Wanderers 4: A Tough Act to Follow (The Wanderers)

by Richard Bamberg

  Wendell frowned and stared down at me. “Well, without magic, I see no use for him. We can turn him over to the Air Force for trespassing charges.”

  The black-haired woman, who had moved to the table that held my effects, spoke up. “Let’s don’t be too hasty, Wendell. I’m sure he must know things that we don’t. Perhaps we should prepare him for rendition and interrogation.”

  She picked up my grimoire and thumbed through the pages.

  Wendell nodded toward her. “Hmm, maybe you’re right; at least for the time being we could–”

  I never heard what he could do with me. There was a brief rumble and the wall on my left shattered in a crash of rubble and dust. A klaxon began to scream.

  I felt a blast of wind and the air around me cleared as my four interrogators were flung back into the wall.

  Silhouetted in the opening was my apprentice. Her crossbow was in her hands and Bruno was standing on her left shoulder. Smoke rose from his mouth.

  “What kept you?” I asked.

  “Rush hour traffic,” Tess said as she walked across the broken concrete toward me. “How do you keep getting into trouble? It’s as if I can’t turn my back on you.”

  “You know how it is when you’re popular,” I said. I held up my hands to display the manacles holding me to the table.

  “Well, hell. I guess I should have brought bolt cutters.” Tess looked at the four people pinned to the wall. Her wind had stopped, but from their positions, I gathered that she was using her shield to keep them still. “Which one of them has the keys?”

  “Don’t know. We hadn’t gotten that far in our introductions. If I were to guess, I’d say one of the two men. Probably the short asshole.”

  Wendell opened his mouth to say something, but Tess did something with her shield and while the other three dropped to the floor, the bureaucrat became stiffly erect, his arms pinned to his side.

  “If anyone tries to get off the floor, I’m going to feed you to Maia.”

  At the sound of her name, the Hippogryph appeared in the opening.

  None of the three made any attempt to rise. The witch, Lowden, looked subdued, but not really frightened. The military type, I hadn’t heard his name, seemed angry, but sensible enough to keep quiet until circumstances changed. The dark-haired woman, Aesa, seemed relaxed, as if this were nothing more than an inconvenience to her.

  Tess stood face to face with Wendell and smiled. “Do you have the key to Rafe’s chains?”

  Wendell’s face was so red that I was concerned he was about to have a stroke. The man nodded.

  “I’m going to let you go now. You will take the keys from your pocket and release Rafe or Maia will get a late breakfast. Do you understand?”

  Wendell opened his mouth to say something, but Bruno exhaled a blast of fire that singed the man’s eyebrows and the room was filled with the stink of burning hair. Nodding rapidly, Wendell dug into his jacket pocket and his hand emerged with a small ring of keys. He stumbled across the floor and fumbled at my manacles.

  “Allow me,” I said, taking the keys away from him.

  I undid both bracelets and stood up as Wendell backed away.

  “What do you want me to do with these guys, Boss?” Tess asked as she raised her crossbow.

  “They’re not worth killing as long as they never cross our paths again. Let’s go, we have places to be,” I said. I gathered my effects from the other table and picked up my grimoire from where it had fallen to the floor on Tess’s showy entrance. Turning my back on the four, I stepped outside over the remains of the concrete wall.

  Beast was waiting and knelt for me as I approached. I climbed on his shoulders as a pair of USAF baby-blue police cars screeched to a halt on the tarmac near us.

  “Time to go, Tess.” I wasn’t concerned in the least. While I was pretty much defenseless, Tess had her shield up and was ready for a fight. A fight I wanted to avoid.

  As soon as Maia and Tess cleared the building, Tess mounted and we four flew into the air. I heard the same booming sound that had announced my being shot out of the air, but Tess’s shield deflected the rounds. In seconds, we were out of range.

  Chapter 22

  Therese

  We were flying north; still over the wide pine forest of the Eglin test range when I noticed Rafe turning to look at me. I tried to ignore him, but he cleared his throat noisily.

