Page 125 of Set It Right
The thing was, even as we drove the ranch roads, deep down, I knew what we were doing was useless. Cormac had beenout on horseback. Any of the trails he could have taken were only passable on hoof. We wouldn’t find him in a vehicle, and certainly not when it was too dark to see more than a foot in front of us.
We kept at it for a couple hours anyway. If it were up to me, I never would have stopped looking, but I was too numb to put up a fight when Lock drove us back to his and Elena’s house.
When we arrived, Zane and Steven closed around me and didn’t move. They were pressed into my sides on the couch, like I might’ve bolted if they’d moved an inch.
They weren’t wrong to be worried. All I wanted to do was go back out there and scream Cormac’s name until my throat was too raw to make another sound.
I stared out the window, nothing but black looking back at me. The entire thirty-thousand acres of the Kelly ranch had been swallowed whole by darkness. Even the moon was hiding out, a sliver of silver barely giving off a glow.
It was too dangerous to keep searching for Cormac right now. We’d start again at first light. Hours from now.
Way too long.
I stared at the front door like I could will it to open.
“He knows this land,” Zane murmured into my hair. “He grew up on it.”
“I know,” I whispered.
That didn’t help, though. He was out there, thinking I was lost. How far would he go to find me? No matter how dark it got, he’d keep looking. It was in his blood to be my hero, but for once, it wasn’t me in distress.
In the kitchen, Elena stood at the sink, though there was nothing in it. Lock stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She sagged into him for just a second before straightening again.
“He’s strong,” she said quietly.
“I know,” Lock replied, his voice low and steady. “He’s so strong.”
I pressed my hands to my knees to stop them from shaking.
If the moon were full, at least he’d have light. At least he could see the trail. The ridges. The drop-offs. The dry creek beds that twisted without warning.
Instead, it was the darkest night of the month, because of course it was.
A knock on the door splintered the quiet despair in the house. As if choreographed, everyone’s heads snapped in that direction.
Lock moved first, crossing the room in long strides. I was already on my feet before he opened it, revealing the last two people I would have expected to see.
Victoria stood on the porch, a sweater thrown over pajamas, her face pale. Melanie hovered behind her, eyes red, shoulders drooping inward.
“What’s going on?” Lock asked.
Victoria spoke first. “There’s something we really need to tell you. About Cormac.”
My stomach twisted at his name coming from her lips.
Victoria turned to Melanie, giving her back a shove. “Tell them, Mel. You have to.”
Melanie didn’t lift her head. Her hands opened and closed at her sides.
Finally, she started talking. “Earlier, I ran into Cormac. He said Zara was late returning from a ride. And I…I told him there’d been a change of plans and Zara had taken the north trail.”
That didn’t make sense.
“But there was no change. We were on the east…”
“I know.” Her hands twisted together in front of her. “But I told him north. I said it without thinking. If I’d thought—”
“You told him they were headed out to the ridge,” Victoria added, her tone tight. “You told him they might be running late because it was harder terrain.”
