Forged

by Jacquelyn Frank

  She escaped unseen back to the motel and was just opening the door to her room when the familiar loud rumble of Morrow’s truck pulled up beside her.

  “Grab Karma and let’s go. We’re a li’le conspicuous.”

  “I’d say so!” She whistled for Karma and hopped in the truck with her. Luckily it was one of those extended cabs so there was plenty of room for Karma. “Part of me wants to ride past the five-and-dime and blow his horn. The jerk has the Dukes of Hazzard horn installed. It makes it unmistakable.”

  “You have a vicious streak in you, do you no’? Remind me never tae piss you off.”

  “I’ll be certain to.”

  Ahnvil threw the truck into gear and they trundled off down the reasonably plowed roads. She immediately burrowed into her stolen booty and started by handing him several doughnuts in a row. Then she moved on to canned chili. She had commandeered plasticware and a can opener and soon she was spoon-feeding him while he concentrated on keeping the truck on the icy mountainous road.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you any real meat. Everything was either frozen or raw or needed a slicer in order to get at it. I didn’t really want to take the time to figure it out. But I got lots of junk food! I love me some junk food!” She unwrapped a candy bar and bit into it.

  “Ah, so now I see your true weakness. You have a sweet tooth.”

  “It’s true and I’m proud of it.” She deflated a little. “Except it makes my butt a little too jiggly. But I’m not going to worry about that right now.”

  “Oh aye, doona worry abou’ it at all. I like your butt just fine.”

  That made her cheeks burn with color, but secretly she had to admit that it pleased her. She thought she was silly for reacting that way, but there it was nonetheless. It was just nice to have someone look at her and see so many things they felt were positive about her, rather than focusing on her flaws, shortcomings, and freakish weaknesses. But, of course, he wouldn’t see anything wrong with her. He had to avoid the sun, for the most part, as well. He would be just as sensitively aware of it as she was.

  “The road seems all right for the most part. If it continues on like this we should make it to the Walmart with plenty of time to shop before I have to try and contact my ghost friend.”

  “I doona know why you want her tae follow us,” he said with a frown. “I doona like it.”

  “Your opinion is duly noted. I don’t know why I want her to follow us either. I just … do. There’s more to this. I’m not experienced with this sort of thing, but you said you know people who are powerful and understand things like how to get this Amulet off me. Maybe they can understand why I can see the ghost and you can’t. Maybe they can tell me if she really is a ghost or if she’s something else. I don’t know, and I won’t know unless we can get her to follow us to … Hey, where are we going exactly?”

  “New Mexico. Tae a li’le town called Portales. We have a huge ranch out there. Lots of land and lots of property. A big house full of people. Bodywalkers. Gargoyles. We have a Djynn staying with us now. I doona know if I trust him. And if we get there and you meet him, doona make a wish. Ever. You never know if you’ll get an honest result or some manner of trickery. Grey seems to be aboveboard, but he’s also got his own agenda and none of us really knows what that is. And … I doona want you tae stay long. I want tae get the Amulet off you and send you back home immediately. ’Tis dangerous where we are and … you doona ken what we’re dealing wi’ but tis verra bad and I doona want you tae get hurt.”

  She understood the sentiment, even was grateful he was looking out for her. So why was it that a part of her was disappointed, almost hurt by the idea that he would want to be rid of her as soon as possible? What a foolish thing to think!

  Kat shrugged the sensation off as best she could, reminding herself that she didn’t want to be away from her home any more than he did. Home was safe and, even under his protection, the world was a frightening place to be caught out in. Every dawn brought horrible dangers with it; would potentially force her to face her fear of it. A fear that was rightfully justified.

  By the time they reached Walmart, she felt exhausted from worrying about so many things and the dangers of the slippery roads besides. There had been places not plowed well enough and only the truck’s four-wheel drive had allowed them to pass through. But in the end they arrived safe and sound and, delightfully, the store had electricity! Whether from a generator or that they had not been affected by the storm as Stone Gorge had been, it didn’t matter. He was going to get some clothing and they could get more food. Something better and potentially more nutritious. She wanted to take care of him, she realized. It was very important to her that he get to his touchstone in time. He was far too beautiful to be lost to the world. To be frozen into the state of an ugly Gargoyle. She had not seen him like that thus far, but she could easily imagine what that meant. She had seen her share of Gargoyles over time and they were anything but the handsome man she was now sitting next to.

  “Come wi’ me, lass,” he said after jumping out of the truck and walking over to her side. He held out his hand to her and helped her down to the slushy ground. “Karma, stay there,” he said, giving the dog a brief rub at the ears. “We doona want anything tae happen tae a fine lass such as yourself.”

  To her, it was the sweetest thing he could have possibly done. He was understanding of how much Karma meant to her. It wasn’t necessary for him to be kind, and yet he was.

