Soulless (Book #2 of Hunted)

A Tooth for a Tooth

"A tooth?! You have one of his teeth?" she shrieked and I winced as the sound grated against my hyper-sensitive ears.

"Why on earth do you have one of his teeth and more importantly why the hell are you carrying it around in your pocket?" she asked holding the small molar like it was a piece of dog poop. I shrugged and replied, "I thought I might need it. You know how I get those feelings sometimes." Phoebe shook her head incredulously and said, "I probably don't want to know the answer, but how did you get it?" I sighed.

"It wasn't that bad. I noticed that Zane—or Anton or whatever knocked it out when they were fighting a couple weeks back. I don't know how I noticed it...I don't even think I saw the tooth come out. I just knew that it had and I knew that it was Clay's and so a couple days ago, before this whole crazy rehabilitation business started, I went back into the forest and I found it." I paused for a moment and took in Phoebe's awestruck expression.

"I don't know what force compelled me to go look for it and I don't know why I kept it on me all this time, but I have it now and—can you stop holding it like it's gonna explode?! I washed it very thoroughly when I brought it home so stop being such a baby!" I snapped. Phoebe sighed and held the tooth in the palm of her hand like a normal person.

"I guess this is a good thing," she said eyeing the white tooth distastefully. "From what I've read, teeth make really good scrying agents and if he won't agree to help us we can also curse him with this tooth." She looked at me and seriously said, "Teeth are really good for cursing too."

I watched Phoebe expectantly as she glared forcefully at the tooth and her shoulders slumped forward. I blinked and asked, "What is it?" She looked at me and her bottom lip pushed out in a pout.

"I need a map. A real one made of paper," she said and it sounded as if she had given up all hope. She woefully prodded the GPS on my dashboard with the quartz crystal she always wore around her neck and sighed, "I'm not Willowy or Paigey enough to fuse magic and technology together." She was of course referencing her two favorite television shows, both of which first aired before she was born.

I sat back in my seat and thought for a moment before exclaiming, "Ah! No worries!" Phoebe turned and gave me the stink eye.

"What is it about our current situation that makes you think we shouldn't worry?" she inquired through teeth gnashed in frustration. I made myself smile at her before I reached across the seats and popped open the glove box. I reached inside and with a grand gesture I removed what looked to be a barely used tourist map of the city.

"Oh my goddess, that's still in here?" she exclaimed and I could see a grin threatening her mask of anxiety. I smiled and nodded remembering when we acquired the map. We had tried to go on a road trip over spring break and didn't make it pass the city limits. We did however stop at the Jasper Lake Welcome Center and pretended to be from Switzerland, phony accents and all. It had been a laugh riot until we came across a nice older couple that actually was from Switzerland and they asked us where we were from exactly and that was when we ran out laughing our asses off.

I watched Phoebe quickly unfold the map and spread it out across her knees. She twisted the cord that her crystal hung on around Clay's tooth and she swung the glittering stone across the map. It seemed to take forever for that rock to drop, but finally it did and I saw the point jabbing into the middle of the Jasper Lake National Forest a few miles out from the lake.

"What the heck? He's just chilling out in the woods?" Phoebe asked exasperatedly. I searched the indicated area for campgrounds or picnic areas or something else that would make more sense than Clay taking a nap up in a tree. I couldn't find any of the little blue triangles or green squares that represented any sort of recreational activity within fifty miles of the area Clay was supposed to be located in and I knew that people weren't allowed to camp around the lake because it was protected land.

"Are we going to check it out?" Phoebe asked looking up at me. I stared at the place her crystal was pointing for a moment longer and then started the car.

"It's the only lead we've got so it wouldn't hurt to check it out." I sped out of the abandoned parking lot and we started towards the lake which would probably be crawling with people this time of day.