Page 54 of Glow

They watched the cave area closely, but Harrison did not emerge.

“Those caves connect to others,” Quinn remarked. “He might be able to travel that way, if he has light. Or he’s waiting to jump anyone who tries to follow.”

Dan pointed to the flattened grass and tell-tale scale. “Or something else is waiting for him.”

Quinn holstered his handgun and drew the rifle slung over his shoulder. “I don’t want to go any closer, and this way I can return fire if he comes after us again.”

He pulled out his phone and pressed a contact. Dan could hear Amy’s voice answer.

“We found the wurm,” Quinn told her. “I’ll text you our coordinates. We think it’s hiding in the caves, but we found recent tracks, so it’s nearby. This might be our best chance to trap him if you can gather what you need and meet us here.”

“See you soon. The sheriff called us, and we were already on our way. Stay safe.”

“I saw a shiny scale near where the bodies were,” Dan told him. “I didn’t have a kit to pick it up safely, but Amy might be able to save it or use it.”

Before long, they heard loud footsteps heading their way. Quinn stayed wary but kept his gun down. Armel and two deputies emerged from the trees, armed and wearing flak vests.

“Where’s Harrison?” the sheriff demanded.

“He ran in there.” Dan pointed to the caves. “But we think the wurm’s in the caves too.” He gestured at the tracks through the mud.

“Which is why we’re here.” Amy and two other witches, Dan recognized from the Fox Institute, weren’t far behind the officers. “You get your criminal, and we’ll bind the dragon.”

She gave Armel a look, and Dan wondered how often the witches and the sheriff had ended up working together on supernatural cases.

“I found a scale,” Dan told her. “It’s over there.” Now that he wasn’t quite so panicked, Dan could pick up the smell of the rotting bodies as well.

“That will do nicely.” Amy pulled a special pouch and abalone tongs from a bag on her belt. “I’ll go get it.” She returned with something inside the pouch. She looked a little nauseous, and Dan guessed she had seen the bodies, but she didn’t mention them. “Give us a few minutes to set up. We just need to set out some preparations before we’re ready to do the binding ritual.”

“I don’t think Harrison is going anywhere, but make it snappy,” Armel grumbled.

Amy and the others were clearly prepared for a quick response, and the other witch laid out their ritual components within a circle drawn with salt.

“Perfect,” Amy told her. “That’s even better than I hoped.” She carefully placed the scale in the center and spoke an incantation while she added fragrant dry ingredients to a brazier and lit a fire inside, sending up a plume of smoke. The other two witches walked the perimeter of a protective circle that included Quinn, Dan, and the officers, murmuring the spell just a little too quietly for Dan to make out the words.

“Look.” Dan pointed as three ghostly figures took shape outside the circle. Two looked to be in their early twenties, clad in T-shirts and shorts, and Dan guessed they were the missing hikers. The other was an older man wrapped in a sigil-marked shawl.

“Wanna bet that’s the ghost of the witch who released the wurm?” one of Amy’s companions said. “Guess there’s another body around here somewhere.”

“Stay inside the protected area,” Amy told them. “It’s not completely bulletproof, but it will protect you.”

“Something’s moving in there.” Quinn gestured toward the cave, alerting the sheriff.

“Damn,” Armel muttered, adding a few more choice words under his breath. He pulled a bullhorn from where it hung from his belt.

“Ben Harrison, this is the sheriff,” he blared. “Put down your weapons and come out with your hands in the air.”

Dan glimpsed movement in the shadows right before more shots rang out. He and the others dropped to the ground to stay inside the protective circle.

“Guess he isn’t going to go quietly,” Quinn grumbled.

Harrison kept them pinned down, clearly having prepared for a siege. He moved to the front of the cave in plain view. “Come get me,” he shouted.

Something moved behind Harrison, large enough to fill the opening with its bulk.

“Is that—” Armel said, staring.

One minute Harrison stood belligerently in the cave mouth. In the next, the wurm swept him off his feet, holding his body clamped between huge, sharp teeth.