  I turned to face him and gave him what I hoped was my sexiest smile. He didn’t react to it.

  “And just what happened to you?” he asked.

  “When?”

  “When I got my ass shot off of Beast. I would have thought you’d pick me up immediately.”

  “That was my fault,” Maia said.

  “Your fault?” Rafe asked.

  “She was just reacting as anyone would when they’re startled,” I said.

  “No, I should have depended on Tess to protect us,” Maia argued. “But when I heard the explosions and saw you fall, I panicked. I flew away and then opened a portal back to my home.”

  “Oh?” Rafe said. “And how long did it take you two to get back?”

  “Not long,” I said.

  “Why didn’t you come back immediately?” Rafe asked.

  I sighed and started to reply, but Maia beat me to it. “It was my fault again. We came out and my parents saw me. I had to explain where I’d been for the last five months and why I was with a human before they’d let me go.”

  Rafe frowned. “I don’t get it. Your parents are that protective?”

  “Well, yes,” Maia said.

  “And why is that?”

  “They think I’m too young to be flying off with humans and getting into trouble.”

  “Too young? How old are you, Maia?” Rafe asked.

  “I turned two just before I received the summoning from Tess, but two is the age of consent among my people,” Maia added hastily.

  “I see. My apologies to your parents. I hadn’t realized you were so young,” Rafe said.

  “It doesn’t matter, Rafe. Maia’s old enough, that’s all that matters,” I added.

  “Yes, they couldn’t keep me home, but I did have to explain or I would never hear the end of it,” Maia said.

  Rafe waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s okay, Maia. It’s not your fault. As for getting Tess out of there, that’s okay too. I would prefer you get her away from any immediate danger until she can assess the situation and determine whether it’s safe for her to interact with whomever attacks us.”

  “Bullshit!” I exclaimed.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I will not run away when you’re attacked. We’re partners. I will stand with you no matter what.”

  “Yes, of course you are, I just meant that–”

  “I know what you meant!” I snapped. “You meant that I’m too helpless to fight unless I’ve had time to think about the risks involved. Well, that ain’t gonna happen. I’m your apprentice, not some woman that has to be protected.”

  “Whoa there. I didn’t mean–”

  “Yes, Rafe, what did you mean?” I demanded.

  “Damn it, Tess. I’m supposed to protect my apprentice, not the other way around,” Rafe grumbled.

  “Is this just about you losing your powers?” I asked, somewhat mollified now that he seemed remorseful.

  “No, yes, hell, I don’t know. I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “Ah, aren’t you sweet,” I said, changing my tone to what I thought would sound appreciative. I wasn’t angry with him, not really. I just didn’t want him thinking he could order me away from a fight. I wasn’t made that way and he had to understand it.

  “Yeah, that’s me all right, Mr. Sweetie. Ah, by the way, thanks for rescuing me, again.”

  “Hey, what are partners for, although you do seem to be making a habit out of it,” I added and tried to hide my grin.

  “You’d better not be laughing. I’m not going to be like this forever and I have a long memory.”
/>   “Awe, did I offend the big bad Wanderer?”

  “No, just don’t forget who’s the boss,” Rafe said.

  “Of course not,” I replied and saluted.

  Rafe turned away; I know it was to avoid my seeing him roll his eyes at me.

  “Hey, Boss. How did they manage to knock you off Beast? Was it some kind of magic spell?”

  “No–it seems like it was some sort of enhanced Taser.”

  “Whoa,” I said, realizing that I could have been caught just as easily. “Another way for mundanes to get to us.”

  “No,” Rafe answered. “The thing would never have worked on me except that I didn’t have my shield and the protective spell on my leathers disappeared with the black goo. You were never in any danger.”

  I blew out the breath I’d been holding. Having my mentor magically crippled was going to be a big problem. “What did those guys want with you anyway? I thought Biers said the government would stay away from you.”

