Magic Rising by Jennifer Cloud

she doubted industry had broken that far into the mountains. She wasn’t even sure who owned the property now. The state or some hunting club might have acquired it. Either way, she doubted there were cell phone towers or satellite signals that could break through that steep mountain range.
    Deirdre pulled back onto the road, taking the first exit for 25/70. The drive was a long one. That particular piece of property had been bought for a reason. She had no idea how far back ownership went but it was perfect for their purposes…for the leaders’ agendas. There were three high-ranking leaders at Stone House. Someone outranked them but she had no idea who that had been, a benefactor maybe.
    Cars passed her, some beeping as they cut around in the left-hand lane. She usually drove fast, but she couldn’t maintain pressure on the accelerator. The further she drove, the slower she went, and when she saw the sign for the state line, she slowed even more.
    She couldn’t put this off. Going back to that place was the only way for her to discover what Ryan Farmer knew. There was no paper trail for him, no record of events that could be looked up from a safe computer at the station. Farmer had gone to that house and he’d learned something.
    There couldn’t be anything left. She hadn’t watched the entire structure go up in flames but the fire had been too intense to leave much behind. She’d watched it burn for three days from the safety of the woods before she hitched a ride to town. From the edge of Walnut she had made her way to the bank and the money her mother had promised would be waiting if they ever got out of the house. It was there, enough money to get her out of town. Deirdre’s legal birth certificate had been there too. That’s the first time she’d seen her full legal name.
    They always called me Dragonfly.
    The trip should’ve taken just over two hours, with highway speeds of seventy miles an hour, but her trepidation slowed the drive. Instead, over three hours had passed from when she took the exit and found the old dirt road leading to Stone House. Weeds filled the center of the narrow road with bushes and limbs crowding the sides. Visibility from the main road was poor, causing her to pass the turn, and have to circle back.
    An old metal sign marked the way. Rust ate at the edges, speckling the surface of the “No Trespassing” sign. A thin metal cord blocked the road. Deirdre stopped her Viper, stepped out, and unhooked the cord from the wooden post across the drive. Standing there in knee-deep weeds, she knew she should’ve smelled pine, instead there was smoke.
    “Someone got cold and started their woodstove.” She spoke to herself hoping to end the awful feeling that she would go up the drive and find Stone House still in operation. That was ridiculous, but part of her knew they would find a way to keep her there if any of them had survived.
    Staring at the road coiling in front of her made it hard to move. Her car was going to take a beating. If it rained, she was sure to get stuck. Deirdre took a quick glance at the clouds above, hoping for some sign of rain, or any excuse to end this adventure. There was none. The sky never looked so blue.
    Taking a deep breath, Deirdre went back to her car. Around her, there was nothing but the sound of crickets and the noise from the nearby interstate. She hesitated, listening, expecting to hear a voice from her past. They might not have died. A few might even remain in these woods watching for a trespasser, waiting for her to come further into their lair.
    Waiting would only make the feeling in her stomach worse, driving back felt too close to dying. She wasn’t used to fear, only heightened senses when danger came close and her instincts kicked into gear. Fear wasn’t pleasant but being caught somewhere in between afraid to leave and afraid to continue was misery.
    Deirdre slid the car into drive and started over the difficult road. The bumps jostled her