Another Day, Another Dollar - Avery Clavens Book 4

Chapter 17 - Warlocks never play fair

We head north up the highway. Looking at the clock it is only two so we have plenty time and we are already halfway there. That means that the group of fighters should already be at the location, but I haven’t heard anything back from Nate. As we get closer and I am seeing signs indicating we have arrived I am a little worried.

“Why hasn’t he checked in yet?” I say out loud more as a rhetorical question than anything else. My mind starts swimming with worst case scenarios. So many things could have gone wrong. What if they were ambushed, or the warlocks saw through the illusion?

“He is probably just getting the lay of the land before he gives you instructions. He is a big boy and you have already protected them as best you can,” Vinnie answers.

“Yeah, but I have no way of knowing for sure if the spell actually worked. I got a headache, but that doesn’t mean the spell is going to do what I hoped it would,” I reply.

“You have been saying your spells for a couple of weeks now, has one ever not done what you thought it would?” he asks.

“No, they have always worked, but this would be a really crappy time for them to stop,” I say.

“Okay, Avery we have their location. How close are you?” Nate finally asks.

“I am here already. You do know it was only twenty minutes away, right?” I return.

“Well, my little speed demon, I thought you would take it just a little slower. We need you to drive around to the west side of the forest. There should be a recreation area over there where you can park. Then walk about twenty minutes down the trail and you will come to a clearing. If you hang on the edges you should be able to do your tests,” he instructs.

“How in the world do you know such intimate details of the forest?” I ask. “I am the one with the computer that can download that type of information.”

“The wolves come here to run often. They know the area pretty well. We are hoping to use that to our advantage,” he replies. “We are walking up to the clearing now, so I will see you when you get here.”

“Okay, we will be there as soon as we can.” I say pulling into the parking lot. I see the trail he mentioned and get out of the car. Vinnie joins me. “Nate says we follow the trail for a while and then we will come to a clearing. How quietly can you run? I would like to get there as soon as possible,” I tell him.

“Quiet shouldn’t be a problem. I am properly oiled, so no squeaky hinges,” he says as we take off in a quick jog.

On the way there I listen in from Nate’s brain so I am not taken by surprise when we get there.

“You are early,” a voice I do not recognize says.

“Well we don’t believe in arriving fashionably late,” Nate replies.

“I see you got all of your little wolves back as we expected. I hope there are no hard feelings about us playing our little game with them,” the same voice says. Since he is the only one that has spoken so far, I have to believe he is the leader.

“That would be an incorrect assumption,” Joseph says.

“Oh yes, the wolf king. I forgot that you hung around with the feathered ones. You really should choose better friends. Being too close to these guys could get you killed,” he replies.

“Can I ask who we are speaking to?” Nate asks.

“Sure. Some of you may survive to tell your friends. After all we only really want to kill one of you,” he answers. “My name is Calvin.” I wish I could get a visual with the audio, but since I am running through the woods, I don’t think that is the best idea to try.