Dragon Moon

by Unknown

  As the animal disappeared from view, she stepped onto the porch, scanning the nighttime scene.

  From the woods, she heard the sound of pounding feet. Still the wolf? Maybe. But something else, too?

  Then a louder noise—like a giant clearing his throat—drowned out the other sounds.

  Moments later, she heard the grinding of gravel under the wheels of . . . a cart with a heavy load? Then the night was still again.

  Her heart was still pounding as she strained her eyes to find out what was happening.

  “Talon?” she called, hearing the high-pitched sound of her own voice. “Talon, are you out here? Are you all right?”

  He didn’t answer, but the wolf came trotting toward her and stopped short when he saw her on the porch. For a long moment, they confronted each other from a dozen yards away before he turned and disappeared into the darkness again.

  She was afraid to stay outside. Yet she couldn’t move from the spot, either.

  “Talon?”

  This time he answered as he strode out of the woods, hurrying toward her. “Yes?”

  She stared at him, taking in the details. His hair was mussed. And his shoes were missing.

  “You’re barefoot,” she whispered.

  He looked at her feet. “So are you.”

  She answered with a little nod. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  Unable to stay where she was, she dashed down the steps and ran toward him. When she reached him, she threw her arms around him.

  She had kissed him before, and she wanted to do that now, but she couldn’t allow herself that pleasure—not after the way the two of them had burst into flames the last time. Still, because she didn’t want to let him go, she held on tight, her arms around his waist and her face pressed to his broad chest as she leaned into the solid strength of his body and listened to the pounding of his heart.

  When his arms came up to clasp her, she breathed out a sigh, absorbing his warmth.

  “What are you doing out here?” he asked, his voice gritty.

  “I heard . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she started again. “I don’t know what it was. Then I saw the wolf. Did he go after you?”

  “He’s a friend of mine,” he clipped out, his tone making clear that he didn’t want to talk about the animal.

  She nodded against his chest because Talon Marshall wasn’t going to take advice from her. There was no point in protesting that having a wolf for a friend was dangerous. Instead she asked, “What were the loud noises I heard?”

  “Shots.”

  “From a firearm?” she asked.

  His hand tightened on her shoulder. “Yeah.”

  “Someone tried to kill you?” she asked.

  “They tried to kill the wolf, I think. But I don’t know for sure. I ran after the guy, but he drove away.”

  “You know it was a man?”

  “I’m guessing.”

  “The other sound I heard,” she murmured. “That was the vehicle?”

  “Pickup truck. I saw it speeding down the road. Too bad I couldn’t get the license number.”

  She nodded again, not understanding what “pickup truck” meant and wondering about the license number. Earlier, he’d asked if she had a driver’s license. Did he think she would have a car or a truck? The only thing she knew for sure was that something dangerous had happened.

  “You shouldn’t have come outside,” he said in a rough voice. “You could have gotten hurt.”

  She shivered and burrowed more tightly against him. “I was worried about you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Why were you out here?” she asked.

  He paused for a moment before saying, “I was going to get your knapsack.”

  “My carry bag?”

  “Yeah.”

  She stiffened in his arms as she thought about the bag. Someone had brought it back to Vandar’s community from this world. But the contents were another matter. What would he think of them?

  She did a quick inventory in her mind. She had a change of clothing. Bread and cheese wrapped in a tanned animal skin. A knife that would probably look primitive to anyone from this universe. A talisman that she had been ordered to keep with her. And some gold beads that she could use if she needed to pay for something.

  As she tried to remember everything in the . . . knapsack, her hands clenched into fists. Why was that word so hard to remember?

  She liked Talon Marshall—very much. She didn’t like the idea of him seeing all the things she’d brought with her and wondering what they meant. She wanted to tell him, but as the words rose in her throat, pain shimmered inside her head and she knew it would get worse, much worse if she tried to reveal her secret.

  Was there some way she could get around the pain? She wanted to, but she’d have to figure out how to do it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  TALON WATCHED KENNA’Sface. He was sure she had started to say something, then changed her mind.

  “I’d better go back to bed,” she said.

  “Yes.”

  She turned and walked quickly back to the house. With the warmth of her body gone from the front of him, he felt suddenly cold.

  He wanted to run after her and pull her into his embrace again, but he stayed where he was. At the same time, he wanted to go back and pick up the knapsack he’d come out here to get.

  But he knew that could be dangerous—with someone out there armed and reckless.

