Timeless Moon

by C. T. Adams

  Josette felt another wave of sorrow, but then wondered if this was a real future, or even the present. This was Amber’s house in New York, not a hotel in Florida. But rather than constantly analyzing the vision, she just let it run to try to get some hint of what the import of this vision might be. She seldom dropped inside her sister, and the thoughts seemed important.

  Amber dreaded Lucas finding out. Nana had been his kinswoman, the last of their line other than Lucas’s own children. But more than that she dreaded what would happen to Charles, Antoine, and the others if Josette didn’t get here soon.

  She turned her head at the sound of someone coming in the room. Tatiana Santiago appeared in the kitchen doorway. She was dressed in jeans and a cerulean blue polo shirt, her silver-blond hair pulled out of her way by a pair of silver combs. She looked utterly weary except for her eyes. Those vivid blue eyes burned with an intense rage.

  “So help me God if I find the people who are responsible for this—”

  Amber didn’t argue with the threat. She felt exactly the same way. “I heard the phone ring. Was it Lucas? Has there been any word?”

  Tatya walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda for each of them. She came and sat in the chair directly across from Amber. Shoving one drink across the tile surface, she opened the other.

  Only after she had taken a long, slow drink did she answer.

  “Tahira found the book you sent her after and is on her way back now.”

  Amber sighed. “That’s good news at least.”

  “Yes.” The tired blonde made a similar sound and rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers. “The raid at the Grodin airport wasn’t as successful. We didn’t have any casualties, but they were unable to capture any of the snakes for questioning.”

  Amber popped the top on her soda, but didn’t answer. She stared down at her hands, not trusting herself to speak. Yes, the raid had been important. She knew that. And she knew how worried Tatya had been for Lucas’s safety. But to her nothing, nothing mattered as much as the old bear lying ill in the other room. She’d do anything to save him, but there was nothing she could do but sit here and wait. Charles had always been the strong one—so very strong…

  Tatiana reached across the table to grasp Amber’s shaking hand. “He’s holding on. We still have some time. Even the duchess seems to have stabilized for now.”

  The words were meant as a comfort, but Amber noticed the other woman wasn’t meeting her eyes and she smelled faintly of a lie. Not an actual one, but a sin of omission.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” She pulled her hand from Tatya’s grasp, glaring across the table at her, daring her to lie.

  Tatya’s features took on an expression Amber had both seen and used before: the calm, professional face that a physician used to give a patient bad news. Amber fought not to scream in pure rage and frustration. “Just tell me.”

  “A storm front moved in over New Mexico suddenly, just as Aspen and the others were taking off. The plane went down. Nobody’s heard from them. But they’re hoping when the weather clears in a few hours—”

  “A few hours.” The words sounded hollow, defeated. “The full moon will have risen.”

  Tatya touched her hand. “You mustn’t give up hope, Amber. There’s still a chance—”

  Josette found herself rather abruptly back in her body as Rick slammed on the brakes and she was thrown hard enough against her seatbelt for the shoulder harness to choke her.

  It had stopped raining, but the pavement was still wet. The car skidded a few feet along the narrow two-lane road, but Rick managed to remain in control. “Sorry. I nearly missed the turnoff.”

  Discreetly as she could she wiped the tears from her face.

  “What did you see?” His voice was gentle as he reached a hand over to touch her cheek.

  She shook her head, not trusting herself to talk about it. It simply hurt too much. Nana was her friend: one of few people who had earned that title. The old woman had taught her, listened to her, encouraged her to try things like yoga and the kind of weather workings that hadn’t been done by anyone in millennia. A woman of wisdom, power, and humor. Was her life going to be snuffed out like a candle? Was this even a real vision or a “might be?” Would the plane crash? Would she Raven and Rick all be just lonely deaths, sucked away from a future that looked increasingly unsure?

  Josette sat bolt upright in her seat. Sucked. Siphoned. A thought occurred to her. The theory was sound, but there was no way of knowing if it would work. “Where’s my cell phone?”

  “You plugged it into the cigarette lighter.” Rick pointed with a thumb, but kept his eyes on the pockmarked road. “I think it fell between the seats.”

  Josette began digging frantically in the small open space. Her body vibrated with contained energy.

  “You’ve thought of something.” Rick’s curiosity filled the car as he turned the Volvo onto a gravel road with no name. He had to slow the car dramatically as it jerked and bounced on the rough surface.

  Josette punched the speed dial with a trembling finger. Holding up one hand she signaled for silence as she held the cell phone to her ear. “Amber, it’s Josette. Is Nana still alive?”

  “Oui, yes. Just barely. We’re still in New York, but were just about to get everyone ready to go to the airport.”

  A wave of relief passed through her. There might still be time. “I think I may know how to keep them alive until we get there. I just hope I’m right.”

  Her sister’s voice was harsh with excitement. “What have you got?”

  Josette took a deep breath, trying to steady herself so that the words didn’t come tumbling out too fast to make sense. “The problem is that Nana and the others are too powerful. As the moon starts approaching, they’re going to start to change. But their power is going to hit the caster’s shield, so their power will turn on itself and chew them apart. That’s why they’re growing weaker! The snakes were actually doing us a favor, but I didn’t know it.”

