Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(128)

I swore I could feel the alertness through the phone. “What’s going on?” Kol demanded.

I shifted in my seat, a little of the humor at Yeti’s antics fleeing. “Something has been eating at Brae. She doesn’t think Vincent killed Nova.”

“Thank fuck,” Kol muttered.

“I told you,” Mav said in the background.

That same alertness that had found Kol settled into my muscles. “You don’t either?”

“It just doesn’t add up to me. Vincent was obsessed with Brae, some twisted need to think she was still under his thumb. And it got kicked up with all the interviews about Nova. But if he was jealous of Nova or wanted her out of the picture, why then? She’d been in Brae’s life forever.”

A sick feeling settled in my gut. Because if it wasn’t Vincent…

“I’m about two minutes out. You want to meet us there?”

“We’re about five minutes away,” Kol said by way of answer.

I wasn’t shocked. When Kol was on a case, he’d drive or walk the area over and over. He said the process was like looking at a puzzle from different angles. You never knew what might get kicked free. And he occasionally brought Maverick because while Kol knew tracking like no one else, Mav knew things the forest could tell you.

“See you in a few.” I clicked off the call and took the final turn a little faster than I should’ve. Yeti pulled her head back into the SUV and gave me a dirty look. “Sorry, girl. Gotta get us to your mama.”

The trailhead came into view, and a prickle of unease settled deep. There was no flash of blond hair. The only color came from Brae’s maroon SUV and Aster’s navy pickup.

I pulled in two spaces down from Brae’s vehicle and was out of my vehicle in a flash. “Brae,” I called, lifting my voice in something just short of a yell. The only answer was the wind whistling through the trees and the river in the distance.

Stalking toward the vehicle, I peeked inside. Nothing. I tested a door. Locked up tight.

Fear turned my blood colder with every step, every breath. My heart rate should’ve been ratcheting up with panic. But not me. Mine turned slower, frigid. Maybe it was the DNA that flowed through me.

But as I rounded the back bumper and caught sight of Brae’s familiar pack, the one with the patch that read Bigfoot Patrol, my heart stopped altogether. Her brightly colored water bottle was shoved into a side pocket. And Brae was nowhere.

Blood pulsed in my ears in slow, brutal waves like ocean water crashing against rock, yet somehow my heart stopped at the same time.

A body. Blond hair spilled over a woman’s face. Aster. Not Brae. And God, I was going to hell for the relief that coursed through me at that.

But I was already on the move, dropping to my knees as I brushed the hair out of Aster’s face. I pressed my fingers to her neck, hoping for a pulse. Another wave of relief found me as I felt the flutter against my fingertips. I bent over her and felt soft breaths against my cheek. Unconscious but breathing.

Two doors slammed, and I whirled. I would’ve reached for my gun, but it was still in my damned SUV. My muscles unlocked at the sight of Kol and Maverick striding toward me.

“What happened?” Kol demanded.

“I don’t know. Aster was on the ground. Brae’s… She’s…she’s gone.” The words cost me. Just speaking them out loud hurt—a brutal pain like knives being shoved under fingernails or an uppercut so vicious it splintered ribs and sent the shards into your heart.

Kol’s expression went thunderous. But Maverick? He was frozen. He didn’t blink. I didn’t think he even breathed.

“Mav,” I said, my voice low. “You got your bag?”

He still didn’t move.

“Aster needs you, man,” I pressed. He was the one with real medical training.

At my words, Maverick jolted like he’d been shocked. But it was only a matter of seconds before he was back with a kit.

I was instantly on my feet because I couldn’t do anything else for Aster. It was Brae who needed me now. Just thinking her name was a physical blow, and I nearly staggered under its weight. “Kol,” I croaked.

“Called for backup,” he growled. “Now, get out of the damn scene.”

I normally would’ve hit back at the order, but not now. Not when I knew why he’d issued it. I instantly moved back to where Kol was standing.

“Get our brothers,” he muttered, but his gaze was already locked on the area around Brae’s vehicle, tracing footprints and reading them as if they were a foreign language only he could translate. And maybe they were.

I was only partly aware of the text I sent to our chain. My phone buzzed in my hand.

Wylder



I’m on my way.





One brother down.

Orion



Working the map.





It was Orion-speak for saying he was following his own sort of lead.

“Aster’s stable,” Maverick said, his voice trembling slightly. “She’s got a wound on the back of her head. Someone hit her with something. Rounded. Not sharp.” With each new piece of information, his voice hardened.

A soft moan of pain sounded.

“Easy, Ice Queen. I’ve got you.” Mav’s voice had gone gentle again.