“Something like this?” Mac said, holding up a sharp piece of thin metal.
“Where did you find that?”
“Lying on the ground over here,” he shrugged. I did kiss him that time. Smack on the cheek.
“My hero.”
“Aw, shucks,” he said. “Now get to work, lady. It won’t do us any good to get caught in the open making out. Although,” he winked at me. “There are worse ways to go.”
I pushed him out of my way. “We’re not going anywhere. We have unfinished business to attend to.” And I had spirit back with me. Spirit . . . sweet merciful goddess, I had not felt like this in years. I smiled and shook my head as I set to work on the door. I had to work the pick several times, my body tensing with each click, sure that it was a gun from behind us.
It clicked, loudly, and I cursed under my breath. “We’re in. But I’d be shocked if they didn’t hear that.”
“Maybe they’re all sleeping,” Mac said.
“Wishful thinking.”
Mac tried the door again, slowly. He stood there longer than I thought it would take to turn a damned doorknob, and I thought it hadn’t worked. Just as I was about to ask what was wrong, he pulled the door open with a huge grin on his face.
“Well done,” he whispered as he stood behind the open door.
I went through with him right behind me. It was dark inside, and impossible to make out anything but vague shapes in the distance. What kind of storehouse was this?
Something caught my ear, which meant Mac could surely hear it. Something shifting, and . . . snoring?
“Do you hear that?” I whispered.
Mac nodded, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the sound. We rounded a corner, feeling our way through the darkness, and stayed pressed against the wall as much as we could to keep our sense of direction.
Suddenly, the space opened, and sunlight poured into it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was impossible. How could Roe be right about this? How . . . “Holy goddess.”
“I think this is anything but holy,” Mac argued.
He was right. What we were looking at was impossible. It was a damned Garden of Eden and we all knew how that ended. Trees and bushes blossomed everywhere we looked. Animals slept in various nooks and crannies. Cows, deer, sheep, pigs, chickens, everything you could think of in terms of flora and fauna. Everything you could possibly ever want to eat. Rows and rows of orange trees, pineapple plants, strawberry bushes, corn, carrots, lettuce, almond trees, grape vines, on and on the crops went into what seemed like infinity. Further than I could see the end of.
“Impossible,” Mac breathed beside me as he carefully approached a sleeping cow. He reached out and scratched her behind her ear, and she opened her eyes for a moment and snuffled at him before nudging his hand and going right back to sleep.
“It’s the Sorceress. It has to be. This is her magic.” There was an unnaturalness all around me, prickling on my skin. What we looked at was real but manufactured. She’d done this somehow. But to what end? Why starve this land, and hoard all this for herself?
The only thing I could come up with didn’t mean anything good for me. Was this part of her draw, to pull me in? Raven said she wanted me and I didn’t doubt him.
“Why go to all this trouble just to get me here?” I asked.
“Who knows? Let’s steal a truck, load it with as much as we can, find Alex and Oka and get the fuck out of here,” Mac suggested.
I nodded. It was why we came here. Get food and get out. It wouldn’t be a permanent solution, but maybe we could steal enough to get us off her cursed land.
“Look at you making friends with the cows.” The voice behind us startled both of us and I spun around, arms open wide. I’d know that voice anywhere.
The sight of my tiny orange cat laughing at me as she leapt up into my open arms sent a rush of relief through me. I hugged her tightly, but she didn’t complain.
“All right. That’s enough of that. We’ve been apart before. It’s not like I was turned to stone or something,” she teased.
“Good to see you, cat,” I said as I released her and picked up my blades.
“We need to get moving. They’re questioning Roe. It’s only a matter of time before he gives you up.” Her warning hit me hard. I hadn’t even thought of Roe. Should I sever my connection to him? Or tighten it, to stop him from talking?
“They already know I’m here. Count the bracelets, Oka.” I held my wrists out and her eyes popped so wide I thought they’d fall out of her head.
“Kitty litter on steroids! How?”
“Later,” I said. “I’ll tell you all later. For now, I have spirit back. I sent Stefan and his guards as far away as I could. That’ll buy us some time.”
“Roe knows what you were after. He knows you were coming for the food. They’ll be on us like ants before you know it. Can you take them all?” Oka asked.
“No. Not all of them,” I replied. “Let’s hope I can take enough if it comes to that.”
My bigger concern was that Roe also knew where the caravan was. He could lead Stefan right to them. I’d let Roe go on far too long. He’d served his purpose for me. For us. It was time. Probably past time. My guts twisted. Death was necessary, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
And having spirit back allowed me that balance I needed to feel that truth again.
The magic I’d used on Roe was both dark and spirit, and I wove them together once more. The black magic was quiet without a single word to say.
“Do your thing,” I said, “but just the ogre.” It wound carefully down the thread that connected me to Roe and tightened the hold on him. The world melted away around me, and I saw Roe in a room, a man sitting across from him that I didn’t recognize. But I knew what he was the second I laid eyes on him, his power resonating with that in my blood.
Warlock.
“Where are they?” the warlock demanded.