  She heard Amber suck in a breath. “So what do we do about it?”

  Josette heard the triumph in her own voice. “Tahira is a power well. Her very nature is to pull magical energy from other Sazi. If she pulls power from them, makes them weaker—”

  “Snakes? Shields? What are you talking about?” Mon Dieu! That’s right, Amber didn’t know about anything that had happened! She’d spent all that time on the phone earlier telling her about things that didn’t really matter to the present situation.

  Rick’s jaw dropped as she slowed down and explained the situation to her sister.

  After multiple questions that were quite medically technical, Amber responded, “It sounds good, grande soeur, but what if you’re wrong? Weakening the seers when they’re already under attack—it sounds like an awful risk…” She let the sentence trail off to silence.

  “I know. I know.” Josette was frantic. “But we have to try it. If we do nothing Nana is going to die. I think I just saw it. But things are changing so fast I’m not sure if it’s real.”

  “I’ll call. I don’t know if Tahira and Tatya will go along with this, but I’ll ask. Tahira will be willing. I have no doubt. She’s a very giving person, and she’s terribly worried about Antoine. And if Tatya won’t agree to store the magic in her, then I’ll take it instead.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Let’s just hope it works, chère Josette.”

  She ended the call, letting the phone drop back onto the seat.

  “That was a good thought. It never would have occurred to me.” Rick was nodding his head and smelled of pride.

  “I just hope I’m right.” Josette picked at the seam of her shorts with a fingernail. “I remember how it felt. Based on what I went through in the vision—” She gave Rick a desperate look. “But what if I’m wrong? What if it’s what I just suggested that winds up killing them?”

  He deliberately projected as much calm as he could when he met her gaze. “You’re
doing the best you can. You said yourself that the others gave their power to you to kill the caster. That says they wanted a say in their own fate. That’s all we can do. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  Her eyes narrowed slightly. Her voice held more than a trace of wry amusement when she answered. “Talk about your pot calling the kettle.”

  Rick snickered and winked at her. Their destination was only a couple hundred yards away and a little to the right of the road. It was accessible by a small gravel drive that led up to a large metal building one side of which proudly proclaimed “Sim Peanuts.” From the blown over paint cans on the ground and the distance between the m and P she’d have to say the name wasn’t complete yet. And if the storm got any worse, the building might not be here in the morning for them to finish the job.

  THE BUILDING COULD have been used for storage of farm equipment, or anything really, but the orange wind sleeve attached to the roof, which was flapping in the breeze, and the concrete runway suggested that it probably served as the hangar for a private plane.

  Across the fields he could see a farmhouse and barn, along with animal pens and various outbuildings.

  Everything was neat, prosperous, and well tended. Even the smells were just as they should be. The air coming through the car vents was rich with the scent of crops growing, humans, farm animals, and fresh-cut grass.

  Despite the almost idyllic setting, Rick began twitching uneasily in his seat.

  Josette cocked her head. She could probably scent his frustration. “What’s the matter?”

  “I had to leave my gun at the motel. I don’t like being unarmed.”

  She nodded. “Raphael sent weapons. They’re in a bag in the trunk.”

  “In the trunk?” He couldn’t keep the disgust from his voice.

  She rolled her eyes. “We couldn’t exactly have had you arming yourself in the middle of the roadhouse parking lot, now could we?”

  He growled. “You should have kept them inside the car in case of trouble.”

  “And if we got pulled over?”

  Rick grunted with displeasure, but didn’t argue. He felt exposed out here in the middle of nowhere. The landing strip was a narrow ribbon of concrete stretched between two large fields. The first blush of green peeked up through the tilled earth. It was impossible to tell what the mature plants would be, but she’d wager they were peanuts. She could see for miles in every direction.

  Gravel crunched beneath the Volvo’s wheels as Rick pulled to a stop. Whether by chance or design, he’d put the hangar between the car and the farmhouse, giving them at least some semblance of privacy. He leaped out the door the minute the car was no longer in motion and circled to the rear of the vehicle, key in hand.

  It was obvious which bag held their munitions. It was big, bulged oddly in several spots, and smelled of gun oil and silver. He pulled it from the trunk and set it gently on the ground. Squatting down beside it, he pulled open the zipper.

  The average pack leader didn’t have much need for armament, but no doubt Rick would find something useful, since Raphael Ramirez was not the average pack leader. The bag held a variety of handguns in holsters, with silver and regular ammunition available for each. Every weapon was clean, oiled, and appeared to be in perfect working condition. A low whistle and the light scent of citrus told her Rick definitely approved.

  He chose a Ruger with an inner pants holster as his main weapon. He pulled it out, admiring the four-inch barrel before opening it up to check the chamber. Sure enough, it was fully loaded with silver-plated rounds. Rising to his feet he untucked his T-shirt and put on the holster. “It’ll be uncomfortable with these jeans as tight as they are, but I’ll feel better knowing we’ll be going into whatever we’re facing armed. Pick something for yourself, and then we’ll let Raven choose when he gets here.”

