Sue Summers was a big-boned woman whose family went back five generations in the central Washington area. At the sight of them, she’d given a pointedly questioning look to her husband, but at his brief explanation, she’d turned an abrupt about-face and called over her shoulder for them to follow as she marched to the kitchen to make food.
Over orange juice and scrambled eggs, Cole’d repeated their story, while watching the unreadable looks passing between the couple. When he and Lily finished their meal, the couple excused themselves, and he heard the low sounds of their voices as they retreated to the living room.
And softly, he’d told Lily to get ready to run.
Fear in her eyes, the little girl inched from her barstool. His gaze locked on the entryway to the living room, he’d slid off the seat and started toward the door when Ben called to him. Motioning Lily to stay near the back door, he’d walked to the entryway.
Still wary, the couple regarded him for a moment before Ben spoke. The two kids could stay through the night if they wanted, which would at least give Paul and his sister a chance to get a few decent meals. The guest room upstairs was empty and they both looked like they could use a good night’s sleep anyhow. Ben and Sue didn’t want any trouble from DCFS, but if nothing else, feeding the kids for a day seemed the right thing to do.
Cole glanced to Lily, raising an eyebrow. At the girl’s incremental nod, he’d looked back at the couple and carefully agreed to a single night’s stay.
The Summers didn’t call the authorities as he’d feared. And with plentiful food and soft beds to draw them, Lily and Cole found themselves lingering until, at Sue’s invitation, they’d stayed overnight again. Two nights became three, and then more, and though Sue and Ben remained cagey about the two kids without much more than their own word as to their history, the couple never questioned too deeply. For a while, Cole saw the older man scouring the web for corroboration of their story on his shaky dialup connection, but nothing seemed to come of his search. Whether they remembered the newscasts from earlier in the year, neither of them seemed to connect shy little Hannah clinging to her brother’s side with Lily, the multiple homicide survivor and victim of sex trafficking the news had portrayed.
And so the days went by. Lily swiftly became the darling of the farm, her position cemented the first time she’d cautiously asked Sue if she could make some crafts from the scraps of cloth and paper the woman’s own creations left behind. By the second week, Ben offered to let Cole work on the property, as extra hands were always welcome on the small organic farm. Though they were isolated to some degree by the rural countryside, Sweet Summers nevertheless faithfully served what customers they could with free-range meat by special order, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables as the season allowed. The work was harder than anything Cole had ever tried, but as time passed, he found it wasn’t as bad as he’d feared.
That it got him in better shape than any other time in his life didn’t hurt either.
But weeks crept into months and despite the fact they both felt reasonably safe for the first time in recent memory, he couldn’t ever relax. The wizards were still out there. They’d still be looking for the two of them.
They’d still killed all the family he and Lily had known.
And he had no idea why.
He tried not to show how much that reality upset him. Lily had enough trouble with the nightmares that woke her screaming almost every night and her fear of the magic they both knew she possessed. Sue worried about the girl, and Ben did too, and the last thing either of them needed was to know he’d give almost anything to be back out there, tracking down the fantasy creatures he believed responsible for the mess he and Lily were in.
But the situation was slowly driving him insane.
He hated to admit how often he thought of just leaving. The girl was safe. Ben and Sue weren’t a threat and the farm was so isolated, it might as well have been on the moon. But he knew how that story went too. Lily’s dad had probably thought the same thing, right up until the Blood and their henchmen shot him and burned his house to the ground.
And so they stayed, while he tried to tell himself it would only be a matter of time. Something would change. Or the hours he spent on Ben’s dialup connection would yield a clue. Or he’d see something on the television.
Or he’d finally lose his mind for lack of anything else to do.
Grimacing, he pushed the frustration aside as he set the shovel against the wall. The stall was done enough and Ben would be satisfied. Everything else could wait, and mostly needed to. Glancing to Lily, he headed for the door, trying to escape his own thoughts more than anything. Curling the kitten tighter into her arms, the little girl climbed down from the hay bale and followed him into the sunshine.
“What’d you name that one?” he asked, working to sound more cheerful than he felt. Soon after arriving, Lily had taken it upon herself to name every one of the multitude of interchangeable tabbies roaming the farm, and now most of the cats were wandering around with titles ranging from Apple to Zigzag.
With a considering look to the kitten, she shook her head. “I haven’t decided yet,” she answered. “He’s a tough one.”
In spite of himself, he smiled as he kept walking.
“Paul, is that you?” Sue called from the kitchen as he opened the screen door.
“Yeah,” he called back, watching Lily set the kitten on the wicker porch chair. Blinking blearily, the little animal checked its surroundings for a heartbeat, and then promptly went back to sleep.
Holding the door, he waited till Lily came in and then started for the kitchen. Inside, Sue had the week’s orders laid out across the table and countertops. By this point of the summer, business was at its peak and her face showed it. With a harried expression, she glanced up as they walked through the door.
“Oh.” She checked around as though to remind herself what she’d wanted. “Right. Could you run an order out?”
