Claimed by Shadow Page 0,76

air to say, "For real?" How much worse did they get? I don't know what else I might have said, but I glimpsed Billy over Pritkin's shoulder and temporarily forgot everything else. I pointed a trembling finger at him. "Where were you? It's almost dark and MAGIC is right over there!”

"Calm down, Cass-it's okay. Everything's fine, but you need to get a grip or your new pet is going to do some serious damage.”

"My ward didn't flare." I stared at Mac, who was busy healing his wound. Lucky him-I'd wear mine for a while. Yet, although it was Mac who was bleeding, it was Pritkin who was glowering at me. That was so unfair it was breathtaking, considering that all of this was his damn fault.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Mac said. "It's a bit more advanced than those. It's designed to sense intent, and I didn't mean you any harm." He had managed to stop the blood flow, but a raw red weal remained behind to mark his skin, leaving a gap in the leaves that they brushed against but couldn't cross. "I'm sorry, Cassie-I shouldn't have grabbed you. But when you disappeared we-well, we didn't know what had happened.”

So they'd thought I was dead, too. Mac's confession that he, at least, had been worried helped me calm down-that and the fact that I wasn't about to face an ambush alone. "I've been right here," I told him shakily. "You two are the ones who disappeared. Where did you go?”

"You were aware that we were gone?" Pritkin asked with a frown. He glanced at Mac. "We were wrong, then.”

"Not necessarily." Mac looked at me keenly. "Maybe time displacements don't affect her like the rest of us. That could be why she didn't come along for the ride even though she was as close to you as I was.”

"You went somewhere in time?" What, could anybody do it anymore?

"We think that thing"-Mac gestured at the rune Pritkin still held in his fist-"is a do-over.”

"A what?”

"It carries the caster back in time about twenty minutes. So if you get in a tight spot, you cast it and have a chance to redeem a mistake.”

I sent Pritkin a less-than-friendly glance. "Something that might have been very useful where we're going.”

"I'm sure it will be," he commented, tucking it out of sight inside his coat.

I would have reminded him that the rune was mine, except that he would almost certainly have replied that I'd just stolen it first. I glanced at Billy and nodded slightly toward the mage. He floated over while I started an argument to distract Pritkin. "Well, it's useless now, at least for a month.”

"We could not risk employing it without first learning what it does," Pritkin insisted, his eyebrows drawing together in their usual expression. "If it has not been used in as long as we think, it should be possible to cast it again soon.”

"But you don't know that," I pointed out angrily. "You can leave rechargeable batteries plugged in as long as you want, but they only hold one charge. Maybe the rune works the same way.”

"Permit me to think that I know a little more about magical artifacts than you," Pritkin replied with disdain as Billy slipped an insubstantial-looking hand into his pocket. A few seconds later, my rune floated out as if levitated. It made its way to me and I surreptitiously pocketed it. "I am reasonably certain it will work," the mage added. "Now, if you have finished having hysterics, we should be going.”

I said nothing but retrieved the backpack from Mac and took out my gun. It was fully loaded, but I checked it anyway. Pritkin's lips thinned out even more as he watched; pretty soon he wasn't going to have any at all. He obviously didn't like the idea of my carrying a weapon-maybe he was afraid I'd shoot him in the back-but he refrained from comment.

He struck out across the desert and I followed. Mac and Billy Joe trailed after us as soon as the mage again absorbed his mobile business. Not a word was said for half an hour, until the dim outline of MAGIC spread below us.

The complex is designed to look like a working ranch, just in case any norms with a little talent wander by and manage to see through the perimeter wards. But it's centered in a canyon with high sides, far away from any tourist facilities, so that isn't likely. Not to mention that there