The Adversary

by Lindsay McKenna

  Raising his brows, Victor felt a surge of hope. “You’re sure?”

  Lothar beamed. “Yes, my lord.”

  Victor patted him heartily on the shoulders. “Good man!”

  Feeling the Dark Lord’s joy, Lothar leaked a slight smile. “I always want to please you.”

  Jeff whistled softly. “So they might be at the lodge over at Moraine Lake?”

  “Maybe,” Victor said. “I’ve already sent out a feeler to find them, but it was rebuffed and came back to me. Black is protecting them fully and we can’t get inside that protective wall he’s thrown up. No, we’re going to have to drive over there and see if we can spot them. From our research, we know the woman drives a blue Honda. We know what kind of car Black rented. Let’s look for them in the parking lot first. If we find them, we know they’re at the lodge. Then, all we have to do is wait them out.”

  Rubbing his hands together, his eyes gleaming with pleasure, Victor said, “First, let’s dump these bodies and get three new ones. They know what we look like now.”

  “But, my lord, won’t we have the same aura as these three did?” Jeff asked.

  “No. Not always,” Victor said grumpily. “Oh, I’m sure Black will figure it out eventually, but he’s human. He won’t see the twins and Nelson. Even though he might see our auras initially, he won’t put it together, and that may give us just enough time to nail them.”

  Chapter 13

  Shelly felt relief as they got their new room at the Moraine Lake Lodge. This time, they were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hornsby. She closed the door and watched as Colt carried their luggage into the bedroom. They were posing as a married couple so no more separate rooms. Shelly wanted this arrangement. In another way, they didn’t need such an obvious distraction. But what else could they do under the circumstances?

  The appointments in the room were gorgeous and as she stood in front of a picture window that overlooked the deeply turquoise Moraine Lake, she appreciated its natural beauty. The groups of lodges sat up on a hill above the lake. The evening was upon them, the sun having slipped down below the Rocky Mountains, the shadows deep across the calm lake. She saw a canoe coming in, the colors bright against the blue of the glacially fed waters.

  Frowning, Shelly moved from the suite’s window overlooking the lake and walked into their bedroom. She watched as Colt hung clothes in the closet. There was tension in his profile. She went over and pulled open one of the drawers to the dresser.

  “Do you still feel it?”

  “Yes,” he said, turning and looking over at her. Her brow was wrinkled and there was somberness in her hazel gaze. “I feel like we were just attacked back there at the other hotel.”

  “Me, too,” Shelly said softly. “I felt the attack.” She rubbed her arms and frowned. “It looks like my psychic awareness is opening up to include evil.” Putting her clothes away in the drawers, she added, “This isn’t a game.”

  Colt went over, drew her into his arms and embraced her. “Right now, we’re ahead of them. We’ve changed hotels and names. They can’t find us unless they see us and we’re going to do everything we can to minimize that factor.” Silently, Colt prayed that his massive wall prevented them from finding them telepathically. But for how long would it hold? He was beyond exhaustion at this point.

  Shelly slid her arms around his muscular frame and pressed her head against his shoulder. “I knew this was serious business, but now it’s really coming to rest on me. They want to kill us.”

  “I know,” he murmured. After pressing a quick, chaste kiss to her hair, Colt eased Shelly away from him. If he didn’t, he would push the luggage off the bed and lay her down beside him. The desire to make love to her was more than an ache now. Hands on her shoulders, he looked down into her worried eyes. “We’ll be okay. We’ll order room service. If they’re nosing around trying to find us, we aren’t available to be seen. As soon as I’m done unpacking, I’ll call the desk and get that canoe rental for an hour before sunrise. It will be pretty dark then and tough to make us out if they happen to be snooping around.”

  “All sensible strategies,” she said. Right now, Colt seemed calm and unaffected by the danger. But she knew better. He was just as threatened by it as she was, yet his calm demeanor soothed her. Reaching up, she touched his cheek. “You’re a very brave person.”

  “Me?” Colt gave her a derisive look. His cheek tingled pleasantly beneath the grazing touch of her fingers. A fierce need rose in him.