At the reluctance in his eyes, she grimaced. “Please, Paul? Ben normally does this one, but he’s tied up with that blasted pig Jesse sold us. He’s not sure what’s wrong, but the vet is coming and Ben’s got to meet–”
“Sure,” Cole said, holding his hands up to stave off more explanation. She didn’t know why he’d rather not go where wizards or who knew what else could see them, but his ostensible wish to steer clear of DCFS wouldn’t explain not helping with a simple food delivery.
She gave him a tired smile. “Bless you.” Turning to the counter, she hefted a large box stuffed with wrapped beef, as well as bags of fruits and vegetables.
He blinked and then took the heavy box from her.
“Address and directions are on the tag,” she said with a jerk of her chin to the paper stapled to one of the bags. “And thank you.”
Nodding, he turned and waited for Lily to rush ahead of him to the door. Shifting the box awkwardly, he made his way down the porch steps and then shoved the box into the narrow back seat of the truck. Hurrying to the other side, Lily hopped in and then fastened her belt.
He glanced at the address before climbing into the driver’s seat. The house was practically on the Canadian border by the look of it, though far from the main roads if the lengthy directions were any indication. It’d probably take most of the day to reach it and get back again. Joining Lily inside, he tugged the door shut and then punched the address into the GPS.
Nothing. On the GPS system’s version of the planet, no such location existed. Sighing, he started the engine.
Miles later, as trees in parts of the state far hillier than those they’d left behind closed in around them, he reached back and tugged the directions from the bag. When it came to aiding navigation, back roads left much to be desired for anyone who wasn’t a local. Grimacing as they passed another nameless path winding off into the trees, he checked the scrap of paper and shook his head.
Minutes passed. Approximately two seconds before he finally admitted they’d taken a wrong turn and nee
ded to go back, he saw the first of the landmarks mentioned on the note. Feeling vaguely relieved, he kept driving, following the gravel road on its serpentine path. Blind turns succeeded one another rapidly, and warily he slowed down.
And then he slammed on the brakes. Lily gasped, turning from her study of the forest outside the passenger window. He exhaled, grateful not to have been going faster when he’d rounded the turn.
Towering a dozen feet high, an ornate black fence blocked the road only a couple yards beyond the truck. Security cameras mounted on the gate swung lazy half-circles in surveillance of the road and forest, only to turn back sharply as they spotted his pickup. A speaker box was affixed to a decorative pole near the fence and, without any other option, he crept the truck up next to it. He rolled down the window and then reached out to press the call button, doing his best to keep his face from view.
“Yes?” came a crackly voice.
“I’ve got a delivery for… Mr. Geoffrey Redmond?” he said, checking the name on the tag again.
A long pause answered and then the gate began to move. Creaking back on its hinges, it swung barely wide enough to admit the truck.
He frowned and then rolled up the window before putting the truck back into gear and pulling forward. Dense walls of pine trees lined the gravel path, complete with further security cameras bolted high in their branches. The little black shapes tracked the truck as it rolled past, and he grimaced, turning his face aside. A minute passed on the narrow road and then the trees finally gave way, revealing a wide grassy lawn.
Cole’s eyebrows rose. The house ahead of them was huge, even compared to what he’d seen in the richer neighborhoods of Monfort. Constructed of enormous blocks of living space, each standing shoulder-to-shoulder as though in military formation, the brick edifice dominated the forest surrounding it. Rows of narrow windows glared out at the trees, their reflective glass giving no hint as to what lay beyond their surface. Tightly squared evergreen bushes lined the dark flagstone path from the driveway to the door, and precisely placed lampposts circled the property, as though marking off the territory upon which the massive house had come to land.
But there was no one to be seen. The yard was empty of life, from birds to squirrels, and there wasn’t even a footprint on the grass. His frown returning, he kept driving.
Lily gasped. A headache flared in his temples and he spun, looking back.
A man stepped onto the road.
Cole swore. His hand went for the gearshift as his foot hit the brake, and then the truck was in reverse.
Excruciating nothingness slammed them, sending the truck sideways. Cole hauled on the wheel, fighting to get the vehicle back on the road. The man flung himself from their path as they roared by and, for a blessed moment, the pain went away.
But only for a moment.
The truck left the road. The ground and anything near it. Down became up as Lily screamed and gravity abruptly changed its mind.
And then came the tree.
*****
Cole muttered a curse as he opened his eyes. Dirt swirled before him, gradually coalescing into a floor. Aches throbbed through his body and he winced as he looked up.
He was alive. That in itself was shocking. And he was in a shed, which couldn’t be good. A light bulb dangled from the low ceiling and tools hung from hooks in the pegboard sheets on the walls. Planks of wood lay to one side, and the odor of sawdust was heavy in the air. On the far end of the room, sunlight filtered through gaps around a small door.
Shifting around, he tried to stand, only to find that his hands were bound. An unsteady wooden chair wobbled beneath him, to which his ankles were likewise tied.
Drawing a breath and ordering himself to stay calm, he turned his head, searching for Lily.
She was curled near a pile of wood behind him, unmoving. Ropes circled her hands and ankles, while her arms were wrapped around her head protectively.
And her clothes were splattered with blood.
“Lily!” he hissed in panic.
