She was part of something now.
Permanently.
There was no going back. There was no altering her decision even if she wanted to.
Already, Shea could feel herself
changing.
It wasn't just the tattoo, burning itself into her skin. It was something more elemental. More basic.
As she accepted who and what she was, the woman she had tried so hard to beâthe everyday, ordinary middle school science teacherâfell more to the wayside. She wasn't ordinary.
And she wasn't going to pretend she was, ever again.
Not even to herself.
Chapter 28
R
une felt the wash of magic in the air. Sanctuary was close.
Thank the gods.
Eight hours in a car with a curious, frightened little girl and her mother and grandmother were almost more than an Eternal could take.
Amanda hadn't stopped talking since they left Vegas in the predawn hours. Her mother, Terri, was the opposite. Hardly spoke a word. But Terri's mother had kept up a near constant litany of rosaries and prayers all along their route.
Their emotions and fears were battering Rune's energies, eating at them like water on rock. He'd be glad to have this chore over and done with. Battling evil and searching out Awakened witches were beginning to sound like a damn vacation.
“Damn it.” He stomped on the brake, sending the SUV into a skid that had it sliding sideways on the narrow mountain road.
“You're not supposed to cuss,” Amanda told him from the backseat.
“What is it?” her grandmother asked, fear ratcheting up her voice until it sounded as squeaky as an old gate.
“A roadblock,” Terri muttered from the front seat, sliding a quick look at Rune.
“That's what it looks like,” Rune told her, then said, “Quiet. Everybody.”
Even Amanda closed her mouth. Not really surprising, since the child's world had come tumbling down around her over the last week. She was probably ready for another crash to hit. And, he thought, it might have.
Boulders lay strewn across the road, blocking passage. At first glance, it looked as though it was just a rockfall from the mountainside. But Rune didn't trust it. Seemed bloody convenient for a landslide to hit just before the boundaries of Sanctuary.
“I'll check it out,” he told them, his voice soft but determined. “You three stay in the car.”
He reached for the gun on the seat beside him and pulled the slide back, sending a bullet into the chamber. Whoever was out there, they wouldn't be taking Terri and her family back. Not without a fight, anyway. He had magic as well as bullets to draw on and he wasn't above using either of them.
Before he could open the car door, though, women dropped from the trees. At least a dozen of them. Some simply jumped down to the road; others slid along ropes that snaked from higher branches like tentacles.
“What the . . .”
“Runeâ” Terri shrank back in her seat and threw a guilt-filled glance at her daughter. “Whatever happens, save Amanda.”
“
Nothing
's going to happen to any of you,” he muttered, keeping his gaze locked on the women stalking ever closer to his car.
Some of them held automatic weapons and looked way too comfortable with them. Others held their hands out, palms up, invoking magical powers and preparing to use them. He sensed the magic in all of them and knew he was dealing with witches.
The question was, were they reasonable or were they more apt to fire first and ask questions later?
“Who the hell are you?”
A tall woman with long, dark hair pulled back into a braid that hung to her waist shouted at them as her fellow soldiers moved into position around her. She wore faded blue jeans and a black sweater and held an assault rifle as if it were an extension of her arm.
To answer her question, he simply flashed into fire and appeared again outside the car. Weapons shifted to him and he felt the women's hard, suspicious gazes as if they were knives slicing into him.
“You're an Eternal.” It wasn't a question. The dark-haired woman, clearly the leader, shifted to look at the car. “Who are they?”
“Humans,” he said. “Who the hell are you?”
One corner of her mouth lifted into a half smile. “You're in no position to be asking questions, Eternal. There are at least a dozen guns on youânot to mention the magical weapons.”
“Immortal,” he reminded her, with a small smile of his own.
“But not immune to injury. I figure we can put you down if you make a wrong move, so don't tempt me.” Her gaze narrowed on him, she said, “I'll ask one more time. Who are the women traveling with you?”