  “Courage is what we need, isn’t it? Maybe there is a symbolic purpose to our hunt for this sphere. About facing our fears and walking through them in order to find it.”

  “Yes to all of those questions,” Colt muttered. “Neither of us realized at the beginning what we were walking into.”

  “I wonder if we had, if we’d have pursued this emerald?” Shelly wondered. She eased out of his arms because all she wanted to do was kiss Colt senseless. Instead, she sat down on the bed, hands folded into her lap. She gave him a wry look. “I was never afraid until now. Oh, I’ve heard lots of stories about sorcerers over the years, but I’ve never had any experience with them.” Shrugging, she added, “I guess until you have a confrontation with a sorcerer, you don’t get it.”

  Opening a drawer of the dresser, Colt began to put his clothes away. His hands literally itched to keep Shelly in his embrace. If he was busy with clothes, he wouldn’t do it. “Innocence is a good thing up to a point,” he told her.

  “In this case, ignorance is not bliss.” Worriedly, Shelly looked toward the open door that led into the living room. “I keep feeling in my gut that this sorcerer and his men are onto us. I ask myself, what would I do if I were in his shoes? What if he’s invaded our rooms and hasn’t found us there? What would he do next?”

  “If I were him, I’d start a search for the car I rented. And putting your Honda at another nearby hotel will throw them off our track.” Colt didn’t know the abilities of these men. That made this situation even more dangerous.

  “And how smart of you to change our rental car at the Samson Mall in Lake Louise before we came to this lodge.”

  “Right. I try to think like them the best I can,” Colt said, pushing the drawer closed and opening the one below it. “If I were him I would try to track us by the car. The fact we turned it in at the mall and rented another one from another company is going to throw them off our trail.” For a while, but he didn’t add that.

  “I wouldn’t know if they were trying to read my mind,” Shelly said, unhappy with her lack of certain paranormal skills.

  “I would. And that hasn’t happened because I have strong energy walls in place to protect us. And if they can’t read our thoughts and follow that energy trail to where we are now, they’re blind.”

  “I hope so,” Shelly said fervently. “I live in abject fear of being possessed.” Shivering, she added, “I just don’t want either of us ending up like that.”

  Colt zipped his luggage shut and placed it in the closet. He came over and sat at her side. “We didn’t know how dangerous this game was going to be. Stop blaming yourself.”

  Shelly grimaced and nodded.

  “I know they want something from us,” Colt said. “They’d rather have us alive so it has to be about this emerald sphere we’re trying to find. I’d sure like to know more about this emerald.” He looked around the quiet room. “I’m going to sleep out there on the couch. You get the bedroom.”

  Glumly, Shelly agreed. “It’s not what I want, but you’re right.”

  “I know,” Colt whispered. He reached out and touched her hair. It was incredibly silky and soft beneath his exploring fingertips. “Also, did you see there’s no way to escape from this suite if they break in here? They’ll have us trapped. I wish we could have gotten a ground-floor room because they have doors that lead outside. That would have been good to escape but we don’t have the option.”

  “I feel the sorcerer is hunting us right now. My gut tells me that.”

&nbs
p; “Yes,” Colt confirmed, studying the hotel door. “We’re going to have to stay on the move. We can’t trust that we’ll be safe here more than a day. I’m already thinking that after we search Moraine Lake’s shores we need to move again. It’s the only way to stay ahead of them, Shelly.”

  VICTOR CURSED SOFTLY beneath his breath. He and his two men had gathered in the lobby of the hotel at Lake Louise. They sat huddled on three overstuffed chairs as the flow of traffic continued around them. It was dinnertime and many of the patrons were coming in from their day’s adventures to get changed and eat.

  “Well?” Victor snapped. “What next? What would you do if you were them? We’ve scoured the whole parking-lot area from one end to another. The woman’s car is gone. The Toyota rented by Black is gone.”

  Jeff looked over at the check-in area of the massive hotel. There were three car-company booths for the three largest car-rental companies. “Is it possible Black turned in his Prius and then rented another type of car? Or they used the woman’s car? That would explain why we didn’t find it.”