  Who? They’d driven away, but they could come sneaking back.

  Talon walked to the front door, staring out into the night before stepping back into the house and closing the door. Standing in the darkened living room, he considered what had happened.

  For a werewolf, he was pretty good at dealing with people, but over the years, he’d inevitably had some run-ins with clients—men who had gone on various trips with him and hadn’t fit into the group or followed directions.

  He’d been on a rock-climbing expedition at the Break-neck Bridge area of McConnells Mill State Park a few months ago when one of the guys, Barry Montgomery, had insisted on going down the trail to urinate. The guy had tumbled partway down a cliff, and Talon and the rest of the men had kept him from breaking his neck. Montgomery had been mad as hell, and he’d threatened to sue because Talon had taken him to a dangerous location. Nothing had come of it, and Talon had written off the incident. Was Montgomery stupid enough to come here with a gun?

  He’d thought the guy was more bluster than bite. Maybe it was worth checking up on him. And who else was mad enough to come here half-cocked?

  Of course, there was a difference between a guy who would shoot at a man and one who would shoot at an animal.

  As he turned that over in his mind, the recent incident with the box in the woods leaped into his mind.

  Someone had buried that money. Did they know who had found it and turned it into the cops? If so, how?

  Perhaps he should have asked the state police a few more questions. Or perhaps not. And did he want them out here investigating tonight’s incident? Maybe a werewolf could take care of it on his own by identifying the shooter and ripping out his throat.

  That route had a lot of appeal, although he’d better think about it before he let his savage nature take over.

  He looked down the hall, toward the room where Kenna had disappeared. How would she react if he brought up the subject of the police? And what would it mean? That she was here to spy on him? Or that she didn’t want to run into the authorities?

  With a sigh, he headed for his room, determined to get up early and retrieve the knapsack.

  FOR a while after Kenna woke, she had no idea where she was. Then it came back to her. The portal, the storm, Talon Marshall.

  Her throat tightened. She was here, in the other universe, but she didn’t know how she was going to carry out the impossible job Vandar had assigned her. Because even with his powers, he had no idea what this world was really like. He should come t
hrough the portal and find out for himself, but it was clear he would rather have a slave take the risk.

  Closing her eyes, she said a little prayer to the Great Mother asking for strength.

  “Help me,” she whispered. Then she dared to say what was in her heart. “Help me break away from Vandar. Help me find a way not to betray Talon Marshall.”

  She waited with her heart pounding, waited for the pain inside her head. Apparently, she hadn’t stepped over the line.

  How far could she go? A wayward thought stole into her mind, and she dared consider the subversive idea. Perhaps, if she was careful, she could erect a wall in her mind, a wall that would keep Vandar out.

  But this morning she had something else to do, if it wasn’t too late.

  Slipping out of bed, she hurried to the window and pulled the shade aside, noting that it was still early. Could she get to the knapsack before Talon Marshall found it?

  After using the bathroom, she picked up her sandals and tiptoed down the hallway. Not until she was on the front porch did she put the sandals on.

  She’d come here at night, and she’d been shaken up by her rude introduction to this world. This morning, she was seeing Talon’s home in daylight. At the side of the house was something she hadn’t noticed in the dark. One of the horseless carriages. She had seen pictures of them, but this was the first one she had encountered up close. They were called cars, but the simple word did nothing to convey the imposing appearance.

  Bright silver, large and sleek, it was nothing like a horse-drawn wagon. She tiptoed over to it and ran her hand over the smooth surface. It was cool and hard to the touch, and the riding compartment was completely enclosed by doors and windows. Inside she saw comfortable seats and an array of dials and other mysterious instruments under the front window. There was a wheel in front of one of the seats, and she could only guess at its purpose.

  Yesterday Talon Marshall had asked if she had a driver’s license. A license to operate this thing? She guessed it would be hard to get one.

  Looking away from the car, she saw a one-story building with no windows and a large bank of doors in front. After taking twenty steps toward it, she turned around and looked at the house.

  It was made of stone and wood, and her breath caught as she stared at the long, low structure with the large windows that brought the outside in. The style was nothing like any dwelling she’d ever seen in Breezewood, but she admired the simplicity and the beauty of the design.

  She drank in the sight, marveling that this home sat alone in the middle of the woods. Apparently, Talon wasn’t worried about soldiers or the police attacking. Of course, there had been the shots in the dark last night. But Talon had seemed surprised by the incident.

