Conscious of time ticking by, Quinn said, “Take me to Griffin. He will want to see the photographs of his wife.”
BACK
at Logan’s house, Ross asked, “Can I use your computerto check that license plate?”
“Of course.”
They all filed into Logan’s office. Ross sat down, and Loganpulled up a chair for Zarah. She was fascinated with the computer, and Rinna was teaching her how to use the Web.
Ross called up a Web page and put in a password. “Don’t tell anyone about this,” he muttered. “It’s illegal.”
“Let’s hope it works,” Logan said.
Ross entered the number into the database of the Motor Vehicles Administration. But he came up with
nothing
.
“Shit!” He looked back at the women. “Sorry.”
“We’re used to it,” Rinna said. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s not a valid plate.”
Logan repeated the curse. “What does that mean?”
“That they altered it. You can do it with black electrical tape. Like you can turn an
F
or an
L
into an
E
.”
“But there aren’t a million combinations of the right letters,” Logan asked.
“There are enough.”
He wrote down the number. “It has an
E
. I guess I’ll start looking at plates with
F
’s and
L
’s. But it may take some time.”
“Do you want to talk to your friend, the cop from MontgomeryCounty. What’s his name?”
“Jack Thornton. Yeah, he’ll be interested in a man buried alive in the woods. But I think we need to find out who these guys are before we call in the cops.”
QUINN
held her breath. But the camera and the gun had turned the tide. The men looked at her with respect. They had treated her like a captive. Now they formed an honor guard around her as they escorted her to the gate. She had won a victory, but she might have lost the war. Caleb was still back there in the woods, and she still hadn’t gotten him the help he needed.
Worse, she still didn’t know if Griffin was all right. These men were acting as though it was true. But they could be puttingon a show. Or they might not have the latest information.
She wanted to ask if there was someone who could receivemessages among the group. But she decided it would be better simply to act confident.
“Give me the weapon back,” she said.
“You must not use it inside the city.”
“I won’t—unless someone attacks me.”
He returned the gun, and she put it back into her fanny pack, along with the camera. Then she let the soldiers escort her inside the city. It would be a half-hour walk from the gate to Griffin’s house, and she looked over her shoulder, thinking about Caleb out in the badlands. Once again, militaryhorses were waiting in a nearby stabling area.
Two of the men accompanied her as she headed for Griffin’s house, still praying that she was going to find him there.
More guards were stationed at the gates that enclosed his courtyard. And more were inside, looking over the wall. The man at the gate let her and the soldiers through. Inside she dismounted and waited with her heart pounding while a messenger went into the house.
Draden came out.
“Did you get a message from me?” she asked.
“Yes. But it was faint. I thought you were still on the other side of the portal.”
“No.”
“You’ve worried Griffin. I’d better take you to him.” The adept led the way to Griffin’s office.
When she saw the expression on Griffin’s face, she felt her throat clog.
“Come inside and close the door,” he ordered. When she turned back to him, his expression was thunderous.
“You’re supposed to be taking care of my wife! What are you doing back here? Is there some problem?”
“Zarah is fine. She’s with Logan and Rinna. They’re all fine.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Spit it out!”
“First, I have some pictures and a letter for you—from Zarah.” She reached into her pack and brought out the packet that her friend had given her.
Griffin’s breath caught when he saw the photos of his wife. “This is from that camera thing?”
“Yes.”
“She’s well,” he whispered.
“Yes.”
He shuffled one more picture to the front and stared at it. “What is this?”
“In Logan’s world, they can do something called a sonogram.It gives a picture of the baby—inside his mother’s womb. That’s a picture of your son.”
He stared down at the black-and-white image. “My son! Is that possible? A picture?”
“Yes.” She pointed to the fetus. “You can see his head, and his arms—and his . . . uh . . . male part.”
Griffin made a strangled sound. “This picture blesses me.”
“And Zarah will be blessed as well when she finds out that you are safe and sound here. When we went through the portal, you were leading Baron’s soldiers away from us. We didn’t know what had happened to you. She was very worried.”
“I led them into a rock outcropping—and attacked them as a wolf.”
“Thank the Great Mother.” She looked out the window at the guards in the courtyard. “Things are no better here than when I left, are they?”
“They’re a little better. I was able to kill Baron before he killed me.”
She winced.
“Assassination is a crude political tool. But he was the one who tried it first. In this case, it’s no loss. Some of his followers are still making trouble. But I expect to end the mess soon.”
He tipped his head to the side. “Zarah sent you back?”
She took her lower lip between her teeth. “She wanted to know you were all right, but I came here with my own problem.Something impossible to fix in Logan’s world.”
He was watching her closely. “Something that requires psychic ability?”
“Yes.” She took a gulp of air, then began speaking rapidly,telling him about Caleb Marshall’s ghost.
When she finished, he looked at her differently. “You want to save him.”
“His soul will be nowhere if this body dies.”
Griffin pressed his fist against his chin. “But a werewolf who cannot change may not want to live.”
She swallowed hard. “I hope I can convince him that life can still be good.”
Griffin nodded. “I will send a cart. And guards. And I will send for the woman, Pamina, who has healed some of my people.”
“Thank you.”
“She taught us some things. But I think she keeps many of her techniques secret.”
“I understand.”
“You might not like her method.”
“I don’t think I have a choice. And thank you so much,” she whispered.
“Thank you for the pictures of my wife and my son,” he answered.
“I’m glad I could bring them.”
When she raised her gaze to his face, she saw his eyes were moist. Looking away, she said, “I left Caleb tied up. Hours ago. I must go back and get him.”
“I don’t want to send my men out into the badlands until you speak to the healer and tell her the problem. We need to know if she thinks she can help your friend.”
