his mind held strong, refusing to fold.
The fear wasn't real.
He knew manipulation when he saw it and this was a first- class job.
"Do you feel it?" he asked Tarrys, frustrated to hear his teeth chattering.
Unfortunately, unlike at home, this place seemed able to force the emotions on him even when his mind rebelled.
"Feel what?" She darted from one place to the next, retrieving the arrows the Esri shot.
Another flew past them several feet away.
"The cold.
The fear."
Her head snapped to his, her eyes narrowed.
"No.
The temperature hasn't changed."
Charlie nodded.
"I figured it wasn't real."
Now if he could only figure out how to defend himself against that crawling mist and shut down its effect on him because, damn, he was starting to shake.
Tarrys's gaze shifted behind him, her eyes widening.
"Esri.
They've followed us."
Charlie grabbed her and pulled her behind the nearest tree, then eased out to look...and nearly took an arrow in the face.
He reared back just as the projectile flew past to land in a tree behind him.
His gaze met the Esri's.
The promise of death flashed in the Royal Guard's eyes.
Charlie cupped the back of Tarrys's head, needing the feel of her solid warmth.
"We've got to keep moving or we're going to be captured."
"I need his arrows."
"He'll shoot you."
She met his gaze.
"Good.
Then I won't have to hunt for them."
His cool warrior's mind shoved down the fear swirling through his head.
Tarrys was indestructible.
They couldn't hurt her as long as they didn't catch her.
"Get your arrows," he said.
Then he turned into himself, waging war with the forces battling his mind.
He'd long ago learned to capture the adrenaline of gut- ripping fear and turn it into energy.
The trick was to separate his body from his mind.
Compartmentalization in its purest form.
Never had he needed it so completely.
"Tell me if they're coming," he told Tarrys, then closed his eyes and took five deep breaths as he always did to corral his focus at the start of a dangerous op.
Little by little, for another count of five, he consciously allowed the cold to wash through him as he siphoned the adrenaline that pounded through his veins.
But as he tried to shut off the useful, if unwanted, emotion, it turned on him, terror leaping into his throat.
He couldn't shut it off.
His vision began to spin in a whirl of chaos, screams tearing apart his ears.
"Tarrys!" He couldn't see her.
Couldn't see anything! Screams.
Her screams.
She needed him.
Something clamped around his wrist.
Soft.
Warm.
"Charlie, I'm right here."
His vision cleared instantly.
Inside his mind, he slammed down a mental wall, shutting off the forest's evil, breaking its hold.
He breathed air into his lungs, air that suddenly tasted warm again.
But that particular battle wasn't over.
He could still see the dark mists swirling around him.
Just the thought of being overcome again sent a frigid draft brushing against his cheeks and he got the distinct feeling that the forest laughed at him, laughed at his temerity in thinking he could possibly defend himself against its attack.
The chill that went through him was all too real.
He turned to Tarrys.
"Where's the Esri?" "Right where he was a moment ago, but he's no longer shooting at us.
He's not moving."
Charlie peered around the tree.
Sure enough, the guard was staring at nothing, his eyes huge.
Charlie nearly smiled.
Misery loved company.
"Let's get going before the others join him."
He glanced at the three arrows clutched in Tarrys's hand.
"Did you get what you needed?" "The ones close by."
Charlie ushered her in front of him as they dodged from tree to tree, careful not to touch the ones with thorns.
They'd made little progress when another flurry of arrows sailed past them, one catching in his cloak.
Another caught Tarrys in the back of her shoulder.
He grabbed her when she would have stumbled, and pulled her behind the closest tree.
Pain lanced her features.
"Tell me what to do."
"Don't break it! I need the arrow."
Cringing against the pain he knew he was going to cause her, he grabbed the shaft and yanked it free of her tender flesh, releasing a fresh bloom of blood to mark her ragged gown.
He held her tight as she sagged against him, absorbing her shudders as the shock roared through her system.
As her body healed.
Charlie glanced back, ready to pick her up and run if the Esri were getting too close.
But three of the four who were now inside the forest had turned and were fleeing the other way, leaving the forest as cleanly as they'd entered.
Only one remained, but he posed no threat at the moment because he was staring with wide, terrified eyes at something that was invisible