  “I can go over and pick the minds of those three people manning the rental booths,” Lothar suggested.

  Victor knew that if they did a mind probe on those young people, it would leave them in shock and unable to talk coherently for an hour or more. He couldn’t risk doing it right now with the hotel filled with patrons. Someone would notice. “Not now. Too many onlookers around. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves at all.”

  “Well,” Lothar said, trying to cheer up Victor, “I like my new body.”

  Grimacing, Victor said nothing. They’d gone into the woods on a trail far from the hotel. There, they’d found three male family members and taken possession of them. Victor had taken the father, Lothar possessed the uncle and Jeff took the seventeen-year-old boy’s body. The other three bodies were dragged off the trail and hidden so that hungry grizzly bears would find them before anyone else did. The danger in taking a body was that someone from this hotel would miss them. Trip Nelson worked as a guide. When he didn’t show up, there would be concern. And Victor knew that the employer would start looking for him in earnest within hours of his disappearance.

  Lothar was now a thirty-eight-year-old blond Canadian from Toronto named Charles Hampton. The man worked for a publisher in that city. His brother, Harvey, was forty, in tip-top athletic shape and worked as the vice president of a transport company in the same city. The son, Brian Hampton, was terribly good-looking and very athletic. Victor had wanted someone young and strong in case they needed to chase down the Taqe.

  “A missing rental car,” Victor pondered. He glanced toward the clerks at the auto booths. “We really do need to read their minds. Let’s wait until later. After dinner. By 11:00 p.m., things will quiet down in the lobby.”

  Nodding, Lothar said, “Let me do it.”

  “Sounds like a good strategy,” Victor said.

  Jeff picked up on the thoughts of the Dark Lord. Inwardly, he reeled from the quickness of all that had happened to him. Even more, he felt badly for possessing these innocent people. Jeff had not realized how often it was done. His family values made him uncomfortable with this, but he didn’t dare voice that. “Is there another way to get that information on their rental car?”

  “What?” Victor snapped beneath his breath. “Go over and ask them?”

  Jeff shrugged. “Why not? I could do that. If I can find out something, isn’t it worth the try?” He suddenly found himself wanting to protect these humans. Why? Having no answer, he waited for the Dark Lord.

  Lothar rolled his eyes. “He’s a young Tupay,” was all he said.

  “Go ahead,” Victor invited silkily. The stupid trainee would find out the hard way that mind probes were a very quick, efficient way to get information. He’d get nothing from these clerks right now.

  Rising, Jeff knew that neither older spirit believed he could get any information. In a pair of long canvas shorts, a red T-shirt and hiking boots, Jeff was sure he presented the picture of a typical teenager to everyone. The fact that the clerks were all in their early twenties at the booths could make for a bonding of sorts. “I’ll give it a try,” he told them. Inwardly, he wanted to save these three young men from the pain and agony of a mind probe if he could.

  As he walked over to the first rental booth, Jeff knew that his morals and values were not entirely the same as those of his fellow Tupay. Perhaps, over time, he would become hardened like Victor and Lothar. For now, however, his conscience ate at him.

  “Hi,” he greeted the black-haired young clerk, “I’m looking for some friends of mine. I just arrived here and I was supposed to meet Mr. Black here in the lobby.”

  “Yes, I have him listed here.” The clerk frowned and studied his computer. “But I have him checking out earlier today.”

  “Oh?” Jeff tried to modulate his voice so that it showed surprise and confusion. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Well…did he rent another car or did he go with the rental he had?”

  The clerk studied the computer some more. “Oh, I see what happened here. Your friend turned in his car and then it was cleaned. About two hours later, another party rented it.”

  “Did he rent another car?” Jeff asked.

  “If he did, it wasn’t from us.” The clerk turned to the competing rental booth and asked the clerk. Jeff waited. That clerk checked his computer.

  “No, sorry. No such name here. Let me ask Tolly over here…”

  Jeff got a shake of the clerk’s head from the third rental booth.

  “Nope, I don’t recognize his name,” one clerk said apologetically.