  If anyone thought anything of a man walking around the store in a towel in the dead of winter, no one said anything. Although she suspected there was more than one covert cellphone picture being taken. Ahnvil bee-lined for the men’s department and after a brief search through a pile of cargo pants he bent over right there in front of God and country and pulled them on under his towel. Once he was clothed he popped off the tag and dropped the towel to the ground. Then he grabbed up a pack of socks and tore into them. He had them on his feet and was heading for shoes a moment later. On the way past the rounders of shirts she grabbed one she thought would fit, a handsome button-down in the fairest shade of pink, so fair it was almost white. As he tried on boots, she pushed the shirt at him.

  “Your shirt is stained with blood. If you want to be less obvious … A bloodstained shirt will attract attention.”

  “No. I’ll no’ wear pink,” he scoffed, taking a brief walk in the boots he had on. “Find me anything but pink. A T-shirt preferably.”

  Grumbling about men who were insecure in their own masculinity, she went back to the men’s department and found him a T-shirt that said, I’LL STOP BEING DISRESPECTFUL WHEN YOU STOP BEING STUPID. He eyed the shirt dubiously. It was a bright red with white lettering.

  “It’s not pink,” she said smugly.

  “Aye,” he agreed dryly.

  On the way to the register she stopped for some pens and a pad of paper. The paper was a bright pink color. Hard to miss.

  “Now this,” she said, once again being smug, “is pink.”

  After they had checked out she went to the entrance of the store with him, realizing there were two. Dismayed she decided to leave a note inside both entrances. She wrote:

  Hi! My name is Katrina Haynes. I am not a ghost. We are heading to Portales, New Mexico. If you can follow us there, maybe we can find out what is happening here. Do you think that’s possible?

  Then they waited in the truck for nine o’clock. As time ticked past he grew increasingly restless. “Let me try your phone again,” he said. It was a phrase that was becoming familiar. He had asked her to try it maybe ten times since leaving the house. “What’s the nearest airport?”

  “But—”

  “It doesna hurt tae try,” he said before she could point out that phone communication might be down still.

  She handed him the phone and once he dialed and put it close to his ear she saw the profound wave of relief that washed over him.

  “Jackson,” he said on a sigh.

  “Ahnvil?�
� Jackson asked in surprise. “What in hell happened to you?”

  “ ’Tis a long story. Suffice it tae say I’m in a spot of trouble.”

  “You’ve been over a week without your stone, my friend,” he said, knowing it was a needless thing to point out.

  “Aye.”

  “We were afraid …”

  “No. No’ yet anyway. I need the jet though. I doona know how much time I have left.” It was clear he didn’t want to say it out loud, didn’t want to remind either of them of how dangerous his situation was.

  “Where are you?”

  “Washington State.”

  “Wash—you mean the same Washington State that is in the middle of the blizzard of the century?”

  “Aye,” he affirmed grimly.

  “Ahnvil, of course I’ll send the jet, but I’m not certain flights are going in and out yet.”

  “They will be,” Ahnvil said. They had no other option. They had to be.

  “Right. It’s on its way. It’ll be there before sunrise, but I’m not sure we can get you back here before the sun comes out.”

  “We have to. If no’ we’ll close the shades and stay on the tarmac until you can get my stone tae me.”

  “All right. Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out and get you back here in time. Are you going to tell me what happened?”

  “No’ now. I’m no’ alone and I’ll be bringing a guest.”

  “We’ll be waiting for you.”

  He hung up the phone.

  “I’m going to go check.” Kat bolted out of the car and headed for the entrance to Walmart. She checked one and the note was still there untouched. Then she checked the other and saw beneath her writing:

  Where in Portales? We’ll be there with bells on. I’m Isabella and I’m not a ghost either.

  Kat responded with the exact address and wrote:

  If neither of us is a ghost, then what is going on here?

  As she watched, the note floated into the air and opened up. It flattened up against one of the giant claw machines and a slow, beautiful script began to fill the page.

  I have no idea. Maybe we will figure it out in Portales. Why are we going there?

  Kat wrote:

  I have new friends there. Friends who might help us find a solution.

  The response came only moments later. Bella wrote:

  All right, we’ll meet you there!

  At the last minute she was struck with a moment of brilliance. She grabbed the arm of a man walking into the store.

  “Excuse me, sir, do you see someone standing there?” She pointed to the place where the note still lay flat on the machine.

  “Is this a joke?” he asked. “Young lady it’s too cold to be—”

  “Please. Just tell me what you see.”

  He sighed. “I see a lovely little brunette, curling black hair … purplish eyes. Cute figure. And her male companion who is glaring at me for ogling what is no doubt his wife.”

  “Oh. Can you speak to her?”

  “Yes, and so can you,” he snapped. Then he jerked free of her and went on into the store.

  Kat brought the note to Ahnvil and showed it to him. Once again Ahnvil said all he could see was her responses. She told him how the letter had seemed to float of its own volition and telling him that the man had been able to see Bella but once again she had not.

  “I thought about telling her how you’re a Nightwalker. I mean, what could it hurt, right? She’s not even in the same dimension as we are. At least I don’t think she is. But then, that man saw her. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  “ ’Tis best that you dinna tell her about Nightwalkers. No’ until we learn more abou’ this. Now, let’s be on our way.”

