“What’s going on?” I asked, watching as Safar slipped around them both and disappeared down the tunnel that I knew led to the front door. Her robes swished silently along the concrete as she went and I wondered if she dressed that way for personal reasons or simply to disguise herself to a world that undoubtedly would fear what she really was.
“There’s someone at the door,” Jin said quietly.
Alex’s gaze met mine and we both froze. My heart thudded rapidly. “But—the wards,” I began. “You said—”
“This person was able to get through,” Jin said, his tone soothing. “Which must mean they are a friend. Still, Safar will investigate just to be safe,” Jin added as if he already knew what we were thinking.
My muscles tightened, and I broke Alex’s worried stare long enough to do a quick sweep of the room. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. It’s not like I would have been any good with a weapon. And Alex was too injured to—
“Get into the bedroom. Both of you,” Jin said suddenly—as if he’d heard something we didn’t.
I hurried forward and slipped Alex’s arm around my shoulders, letting him lean on me as we headed for Safar’s room together. Inside, I shut the door with a soft click and didn’t exhale until Alex had lowered himself to the edge of the mattress. His shoulder looked gross with the brown paste Jin had smeared over the stitches. But it was better than a bloody hole. And his coloring was better.
“Do you think it’s CHAS?” I asked.
Alex’s mouth was pulled into a thin line. “Maybe.” His gaze flicked to me and he added, “I doubt RJ would just knock on the front door.”
I blew out a breath as the logic of his words sunk in. “You’re right.”
“Safar can do wards?” Alex asked after a moment and I’d forgotten that Jin had only told me that in private.
“Apparently,” I said.
We fell silent, waiting, and I hated how helpless we were. We hadn’t considered a quick exit. We hadn’t even clarified with Jin against exactly who and for how long he’d protect us. And now, we were shut in a dead end room with no other exits except the one our enemy could very well be standing outside.
I was an idiot.
Inside me, Hina thrummed and hissed underneath the stress.
On the other side of the door, voices sounded. I held my breath, listening, my eyes locked on Alex’s. Two males. One Jin and the other … familiar. They were friendly and—
I whirled, my eyes wide in disbelief.
“What is it?” Alex snapped in a whisper, rising instantly.
I ignored him and yanked the door open. Across the room stood Jin with Safar just behind him. On Jin’s right stood a very familiar face. Still, it was the last person I ever expected to see here.
“Harold?” I stared at him, disbelief turning slowly to confusion.
Jin and Harold both turned to look at me, their conversation cutting off abruptly. Harold’s mouth fell open when he saw me. Relief washed over him and he looked as if he might cross the room and pull me into a hug. In the end, he shoved his hands into his khaki pockets—his fingers sticking through the hole in the left leg—and smiled.
“Sam,” he said, relief packed into my name. “I’m glad to find you well.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, too confused and surprised to say the same.
“I needed to talk to you,” he said, a little uncertainly now.
He looked from me to Jin and then his eyes flickered to something over my shoulder. Not something. Someone. I could feel Alex behind me, a sentry ready to protect.
“It’s okay,” I told Alex. “Harold’s a friend.”
Alex didn’t argue but he also didn’t move an inch away from me.
I took a step toward Harold as Safar reappeared, pulling her robes back a bit as she went for the camping stove. “Is everything all right?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s … the trees whispered things and I— I am glad you’re okay. Both of you.” Harold shifted his weight and Jin stepped forward.
“We’ll have some tea and then we’ll talk,” Jin said, completely recovered from his earlier intensity. In fact, he looked downright thrilled to have another guest.
As if he’d spoken directly to her, Safar snaked around them and went to work setting the kettle on the burner. I edged farther into the room, willing my heart rate to return to normal. It wasn’t CHAS. Or RJ. Or any other threat. It was Harold. Only Harold. This time.
“Come. Sit. It’s good to see you, old friend,” Jin said, ushering Harold over to the couch.
