Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,88
by armed soldiers in jeeps, heading back the way we’d come. Lucy identified the trucks as belonging to a shipping company.
Of all the differences between her world and ours, she marveled most at the ease of travel, especially air travel, and how little the existence of supernatural beings impacted the daily life of most humans. Clearly, she had as much difficulty picturing such a world as I’d had visualizing hers when Adam first described it to me.
“Imagine not being able to travel by airplane because of dragons,” Malcolm said, shaking his head.
“They tend to go after planes during takeoff and landing,” Lucy explained, her eyes scanning our surroundings. “Once a plane reaches a certain height, it’s safe because most dragons can’t fly above eight thousand feet. Below that they’ll take the planes down, either trying to get at the people inside, or just for fun. All outgoing and incoming flights have to have gunship escorts, and airport command towers have to monitor radar and spotter reports about dragon activity in the area. Flights are very expensive, so most civilians drive if they need to travel—usually in convoys and during the day.”
I would never take the ability to run to a convenience store at two in the morning for ice cream for granted ever again. In fact, there were a lot of things I wouldn’t take for granted anymore after being here, like being able to take a near-spontaneous vacation to the Bahamas with Sean. Not that I remembered that vacation, of course, thanks to Miraç stealing my memories. Sean had promised to take me back to the Caribbean to make new ones. I wasn’t sure which of us hurt more over those lost memories.
Thinking about Sean and my missing memories would do nothing but make me sad, so I focused on spotting creatures in the woods and answering Lucy’s questions about our world.
Given the dangers that lurked along the road, I expected an attack on our vehicle at any moment. Lucy noticed my anxiety. “Most critters are smart enough to stay clear of League vehicles,” she told us. “They wait for easier pickings to come along. We’re not safe out here, but we’re less likely to be attacked than civilians.”
As it turned out, our route to Oakdale took us through another coven’s territory. These were white witches, Lucy explained, and wouldn’t mind our passage—especially since she had planned ahead and brought gifts.
Even if I hadn’t seen the runes carved into the trees and painted on the road, I would have known when we crossed the coven’s border because their wards flared and scraped across my skin. I winced and rubbed my arms.
About a mile past the wards, Lucy slowed. Ahead, a tiny figure in a dark hooded cloak waited near the side of the road, sitting on a tall chair inside a small shelter, with a basket on their lap. I saw no car or other structures nearby, but lights glowed deeper into the forest. Houses were hidden back in the trees.
“It’s like a spooky little toll booth,” Malcolm said over my shoulder. “You sure these are white witches?”
“Pretty sure,” Lucy said as she pulled to the side of the road and stopped. “I’ve never been through here myself, but the Guardian intel says they are.” She reached behind her seat for one of the small cloth bags she’d brought from the roadhouse.
The little sentinel slid down from the chair and headed for us, basket in hand, their face and body entirely hidden by the cloak and hood. I wondered who or what had come out to meet us.
My window whirred down. “Merry meet,” Lucy called.
“Merry meet,” a child’s voice responded. She set the basket on a tree stump next to our jeep. Small hands reached up and flipped back the hood, revealing a small girl of about ten, with braided dark hair and amethyst jewelry.
Given the dangers that lurked in this world, some might be surprised to find a child—or even an adult—by herself at night. Age and size had little to do with power when it came to magic, however, as I knew very well. Multiply that by the fact her coven thought her capable of defending herself, and it was crystal clear underestimating this girl would be a very bad idea.
She climbed up on the stump so she could look in my window. “I’m Torryn. Welcome, Guardian,” she said to Lucy. She inclined her head toward Daisy, sitting on the back seat. “Welcome, caretaker wolf. Welcome, earthbound