  Sighing, she turned away from the house and hurried toward the woods, stopping when she reached the area where the giant tree had gone down. She didn’t know what kind it was because she had encountered few trees in her life. She only saw that it was big and that it could easily have crushed her.

  Beyond it was a blackened patch where the fire had burned. Thank the gods Talon Marshall had put it out before it had reached the place where she was pinned.

  After contemplating her narrow escape, she took a deep breath and clambered into the branches. But she was coming at the tree from a different angle, and she wasn’t sure where she’d been when the monster had pinned her.

  Frantically, she began to search among the branches, looking for the place where she’d been lying, but there were so many leaves that she couldn’t find the right spot.

  The need to hurry made her clumsy, and she tripped over a bough, sprawling in a tangle of leaves. Picking herself up, she wormed her way farther into the mass of limbs and leaves, sweeping debris aside as she searched for the knapsack.

  “Looking for something?”

  She jumped, losing her balance. She would have fallen off the branch she was on if a strong male hand hadn’t whipped out and caught her arm. As the hand steadied her, she twisted around to stare into Talon Marshall’s face. Although his expression gave nothing away, she was sure that he was wondering why she had come out here so early in the morning.

  “I was looking for my carry bag.”

  “Why?”

  “I wanted to change my clothes.”

  He tipped his head to one side, regarding her. “The clothes you had on are still wet?”

  She hadn’t even checked the jeans and shirt in the bathroom, so she raised one shoulder.

  “Let me help you find the knapsack.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “You seem to be having trouble.”

  “Yes.”

  He let go of her arm, sat down on a bough, and closed his eyes. She watched as he breathed deeply. After about a minute, he looked to his right.

  Without speaking, he stood up and worked his way to a dense section of foliage. Reaching down into the leaves, he moved his hand around. When he brought it up again, he was holding the knapsack.

  “How did you find it?” she asked.

  “I followed the scent,” he answered, as if there was nothing unusual about the talent. Was that true—here?

  She could only stare at him. “You smelled it?”

  As she had done before, he shrugged. “One of my woodsman talents.”

  “Oh.”

  “Let’s take it back to the house and get those clothes.”

  Her nerves were jumping as he helped her clamber back through the foliage to solid ground.

  She wanted to run into the woods and disappear, but she knew he’d simply catch up with her and haul her back.

  With no other option, she walked beside him, stealing glances at the carry bag slung over his shoulder.

  In the dining room, he dumped the contents of the main compartment onto a large table. Then he riffled through the small pockets, taking out the objects he found there.

  “What is it you didn’t want me to see?” he asked in a conversational voice.

  “Nothing,” she managed to answer as she watched him emptying the bag.

  When everything was on the table, he began sorting through the items. He picked up the clothes first, shaking out the shirt and pants before pushing them toward her.

  She clutched the fabric of the shirt and stood with her pulse pounding, watching as he inspected the contents of the knapsack.

  He unwrapped the bread and cheese and stared at it. “Your mother bakes bread?” he asked.

  Her throat tightened. She hadn’t seen her mother in months. And Mama had bought her family’s bread from the baker up the street. But Kenna nodded because that seemed to be the answer Talon Marshall expected when he saw the rough slices.

  He continued to stare at her, and she wondered what her expression had given away.

  “You don’t have plastic sandwich bags?”

  She swallowed. “I guess not.”

  He rummaged through her possessions and found the talisman—a green polished stone disk about an inch in diameter, mounted in a gold setting.

  “What’s this?”

  “A keepsake,” she said.

  “It looks expensive. Did you steal it?”

  Outrage bubbled inside her. “Of course not!”

  He gave her a long look, then picked up the leather pouch with the gold beads. Opening the drawstring, he poured some of the beads into his palm, moving his hand so that the beads clanked together. “Gold?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Also keepsakes?”

  “They’re in case I need . . . custom.”

  “Custom?”

  She flapped her arm. “Need to pay for something.”

  “Ah.”

  “That’s not the right word?” she asked in a low voice.

  “Most people around here carry money issued by the U.S. Treasury.”

  “I don’t have any.”

  “Apparently.” He kept his gaze on her as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Your background is . . . out of
the ordinary.”

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “Are you going to tell me why?”

  She wanted to—so much. But she knew it wasn’t possible. Not yet.

  “Can you give me some time?” she asked, her breath freezing in her lungs as she waited for his answer.