Rune was as disgusted as he was furious. Felt like a damn fool. He'd stepped into a well-laid trap and couldn't see an easy way out. He glanced at his surroundings, taking the measure of the situation. One side of the road was a steep, rocky face of the mountain. The other side was covered in trees so thick he couldn't see beyond them. Behind him stretched a road that led back to civilization and danger for those whose safety had been entrusted to him. And ahead lay Sanctuary . . . if he could get past the witch guard.
Thoughts and options raced through his mind, but as long as he had Terri and her family to protect, there was only one choice. Truth. “Like I said. They're human. One of them escaped from Terminal Island detention center a couple of days ago. The others are her mother and daughter.”
The dark-haired woman lowered her weapon and gave a silent signal to the other Amazons lurking close by. As one, they eased into a posture of cautious watchfulness. At least, he thought wryly, the guns weren't aimed directly at him anymore.
“We saw the news coverage of that escape. Report is, two men made of fire broke in, killed some guards and stole two witches.”
“One witch,” he corrected. “One human suspected of witchcraft.”
She smiled then and Rune took a second for pure male appreciation. Not only was she mean as a snake and comfortable with weapons, but she was a damn beauty, too. He liked that in a woman.
“Now you want to tell me who you people are?” he asked.
“I'm Selena, commander of the Guardian Witches,” she said, then looked at the women surrounding her. “These are the Guardians.”
“Impressive,” he said, shifting his gaze from one to the other of the witches watching him with less than welcome expressions on their faces. “Now, how about you let me through so I can get these women to safety.”
“Not so fast,” Selena told him and called out, “Rachel!”
A woman dressed completely in black approached and handed off her weapon to Selena. Her dark eyes caught Rune's briefly, then shifted to the car and his passengers. “I'll take care of it,” she said.
Rune moved to intercept her and she snarled at him. He didn't much care. “Take care of what?”
“Relax, Eternal,” Selena said. “Rachel's going to check them for transmitters. Her magic will pick up anything that shouldn't be there.”
“I already got the tracker out of Terri,” he said.
“Might be more than one.” Selena nodded at Rachel, who stepped around Rune as if he were a pile of shit and she didn't want to risk getting her boots dirty.
Then the witch approached the car and Rune saw that her features relaxed a bit. She smiled at Terri and the others. “Don't worry. This will only take a second or two.”
He watched as Rachel laid both palms flat on the roof of the car and closed her eyes. What looked like campfire sparks shot up as a wind ruffled her bright red hair and buffeted the heavy sweater she wore. Magic sizzled in the air around her and dropped over the car like a golden blanket that shimmered and shifted as if it were alive.
Seconds ticked past.
“Tracer!” Rachel shouted the warning and instantly, the other Amazons surrounded the car, backs to the machine, gazes fixed on the trees, mountain and sky.
“No fucking way,” Rune insisted, already starting for the redheaded witch. “I got the tracer out myself. Cut it out of her neck.”
“There's one you missed, Eternal,” Selena told him. “And until it's out, nobody goes any farther. As it is, if they're following her, they've come too close already.” She glanced at the other witch. “Rachel, find it.”
“Right.”
“Just a damn minute,” Rune shouted.
“It's okay,” Terri called out, stepping from the car. She looked at all of the women standing ready to protect her and her family and then glanced at Rune. “If there's another one, I want it out, too.” She looked at Rachel. “Just do what you have to do.”
The witch called on her magic again and ran her hands up and down Terri's body. Sparks flew and power shuddered in the air. Intense focus etched lines into Rachel's expression until she stopped at last. “Found it. Here. Under her breast.”
“Impossible.” Rune shook his head. He'd checked Terri personally. No way would he have been able to miss a silver tracker.
“Rachel's never wrong,” Selena told him flatly, then said, “Get it done, Rachel.”
“Trust me,” Rachel said, staring directly into Terri's eyes.