I tightened my hold on Roe so only a squawk came out of his mouth.
“Roe. Where are they? The humans? Her caravan?” the warlock pushed.
Roe’s grip on his chair tightened, and he tried to clear his throat, but he couldn’t. It was over. I had him. He’d played me too long, pushed me too far. And I wouldn’t let him give up my caravan.
The warlock exploded out of his chair across the table from the ogre. “I’ve given you enough graces, ogre. I’m done. You’ll tell me now, one way or another.” He held up a hand that glittered with black mist, just like what I’d used on Roe. That’s how he’d known.
That’s why he’d been afraid.
I almost wished I could give him another chance, another shot at being one of the good guys. But now that I was in his head, I could see it all. His intentions and what he’d planned to do to my people before I’d stopped him.
“Finish this,” I said to my magic.
The darkness combined with spirit slid through Roe’s brain. It crushed him from the inside, turning his organs to mush, and he crumpled, face-planting on the table in front of him without another breath. The warlock took a step . . . and looked right at me.
“So . . . you are here.”
The warlock, the room, everything dissolved in front of me. Roe was finished, and I’d saved the caravan. At least for now.
Mac looked at me, and I knew what he was going to say before it was even out of his mouth. “We need to move.”
25
I could feel Alex in the distance, pacing. Upset. Frustrated.
“We need to get a truck and stuff it full,” Mac said. “As much as possible as fast as we can.” Before I could tell him not to, he was gone.
I raced after him and slid to a stop at the main door. He was at the trucks already, started the one we had the keys to and drove it across the short space. I pushed the double doors open wide and the truck just fit through. The doors and space had been made to allow for trucks to drive in and out.
Less than a minute and he had it in the garden, back e
nd of it open.
“Alex,” I said.
“I know,” Mac answered. “I’ll get him.”
Oka shook her head as she shot me a look. “No, I’ll go. You two pack.” Through the bond, I could feel her question.
Was Alex a familiar now too?
And then just like Mac, she was gone before I could stop her.
“Pam.” Mac’s voice snapped me back to what needed doing.
Crates were stacked against the wall, and we loaded them with everything we could reach. Oranges, lemons, potatoes, carrots, we weren’t picky. Anything close, we grabbed.
“What do you think about those chickens there?” I nodded to a group of sleeping hens, and Mac licked his lips.
“Not for eating right now, Mac. For taking with us.”
He bit into an apple he’d swiped, I think just to give himself something to chew on. Bears like him needed meat. And so did the people in the caravan.
“Think they’d stay quiet?” he asked.
“Not with you looking at them like they’re your next meal,” I said. We could eat the eggs for a long time if we had chickens.
I tried not to jostle them much as I loaded a half dozen of the hens in one crate along with a rooster into the truck. They were surprisingly quiet. Magically docile. As I touched them, the sensation of the Sorceress was there.
The minutes ticked by. We took several goats, and a crate of rabbits. Bags of flour were next, and I threw them up to Mac as he stuffed them into every spot he could.
The sun above us moved slowly, but it moved and we were running out of time.
“We need to wrap this up soon,” Mac said.
“Or right now,” an unfamiliar voice said.
There was no time to think, only react. I heard the sound of guns being cocked and sent spirit back with as much strength as I could.
The man froze in the act of lifting his gun, his face limp, personality gone in a flash. I’d hit him too hard.
Another man stepped from behind him with a yell. I spun spirit through him too, knocking him out. They slumped and Mac scooped their weapons and the extra ammo they had on them.
“Any others?” I asked.
Mac shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
It hit me then, hard.
Taking all this food to the caravan was great, but it was a temporary solution to a potentially permanent problem. We’d already tried to escape the cursed ground and couldn’t.
“Maybe . . . I should try and take the warlock,” I said.
“What?” Mac said, staring at me like I’d just sprouted a second head, and it wasn’t cute either.
“The warlock, he’s the one who interrogated Roe. If I took him, I could take this place. Then we’d have the food. The caravan could come here . . .” I trailed off, realizing that there would be so much death.
“That would mean killing almost everyone here,” Mac said, echoing my thoughts. “Could you do that?”
“I know what it means.” I understood that completely. “I understand the cost. I . . .”
Then, the horror set in. All the blood we would have to spill to make sure the caravan wasn’t bothered scared me, but not enough to not consider it. What would Rylee have done to keep us all safe?
The answer was simple.
Anything.
Laughter filled my mind. You’re a fool. And your foolishness will get you killed. Always kill those that would kill you first. They’re out for your blood, not a handshake. And they’ll get it, unless you stop them.
Before we could say anything else, gunshots rang through the space, and we dove for the truck.
The gunfire faded, and I knew they were still back there, trying to hide themselves. Every time they shot at us, they revealed where they were. I snapped a hand out and sent spirit toward them, snagging them both with ease.
They dropped, and I sagged, my eyes rolling back in their sockets.
There was a buzzing along my skin as Mac caught me, but it wasn’t him.
“Warlock,” I whispered.