That got my attention, but I doubled back to help Alex before we joined them. Instead of slipping his arm around my shoulders, Alex grabbed my wrist, holding me in place against the bedroom wall as his eyes flicked over my face. “You trust him?” Alex asked quietly.
“Harold? Of course I do,” I said.
He hesitated, but I wasn’t willing to let Alex’s doubts become my own. Harold was my friend. And if I started doubting every friend I had—
I shrugged Alex’s hand off my wrist and helped him make his way to the couch. We sat close together on the opposite end from Harold. Jin sat on a stool facing us all.
“Harold, this is Alex,” I said, making hasty introductions.
“Nice to meet you,” Alex said, holding out a hand to shake. “Officially.”
“Likewise. You’re taking good care of Sam, I assume. Glad to hear you ended up joining her in the Obupa. Tricky business, that place.”
Alex didn’t respond, and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking. We’d never really talked about Harold helping me find Sushna that first time. Alex hadn’t been willing to take me so I’d taken matters into my own hands. A process that probably would have gotten me killed if he hadn’t shown up … and I didn’t really want to get into it all now.
Safar brought Harold a cup of tea and he took it, sipping gratefully. “Still the best tea in two hemispheres,” Harold said, beaming at Jin.
“You two know each other?” I asked, my gaze sliding back and forth between them. I was too happy to change the subject, anyway.
Harold nodded and Jin smiled. “It has been many years since we’ve spoken, but yes. Harold traveled with my parents.”
I wanted to ask more about that. About Jin’s parents and what sort of traveling there was to be done with them. But the more pressing questions distracted me. In the end, Alex beat me to it.
“How did you find us?”
“Magic.” Harold winked at me.
“Uh, you’re going to have to be more specific,” Alex deadpanned, and I shot him a warning look. “Please,” he added reluctantly.
“Of course. I did a search for you both using my gifts. Sam knows about my knack for finding lost things,” Harold said.
“The tree,” I said, remembering the way he’d communicated with them—used them to locate the Obupa Forest for me.
“Harold’s a Finder,” I said now, trying to decide how much to explain. I really wanted to push forward for answers, but I tried to be patient as I told Alex as quickly as I could what Harold had done for me.
“So, you can talk to them? The trees?” Alex asked.
“Harold can do more than that,” Jin said knowingly. Safar handed him a cup of tea and he murmured his thanks.
I swung my gaze back to Harold and he answered the unspoken question with a shrug. “I’m also a Walker,” he said.
“What’s a Walker?” I asked.
“A traveler of sorts,” Harold said. “I use the trees to find things that are lost … and then the trees help me retrieve them.”
“You traveled here from Half Moon Bay … through the trees,” Alex said, and the suspicion was gone from his voice now. Instead, there was awe.
I hid a smile. It took a lot for Alex Channing to be impressed by anyone.
“You knew?” Alex asked me, zeroing in on my lack of shock.
“I had a suspicion,” I admitted, looking at Harold. “All that candy you brough
t me. There was no way you could have traveled to all those countries and made it back so quickly.”
“Oh. That reminds me.” Harold snapped his finger and reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of individually wrapped candies. “These are for you.”
He dumped them into my hand and I looked down dubiously at the frosted white wrapping and the caramel-colored candy inside. “What is it?” I asked.
“Ah-ah. You know the rules,” he said, and I grinned, unwrapping one and popping it into my mouth. I handed the rest out to the others as I sucked thoughtfully on the sweet-flavored drop.
“It tastes like … coffee?”
“Close. Cappuccino,” Harold said.
“Where is it from?” I asked.
“India.”
“You’ve been to India lately?” I asked.
“Nah.” He waved a hand and said, “These are from my last visit ten years ago.”
I spit the candy into my teacup and forced a smile that felt more like a grimace. “Thanks.”
Harold laughed. Hearing it grounded me somehow. Chased away the bits of Hina that were still vying for control. It was the most like myself I’d felt in weeks.
