by Abigail Owen
He’d raised a single eyebrow. “I think I’ll survive.”
Sarai had chuckled as she settled into her seat.
Now, ten hours later, they were finally landing. It didn’t take long to taxi to the hanger. Zac’s people, in military-style vehicles, were already waiting for them. Several men jumped out as the copilot opened the plane door and lowered the stairs. Instead of their getting off, the men outside came on board.
One wasn’t a man, but a woman about Sarai’s size with dark, short hair. Without introduction, or even a hello, she handed Sarai a duffel bag. Sarai shot a questioning look over at Zac.
“We have to act quickly. I’ll explain in a minute. First, you need to change into the clothes in the bag and give Corrie the clothes you’re wearing.”
Sarai opened her mouth to ask why, but shut it again. He’d said that he’d fill her in. She and the woman named Corrie quickly dressed. Then, to her astonishment, Corrie pulled out a dark blond wig, styled much like Sarai’s own hair, and carefully situated it on her head. Sarai didn’t need her Seer’s gift to have an idea of what was going on.
Corrie stood to leave, having never said a word. If anything, she’d glared at Sarai throughout the entire silent exchange. Resentment? Blame? Sarai couldn’t quite tell.
“Hold up,” Sarai called. Corrie spun back to face her, lips compressed in a petulant expression. Sarai fished into the backpack she’d brought on the plane and pulled out a ball cap—the Yankees one she’d snagged in her bid to escape. Had it been only yesterday? She’d got sweat all over it, which meant it reeked of her scent. She’d also been wearing it yesterday on the train, making it a recognizable piece of her clothing to the wolves who’d seen her.
“Here.” She held it out.
Corrie glanced at it then back at Sarai. With a small shrug, she grabbed the cap and jammed it on her head.
When they entered the cabin, Sarai noticed all the window shades were down. The men moved in and out, in and out, shuttling some supplies out to the waiting vehicles. She eased down to sit on the armrest of one of the chairs, mostly out of the way.
Seeing her there, Zac moved to stand in front of her. “You stay here with George.”
She glanced over her shoulder to see George and a George look-alike standing there. She flicked a nervous look back to Zac. “What about you?”
“I’ll be back much later tonight.”
Stuffing down the protest that wanted to rise out of her throat, Sarai nodded.
“Trust me?”
She gave him a little half smile. “Let me put it this way. I’ve told you more about my power, my life, and a vision concerning you, than I’ve told anyone else. Ever.”
“So that’s a yes.”
She inclined her head.
“Time to go, Zac,” Scott said from the door.
Sarai gave her shadow a wave of goodbye. He winked in response.
“Gotta go. Stay safe,” Zac said—more like ordered.
She watched with hungry eyes as he pivoted to head down the aisle. Before he reached the door, he stopped. Sarai stood up. He whipped around and, purpose in every stride, moved back down the aisle to her.
Then he shocked the hell out of her when he took her face between his hands and laid his lips over hers in a hard kiss that felt gloriously possessive. He pulled back to look down at her. Sarai stared back with wide eyes.
“I mean it. I want to return here to find you in one piece.”
Sarai’s lips twitched. “I’ll do my best, sir.” She just barely restrained her urge to salute.
Zac’s mouth lifted in a crooked smile. “All right then.”
And he was gone.
CHAPTER 21
As soon as the stairs were raised and the plane, for all intents and purposes, shut down, only Sarai and George remained. She looked at him and folded her arms over her chest in a very Zac-like move. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
His mustache twitched. “Diversionary tactic.”
“I kinda figured that. What, exactly, is the plan?”
“They’re taking you—and by you I mean Corrie dressed to look like you, in your clothes to smell like you—to the Timik. Zac went as well because he figured they’d assume he would never leave you alone.”
“They who?”
“The wolf shifters. Kyle. Anyone else who’s watching with an eye to snag themselves a Seer.”
“So convince them we’re all at the Timik…and then what?”
“Zac will make his way back here.”
Alone? Sarai frowned. “How exactly?”
George regarded her for a long moment before running a thoughtful finger through his thick mustache. “You know, when you first joined us, you were this quiet little thing. Watched everything, but asked no questions. Almost like you didn’t care.”
Sarai waited for the punch line.
“What changed?” he asked.
She gave that question the attention it deserved. “I did,” she finally said. “I realized for the first time in my life that I couldn’t manipulate the situation to change the future the way I wanted it to go, nor could I survive it on my own…And Zac won’t let me save him.”
“That all?”
She shook her head. “I had to put my trust in someone else. The broadest shoulders I could see…were his.”
George stroked his mustache. “I thought that might be the gist of it.”
He pinned her with the kind of hard look only a tough man who’s seen a lot of years could. “Don’t ever betray him.”
She understood what he was saying. “I may be a cougar shifter, and a Seer, but I don’t have it in me to cause that man any pain. Even when he was just Andie’s friend.”
“You’re all right, girlie.”
Sarai grinned as warmth spread through her. “Back at ya, George.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “So…exactly how is he getting back here?”
****
Zac sat in silence the entire ride to the Timik. While the rest of the men engaged in playful banter during the long trip, his mind was back with the plane—and Sarai.
