The New Rangers - The Lady of the Mountains **on hold**

Chapter 13

Deva sent a small glare back at Mitchell where he tromped along behind her.

"Stop staring daggers at me!"

"Well if you can't walk quietly we'll find those men and that wolf easily enough," she grumbled as she turned away from him and continued walking. They had slipped out of the castle early this morning with the hope that they could discover where the men and their lupine companion were hiding out. So far, they hadn't had much luck. Though, they had found where the men had been camped previously.

Deva was cranky as they continued searching through the forest for their new camp. It didn't help that—in her opinion—Mitchell was stomping through the forest making enough noise to disturb every beast within hearing. Every twig he snapped underfoot made her wince and look around with narrowed eyes at the surrounding trees.

She stopped walking and spun around to face him. "Can you walk any louder?"

Mitchell halted abruptly before he smacked into her. "I'm walking as quietly as possible, Deva!"

"You could have fooled me, you sound like an entire heard of wild boar stampeding through the forest!" she shouted back.

"I may not be as quiet as you but I most certainly am not that loud!" he retorted just as loudly.

"I don't know how loud the boy walks, but the two of you shout loudly enough to wake the dead."

Mitchell yanked his sword free at the same moment that Deva reached for her bow.

"Oh girl, I wouldn't even bother, you're outnumbered and even you can't shoot that fast."

Deva shot a glance back over her shoulder and realized the man spoke the truth she and Mitchell didn't have a chance, while they were shouting at one another the men had surrounded them. With a curse, she slowly moved her hand away from her bow.

"Throw your weapons over here, now," he directed, pointing to a spot near his feet. They both complied. Neither made any attempt at any heroics.

"Now what?" Deva asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man giving orders.

"Now, now you come with us. Secure them," the man directed. He waited while his men tied their hands before they hauled them forward deeper into the forest.

***

"Holly, sit down will you?"

Holly turned several more circles around Logan's room before she stopped and looked at him, twisting her hands together, a nervous and very un-Holly-like gesture. "I can't, Deva and Mitchell left early this morning to go search the forest for those soldiers you ran into and they said they would come see us as soon as they returned. They should be back by now!"

Logan gave the bed a pat. "Sit, I'm sure they'll be back soon."

With a small groan, she dropped down to sit beside him. "What if something happened to them?"

He pulled her down beside him with his good arm. "Hey don't buy trouble."

She snorted. "It's what I'm best at."

He chuckled. "I'll second that, but let's not worry until we have something to worry about, shall we?"

She blew out a long breath and shifted until she could look up at him. "If those men do work for Morgana then they'll know who Mitchell is."

Logan gave her a little squeeze before relaxing his arm around her. "Don't worry about them, Holly. Mitchell and Deva are clever, they'll be fine, and besides knowing them, Mitchell's unending need for food more than likely side tracked them. I'm sure they'll come wandering back any time now."