In Destiny’s Shadow

by Ingrid Weaver

  He gave the clouds one final assessing glance, then geared down to make the turn. He was cutting things close. He shouldn’t risk being caught in the storm with Melina, yet he didn’t want to waste any more time.

  Over the past five days, they had systematically visited every reservation, pueblo and hunting outfitter within thirty miles of Fredo’s hometown, questioning anyone who might be familiar with the backcountry. So far, they hadn’t met anyone who admitted to knowing Fredo. They hadn’t learned of any new construction or recently discovered Indian artifacts in the area, either.

  Had they been wrong to concentrate their search here? The link they had established between Fredo and Benedict was still only speculation. If Benedict had built his stronghold nearby because of the artifacts that Fredo might have sold him, surely some evidence of it should have surfaced by now. How could a fortress go unnoticed? What about the construction materials that would be needed, the increased activity and the influx of strangers? Surely someone would have noted something out of the ordinary.

  On the other hand, what if there had been construction, but people had been paid to keep quiet?

  Melina rolled up the map and twisted to put it on the backseat. “We’re running out of options. I hope we have better luck at this pueblo than at the others.”

  He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “So do I. Whatever we find, we need to start back within the hour.”

  “Why? It’s only three.”

  “The storm is going to hit before dark.”

  She looked out her window. “You mean those clouds? A bit of rain isn’t going to hurt us.”

  It wasn’t the rain that concerned him. It was what might happen if he and Melina were too close to the lightning. With that much stray energy in the air, he’d have a hell of a time controlling his own.

  He stole a glance at her profile. Etched against the backdrop of deep blue clouds and the sandstone cliff that rose in the distance, she looked uncharacteristically fragile. Fine worry lines bracketed her lips. The delicate skin under her eyes was tinged with strain. Beneath her jacket and cords, her body was stiff with tension.

  The past few days had been hard on her. He knew she was more accustomed to chasing down leads in the canyons of Manhattan than in this trackless wilderness. But she had worked without complaint, trading in her high-heeled boots and fashionable skirts for sneakers and sturdy jeans, accompanying him on these excursions by day while she continued to use her computer to research Benedict through the Internet by night. There hadn’t been time for anything else. Since that first morning in his room, she had done her best to keep their relationship professional.

  Not that there was any chance of switching off the attraction between them. It was always there, like a haunting melody that swelled or ebbed but never disappeared.

  Yet it was surprising how well they worked together. Anthony had to admit that many of Melina’s ideas were sound. She was an intelligent, compassionate woman who had an impressive strength of will. It was a fascinating combination. It almost made him wish for an excuse to linger long enough for the storm to break.

  He scowled and focused on the road. What was he thinking?

  “If this doesn’t pan out, we could try contacting the local colleges next,” Melina said.

  “Why?”

  “Maybe someone from their geology or native studies departments is doing a project in the area.”

  “That’s a possibility. We could ask if they noticed anything unusual.”

  She pulled her feet onto the seat, wrapping her arms around her legs. “Anthony, this all could be a waste of time. What if I sent us in the wrong direction? What if Benedict isn’t even in New Mexico?”

  “We’re not finished yet.”

  “I had hoped we would have found something by now.”

  “Is your editor making demands?”

  “Neil isn’t the demanding type. As a matter of fact, I haven’t spoken with him for days. We’re in a…holding pattern.”

  He looked at the way she had curled up protectively. She tended to do that when she was anxious. He had to fight the urge to take her into his arms and comfort her. He should stick to business, just the way she did. Keep the conversation impersonal.

  But she looked so troubled, he couldn’t simply ignore it. “Are you worried about losing your job?”

  “I should be. I don’t know what I’d do without it. I love my work.” She leaned her chin on her knees. “It sounds simple, doesn’t it? It’s the work that I love.”

  “What’s going on, Melina? It’s more than our lack of progress locating Benedict that’s bothering you, isn’t it?”

  She hesitated for so long, he thought she wasn’t going to reply. When she did, it was with a question of her own. “Have you met the small foreign woman who’s staying at Mrs. Rodriguez’s?”

  A pulse of energy stabbed through Anthony without warning. He jerked. The Jeep swerved to the edge of the road. He yanked on the wheel to stop the skid.

  Melina gasped and clutched the grab bar. “What happened?”

  “Sorry. Must have hit a pothole,” he muttered, trying to sort it out.

  Where had that pulse come from? Was it the storm? It hadn’t felt like the tickle of distant lightning, but it had been so brief, he couldn’t be sure where it had originated. He checked his speed. For once, he was within the limit. If it had been a radar pulse, there wouldn’t be a problem, but he didn’t think any cops would bother with a speed trap out here. The area was too sparsely populated.

  “If you’re getting tired, I can drive for a while.”

  “I’m fine.” He tried to remember what they had been talking about. “A small foreign woman at the bed-and-breakfast? I don’t remember anyone like that.”

  “I only talked to her once, but something she said got me thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “My job,” she said. “What I want. Knowing when to let go.”

  “Let go?” He looked at her. “You’re not giving up on Benedict, are you?”

