Chapter Seven

"Leah's been out here for about six nights now. Think this necklace has something to do with why she hasn't been attacked?" Dean asked as he watched his brother examine the amulet.

"It's possible. Maybe these things are running around in Mexico and this is what they use to ward them off." Sam looked at Leah. "Amy learn anything about these while she was there?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact she did learn a little something about them and she told me, but unfortunately I didn't pay close attention." She smiled. "You know how Amy rambles sometimes."

Picturing the scene in his mind, Sam nodded. "Yeah, I know." He missed Amy. His thoughts lingered briefly on the feisty girl before he returned his attention the situation at hand. His gaze again fell to the small piece of jewelry. "Well, she was drawn to this and here you are chasing a wood devil. Gotta be something to it. My guess is the locals make the amulets for protection. Either that or you've been lucky all this time." He handed it back to her.

"Yeah, well I doubt it's luck." She studied the necklace for a moment before slipping it over her head. "I could use some, though, for finding Blake." Leah looked up at the sky. It was just about light enough to head into the woods. "It's time to start looking again."

Dean watched Leah as she prepared to pick up the search for Blake. He understood her need to find him even though the odds were against his being alive. It was the idea that she might have feelings for the guy that was eating away at him. He saw her rub her eyes and stifle a yawn and he knew her body was so worn down she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

"Hey." he said, walking up to her. "Why don't you head back to town? You're low on supplies and I bet you wouldn't mind a hot shower and a good night's sleep. Sam and I will find and torch this son of a bitch, then we'll meet up with you at the motel."

Leah slipped into her brown jacket and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. "The supplies are fine and so am I. Besides, you failed to mention that you'd find Blake, which at this point is the only thing I'm interested in."

She started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm. "I'll find the guy, okay? It's just that you're pushing yourself hard and that's when it's easy to make mistakes. I'm worried about you."

"Aaah! You're worried about me? Wow, that's touching, Dean." Leah said sweetly. Then she huffed and added, "It's also bullshit. I mean, we both know you're only worried about yourself. You proved that last year, remember?"

"We need to talk about that."

"Yeah? Well, as I recall you don't like to talk about things. And you know what? I'd prefer to keep it that way. And you don't have to worry about me making mistakes. I won't do anything to put you or Sam in danger. I can use your help, but once this is over we go our separate ways."

Leah glanced down, noting his grip on her arm. "From now on I want you to keep your hands off me. What happened earlier, when I was half asleep, won't happen again." She tried to yank her arm free, but he tightened his hold on her.

"You don't really want me to keep my hands off you, Little Bit." Dean tugged her off balance and she fell forward, her body coming up hard against his. He knew her well enough to know that manhandling her wasn't the smartest tactic, but he wanted to make a point and he'd never been good at subtlety.

"Yes I do. Now let go of me, Dean!"

As Leah tried to push away, Dean slipped an arm around her waist, pinning her to him. His lips found hers and she struggled for a second before catching his lower lip between her teeth. She bit down until she heard Dean wince, then she eased up. Instead of letting go, though, she smoothed her tongue along the surface to soothe his pain. She no longer tried to push away, but instead snaked her arms around his shoulders, molding their bodies together. Her hips gyrated slowly against his and her tongue eased inside his mouth, drawing him into a long, deep kiss.

Several moments passed before she pulled back. "Enjoy that?" she asked, sure that he had. His breathing was heavy and he hadn't wanted to let her go.

"You know it." He tried to kiss her again, but she stopped him.

"Good! Because the memory of it's all you're going to have." Shoving herself away from him, Leah ran the back of her hand over her mouth as if wiping away the remnants of his kiss. "And as for my leaving? You can forget it. I'm staying until I find Blake and kill that frigging thing that took him."

Leah sought out Sam and as the two talked, Dean tried to keep the grin off his face as he checked his weapons. Leah might think they were going their separate ways after this, but he had other plans.

He'd been wrong to leave her. He knew it the night he and Sam drove away from her house, but he'd just kept telling himself that it was the best thing for her. That even though it would be hell for him, she'd be happier once he and all his lies were gone. That was crap! Each day had been worse than the one before. Until now. He wanted to be with her and even though she was fighting it, she wanted to be with him, too. Sure, she had a year's worth of hurt and anger stored up. It was gonna take some work, but he wasn't worried. Leah would be his again.

"You ready, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Let's go get this bitch and get the hell out of these woods."

The hunters had been searching for nearly two hours with no sign of the wood devil or its lair. Leah had taken them to the spot where she and Blake had originally set up camp and they started from there, methodically combing the area. She stayed close to both men in case the amulet truly was their saving grace. She did believe it was giving off some sort of protection. How else could she have gone nearly a week without running into the damned thing? She just hoped it wasn't working against them, making it difficult to find the beast.

"Hold on. What's that?" Dean asked, making his way toward what looked like a piece of material stuck on a branch.

Leah heard a loud grunt and turned to find Sam on his knees. He looked pained so she quickly made her way back to him. "Are you okay?" she asked as she reached his side.

"Yeah. I twisted my ankle but I don't think it'll be a problem." After she helped him stand he gingerly tested his right foot. "It hurts, but I'm good. Thanks."

A high-pitched scream rang out, sending chills along Leah's spine. It came from somewhere in front of them - the direction Dean had gone. It was immediately followed by several expletives and a loud explosion.

"DEAN!" Leah yelled. She took off running, dodging branches as she went. Sam was close behind, calling for his brother as he worked to keep up with his sore foot.

Leah reached a spot where there was a small fire burning near the base of a tree, but there was no sign of Dean. She was torn, needing to rush ahead and look for him, but not wanting to leave an injured Sam.

"Sam! He's gone!"

As Sam caught up he could see the anguished look on her face. "Go!" he hollered. "I'll try to keep up."

That was all she needed. Moving forward, Leah tried to watch for drag marks or broken branches, praying along the way that either Dean would call out or the creature would scream again. All she heard as she shifted through the trees, though, were the leaves crunching beneath her feet and other normal sounds of the forest.

Leah wasn't sure how long she searched, but the sun was much higher in the sky when she paused briefly to take off her coat. Certain Sam was still following behind, she considered waiting to check on him but loathed to give up too much time in her search for Dean. Pushing forward, she tied the sleeves of her jacket around her waist and in the process bumped the knife sheathed at her hip. Glancing down to adjust it, she noticed the amulet she wore was giving off a soft glow.

"What the...?" She grabbed it and, not knowing what to make of its illumination, rubbed it but nothing changed. She took a few steps in Sam's direction, thinking it might be worth showing him, but when she looked down it was no longer glowing.

Too much time in the woods, apparently, she thought. Turning back to her original path, Leah started to let go of the necklace when she saw that it was again alight. Three steps forward and it dimmed, two right and it glowed.

Fully aware that this had to mean something, Leah held onto the amulet and started walking in whatever direction the soft glowing charm took her. She still watched the surrounding area for traces of disturbance or perhaps, if she was truly lucky, something of Dean's, but at this point she was willing to give the silly little trinket a shot. Anything was worth a try as long as it led her to Dean.

TBC