by Неизвестный
“Will they want to risk getting into this?” Kenna asked.
“I think so, when they hear an evil monster from the other universe wants to take over this world.”
Antonia cleared her throat, and everyone turned toward her.
“There’s something we haven’t discussed,” she said. “Is this too big to handle by ourselves? I mean, have you considered telling someone in the U.S. government?”
The group was silent for several moments. Ross finally answered. “I’ve thought of it. I’d like to get help, but there are too many problems. We’d have to reveal that there is another universe parallel to this one. Who would believe that? If they did, what kind of panic would it create?” He stopped and made a rough sound. “And would the government try to exploit it?”
There were murmurs of agreement around the room.
“And then there’s the danger of revealing who we are,” Antonia’s mate, Grant, said.
The other men nodded.
“So I think we’re stuck with handling it on our own,” Ross said.
“I was just posing the question,” Antonia murmured.
“I know. And it was something we had to consider,” Ross answered. “But at the end of the day, we can’t.”
“Which means we need more concrete plans,” Logan said. “And better intelligence. We’ve worked together as a team before, but never fighting such a large force.” He glanced at Talon. “Well, the rest of us have worked together.”
“I’m with you,” Talon snapped.
“He’s the one who initially called me,” Ross reminded them.
“What about Vandar’s soldiers?” Talon asked. “Won’t they be right at the entrance to the portal?”
Kenna thought about that. “When I came through a few days ago, some of them came to guard me, but only the adepts entered the cave with me. The soldiers were outside, so they couldn’t see what I was doing.”
“Okay,” Talon answered. “So let’s get back to Vandar himself. Will he make us come into his lair to get him?”
“He’s not going to hide from you. He’ll put on a show of force,” a voice answered from the doorway.
Everybody turned to see that Ramsay Gallagher had stepped into the cabin.
“How did you get here?” Ross asked. “I didn’t tell you where we were.”
“I noticed that little oversight.”
Kenna knit her fingers together so hard that they ached, and her knuckles turned white. “You didn’t have to tell him,” she said in a strained voice. “He knows. Because of me.” She gulped. “Now that we’ve done that mind thing, I guess I can’t hide from him.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MITCH SUTTON WAS about to step out of the woods when he heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the long drive that led to Talon Marshall’s house.
He’d stayed away since the big dog had chased him. Now he was back—prepared to finish what he’d started.
Before he could approach the house, a couple of SUVs pulled up in the driveway, and a whole crowd got out. Men and women.
Were they customers? People who were coming here at the start of a wilderness trip?
He peered at the men. Most of them were similar types. Tall, rangy, and dark-haired. Maybe Marshall was having a family get-together, which was bad timing for a fire. Or a robbery.
Time to get the hell out of here for a while.
AFTER unlocking the door, Talon stood on the porch, sniffing the air. Once again, he thought that it didn’t smell quite right, like there was someone lurking in the woods who shouldn’t be there.
“Smell that?” he asked his cousins.
“I’m not sure,” Ross answered. “You know this area better than we do.”
“I’m wondering if that guy who tried to burn the place down is back.”
“Mitch Sutton,” Ross said.
Talon’s head jerked toward him. “You know his name?”
“I got a police detective friend to run the plate you gave me. With everything that was going on, I forgot to tell you about it.”
“No problem.”
Talon and Grant morphed to wolf form and went out to have a look around. Twenty minutes later, when they’d changed back, Talon said, “I think he’s been here. But he’s probably left. I guess we spooked him.”
“We’ll keep up the patrols,” Ross said. “I’ll take the next one.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Do you think we could focus on the Vandar problem?” Ramsay Gallagher asked in a tight voice.
Talon studied the tension around the other man’s eyes. Man? Well, he’d better not fall into the trap of seeing this guy as human. Of course, there were people who would say the same thing about the Marshalls.
“You’re anxious to tangle with your other self?”
“No. But I think we have to get it over with, before things get worse.”
Talon nodded. They’d cooked up a plan as they’d flown back from Denver. It had sounded good in theory. But how well was it going to play out?
Another car came up the driveway, and he turned to see two more of his relatives get out. From what Ross had said, it must be Adam Marshall and Sam Morgan—and their life mates Sara and Olivia.
Both wives had strong powers, and they were going to join the other life mates. He didn’t like the idea of sending the women into danger, but he couldn’t come up with another plan, not when Vandar had a bunch of adepts on the other side of the portal waiting to do battle with anyone who challenged him.
In the living room, they brought the newcomers up to speed on the plans they’d made. Logan and Rinna were missing from the group. They’d gone back to Maryland to use the other portal. Not for a direct attack on Vandar. They were going to nearby Sun Acres, where Rinna had been born and raised. Their mission was to talk with Griffin, the head of the city council. If Sun Acres could send a contingent of adepts north to the edge of Vandar’s territory, they could join up with the Marshall women and help disable the dragon-shifter’s adepts.