  “No, of course not. Getting this story is what I really want. That’s what she would call ‘my heart’s desire.’”

  “Who? That woman?”

  “She has an odd way of putting things. She made me think about my priorities. I—” She gasped. “Anthony!”

  Another pulse hit him, harder than before. The Jeep swerved as the steering wheel slid through his hands. A truck going the other way honked as it passed, missing him by scant inches. Shaken, Anthony pulled off the road and waited for the surge to subside.

  What the hell had that been? It wasn’t lightning—the storm was in the west. This had come from the north. And it had been distinct enough for him to rule out radar.

  He glanced at Melina. She still had a tight hold on the grab bar and was looking at him quizzically.

  He killed the engine and opened his door. “I’m going to check the tires. We might be getting a flat.”

  He got out, braced his palm against the front fender and leaned over. There was nothing wrong with the tire. He needed to stop so he could check out that power. He opened his mind and searched for an echo, a trace, anything that would tell him what it was.

  There. To the north, no longer a surge, more like a background hum. The signal had weakened with distance, yet it bore the deep signature of an exceptionally strong source. The Antelope Pueblo was still several miles to the southwest, so it couldn’t have originated there. Besides, none of the pueblos he had seen so far had any equipment that could have produced energy like that.

  He straightened up to take stock of their surroundings. The road ran along the floor of a wide canyon here, making it impossible to see what lay beyond the canyon rim. According to the map, there were no roads or settlements immediately north of this spot. The land was a forbidding maze of cliffs and gullies.

  There was nothing out there that could account for what he was feeling.

  Thunder rolled in the distance. The hair on his arms rose.
He could sense the gathering charge in the air from the oncoming storm.

  The lightning was already drawing close enough to sharpen his perception. That was probably why whatever power source lay to the north had hit him so hard.

  “How does it look?” Melina moved around the front of the Jeep. “Do we need to change it?”

  She was talking about the tire, he realized. He kicked it with the side of his foot. “No, it’s fine. Before we go farther, I’d like to take a detour and check out what’s on the other side of this canyon.”

  “Why?”

  “I caught a flash from something over the ridge.”

  She moved beside him to follow his gaze. “I don’t see anything.”

  “It was there. It shouldn’t have been.”

  “Hang on. I’ll get the binoculars.”

  While she climbed into the Jeep to retrieve his binoculars from the back seat, Anthony closed his eyes so he could better concentrate on the power source.

  It was definitely electrical in nature. The energy wave was distorted by the rock landforms it must have traveled past, so it was difficult to judge how far away it was. He focused on the pattern, fixing it in his mind so he could follow it.

  A light touch settled on his sleeve. “Anthony?”

  He blinked.

  Melina was standing beside him, the binoculars dangling from her hand, her gaze filled with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  He could feel the warmth from her fingers strum his nerves. Her scent curled around him as her hair whipped freely in the strengthening wind. He tried to hold himself steady, yet faint bursts from the approaching storm quivered between them, drawing him closer. He lifted his hand to her hair, letting her curls flutter against his palm in a whispering caress.

  She moistened her lips. The concern in her gaze shifted to longing. The change wasn’t gradual, it was instant, as if a switch had been flipped. Which it had.

  He slammed the lid on his power. It was madness to risk spending time looking for that energy source now. He was already feeling the effects of the lightning. The spillover from his talent was only going to get worse. Melina wouldn’t understand it. He should get them out of here before the storm hit.

  But he couldn’t leave. What if that source had something to do with Benedict? Anthony was only able to detect that distant energy because the storm was enhancing his perception. If he didn’t follow it now, he might not get another chance to find it.

  He had restrained himself from touching Melina for almost a week. For the sake of his family, he could hold back for another few hours, right?

  And even if he couldn’t…

  The possibility made his pulse speed up. He closed his fingers around the curl that teased his palm. No matter what else might happen, he was going to grasp this opportunity. It might never come again.

  A river of tumbled boulders, some the size of small cars, loomed in front of them, blocking their way. Melina barely waited for Anthony to stop the Jeep before she flung open her door and hopped to the ground.

  She didn’t care about the wind that funneled through the canyon. She ignored the threatening rumble of thunder in the west. She took no notice of the pebbles that shifted under her sneakers or the sliding steps she had to take to keep her balance. All she cared about was getting out of that vehicle and putting some distance between her and Anthony.

  But she didn’t get out fast enough. The impact with the ground sent vibrations up her legs to her thighs, releasing a bubble of pleasure.

  She leaned over and grasped her knees, drawing in deep breaths. Get control of yourself, she ordered. This is crazy. Nuts.

  “Melina!”

  The sound of his voice made her shiver with awareness. She tried some more deep breathing as she stumbled toward the closest boulder. The daylight was rapidly fading. The storm clouds were bringing on an early dusk.

  “Melina, where are you going?”

  She spun to face him, pressing her back hard against the rock. But the movement thrust out her breasts, making them ache, making her yearn for Anthony’s touch. She swallowed a sob. “Give me a minute, okay?”

  He stood beside his open door. He made no move to approach her. “Come back to the Jeep. The storm’s getting close and I want you to be safe.”

