Adrenaline ripped through his system as his heart picked up speed, but he control ed the need to run, to fight, to hunt those who hunted him. Pul ing in a deep breath, he let it ease out. Before it had completely left his lungs, he’d shifted his duffle to his left shoulder, leaving his right hand free if he needed to grab the weapon tucked into the smal of his back, concealed by his jacket.
Ducking into a men’s room, he used a pocketknife to jimmy the door to a janitor’s closet and shut it behind him. No spel s, nothing for another Magickal to detect.
The restroom door opened, and the elf stepped in. Merek froze, unsure how developed the elf’s senses were. He might be able to detect a life-form in here, but Merek’s visions showed that wasn’t likely.
Another possibility sliced into his mind, crystal clear and certain. A second security guard would walk in behind the first, helping with the search for Merek. The second man was the greater danger, and more likely to find what he was looking for. The two of them together could take Merek. If that happened, he was on an unstoppable col ision course with Smith. As much as he’d like a piece of that bastard, it would leave no one to protect Chloe and Alex.
Fuck.
Slapping open the door, he grabbed the passing elf from behind. The swift squeak of the bathroom door behind him told Merek the second man had entered. Struggling with the elf, Merek felt a nightstick slam into the back of his skul . There was heavy magic to power the blow. Dark spots exploded before his eyes, and he felt himself fal ing. The breath blasted from his lungs when he made impact with the tile floor, and he choked when the elf landed on top of him. Sucking in air, he swung out, a quick snap of fist meeting jaw and the first security guard slumped against Merek’s chest. He blinked hard, trying to clear the cartwheeling stars, and heard the baton whistling toward his head again. He jolted, heaved out from under the unconscious elf, who took the blow instead.
The world spun in sickening circles before him, a kaleidoscope of colors. He lifted a hand, shot out a spel , and it col ided midair with one launched by the second guard. The burst of light made his stomach lurch, and he let himself col apse flat to the tile, narrowly missing being hit by another spel . He flicked his fingers, took the guard out at the knees. He’d meant to go higher, hit the chest, but his aim wasn’t quite straight.
A scream from the guard as he col apsed to the floor beside his companion rang in Merek’s ears, jabbing into his brain. He jackknifed in reaction, but the movement made him sicker. He saw the guard with both hands locked around his leg, writhing in agony. Merek wheezed, sent a final spel , and left the second guard drooling beside the first.
Rol ing to his hands and knees, Merek grabbed for one of the porcelain sinks to drag himself slowly to his feet. Then he bent forward and vomited his guts up.
Even with his skul ringing, the future stil played out before his eyes. Only now the overlapping layers of vision made him gag on whatever was left in his stomach. The paths he needed to take to make it back to the welcoming blankness of his people rooted in his thoughts. He rinsed his mouth, wiped the sweat from his forehead, staggered to the janitor’s closet to pick up his duffle, and escaped.
The red and white marquee sign that read POWELL’S BOOKS—USED & NEW BOOKS was the most welcome thing Merek had ever seen. The drizzling rain felt like a hammer blow every time a drop landed on his skin, and he wanted to get out of it. His gaze swept the street one last time before he crossed toward the mammoth bookstore.
His movements were slower than he liked, his step careful. He was on autopilot. Just make sure no one fol owed him. Just get to Alex and Chloe. Just be certain they were safe.
The lights inside the store blinded him when he walked in, and he shuddered, fighting a wave of nausea.
He paused for a long moment, trying to remember where he was going. Mystery. The mystery section at Powel ’s. Where he’d told them to meet him.
Reading the signs to get to the right area hurt his eyes, the words blurring and streaking, a halo of light forming around every person he passed.
And there they were. Two dark heads of hair bent together, one so deep a brown it was almost black, one a shining blue-black like a raven’s wing. Chloe. She looked up at him, pushing that raven hair from her face.
Her relieved smile made his heart skip a beat, but then her grin faded when she got a good look at him.
“Merek, what happened?”
“Took . . .” Somehow his tongue didn’t want to shape the words correctly, but he forced himself to speak distinctly. “Took a knock to the head from an airport security guard.”
Alex’s hand closed around his shoulder, and Merek startled because he hadn’t seen the wolf move. The quick motion was like an anvil slamming into him, and his view tilted sideways.
“I’ve got you, Merek.” It was Alex’s voice, but he sounded like he’d spoken from a great distance. Hadn’t the boy just been next to him? Merek thought so, but he wasn’t quite sure. He blinked a few times, but couldn’t see clearly, couldn’t think clearly.
He blinked again, and things had changed. What, he wasn’t sure, but he felt a shift in space and time. A soft rocking motion told him he was in a moving vehicle. It was disorienting, and he didn’t like that, but when he pul ed in a breath, he smel ed his lover’s sweet scent. “Chloe.”
“Yes, Merek. I’m here.” Her hand stroked his forehead, and it felt good. He felt good, energized, but that wasn’t right either.
“I got hit by a police baton.” He frowned up at the gray fabric that covered the ceiling of the car. He was in a tilted back passenger seat. Chloe perched in the backseat behind him. Turning his head, he saw Alex behind the wheel.
Alex’s green eyes left the road for a moment, and they reflected a deep concern. “Yeah, you had a pretty nasty concussion. Chloe put you under a healing spel , so you’d sleep until you were completely better.”
“I didn’t want to try to do any kind of quick healing on you. The brain can be so delicate to work with, and I just don’t have the skil s to rush it.” Her fingers brushed through Merek’s hair, and he felt her testing him with her magic. “This was the best I could do.”
He reached up and caught her hand. “You did good, sweetheart. I feel fine. Great, in fact.”
Groping under his seat, he felt for the lever so he could sit up. The sun was setting, its light breaking through the overcast clouds. There were trees and a few houses along the road, but nothing else to indicate their location. A prickle of unease ran down his spine. “Where are we?”
This vehicle wasn’t a rental, of that Merek was certain. Someone’s graduation tassel hung from the rearview mirror, and his shoes stuck to the soda on the floorboards. Whoever owned this car was a total slob. The long silence made him glance around. Chloe was wedged into the middle of a nonexistent backseat. Ophelia sat beside her, using the back of Alex’s seat as a scratching post.
He looked to Alex again. “Do I want to know where the car came from?”
“Stole it,” he replied, more cheerful than Merek had ever heard him. “I reprogrammed the onboard computer and scrambled some records so the owner wil have a bitch of a time proving the car even belonged to him in order to report it stolen. We switched out the plates of six cars in a mal parking lot of similar makes and models, then drove over to a parking garage at Portland State University and did the same.”