He was sure they’d been followed, his instincts as a tracker rarely wrong. Returning to the apartment after the wolf attack on the train had been a deliberate move, to guarantee they would be followed. Now they were doing some bait and switch. Diversionary tactics. He knew his plan was a good one, though leaving her alone with only one protector—even if it was George—was risky.
It didn’t help that Corrie was dressed in Sarai’s clothes causing her sweet scent to fill his nostrils with every indrawn breath. As long as it would take them to get to the Timik, it would take him longer to return, as much of the journey would be on foot. Another risk.
“Is she really worth all this trouble?” Corrie’s question interrupted his brooding.
Zac turned his head to find her watching him speculatively.
“She’s a Seer.”
“And?”
“A very rare gift, which alone makes her valuable—something you of all people should appreciate. Also one that makes her critical from a political standpoint.”
“And you want her.” Corrie stated it with such finality that Zac gave her a narrowed-eyed look.
“You know better than to turn that power of yours my way.”
She crossed her arms, her face scrunched up like a sullen child’s. “I didn’t.”
“Or on Sarai.”
She looked out the window without answering.
“Corrigan. I’m dead serious.”
She flinched at his use of her full name. “Oh, fine.”
Then she gave him a sideways glance. One full of speculation. “What would your precious Andie say if she knew the Timik already had a supernaturally gifted person? I mean, you got stuck with the Seer because they didn’t have a place to stick her, right? Some law about not having more than one in a dare? Does the Shadowcat Nation know you now have two?”
Zac snagged her chin in his fingers and jerked her head around
to get right in her face. “Don’t be messing with things you don’t understand.”
The sulky look returned. “Fine. None of my business anyway.”
“Exactly.”
His final word earned him a nasty glare that he ignored. She eventually turned away from him, letting the subject drop. Zac gritted his teeth. Corrie’s little fits, her constant negative attitude, were starting to get out of hand. Something would have to be done soon. However, now was not the time.
Zac was saved from further discussion as they came to a halt. The drivers pulled the four-wheel-drive SUVs off to the side into a hidden area behind trees where they kept their vehicles. Roads only got them so far. In order to reach the Timik village, they had to go the rest of the way on foot.
However, their deception would be discovered were Corrie to shift, since she’d be a polar bear instead of a cougar. Consequently, they’d travel in their human forms, which would take even longer. It typically took about an hour, but this would increase it to twice that.
Zac felt every second of the two-hour trek. Not physically, but as another second that he wasn’t there to make sure Sarai was safe. This promise to Andie had become something more. Something he wasn’t quite ready to define yet.
Night had fallen by the time they entered the village. The cluster of buildings, all made from the wood and stone of the surrounding land, was set up around a main street with both shops and houses located along it. Some other common buildings, like the town hall, were scattered around the main stretch, forming a circle around them. The layout was deliberate, allowing them to put cameras and alarms all along the circumference.
Zac took Corrie straight to his own home, where a small gathering waited in the golden light cast by lamps. She headed off to a back bedroom to get changed. As she went, she muttered something about how she couldn’t wait to rid herself of the stench of cougar.
Zac ignored her. Instead he crossed the room to shake hands with Shane. The cougar shifter had been a part of his Timik for the last five years. Andie had sent him to Zac for asylum when he’d been shunned by the Carstairs Dare.
“Where’s Sarai?” Shane asked.
Zac filled him in on the plan.
He was surprised to see a flash of disappointment in Shane’s gaze and gave the man a speculative look.
Shane caught it and grimaced. “I haven’t seen another cougar shifter since the last time Andie visited.”
Zac’s glance strayed to the raw patch of skin just visible under Shane’s hair, which he now wore to his shoulders. In order to convince Kyle Carstairs of his death, the man had ripped his own ear off and given it to Andie to take back.
“Did you know Sarai? Before you left?”
“A little. She was always reserved, kept to herself. Nice to me, though. And to Brenna.”
Zac clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll see her eventually. Just not yet.”
Shane nodded. “She’s special, Zac. Keep her safe.”
Zac nodded in return. “I intend to.”
As he had several times over the last few months, Zac wondered why Shane didn’t return to his old dare now that Andie and her father were in charge. Andie had defeated the people intent on his death. If he was so desperate for contact with his people, why not go? But it was none of Zac’s business. He’d promised Shane a home for as long as he wanted one.
Zac made his way to the large, open kitchen, where his Aunt Miki had cooked enough for an army.
“What’s all this?” he asked as she bustled over to give him a hug.
“You don’t eat enough,” she admonished. He said nothing but gave her an extra squeeze. Miki had become his mother and his father after his parents’ deaths. His father’s sister, she’d never married or had her own children.
“I’ll need it. I leave in a few hours to go back to the plane.”
He saw the flash of worry in her eyes before she returned to the stove. “I thought that might be the case. It never was like you to bring the fight right to our door. You only did that once that I can recall.” She glanced at Shane, who was laughing at something Scott had said.
Zac didn’t comment. He didn’t need to.
