wes
assured me. He held his hand out.

With a deep breath, I put my hand in
his and stepped inside, leaving the door open behind me. Nothing
fatal happened.

Wes looked at me, brows raised. “You
okay?”

“
Peachy,” I
said.

The interior of the house was
beautiful. The paneled wood shone in the slanted light. The rug
underneath my feet was plush. On impulse, I slid out of my shoes
and kicked them aside, enjoying the way my toes sank into the
threads. I took a few steps and when the rug ended, the hardwood
was cool and smooth.

I followed Wes down the hall until it
emptied into the living space. The rush of water from the falls was
muted, but the sight of it was still breathtaking. Large,
floor-to-ceiling windows made up the entire length of the living
area and gave an open view of the rocky cliff and the water
spilling over the side. The lake’s surface foamed bubbly white
where it met the falls. Where the bubbles dissolved, the water
sparkled a bright shade of blue.

“
Makes me want to swim,” I
said.

“
Hmm? Yeah.” Wes sounded
distracted, the sound of his voice coming from somewhere farther
back. I found him in the kitchen, rustling through cabinets and
drawers. Wes held up a spatula and a frying pan. “We can cook,” he
said triumphantly.

“
Cook what?”

His face fell. “Hmm.” He
spun and went to the fridge at the far end. The seal stuck like it
hadn’t been worked open in a while
.
He pulled it free and bent over to look inside.
He hung there, bent over, jaw slack for a full minute before
straightening and letting the door shut. “It’s stocked.”

“
With what?” I went to the
fridge. Wes backed off to let me look. I expected cans or something
non-perishable, not that anyone would need to keep them in the
fridge, but what else would it be? Instead, every shelf was stocked
with fresh goods: fruit and veggies, the makings of salad and
sandwiches, bread, milk, eggs, you name it, it was
there.

“
Where did it come from?”
I asked.

“
Beats me.”

We shared a look. I jumped when the
phone rang. He checked the screen. “It’s Edie,” he said.

I waited while he answered it and told
Grandma where we were, trying to glean information from his side of
the conversation.