Alex cleared his throat, and I could practically feel the impatience rolling off him as he folded his hands and leveled a serious stare at Harold. “You didn’t come here to give Sam candy, I assume.”
My smile vanished. Harold sobered. “No. I … I came to warn her.”
“Warn me about what?” I asked, on edge as I imagined the thousands of things he might be here to tell me about. All the people I cared about that might have been hurt or—
“I thought you should know that … you’re missed in Half Moon Bay,” he said.
“Missed?” I frowned. “Well, I appreciate it but there’s a lot going on.”
Alex muttered something and then, louder, said, “It’s not safe for Sam in Half Moon right now. We’re up against something pretty big here.”
“I know what you’re up against,” Harold said.
I blinked. “You do?”
“Of course.” He nodded and then shrugged as if it were obvious. “We all do.”
“Well then you know that I can’t go back, Harold. Returning would only put everyone in danger, including you. I can’t risk that just because you miss me.”
He smiled kindly. “It’s not me, although I do remember fondly our chats in the park. No, this is someone else. Someone important to you. And while I’m happy to help any way I can, I think … In light of the danger to your loved ones, it might be best if you returned to handle it yourself.”
“Who is it?” I asked, racking my brain for who could possibly be so important that it would prompt Harold to tree-walk all the way here to find me and bring me back. My heart pounded as I thought of Kiwi and Mirabelle but no, last we heard, they were with Edie. They were safe.
I was almost ready to add that whoever it was would just have to miss me—but his answer stopped me.
“Your mother is in town, Sam. And she’s looking for you.”
“My ….” Shit.
Was he serious? Of all the people in the whole world who could throw a wrench in everything …
I sighed, my shoulders sagging underneath the weight of my worry. If Harold knew she was here, so would RJ. So would any other creature who meant me harm. My mother in Half Moon was a target we couldn’t afford to get it.
Harold was right. I needed to go home.
Chapter Eight
Alex
“Sam, we just can’t.”
“I’m not asking to waltz out the door right this second or to go running back to California unprepared, but if my mother is in town looking for me, what do you think will happen when I don’t turn up?” Sam demanded. “Or worse, what do you think will happen if RJ finds her first?”
My nostrils flared with the impossibility of our situation. Sam was right. Her mother was not going away and if Sam didn’t show up to face her, we’d have another problem on our hands. But that didn’t stop or change the fact that we were still smack in the middle of an impending supernatural disaster that would have global consequences. And going back to Half Moon put a neon target on our backs, exposing us to things we just weren’t ready to face yet.
I opened my mouth to tell her just what I thought of trading one problem for another but Jin rose abruptly with Harold close beside him. They headed for the exit.
“Where are you going?” Sam asked sharply, clearly just as startled as I was.
Jin turned back and gave Safar a pointed look. “We’re going to get some air and leave you two to sort things out,” he said. “Safar will stay close so if you need anything, let her know.”
Safar gave Sam a sympathetic look and slipped into the back room.
“Sam,” I said when we were alone, “Half Moon Bay is the first place RJ will look. We can’t—”
“What if he’s not even looking for us?” she asked and I frowned.
“Of course he’s looking for us.”
“Are we sure about that? The equinox is only a few weeks away. He has something planned for it. Something big that will cement the sickness that’s happening to the werewolves and the chaos it’s causing around the world.”
“Yes, we know that,” I said slowly.
“After what happened at Indra’s… Look, Indra was only the decoy. He used her so that he could move undetected. Why?”
“To spy on us. To get close to you so he could kill you—”
She shook her head. “I don’t think he wants to kill me.”
“Sam, he sent werewolves after you practically day and night.”
“Werewolves that he killed.”
“And Indra—”
“Could have killed me a hundred times herself but didn’t. So could RJ for that matter. We were alone often enough, and I never once suspected him. He saved me more often than I can count. What if we’re wrong? What if he doesn’t want me dead?”