CHAPTER 22
Sarai woke with a start, jerking straight up in the cabin seat she’d converted to a bed. Thank goodness they were on a private jet that offered that option. Still, she massaged a crick in her neck as she listened for the sound that had woken her. A glance at her watch told her it was just about five a.m.
She looked across the aisle to find George wide awake and on alert. He held a single finger up to his lips. She nodded her understanding. Instead of wasting time asking him if she’d just heard what she thought she had, Sarai closed her eyes, reaching for the vision that felt as if it were just out of her grasp.
Everything was gray and fuzzy when she tried to picture what would happen to them on the plane. Her presence in the situation was messing with her ability to see their future. Still, she had to make the attempt. She needed to try a different tactic.
Without opening her eyes, she whispered, “Zac should be here by now.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he’s close?”
“My guess is yes.”
She gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement before she redirected her focus inward. Instead of picturing the plane, Sarai put all her concentration on Zac. She couldn’t force the visions, but sometimes, if she picked just the right subject, she could trigger them.
Suddenly, her inner eye exploded with images. She zeroed in on the crystal clear snapshot of a polar bear hauling like a freight train through the woods. Low-hanging branches snapped off trees as he broke through the underbrush, wolves hot on his trail.
At first she thought he’d make it. His pursuers were far enough behind that he had the advantage. Then, she watched in horror as a large creature stepped right in his path. She couldn’t see it with any clarity. The pre-light of breaking dawn was throwing whoever it was into shadow. She assumed it was another wolf shifter. Zac skidded to a halt and spent a costly moment taking the measure of his opponent. He pulled his lips back over his teeth in a snarl so menacing even Sarai flinched. As a polar bear, Zac was possibly the most awesome thing she’d ever seen. Cougars, while fierce, couldn’t hold a candle to his might.
Which made the fact that just one animal had stopped him a shock. Very few could take on a polar bear solo and live to tell the tale. Zac’s hesitation cost him, and the wolves in pursuit were on top of him. The images came faster now. Sarai cried out as she watched him go down under a pile of snapping teeth and ripping claws. She heard his terrible roar. For a second, she couldn’t tell if it had been part of her vision or what she was actually hearing. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she watched them haul away Zac’s unconscious form.
Sarai rocked back and forth in her chair; her agitation at what she’d witnessed overwhelming. Then, realization struck.
The wolves never came near the airfield or the plane. They didn’t even glance toward it as they took Zac.
She snapped her eyes open and threw back her thin blanket. “George, go.”
Already on his feet, he shook his head. “I’ve got orders.”
“They’re not here for me. They’re here for him.”
“Then they don’t know you’re here. If either of us comes out, they’ll know.”
Sarai was nearing panic. At a guess, her sight had only been about five minutes ahead of happening. She grabbed his arm and gave it a shake. “We have to do something.”
“I won’t risk you. You’re more important than you realize.”
“Zac will understand.”
“My orders don’t come from Zac.”
Sarai didn’t have time to figure out what he meant. “Please, George,” she pleaded.
He gave her a long, hard look. His gaze traced the tracks of the tears on her face. Sarai took a deep breath as something in his dark eyes relented. He was going to help.
“Okay.”
George yielded. “But what I’m about to do…you don’t tell anyone. Not even Zac. Got it?”
She was clueless as to his meaning, but she’d sign a deal with the devil right then if it meant saving Zac’s life.
“You have my word.”
Without another word, George vanished from her sight. Sarai gasped, looking around her frantically. But he was gone.
A memory of that moment in New York when the garbage truck had been bearing down on him flashed into her mind. She hadn’t been seeing things. He had disappeared and then rematerialized.
Before she could even begin to comprehend that, the images in her mind changed. As she watched, the animal blocking Zac’s path was suddenly hit with a blast of wind, so cold it carried shards of ice with it, so strong trees bowed and snapped in its wake. The chaos outside sounded like a tornado thundering throughout the land. Sarai clapped her hands over her ears to drown out the terrifying blast.
The creature stood no chance against such a tempest and, with a terrible scream, tumbled and rolled away. Then, just as quickly as the gale had started, it ceased. An eerie calm descended over the now barren clearing…just as Zac rounded a large pine tree.
Instead of stopping to face an adversary, he barreled straight through the path that had been cleared for him by the wind. Her vision fast forwarded until she saw him leap into the plane.
Sarai sagged in relief.
“That good enough for you?”
A scream escaped her as George reappeared in front of her. But there was no time to ask questions. “I have no idea what that was, but it did the trick. He’ll be here in a sec.”
The sound of the stairs being lowered filled the cabin.
“Stay in the back,” George instructed before he hurried up the aisle.
Zac pounded into the plane. He hit the mechanism to raise the stairs and close the door behind him. “Stay out of sight,” he yelled before he disappeared into the cockpit. The sound of the plane’s engines revving followed shortly after.
Sarai sank into a seat. On autopilot, she fastened her belt. George returned to sit down across the aisle from her. Sarai could hear the howls of the wolves outside, the thumps against the doors and windows as they attempted to get into the plane. All of the window shades were still lowered, which meant she couldn’t see what they were doing. Her vision had reverted to one of fuzziness since she was once again directly involved.