Sniffling, she pulled her head from her arms, tear-streaked dirt smudging her cheeks. At the sight of him, she gasped and scrambled up to shuffle over and bury herself against his side.
“Are you okay?” he asked, scanning her for injuries and seeing nothing.
“Uh-huh.”
“What happened?”
“The truck crashed.”
He started to nod and then regretted the motion. “Yeah, I guessed that,” he said, wincing. “But then what?”
She sniffled again, her brow furrowing tightly as she fought the urge to start crying again. “The wizards did something. Made us better. You were really hurt and the blood just wouldn’t stop and… ”
“It’s okay,” he managed hoarsely when she trailed off.
She didn’t look like she believed him. Closing her eyes, she tucked her head back against his shoulder.
“Lily.”
The little girl nodded jerkily. “They dragged us behind the house. I tried to fight them but they… they just…” She cut off, breathing hard. “You don’t think they’re with the bad men, do you? The ones who hurt my dad?”
Cole hesitated. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Do you know what kind of wizards they are?”
“Merlin.”
He grimaced, uncertain how to take the information. It meant they probably wouldn’t ship him off to the Taliesin, but said nothing for any other plans the bastards had in mind.
“How long have we been here?” he asked, changing the subject.
She shrugged, and then her face crumpled when he gave her an insistent look. “Maybe half an hour?”
He glanced back at the door. Not long enough for Sue or Ben to start wondering, then. But long enough that the Merlin could have called any number of people to have them begin coming this way. He grimaced again as a shadow blocked the sunlight around the door, only to move away a moment later.
And there were guards. Great.
“Listen,” he said. “Can you untie these ropes behind me?”
“They told me they’d shoot us if I did that.”
“Lily, please.”
Fearfully, her eyes darted between him and the door.
“I need to be able to move.”
“But they… they have guns. And they showed me how they’d… how they’d…”
His gaze slid to the door furiously as she choked on a sob again.
“Lily,” he said, forcing his voice to be calm as he dragged his attention back to her. “It’s okay. They’re not going to shoot us. If they wanted us dead, they wouldn’t have made us better. Now come on. I need you to help me here.”
Swallowing hard, she glanced up at him.
“Please,” he said, meeting her eyes.
A heartbeat passed, and then she nodded. Shuffling on her knees, she crept around behind him, and a moment later, he felt her pulling at the knots holding his wrists.
He looked at the walls, trying to focus. Everything else aside, he needed a plan. The chisels or the hammer on the pegboard would make good weapons, and if the guard was armed and he could take the man by surprise, they’d be able to secure a gun. The Merlin had to have cars around here somewhere, and if he could find one with keys, it’d be a matter of moments till the two of them were gone.
Perfect. Great plan.
Until reality got involved anyway.
He grimaced and twisted around to see how Lily was faring.
The door lock clanked and they both froze. Breathing hard, Lily dropped her hands from the ropes, tears brimming in her eyes.
Sunlight poured into the shed as the door swung open. A man with dark eyes stepped in, followed a moment later by another nearly twice his weight. Both took up positions on opposite sides of the room, though their cold gazes didn’t leave Cole or Lily.
Cole watched them, trying to tug the ropes from his wrists without letting on.
Bowing his head beneath the low doorframe, another man came into the shed. Older by
far than the men around him, he nevertheless straightened to a height above them both. His gray hair was cut tightly above his sharp features, and though his face was wrinkled, even the creases had a way of appearing precise. For a long moment, he regarded the sniffling girl, and then his eyes flicked to Cole.
“A cripple and a human,” he commented. “Fascinating. What purpose did you have in bringing her along? Allay our suspicions, perhaps?”
Cole glanced between the men, trying to judge the best answer before finally settling on playing dumb. “Look,” he said placatingly. “We’re not here to–”
“Who sent you to find us?” the man interrupted with disgust.
“No one. We were just trying to make a delivery for–”
“Who are you working for?”
“Ben Summers!”
A scowl tightened the man’s face. “Answer the question, cripple.”
“I did! Look, I swear, okay? We don’t want any trouble. We don’t have a clue who you are, and we don’t care, alright? We just–”
“I am Magnus Carnegean,” the man said scornfully. “As though you didn’t know.”
Cole blinked, momentarily thrown. He knew the name. He’d grown up hearing the name. But the man may as well have called himself the Wizard of Oz, because the name belonged to a children’s story his mother had told him every night till she’d died.
Magnus Carnegean, and all the Carnegeans, had been regular features in Clara Jamison’s bedtime stories. The arch nemeses of her heroic woodland creatures, the Carnegean family of bears had viewed themselves as supreme in the forested world Clara imagined for her son. Cole had spent his childhood dreaming of the adventures her heroes had stopping the Carnegeans’ plots or escaping their clutches.
And now a man claiming that name was standing right in front of him. On any other day, Cole thought he might’ve laughed.
Instead, he just fought desperately to keep his face from giving anything away.
The man’s contemptuous expression only increased, however. “I thought so. Now, we healed you and your human for information, not so you could waste our time. So, unless you wish us to return you to your former condition, I suggest you tell us everything, including who informed you of our location. Understand?”
Taliesin Ascendant (The Children and the Blood) Page 11