  She would have laughed at that, except she suspected making any sudden movement with her chest would only worsen the discomfort in her breasts.

  Safe? In the Jeep? Where she was close enough to smell him, to hear the rasp of denim on denim when he moved his legs, to watch the tendons flex in his hands, to feel the rumbling throb of his heartbeat in her bones?

  The past few hours had been torture. Sweet, terrible, delicious agony. Since they had left the road, every rise they had bumped over, every tilting climb they had made, each bend in the winding, unmarked route Anthony had taken had triggered a flash of sexual pleasure.

  Not enough to satisfy. Only enough to tease and build and deepen and heighten…

  It was like the awareness she had felt that night they had gone to The Oasis Bar, only a hundred times better. No, worse. Her body was humming with a driving desire to touch him, kiss him, feel his skin slide over hers and taste his breath on her lips.

  Why now? She’d been able to keep her distance for five days. She’d almost been able to convince herself that the other time had been a fluke, a consequence of stress, or maybe an embarrassing accident of overactive hormones.

  Oh, God. What was wrong with her? Except for these cravings, her mind was clear. In fact, her thoughts were snapping as vividly as her senses, as if her entire being was suffused with some mysterious energy.

  “The rain’s going to start soon,” he said. “You should take cover.”

  She glanced past him to the clouds. They stretched in an ominous wave, black on the bottom, churning gray on the top, smothering the sky with violence.

  But she wasn’t getting back in that Jeep right now. She wanted time to let this reaction subside. Some rain might be just what she needed. As long as the rain was cold.

  Lightning danced between the clouds. Another flash of sensation trembled through her body, setting off a renewed burst of need. She flattened her hands against the boulder, focusing on the rough surface beneath her palms. Even that seemed more vivid, as if she could feel every minute variation in the rock. She returned her gaze to Anthony.

  He didn’t flinch as thunder crashed close enough to vibrate the ground. He stood tall and straight, as if he didn’t feel the wind or fear the lightning. With his dark hair and black clothes, he could have been an extension of the storm, wild, untamed, filled with energy that strained to be released.

  Anthony wasn’t fighting the storm’s power, she thought, he was…drawing from it.

  She bit her lip. Her imagination was getting as out of control as her hormones. This was her partner, the man she had worked beside for a week. They weren’t here on a pleasure trip. They had work to do.

  “We’ve been going back and forth for hours,” she said. “We must have passed the spot where you saw that glint of light by now, don’t you think?”

  “Distances can be deceptive out here.”

  “Are you certain you detected anything in the first place? I didn’t.”

  The wind tugged a lock of hair free from his ponytail. It lashed his cheek. He didn’t appear to notice. “I’m certain.”

  “Well, how much farther do you plan to go?”

  “I want to see what’s on the other side of this canyon,” he said. He gestured toward the tumbled rocks. They led to a wide split in the cliff wall that sloped upward in jagged stages. “I’ll try climbing up there.”

  Lightning flickered again. Melina’s nipples tightened so hard, they stung. She tried not to wince.

  He moved to the edge of the fallen rocks and hoisted himself up on the first one. “I won’t be long.”

  She turned to watch him climb, admiring his controlled grace as he went from one rock to another, testing his handholds
and his footing, his arms and legs working in perfect harmony. She had once compared his movements to a prowling wolf. There was a predatory edge to him, more than a hint of the untamed. Was that why he could stir up these primitive feelings in her? “Anthony, wait!”

  He looked down just as lightning flashed beyond the cliff. The hoop in his ear gleamed, giving the illusion of a glow in the air around him.

  She moved to a smaller rock that was beside the boulder she had been leaning on, and pulled herself on top of it. “I’m coming with you.”

  “Melina, no.”

  “It doesn’t look that steep.”

  “No, it isn’t, but—”

  “Don’t you dare tell me to wait here where it’s safe.” She clambered onto the next rock and worked her way toward the side so she could follow the route he had taken. It wasn’t all that difficult. She just had to regard the boulders as round steps. “We’re partners, remember?”

  “This is no time to argue, Melina. It’s going to be dark soon. It really would be best for both of us if you stay here.”

  “I won’t hold you up. And I’d like to see for myself what’s up there.”

  He continued to watch her as she climbed toward him. Despite the shadows that were closing around them, his gaze appeared a more brilliant green than she had ever seen it before. His jaw was clenched, as if he was fighting the urge to argue…or perhaps battling the impulse to kiss her.

  Melina ground her teeth. This was business, she reminded herself. They were looking for Benedict. It was for her story, for the work that she loved.

  Twenty minutes later, they reached the flat land on top of the cliff. Melina had to stop to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding. Her legs were trembling. It wasn’t only from the climb. The strange sense of awareness was expanding, as if layers were peeling away or doors were opening or barriers were crumbling, and everything was so intense she wanted to fling out her arms and embrace it all.

  Full darkness had fallen, yet the landscape was alive, lit by strobes of lightning. The rolling clouds crashed over a low mountain range in the distance. Dust swirled across the cliff top, scouring the scattered pines. A gray blur of rain advanced like a curtain toward them. It was a spectacular, primeval scene.