Mac heaved me up and into the truck. “Shit. Let’s hope Oka got Alex out.” He pulled me down so we were below the windows as my energy faded. I’d close my eyes, just for a second.
Darkness consumed me.
Alex
The cell blocks were icy cold, and I couldn’t stop the shivers that ran through me. Maybe they were from me. Maybe they were a reaction to getting tossed in here. I hadn’t fought hard only because I didn’t want to draw Pamela’s attention. I knew she’d come for me if she thought I was hurt.
Or being hurt. “Shit!” I slammed a hand against the bars, wishing I could snap them in half.
A soft meow drew my eyes up.
Oka sat in the window outside of my cell. “Hello, wolf.”
“Oka!”
“To the rescue.” She leapt through, danced her way across my cell and out the other side.
A moment later she was back, carrying a set of keys that had to outweigh her.
I grabbed them and started working to find the right one.
A groan echoed through the hall.
“Who is that?” Oka asked.
“Wade, that guy you cozied up to out front.” Damn it, how many keys could there be?
Oka worked her way to the side of the cell next to me. A hand slid out. “Well, you’re really something, aren’t you, pretty girl?”
She meowed at him, just as I stepped out of my cell. He stiffened. “You shouldn’t be out.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. If I let you out, will you help us?”
His eyes narrowed. “Help you with what?”
“Steal some food and get the hell out of here,” I filled in, as if it was plain as the nose on my face.
“If I do that . . .” He trailed off, absorbing the ramifications of what I’d asked.
“If you do it, and live, you can join us. Our caravan would welcome you. But if you betray us to Stefan, well, let’s just say our witch can be sweet as pie, and more terrifying than a hurricane. Which you get depends on you.”
Wade stood slowly and nodded, the chains around his wrists clanging as he went. “Stefan’s an asshole. I’m with you.” I could see the determination in his eyes, and Oka meowed at his feet. “And your little cat.”
I unlocked his cell and made short work of the chains on his wrists and legs. “She’s not so little once you get to know her. Now come on,” I said as I stepped into the deserted hall of the cell block.
Oka took the lead, and she made one last turn and stopped in front of a single door that didn’t stand out from any of the other doors we’d passed.
Wade didn’t question us as we went, but stayed close, and quiet.
“Someone’s coming,” Oka whispered.
Shit fuck damn crap on toast. There was nowhere to hide. The hall was barren. We were bound to be seen.
“Over here,” Oka said, and darted around the nearest corner. I could only hope the footsteps weren’t coming from that direction. Wade stuck close.
“All right wolf, time for your rations. Get back from the door. I’ll shoot you if you try something.” The man’s voice echoed down the hall.
I asked Wade, “Will he have weapons?”
Wade shook his head. “No, just food.”
This was my shot. The keys jangled, and the locks slid free one after another of the door leading into the cell blocks.
“We jump him on three,” I whispered to Oka. She nodded, and I counted in my head. One. Two.
“Try not to eat it in one bite. I know how your kind is,” the man said.
Three. I leapt around the corner, and slammed into the guy, shoving him into the wall head first. He didn’t even have time to cry out before he went down.
Oka was beside me in her tiger form, her lips pulled back from her teeth.
Wade shook his head, taking everything remarkably in stride. “Wow. You weren’t kidding about her, were you?”
“Yeah. Don’t piss off the cat who could eat your
balls for breakfast,” I said with a half grin.
I looked down, and the man, dressed in a tan jumpsuit just like all the other Breakers, was face down on the floor next to a metal plate with barely a scrap of meat on it.
“Let’s go.” I bent down and grabbed the unconscious man’s keys off his belt and went to the door where Wade and Oka waited.
We looked both ways before running down the hall, back the way the feeder had come.
When we got to the door, I tried a few keys but none of them worked. Wade nudged my arm. “May I?”
I handed him the ring and he immediately picked the right key out of the dozen. He smiled as he pushed the heavy metal door open. “After you.”
“Pam and Mac are in the garden loading up. We need to get there fast,” Oka said.
Wade led the way this time. “There’s a few paths they won’t think to look.”
We easily dodged a couple of groups of Breakers with Wade in the front. And then we were sliding through the big warehouse doors to the garden.
Before I took a few steps in, Mac was there.
“Who’s this?” Mac asked, and Wade stuck out his hand.
“Defector. Here to help,” Wade said. Mac sized him up but didn’t grab his hand.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I think I already am,” he said with a shrug. “If you guys die and Stefan catches me, I’m done.”
“Fair enough.”
Once introductions were settled, we huddled behind the wall for a moment while I tried to comprehend what needed to happen next.
Pamela slid out of the truck next, her eyes glazed as if she’d just woken up. Mac caught her around the waist and she straightened. “I’m fine, I am really.”
Somehow, I didn’t believe her.
Pamela
Alex didn’t believe my words any more than Mac or Oka did.
I knew what had to happen next. I couldn’t leave with them. This wouldn’t end for us if I left with that truck.
Caravan Witch (Questing Witch Book 2) Page 24