Once again, Rune was impressed with the human's strength of will. She only nodded and closed her eyes. He wouldn't look away, though. He watched every move the witch made, ready to jump in and protect Terri even if it meant every weapon in the place would be turned loose on him.
Rachel lifted Terri's shirt, bared her breast and then laid her palm beneath the full curve. “I can feel it. It's deep. I can get it but it's going to hurt like a bitch.”
“More good news,” Terri murmured. “Do it.”
He could only watch and wait. Not things Rune was good at.
Rachel held her hand beneath Terri's breast, closed her eyes and drew on her magic again. This time, the sparks flew like fireworks. Her hair lifted in that magical wind again and she chanted beneath her breath as Terri moaned softly and bit into her bottom lip.
“Mommy!” Amanda's shocked cry burst from the car and one of the witches reached through a window to comfort the child with a touch.
Seconds became minutes and minutes stretched into an eternity. Rune never took his gaze off Rachel until at last, with a single harsh cry from Terri, the witch grinned and held up her hand. Blood covered her palm but in the center of that dark red fluid lay a flashing silver chip, smaller than the one he'd taken from the back of her neck. Rune was forced to admit he'd missed it.
But how?
“It's bespelled,” Rachel said, answering his unspoken question.
“You mean another
witch
spelled the metal used to track her sisters?” Selena's voice was horrified.
“It's the only explanation,” Rachel said and destroyed the chip under her bootheel. She then turned back to Terri, healed her wound and patted her shoulder. “You did great.”
“That explains why you couldn't find the tracker,” Selena told Rune. “If there's a ward on it protecting it from detection, you wouldn't have noticed it at all. You'd have to be looking for it specifically to feel the magical vibration.”
“That's just great,” he muttered and told himself to call Torin the moment he could. If Terri had been bugged twice, then most likely so had Shea. “So what about it?” he asked Selena as Terri climbed back into the car to comfort her daughter. “Are you going to help these women or not?”
Selena nodded, turned and lifted both hands toward the rockfall blocking the road. A rush of magic spilled from her and the road opened, displaying the landslide to be nothing more than a well-constructed illusion.
Dropping her hands, she looked at Rune and the women in the car. “Welcome to Sanctuary.”
Chapter 29
W
ith Torin out rounding up food, Shea took some time to try to get things straight in her head. So much had happened so quickly, she hardly knew what to think anymore.
But one thing was sure. Nothing was ever going to be the same for her again. Not since her Awakening. Not since Torin.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and slipped out of her shirt and bra. Staring at the two tiny flames, the beginning of the mating brand at the tip of her breast, she felt a swirl of magic rush through her. She inhaled sharply and let it come, relishing the sensations of her very soul opening up to new possibilities.
“Torin said the memories would come,” she whispered to her reflection, and noted the frown on her own face. “But can I afford to just wait? If there's magic in me, shouldn't I be able to draw on it?”
Seemed reasonable enough, she thought, still frowning. The question was, how to do it?
“Maybe it's just a matter of concentrating,” she said. Lifting both hands, she placed her palms on the cold mirror and stared into her own eyes. With her mind focused on the magic, on the secrets she needed to know, she concentrated as she never had before.
Seconds ticked past and the silence in the room closed in around her. The world narrowed until all she could see was the reflection of her own green eyes staring back at her. And just when she thought nothing at all was going to happen, she noted the change in her mirror self's eyes.
The green filled with shadows, darkened and then fired with sparks. Then her vision blurred, became indistinct while at the same moment, she felt raw strength pulsing inside her. Power. Magic. It was there, within her. She drew on it, giving herself up to it, surrendering to whatever might come next.
In her reflected eyes, she saw . . . something. A woman. Looking into a mirror, as she herself was. Shea watched, swaying under the onslaught of the vision, as the strange woman murmured a chant. And in the glass the woman held, figures appeared. An image of Shea, under attack by a crowd of people and Torin, fighting for his life. For
their
lives.