  She shook her head no. “I’ve never handled a modern pistol. I’d probably wind up shooting myself in the foot.”

  Rick growled viciously under his breath. “You’ve spent your entire life being stalked by assassins and you couldn’t be bothered to learn how to shoot? How in the hell have you managed to stay alive, being that stupid?” It was an invitation for an argument. He knew it the minute the words left his mouth and he tried to close his mouth before he said anything else. But apparently she could sense how keyed up he was feeling. She looked at him with curiosity rather than anger.

  “Um…should you be feeling this aggressive, Rick? It doesn’t really match the situation. You know I’ve never needed to shoot.”

  He stopped cold and stared at her like she’d grown a second head. “It…um…no, you’re right.” His eyes went blank for a moment as he slipped inside his own head. “This emotion isn’t mine. In fact, most of it is coming from outside.”

  Armed with that knowledge, he lowered his shields and focused. He could probably block what was coming, but it might be better if he could track its source. Just identifying that it wasn’t his emotion helped cleared his head. It allowed him to look at it in the abstract instead of letting it overwhelm him. But apparently, his tone of voice had been more accusatory than the’d intended, and Josette got the wrong impression. Her head dropped into a defensive position and a small snarl rose into her chest.

  “So now it’s all my fault?” Josette growled.

  Rick put a finger to his lips, sending a small tendril of magic. “I’m tense, but someone else is projecting, too. It isn’t you, but it’s affecting you through me. Can’t you feel the difference now that I’ve started to block it?”

  Her expression grew thoughtful but then she shrugged. “We’re both wound pretty tight. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “Maybe.” And yet somehow that didn’t feel quite right. What he was sensing felt more…well, male than anything he’d ever gotten from Josette.

  “Maybe I’m picking up something from Raven up there in the plane,” Rick suggested. “God knows he probably has enough to be nervous and angry about.”

  “That I can believe.” She looked up at the sky and shuddered. She could control her expression, but she couldn’t hide the hint of terror in her scent. Rick could clearly feel the fear pumping through her body with every adrenaline-laced beat of her heart. He wished there was something he could say to ease her mind, but flying was a full-blown phobia for her. Nothing he said or did would make any difference. “I’m really not looking forward to Raven arriving.”

  Rick reached over to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. I’m going to patrol the area. Something’s bothering me.”

  “Fine. Patrol.” There was a tense edge to her voice that he didn’t like. For a second he considered just flat out asking her what was the matter. He decided against it because right now he didn’t want to know. It would only be a distraction.

  Rick started his patrol by walking around the hangar, paying particular attention to the dirt and grass at the gravel’s verge. There was no sign of snakes having been here. If there was any scent trail, it was far too faint for him to catch under the overpowering scent of chemical fertilizer coming from the building and the remaining ozone in the air. The smell of the chemical bothered him, even though it only made sense. They were, after all, on a farm. The plane was probably used to spray the crops. But fertilizer was a major ingredient in ANFO, a high explosive that was used by terrorists worldwide because it was both effective and easy to make.

  He paced restlessly to the front doors of the building. They were secured with a large, impressive-looking padlock that probably wouldn’t prove much of a challenge to a professional thief, but should at least keep out the riff-raff. If he had a set of picks…but of course he didn’t.

  As he strode down the runway he looked carefully across the fields in the direction of the farmhouse. There was a clear line of sight between the buildings and the strip. Again he felt a shiver of…not nerves exactly…more like anticipation. Whatever the emotion was, it wasn’t his. He shook his
head to clear the unwelcome intrusion and headed back to the car. The closer he got, the more his frustration grew until he was nearly livid with anger and hate as he reached the car.

  “What is the matter with you?” Josette snarled. He didn’t blame her.

  “Wish I could tell you.” Rick shrugged, then stretched, feeling the bones of his spine move back into place and then shivered. The thin white fabric of his T-shirt wasn’t doing much to keep him warm. Normally he could control his body temperature better than this. But the full moon was near, and he was tired and stressed.

  She gave an irritable little growl and might have said more, but the cell phone rang inside the car. The noise startled Josette. She jumped, making one of those silly, squeaking noises that used to embarrass her. It broke the tension a little and Rick was grateful for it.

  She brushed past him and opened the car door. Grabbing the phone from between the seats she managed to answer just before it would have gone voicemail. “Hello?”

  There was a long pause as she listened to the person on the other end of the line. In the distance, faintly, Rick heard the sound of an aircraft engine. They both turned and looked upward to the northeast, following the direction of the sound.

  “Raphael, he’s arriving now. Yes, yes, I’ll give him the message. Not that he’s liable to listen…okay, fine, I’ll tell him that, too.”

  Rick was only half-listening. He could see the darker speck of the plane against the leaden skies. It was being badly buffeted by the winds. He felt his stomach tie itself in knots from nerves. It was going to be a very rough landing.

  The blue-and-white twin-engine plane looked tiny against the towering clouds. It grew larger as it came closer, and Rick could see that the pilot was fighting hard to hold it steady against the wind. It came down fast and hard, bouncing against the concrete runway. Rick cringed as the machine rocked, one wing nearly touching the ground as it slewed hard to the left.