  “I don’t know. I was nearly convinced that they didn’t think they would be capturing me and figured I had to be someone else. Either that or they aren’t telling Biers everything.”

  “So, do we report this to Biers and let her find out?” I asked.

  “Maybe, it might help us determine if we really want to get involved with these government weenies.”

  We talked a little longer before our conversation wandered off on tangents having nothing to do with business. Eventually, we both grew quiet. Every once in a while, I studied Rafe. He was flying slightly ahead of me now and I could watch him without his noticing my attention. He appeared to be lost in thought. I decided it’d be best to leave him be. He had a lot to think about and didn’t need me interrupting his thoughts with questions that he probably couldn’t answer anyway.

  I thought ahead to his plan to drop in on Cris Ronue, the Wiccan who had helped him out last fall when he first went up against Rowle. I had only been half joking when I called her his snuggle bunny. I wasn’t concerned about Rafe meeting up with Cris, regardless of how close they’d become in a very short time. Rafe and I were definitely not exclusive, not anything like that. We just enjoyed a physical relationship that helped to ease the stress of our constant training. If he felt like warming her bed while we were visiting, that was okay by me. I knew that we’d not be there long and as soon as we hit the road again, it would once again just be the two of us. Or would it?

  If we managed to get Alex away from Rowle, then there’d be three of us. I’d slept, well mostly engaged in carnal play, with both the father and the son. The last time I was with Alex, I’d still been a newbie Wanderer and Rafe had let Alex join in our training secessions a few times. The training always involved a lot of meshing–the joining of auras, thoughts, and emotions. After a few hours of that closeness, I had found I had a serious itch that needed scratching. Rafe had allowed Alex and me to sooth our mutual itches without interference. I think it was because he was a little hung up on the fact that he was supposed to be training me and he thought our bouts of lovemaking would alter the mentor/apprentice relationship. He may have hit the nail on the head with that idea, because we were definitely a lot closer than I would have ever thought possible. I was quite happy with our current relationship and did not want to see it changed. But if Alex joined in…

  Would Rafe once again allow Alex and me to stroke our passions after training without feeling left out? I’ve always been a one-man woman, or at least a one-man at a time woman. The few lovers I’ve had were not remotely simultaneous. I think the closest two were nearly a year apart. But as soon as I fell in with Rafe, I had found myself jumping from his bed into Alex’s almost before the bed grew cool. There were extenuating circumstances as I mentioned with the training, but still… I felt a little quiver go through my loins as I thought of the two men and I smiled. Both men were conscientious lovers with totally different techniques. Rafe had decades of experience with I couldn’t guess how many partners while Alex had probably had no more than a couple of partners. I might find that having two lovers was not something as objectionable as I would have thought.

  It wouldn’t be fair to sleep with Alex after training and leave Rafe with no one. I don’t think he’d be jealous, but my sense of fair play meant I would have to come up with a way that no one got left out. I felt my smile broadening, yes; I’d have to come up with a way to keep both men satisfied. After all, it was the right thing to do.

  Chapter 23

  raphael

  We reached the south side of Atlanta and I directed Beast to an unoccupied baseball diamond just north of Interstate 85. As soon as he landed, I slipped from his back and took a couple of paces away from him, stretching to get my muscles used to walking again, while I waited for Tess to join me.

  Maia landed in the infield, not twenty yards from Beast and Tess slipped a leg over her neck and slid to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust as she did.

  “What’s up, Rafe? Why’d you stop here?”

  “We need to call Cris and give her a heads up that we’re coming. I guess I could have done it while flying, but if she doesn’t answer we might have to use a locator spell to track her,” I said. I felt in my pocket for the lock of hair that she’d given me when we’d parted. I kept it wrapped in a tight circle inside a small metal case I’d purchased for just that reason.

  “You have her address, don’t you?”

  “Sure, but I don’t know if she’s at home or working.”

  “Well?”