“He’s still a traitor,” I grumbled but Sam had a valid point that I felt like an idiot for not seeing before.
“He is,” Sam agreed. “But we really don’t know what he’s after when it comes to me. And whatever it is, I don’t think he’s going to hurt me to get it.”
I sighed. “He could have come after you when he shot me the other day,” I said, thinking it over from this new perspective now. “But he ran the other way.”
Sam was silent while she waited for me to work it out.
Finally, I looked up at her. “Fine. There’s a possibility you’re right. But we still don’t know what he wants. And we still can’t guarantee your safety in Half Moon—not against the wolves. The infected werewolves will still be coming.”
“Okay then. What would it take?”
“For you to be safe there?” I asked. She nodded, and I rubbed my jaw, considering her question. “Short of healing all the werewolves? … Wards. We’d need wards around the house and you’d have to let me guard you when and if we went anywhere.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I frowned. “Sam, even if I could find someone who can do wards, which I don’t know if we can—”
“We do know someone.”
“Who?”
She glanced toward the closed door and my eyes narrowed while I calculated. “Safar,” I said, narrowing it down easily enough with the small list of suspects. “We don’t know if her wards are capable of this.”
She shrugged. “Of course. I mean, we’d have to ask her first.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, knowing I was losing. “Why do you want to go back there so bad?”
She sighed. “Because I’m tired of running. Of being someone who doesn’t belong anywhere. And I need to do something. I’ve lost a lot of people I care about, and we don’t know how all this will end up. I just need stability in the middle of all this chaos. Look at me. Thanks to the magic and the craziness, I’m a mess. Crying all the time. Stressed out. I just … I want to go home.” Her expression fell a
nd for a split second I could see the tight control she was holding onto—and how close to splintering she really was.
What I’d seen the other day, when she’d shut down mentally and emotionally, hadn’t been an anomaly or a one-time thing. Sam was hurting. She was a mess and hanging by a damned thread and there wasn’t shit I could do about it ... except for this.
I could give her this.
“Sam.” I took her in my arms and held her, stroking her hair. She didn’t resist, but she was tense against me as I ran my hand down her dark waves. “I’m sorry. This is so fucking hard on you and I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t answer and for a long time we just stood that way. Sam stiff and silent in my arms, me stroking her hair and breathing her in. Finally, she pulled away and my chest ached at the sight of her wet cheeks and the tears still streaming noiselessly down her face. “I don’t know how you do it,” she said, swiping at her cheeks with her hands.
“Do what?”
“Wander.” She sniffled. “When I met you, and even now … you don’t have a house or even an address. You don’t have a home. I can’t imagine that. It feels … lost.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, my voice rough with the emotion I was fighting to keep a hold on. I reached up and brushed another tear away with my thumb. “I do have a home.”
“Where is it?” she asked, tilting her head to look up at me and the answer was so easy, it fell from my lips without the slightest hesitation.
“It’s wherever I’m with you.”
Chapter Nine
Sam
Safar agreed to come with us—to ward the house. I couldn’t tell if Alex was pissed she’d said yes or that he hadn’t been able to tell me no. Harold offered to let us stay with him while we assessed “the threat level” as Alex called it. I couldn’t explain why, but I felt more at peace with the decision to return to Half Moon than I had about any of this since before Alex had been arrested. Deep down, I realized Hina approved. Maybe it meant something. Maybe Half Moon was the right move for whatever came next. I wasn’t sure what that would be yet and I hoped it involved figuring out a way to complete the merge. Safar and Jin had both stayed up late last night going over how a merging ceremony worked. The ritual itself was easy enough. It was experiencing that kind of raw power—with nothing to call me back from it—that worried me. Jin seemed to think we’d figure it out. He had a lot more confidence in me than I had in myself.
Defiance (Heart Lines Series Book 5) Page 7