Rinna and Logan had elected to cross the badlands—the wild and lawless area between the cities—on dirt bikes. Although the machines were an anomaly in the other universe, Logan had insisted that riding would be safer than traveling on foot. Actually, from what Talon had seen, it looked like his cousin had been itching for an excuse to ride the bikes there.
Jacob was also missing from the group. He’d gone off to collect some of the supplies they’d need for the assault on Vandar’s stronghold.
Talon cut Ramsay Gallagher a glance. On the one hand, everybody understood that they needed him to pull off this operation. On the other hand, nobody was comfortable with his level of power. Kenna had described Vandar in vivid terms, and Gallagher was just as dangerous. There was still no guarantee that he wouldn’t turn on them, once he’d taken care of the other dragon-shifter. If he could take care of the other dragon-shifter. That was another question. Apparently, Vandar had developed the cutthroat side of his personality, while Gallagher seemed to have made himself more human. They hoped.
Talon bit back a sigh. There was nothing they could do about Gallagher until the time came. They’d just have to hope he was as tough as Vandar.
Ross looked at his watch. “I assume that Logan and Rinna have gone through the portal. As we agreed, we’ll give them six hours to collect some allies and get into position at the edge of Vandar’s territory. And we should get some rest.”
Talon watched Kenna stand, thinking that they could have a few more hours of private time together. But just as she started down the hall, Jacob came in, and he realized that he needed to stay for the men’s planning session. “You go on,” he said to his mate. “To my bedroom. I’ll be along after I see what Jacob managed to get.”
She gave him a long look, then turned, and walked slowly down the hall. As he watched, it was all he could do to keep from following her. But he knew that he couldn’t leave the pack now. Not when they were still making plans.
The pack!<
br />
When he had time, he should examine how much his perspective had changed over the past few weeks. If he lived long enough.
He cut off that thought and focused on what the other men had to say. As Logan had pointed out, they’d all worked together before, and he needed to learn some of their protocols.
Since they couldn’t speak to each other as wolves, Ross had devised a system of signals, including bird whistles. He’d also outfitted each of them with a small, flat backpack where they could carry clothing to put on after they changed back to human form.
After the other werewolves had filled him in, the meeting broke up. Wondering what Kenna was going to say, he tiptoed down the hall to the master bedroom. His mate was lying in his bed on her back, sleeping soundly. He stood for a long moment, looking down at her, longing to climb into bed with her and take her in his arms. But they’d already had a couple of difficult days, and it wasn’t going to get any easier tomorrow. Better to let her get some sleep.
So he continued down the hall to one of the empty rooms. After kicking off his shoes, he lay down with shirt and jeans. In case someone needed him, he left the door ajar.
RAMSAY Gallagher closed the door to one of the bedrooms. Crossing to the bed, he lay down, relieved to be alone. He’d let them think he’d help them kill Vandar.
Now he was wondering, was that really what he wanted to do?
What if it didn’t work out that way?
Vandar was him. Or they’d been the same being until the timelines had diverged. Could he really kill his other self? What if the “monster” wasn’t as bad as Kenna thought? Or what if he had good reasons for his current behavior?
And what about the strange reality Ramsay was facing? He was going to meet another version of himself. Suppose they liked each other? Understood each other? What if it turned out they joined against the humans?
He honestly didn’t know how this would go once the two of them met.
He had better stay open. To betraying himself? Or betraying the humans?
MAYBE Talon was the one beyond exhaustion. The next thing he knew, the sun was streaming in the window, and Kenna was standing over him, an accusing look on her face.
“You didn’t wake me.”
“You needed to sleep. We both did.”
When she ducked her head and started to turn away, his hand whipped out and grabbed her by the wrist. With a tug, he pulled her down so that she was lying on top of him. His arms went around her, and he held on tight.
“Never doubt how much I want you. How much I want to build a life with you.” As he spoke, his hands moved over her, caressing her, molding her body to his.
In response, she moved against him, bringing his blood to a boiling point. He was about to pull off her shirt when a throat-clearing noise made his head jerk toward the door. Antonia was standing in the doorway.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she murmured.
He knew she couldn’t see them, but he still saw Kenna’s face redden.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he called out.
When they were alone again, Kenna started to get up. But he held on to her. “Stay here for a little while.”
“It all comes down to today,” she whispered.
“Yeah. And we’re going to stop the bastard once and for all.”
“We hope.”
“We will! So let’s get the show on the road.” He laughed. “Another strange expression.”
When they stepped into the living room, Ross was filling in Lance and Savannah, who had just arrived. Lance was another cousin; Savannah was his mate. To Talon’s way of thinking, she should be the most nervous. Unlike the rest of the women, she hadn’t been born with special powers. But the other life mates had been working with her over the past couple of years, and it seemed that she could fit into the nexus of power that they generated together.
“We should eat before we go through,” Rinna said.
