“Ghost.” Rawls finally translated the Arapaho word.
Jude suddenly straightened. “Wolf comes.”
As distractions went, it immediately shifted everyone’s focus—although from the censorious look Zane directed at him, the ghost conversation was far from over.
“Come,” Jude said, pivoting and heading toward the back of the cavern and the rock passageway that penetrated deep into the heart of the hillside.
“What the fuck,” Mac growled, slamming his hands down on his hips. “He could spend a few fucking words filling us in.”
Faith beside him, Rawls weaved his way between people as he headed for Jude. He had no clue how much range that amulet had. He couldn’t afford to let his ghost protection get too far ahead. But just before he joined the gray-haired warrior, a huge body dressed in camo stepped out of the darkness behind Jude and joined the older Arapaho in the mouth of the cavern.
Wolf.
Rawls picked up his pace.
After a brief conversation with his second in command, Wolf shifted, his dark eyes landing on Rawls. He beckoned him forward. When Rawls reached him, Wolf passed him a wad of leather.
“Don’t take it off,” Wolf said flatly, and brushed past him, advancing on Cosky and Kait.
Rawls unwrapped the leather and found a small weaving attached to a leather cord. The new amulet carried the same stacked starburst pattern as Jude’s charm, but in vibrant purple and blue.
Relief whooshed through him. He slipped the thin cord over his head and lifted his T-shirt, slipping the weaving beneath it. It rasped against his skin, itchy and annoying, but at least he didn’t have to count on someone else’s shield now. With this hiixoyooniiheiht he could protect himself and Faith and everyone else for that matter.
“Does it feel . . . I don’t know . . . weird? Strange?” Faith asked him, curiosity shimmering in her eyes.
“Just itchy,” Rawls said absently. He turned to find Wolf, Mac, Zane, and Cosky in a huddle maybe ten feet behind him.
“Can I see it?” Faith asked.
Rawls tugged the weaving up by the cord, dropping it into her hands when she reached for it. Since the cord was still around his neck, she had to lean in to inspect it, until she was so close her head was tucked beneath his chin and the sweet scent of her hair tickled his nose and libido.
To distract himself, he sought out Wolf again and found the huddle breaking apart.
“Listen up,” Mac said, stepping into the center of the hub and raising his voice. “We’re moving out. Wolf, Jude, and I will lead the way. Rawls, Cosky, and Zane will bring up the rear.”
As people stirred and lined up, Cosky headed toward Kait and lifted her to her feet. He held a water bottle to her lips, and once he was satisfied with her intake, he gave her a swift hug and handed her off to Marion, who wrapped an arm around her waist. Zane kissed Beth and joined Cosky. They wove their way through bodies toward the back of the hub.
“It doesn’t feel any different,” Faith said, disappointment in her voice. She gave the rough starburst one final rub between her fingers and dropped it.
“How you doin’?” Rawls asked quietly as he tucked the weaving back beneath his shirt. He reached for her wrist to check her pulse. It beat steady and strong beneath his fingers.
She’d be safer in the middle of the flock, guarded by the front and back flanks. But, if her heart was even the slightest unstable still . . . procedures be damned . . . he’d glue her to his side.
“I’m fine. Honestly.” She pulled her wrist away and made a shooing gesture. “Go. Go.”
Rawls gave her one final, thorough scan from head to toe. Her color looked good. Her eyes clear. She was breathing with ease.
“I’ll be right behind you if you run into trouble,” he told her softly and leaned down, brushing her lips with his. Her mouth was soft beneath his. Satin smooth.
Intoxicating.
Stifling a groan, he forced himself to lift his head and step back. The soft cloudy look in her eyes followed him as he headed back to Cosky and Zane.
“Mac has a point,” Cosky told Rawls and Zane in a low voice, as they slowly followed Amy and her two boys through the hub and into the rock-cut passageway. “How the hell did Jude know Wolf was on the way?”
“You think he’s lyin’?” Rawls asked.
“No. Fuck. Wolf’s here, right?” Cosky slowed, letting Amy and her chattering son increase the distance between them. “But there’s something weird there. Jude showed up at our door before Mac’s nine-one-one hit the radio waves. He said Wolf had contacted him, warned him to get everyone into the tunnels immediately.”
Zane shrugged. “He’s Wolf’s second. Probably has the CO’s sat phone.”
Cosky frowned. “He didn’t have it on him when he showed up at the cabin. And he didn’t have it when he told us Wolf was here.”
Okay. That was odd.