Fall into Fire (Shamans of the Divide, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-six

"It's Cody," I said, loud enough for Coyote to hear me.

Cody reigned his horse in closer to us as Coyote lowered his rifle and rushed over to him. Renn was a little slower to lower the pistol, but I ignored him and followed Coyote.

"He's got Asha!"

The emotion in Coyote's voice couldn't be mistaken. We shined our lights in their direction and I watched Coyote pull a pile of blankets off the front of Cody's horse to the ground. Asha wasn't trying to stand on her own—she simply toppled over on to her side while Coyote struggled to get her to sit up.

"Is she okay?" Skye asked, grabbing the reins from Cody, who hopped down from the saddle.

He knelt down beside Asha as Coyote supported her back.

"She hasn't said a word since I found her," he said. "She was sitting a few feet from her wrecked ATV, just crying and rocking back and forth."

Coyote gingerly pulled the blanket off Asha and motioned for Renn's flashlight. Very carefully, he moved her hair and sweatshirt around looking for head injuries. So far, so good—just a little blood here and there. Moving down to her legs, he inspected them, too.

"She looks like she's in one piece," he said at last, kneeling down next to her. "How far away was she?"

Cody shrugged.

"Couple miles, maybe? Took me forever to get her to sit still in the saddle and not fall out. She's not all there right now."

In the dim flashlight, I looked at Asha's face and my heart broke a little more for her. Her cheeks were sunken and she had dark circles under her eyes. There was a little blood on her forehead from a cut I assume she got when she wrecked the ATV. But just like Cody said, she didn't respond to anything anyone said.

"What was the screeching we heard back there?" Renn asked.

"Hell if I know," Cody replied with a shrug. "Started as soon as I got her loaded and headed back this direction. I figured a bear or a bobcat or something. Wasn't paying too much attention."

The answer didn't sit well with Renn who kept glancing in the direction Cody and Asha had come.

"Were they followed?" I asked.

He looked at me, my flashlight pointed at his shoes so I didn't blind him, and I could tell in the dim light that he wasn't okay.

"I think so," he whispered.

Renn didn't need to warn the others—he wasn't given any time.

Near enough to make my heart jump through my chest, I heard the snapping and crashing of tree limbs. And then the shrieking began.

Skye had just returned to the circle with Coyote's horse, saddled and ready.

"We need to go," Renn yelled. "We need to go now!"

Everyone sprang into action, running to a horse, an ATV, or standing dumbly in the center of the commotion like me. Skye moved to grab Asha and Cody stopped him.

"She rides with me," he said and Skye brokered no argument, helping Cody lift Asha in front of him on the horse. He gingerly pulled her tight against his chest while gripping the reins tight in one hand. Asha, for all I could tell, was unaware of all the commotion.

I ran to Renn and threw my helmet over my head before jumping on the back of the ATV and holding on to him for dear life.

"Which direction?" I heard Cody yell to Coyote.