  “Mr. Black asked if there was another car rental here at Lake Louise. I told him there was one at Samson Mall, about two miles down the road from this hotel.”

  Going back to Victor, Jeff told him he was going to drive over to the mall and check it out. Victor agreed.

  Jeff went into the mall. He stepped over to the red-haired clerk. “I’m looking for Colt Black,” he pressed. “My dad was supposed to meet him here, but maybe they got the wrong car rental. Can you check your rentals from early this morning?”

  “Sure,” the clerk said enthusiastically. Typing into his computer, he said, “There was one car rental to a Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Susan Hornsby. There is no Colt Black listed.”

  “Okay,” Jeff said, leaning over the desk. “What kind of car did they rent?”

  “A 2010 red Toyota Prius.”

  “Great. Where did they say they were going?”

  “According to the computer, they were renting it for a week but there was no destination other than bringing it back here to us.”

  Frowning, Jeff said, “Hey, that’s okay. Thanks, I’ll let my dad know. Maybe they’re at another hotel near here.”

  “Well, let me help you,” the clerk said with a smile. He tore off a piece of paper. “This is a list of all the hotels in the park. What you might do is call around and see if you can locate them.”

  Taking the paper with the hotel names, addresses and phone numbers, Jeff grinned. “Thanks, dude. You’ve been a big help. I think my dad and uncle just got the wrong hotel.”

  Triumphant, Jeff tried to keep the glee out of his voice. He walked over and handed the paper to Victor. “My lord,” he said, excitement in his tone, “I believe we have their new names and identification on their rented car. Black probably switched names. I can’t be sure about this, but it might be a lead.”

  Chapter 14

  Lothar wiped his smarting eyes before he entered the Moraine Lake Lodge. The watch on his hairy wrist read 4:00 a.m. They had spent the night driving from one lodge to another in Banff National Park, trying to locate the red Toyota Prius. They hadn’t realized how many Canadians were “green” and how many had the damn hybrid automobile. The light on the eastern horizon was barely silhouetting the rugged Rockies as he hesitated at the stairs. Victor and Jeff halted.

  “Okay, you know
what to do,” Victor said.

  Nodding, Lothar said, “Of course.”

  “How many idiots have this stupid Prius?” Victor griped unhappily, looking around at the dark, quiet area. The lodge was lit but the lake was dark and black. An owl hooted in a nearby fir, the call making Victor feel even more frustrated. He was angered by the disappearance of the Taqe.

  “A lot,” Jeff murmured. It was cool and he had a hoodie on, hands in the pockets for warmth.

  Giving Lothar a sharp gesture, Victor snarled, “Well, there are two red Toyota Priuses in this parking lot. Go in there and find out.”

  Yawning, Lothar nodded, turned and quickly took the steps. As he pushed open the door, he saw the lobby was empty. A sleepy-eyed male clerk with black hair and brown eyes sat at the desk. He perked up a bit as Lothar approached.

  In his most diplomatic voice, Lothar said, “I’m so sorry to bother you, but my uncle, who was very tired, just grazed a red Toyota Prius out in your lot. We were coming over here for breakfast at 6:00 a.m.” Lothar gave him a pleading look. “Can you tell me who owns the Prius? We need to leave our name, address and phone number to contact them about this little accident.”

  “Oh…sure,” the clerk murmured. “Was it a bad accident?”

  “Oh, no,” Lothar said. “Just a scratch.”

  Going to his computer, the clerk typed in some info. “Well, there are two red Priuses here right now.”

  Lothar got out his notebook and a pen from the bag he carried, and said, “I didn’t get the license plate. Can you give me both names and their room numbers?”

  “Uh, I’m sorry, sir, but we aren’t allowed to give out room numbers.”

  “Oh,” Lothar feigned, “that’s right. Names are fine.” He poised the pen on the counter.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Winn Drake and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hornsby.”

  Heart leaping, Lothar pretended nonchalance and dutifully wrote down the names. “Thank you so much.” He turned and left.

  Victor waited impatiently at the bottom of the stairs in a foul mood. The physical body needed sleep and he was grouchy. Lothar had a look of glee on his face.