  She nodded vigorously in agreement. Nighttime was burning and she knew time was growing short for him. He seemed to grow exponentially more agitated as they drove. By the time they had entered the airport he had broken into a sweat. When she ventured to touch his chest, his shirt was damp with it.

  She had never been on a private jet before. As they stood at the hangar and watched the plane land several hours later, she had grown just as anxious as he was.

  “What if the sun …” she said hoarsely, unable to comprehend what would happen.

  “We draw the shades tight and we wait until dark.”

  “You don’t have that long.” She turned a hard look on him. “Do you?”

  “I doona know,” he said tightly.

  “You said you wouldn’t lie to me.”

  “I doona know if I’ll even make the flight,” he bit out on a growl, looming over her for a frightening second. The sound he made in his throat was shocking, as were the hands he wrapped around her upper arms as he stared hard in her eyes, the amber of his hot with fever. “If I doona make it, I doona want you tae fret. My friends will have a care for you. They will figure out how tae get the Amulet—”

  “I don’t give a flying fig about the Amulet!” she cried, wishing she were strong enough to give him a good shake. “Now, shut up and get on the plane. You’re going to make it.”

  “I feel the madness creeping over me. ’Tis all I can do tae keep focused.” And even as he said the words the hands that held on to her arms rippled into solid stone.

  “No!” she cried, gripping at his shirt, pounding her fists against his chest. “You will not let it win! You are going to make this flight! Do you understand me? I-I can’t do this alone.”

  “You can.”

  “I can’t. I can’t so I need you to stay with me. All right? You have to stay with me.” She knew it wasn’t so much about her fear as it was about giving him a reason to stay with her. Maybe if she did that it could help him fight off the inevitability of this thing. It was going to be hours before they made it to New Mexico and she could only pray he could hold on that long. Pray they beat the sun. Pray for everything.

  The Gargoyle had escaped him somehow, had managed to leave the area, Panahasi realized. And every moment he was out of reach was a moment closer to his own destruction. If Odjit found out about the Amulet, he was done for. If she found out that the Gargoyle now knew the location of their secret enclave, all hell would break loose and he would not be the only one who would forfeit his life. Her rages were becoming more and more violent the further her pregnancy advanced. They were afraid of what she might do and even if she had logical reasons for doing it. A vicious madwoman was one thing, a pregnant one was quite another.

  So there was only one thing left for him to do and that was to send sentries to the Bodywalker enclave in Portales, New Mexico. Maybe there … maybe there he could recapture the Gargoyle and keep him from getting back to Kamenwati.… the one man on earth who would truly know what Adoma’s Amulet might be capable of.

  He quickly went about putting his plan in action.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  They boarded the plane and Kat stopped short, stunned by what she saw. But then she ignored the opulence of the jet and moved quickly into the cabin in order to allow Ahnvil the room to bring Karma on board. A short time later they were buckled in and taking off. She watched Ahnvil closely the entire time they were ascending, frustrated that they were seated apart from each other. She could see him hunching over into himself, running his hands through his dark hair repeatedly, sweat shining on his exposed skin. It was when he seemed to start talking to himself under his breath that she reached an all-new level of fear and concern. The minute the ding sounded that allowed her to take off her seat belt and go to him, she did, kneeling between his feet and rubbing his legs along his thighs.

  “It’s all right,” she soothed him. “It’s going to be all right.”

  “You doona know that!” he snapped roughly.

  “I do know that!”

  “If you know what is good for you, you’ll keep your distance,” he growled at her, another one of those animalistic sounds escaping him. A cross between a huff and a snarl.

  “I know what’s good for you and I’m not goi
ng anywhere. I want you to talk to me. Tell me more about who you used to be.”

  “A slave! A murderer! The sort of man who gets women killed!”

  “What does that mean?” she asked carefully, anxiety in her belly in response to his dangerous words.

  “There was a Templar woman. Jan Li. She helped me escape my captors … only … she paid for it with her life. She trusted me tae help get her free of those bastards and I failed her. Just like I’m going tae fail you. Only this time ’tis going tae be worse. Much worse. Because you never asked for any of this. You never knew you were going tae be risking your life. ’Tis my fault you’re here at all. That cursed necklace. I would rip it off you if I thought I could do it wi’out hurting you.”

  “It’s my fault for putting it on in the first place,” she said softly.

  “How the hell would a mortal woman like you even know something like an Amulet came with a curse and certain power attached tae it? In your world things like that should only be make believe.”

  “I’m glad I’m not in that world anymore,” she said fiercely. “I’m glad I know it’s all an illusion. I’m glad I’m aware of the nature of things in the world around me.”

  “You could have gone the rest of your life, safe and content and no’ knowing abou’ any of it.”

  “But I didn’t and I won’t and that’s okay,” she insisted.

  “ ’Tis no’ okay tae me,” he said, his tone softening as his hand came out, running along her head and through her hair, the roughness of his calluses catching on the strands. “Jesus God, you’re beautiful,” he said after a moment. It made her smile.

  “You’re just saying that because you’re going crazy.”