“I don’t know if I can swallow anything,” Kenna murmured.
“You have to eat a little—to keep your strength up.”
They all went into the dining room, where a buffet was waiting. The men, except for Gallagher, ate their usual meat. The women ate more lightly. Nobody had much to say, since they’d already discussed what was going to happen when they got to the other side of the portal.
OFFICERS Ken Eckert and Frank Milner pulled up in front of the Winslow house. Ordinarily, the lieutenant wouldn’t have sent them out to investigate a minor robbery. But this incident might be connected with the box of money that had turned up in the woods in the nearby state park. And then there was the added piece of strange information. When Winslow had called, he’d mentioned a green fountain of light down by the river.
When Eckert knocked, a lanky man wearing a running suit answered the door. Behind him stood a redheaded woman and two redheaded little girls.
“Mr. Winslow?” Eckert asked.
“Yes.”
“Can we come in?”
“Sure.” He stepped aside. Eckert and his partner followed him into a living room decorated in relentless country kitsch.
“Come sit down. Thanks for showing up so promptly. We came up to the cabin on Tuesday. It took a while to realize several things were missing.”
Mrs. Winslow glanced at the little girls. “Why don’t you go to your room and play? This will only take a few minutes.”
“Mom, we want to watch,” the older one whined.
“This is adult stuff. You go to your room now,” Winslow said.
The kids left, dragging their feet. When they were gone, Eckert read off a list of stolen items.
“Yes. I know that’s not much, but the door was locked. I’m worried that someone has the key.”
Yeah, Eckert thought. And you’re getting VIP service from us.
“You don’t have one under a rock outside?” he asked.
“No.”
“How long since you’ve been here?”
“A month.”
“Any evidence that someone was living in the house?”
“Not unless they cleaned up really well,” the woman answered.
Milner took out a kit and dusted the kitchen and the bathroom for fingerprints, of which there were many, but probably mostly from the family.
“And what about the green light you reported?” Eckert asked.
“I was out on the back deck when I saw it,” the husband said. “It was like fireworks. It went up in an arc, from that direction.” He pointed toward Talon Marshall’s house. “Then it plunged into the river. The ground shook, and a big spout of green water shot up.”
“And you’ve never seen or felt anything like it before?”
Winslow shook his head. “No. It was weird.”
“Anything else you want to tell us?”
“Nothing I can think of now. But I appreciate your coming out here.”
“Not a problem.”
Eckert and Milner both stood, and Winslow walked them to the door.
When they were back in the cruiser, Milner said, “Maybe they’re exaggerating about the ground shaking.”
“You think the bank robber was in there—camping out?”
Milner shrugged. “It’s a strange kind of robbery.”
“Yeah.” He started the engine. “We should go over to the Marshall lodge and see if he knows anything about that light.”
“Or maybe we should poke around in the woods where he said he found that box. Then pay him a visit. He’s hiding something.”
“What?”
Milner shrugged again. “I’d like to find out.”
AFTER breakfast, Talon and Lance changed to wolf form. Then Kenna led the way toward the rock formation that hid the doorway between the worlds, the men carrying the supplies they’d bought and the wolves wearing the packs Ross had provided.
Turning his head, Lance licked Kenna’s arm and gave her a wolf’s grin.
“The cave on the other side will give you cover,” she murmur
ed.
He nodded against her hand, then turned to Logan. The two of them were going in first as werewolves, to assess the troop numbers, because they were less likely to be attacked. Lance was going to stay with the women.
If it seemed that the force in the parallel universe was too great, Talon and Lance would retreat to the portal, where Grant would be waiting for them to open the doorway again. If they didn’t come back in fifteen minutes, the others would come through and attack.
Talon made a low growling sound, telling Kenna it was time. She walked toward the rock formation and reached to press her palm against the place that would open the portal.
He kept very still, watching the rock thin. This was new to him, and it was astonishing to see what looked like a solid wall disappear.
He and Logan were poised to enter when they both spotted a guy who looked like a Roman soldier lying on a blanket near the portal.
Apparently, he’d snuck in here to take a nap.
Looking up, the soldier gasped when he saw two wolves stepping through what had been solid rock. But he recovered quickly. Leaping to his feet, he raised the spear in his hand and threw it directly at Talon.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
TALON DODGED TO the side, hearing Kenna scream behind him. The spear clattered against the ground as he growled deep in his throat and leaped through the opening, taking the man down and going for his neck. He knew this soldier had nothing against him personally, but he also knew from Kenna that Vandar’s forces were trained to kill any invaders. So his powerful teeth crunched through flesh and bone as hot blood spurted into his mouth.
Behind him, a snarling Lance took down another warrior who had been sleeping at his post.
They’d worked out an invasion plan, but the soldier at the portal had screwed it all up.
As Talon and Logan burst from the cave onto blackened land that looked like it had been destroyed by a volcanic eruption, Ross and Grant stepped in front of the wolves.