  I pulled out my phone and called up Cris’s contact info. I hit the dial button and listened to the phone ringing at the other end. Did young people still call it dialing? I hadn’t seen a rotary phone in nearly thirty years, unless you count old movies.

  “Tess, what do you call it when you punch someone’s number into your cell phone and place a call?”

  Her face wrinkled up and she cocked her head to the side. “Huh? I call it dialing. Why?”

  “Just wondering. Do you know why you call it dialing?”

  “Of course, I’ve seen that old phones had dials. That’s why it’s called dialing.”

  Hmmm, I would have thought they’d call it something else by now.

  Cris voice came out of my phone’s speaker. “Rafe, what a pleasant surprise. I’ve been thinking of you a lot lately and I was wondering if I could mentally convince you to call.”

  Her voice was as sweet as I remembered.

  “What? Have you been trying a new spell on me?” I asked, a little taken aback.

  Her laugh was almost musical in tone. “No, silly. I just thought that you might pick up on my thoughts and call me.”

  “Oh, well, I guess that worked then.”

  “So, were you calling to tell me how much you missed me or just checking in again?”

  “Ah,” I glanced toward Tess and she was studying me closely. “Well, of course I miss you, but that’s not why I called.”

  “Oh? What’s wrong?”

  “Why do you assume something’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Rafe, I know what you do. You’re always going to be in a jam with some damn nasty or another. If you’re not calling for the reasons I mentioned, then something must be wrong.”

  I frowned. It was disconcerting that the woman knew me so well. It wasn’t my fault. The first time we’d met she’d seen right through my attempts at misdirection and gotten a good look at my soul. Damn few people on the planet can read souls through a person’s eyes and Cris was one of them. It’d allowed her instant access to what I was really like. Surprisingly, she had still been willing to risk her own life to help me.

  “Okay, Cris, you’re right. I’m in a spot of trouble and you might be able to help, I don’t know.”

  “Great…ah, not that you’re in trouble, but that I may be able to help. When will you be here?”

  “I’ll have to check a map, but I’m just outside of Atlanta.”

  “Well, you should have given me more time so I could have baked
a cake.” She paused for just a moment and then asked, “I guess Tess is with you?”

  “Certainly, it’s like we’re attached at the hip. We don’t go anywhere alone.”

  “That’s okay; I’ll get a guest room set up. Do you have my address or will you be using a locator spell?”

  “I figured I’d save the spell for when it was really necessary. Is your house easy to find using maps?”

  “It’s a cinch. I’m on the edge of Sweetwater Creek State Park. It’s west of town and south of I-20. I’ll put up a signal to make it easier for you.”

  “That would be nice. Thanks, Cris. We’ll be there shortly.”

  “I look forward to seeing you and Beast again and meeting Tess and Maia.”

  She disconnected and I turned to see Tess holding up her phone. There was a map on it, centered on our location and a score or so of miles north of us was a blue dot.

  “That her address?” I asked.

  “Yep, shouldn’t take any time at all to get there.”

  “Okay, then. Mount up.”

  Fifteen minutes later, we were flying over a dense pine forest. I was wondering what kind of signal Cris was planning when Tess spoke up. “Over there, Rafe. Can you see it?”

  I looked in the direction she was pointing. There was a break in the trees where a stream cut a winding path through the forest. It led away from a good-sized lake in the distance, but I could see no sign of anything abnormal. I shook my head. “I don’t see anything. What is it?”

  “It looks like a green spot light shining up from the area we’re traveling toward. It’s about a half mile farther.”

  “Can you see it, Beast?” I asked.

  “I see it,” he growled.

  “Okay then, set us down near it. Stay glamoured until we see if anyone else is around.”

  “Got you.”

  A minute later, he banked a little left of our flight path and glided to a landing in a wide grassy area behind a large brick rancher. The thick pine forest encroached on the yard and the grass ended a dozen or more feet from the nearest tree. A layer of pine straw covered the ground. Azaleas were blooming at the edge of the trees.