Quinn nodded, though she wanted to order men and a wagon outside right away.
Griffin called in the captain of the guards and made the arrangement. Quinn started to pace back and forth while she waited. But Griffin had a tray of food sent in.
“Sit down. Eat. Rest. You already walked here from the portal. You have a long trip there and back again.”
“I wish I could take the healer there.”
“Too dangerous. She’s old, and if she were attacked, she might be killed.”
“I’m sorry. I’m being selfish.”
She sat down at the table and ate a few bites, but the food tasted like dust in her mouth, and she had trouble swallowing.She couldn’t help wishing that they had a motorcar. Then the trip would be a million times faster. But that wasn’t an option back in this universe.
She was pushing food around on her plate when the door opened and a slim woman with long dark hair walked in. Griffin was behind her.
“Quinn, this is Pamina. She’s the healer I told you about.”
Quinn stared at the woman’s smooth face and dark hair. “But you don’t look old,” she blurted, then felt herself blush.
“I’m sorry. I mean, I was expecting an old woman.” She feared the explanation didn’t help.
Pamina gave a laugh that sounded like the tinkle of small bells. “I
am
old. But I use my talents on myself.”
“Thank you for coming so fast. But we can’t get Caleb back here for several hours.”
“Tell me what happened to him.”
As Quinn gave a quick account of the problem, she felt the woman’s assessing gaze on her.
“The body is rejecting his soul?”
"Yes,” Quinn breathed, glad that the woman grasped the problem so well.
“I do not know if I can cure him. But if the treatment is to be successful, I will need your help,” Pamina said.
“I’ll do anything!”
“A quick answer. But you may not like what I ask of you.”
Quinn gulped. “Whatever it is, I’m willing to do it.”
“We will see.”
Quinn couldn’t keep a shiver from traveling over her skin. What was this woman going to make her do?
Tell me now,
she silently screamed. But she knew this was not the time to press for answers.
Pamina reached inside the leather bag she was carrying and sorted through several dozen small cloth packets. She pulled out one and handed it to Quinn. “Mix this in water and have him drink it. It should help stabilize him—until the two of us can work on him.”
“Thank you so much!” Quinn sniffed the small packet. It smelled pungent but not unpleasant.
“A special herb blend that I make,” Pamina said.
She thanked the woman again and tucked the mixture into the fanny pack. Griffin handed her a military canteen with a strap and a leather cup attached, which she slung over her shoulder.
“Can one of your men ride ahead of the wagon with me?”
“How will they find you?”
“Do they know the approximate location of the portal?”
Griffin stroked his chin. “That is a secret.”
“Oh.”
“But I can give them some landmarks along the way and near the portal.”
“Thank you. When we find Caleb, I’ll send my escort back to tell the driver of the wagon.”
“All right,” Griffin agreed. “Steph can go with you. He’s a good man.”
Steph turned out to be the leader of the group that had am-bushedher outside the city walls. They left at once. After the wagon trundled out of the gate, she made sure the driver knew which direction to go in. Then she and Steph rode off toward the portal. It was a faster journey than the one she had completedearlier. But her heart was pounding as they approached the area. She wanted to call out to Caleb, but she knew that was dangerous. So she kept silent as she dismounted and led her horse into a small stand of stunted trees. The shadows had lengthened, and she hurried toward the half-standing house where she had left Caleb. At first she thought she had made a mistake. Then she found the makeshift ropes she had used to tie him up. They were lying on the ground.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“
He was right
there,” Quinn said, pointing to the spot that was now empty of anything but the dry leaves she’d piled there. “I tied him up, but he got free and wandered off.”
“Or somebody cut him loose. Slavers, maybe,” Steph said helpfully.
She struggled to damp down the sick feeling rising in her throat. “We have to look for him.”
Steph glanced around. “We should split up. But be carefulthat nobody scoops you up.”
“I will. And watch out. In his current state, Caleb’s dangerous.”
Steph snorted, and started off to the left. He had gone only a few yards when a figure leaped out from behind a wall and landed on the soldier’s back.
It was Caleb, and he wrapped his arm around Steph’s neck in a choke hold.
Quinn ran toward them.
“Caleb, no!”
He grunted and brought Steph to his knees.
She whacked him across the shoulder. “Get off. You’re going to kill him. ”
“No. I’m here to help you,” he panted. “The colonel’s goingto kill you.”
She didn’t have time to figure out what that meant, she only knew she had to save Steph’s life.
She grabbed Caleb by the hair and gave a mighty yank. He cried out and whirled toward her.
Steph reared up.
“Don’t hurt him,” Quinn screamed.
But the soldier had already brought his fist down on the back of Caleb’s head. He went limp.
“Great Mother, no!” Quinn cried as she ran to Caleb. He was breathing, but his face had turned pale. “You hurt him!”
“He was going to kill me.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Steph ran back to his horse, opened his saddlebag and returnedwith a shirt and rope. First they put the shirt on Caleb. Then Steph tied him up again. This time, Quinn was sure he wasn’t going to get away.
“You stay with him. I’ll go back for the wagon.”
“Yes. Thanks.”
She sat down, propped her back against the wall, and gathered Caleb to her so that his head rested in her lap.
Tenderly, she stroked his face.
“Caleb. It’s me. It’s Quinn. You’re going to be all right.”
She kept her gaze on him. “Wake up. Tell me you recognizeme. Caleb, I love you,” she whispered.
He didn’t speak, and she fought back tears. But at least there was something she could do for him. With blurred vision,she pulled the canteen strap off her shoulder, then poured some of the herb packet into the cup. After adding water, she used her finger to stir the mixture, then sniffed. It didn’t smell too bad. And maybe Caleb wouldn’t care, anyway.
She eased him up a little. “Can you drink this?”