Hunting Memories - By Barb Hendee Page 0,70
do. She was a survivor by nature . . . but she was also flawed by her obsession over taking care of others. He believed her capable of finding a way to board that train in time, whether Rose’s throat was half-severed or not.
Yes. He almost nodded to himself. She—and her companions—were most likely on the train to Portland.
Unfortunate, but not a complete loss yet.
“Mary, check the apartment, just to be sure they haven’t gone back.” He walked toward the telephone on the end table. “Jasper, go clean yourself up,” he said, picking up the phone and hitting zero.
“Front desk,” a professional-sounding woman answered.
“Yes, I need an Amtrak schedule sent to my suite. Then arrange for a rental car. I’ll want it within the hour.”
chapter 11
Right as the train began to move, Wade dropped to sit on a small bench-style couch against one wall of their cabin. His head was still light, and his wrist hurt, but otherwise, he was starting to feel better.
Once everyone was inside, Robert locked the door.
Rose eased down beside Wade, wearing his jacket, but when she moved, the collar slipped down past her shoulder.
To his amazement, her injured throat was almost healed, the wound appearing only as an angry red line. She was clearly shaken but conscious and fairly calm.
“Do you want me close that shutter over the window?” he asked.
“I’ll do it,” Philip offered, slipping past them.
Eleisha kneeled down on the floor beside the couch.
Rose’s face twisted in a pained expression. “I’m so sorry,” she said with a harsh rasp. “I don’t remember very much after we walked into the station . . . until . . . I saw the sword coming at me and then I woke with Wade’s wrist in . . . You know how badly I want us all to reach Portland. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Eleisha soothed her, touching her forehead. “I didn’t realize how hard that would be for you. It’s not your fault. Do you feel better in here?”
Rose looked around the small cabin, at the closed window and locked door. She nodded.
“Just exactly what happened out there?” Robert demanded, stepping past Eleisha and opening the adjoining door to their other cabin. He stood in the doorway to give everyone else more room.
Even so, the quarters were tight.
Still kneeling, Eleisha began to talk in short bursts, telling them about a ghost who’d flashed in front of her suddenly and how Seamus had then appeared, and they’d both vanished.
Then she described the vampire who’d attacked Rose.
“He seemed new,” Eleisha whispered. “Like he didn’t understand my gift or his own or how they work.”
“Julian’s behind it,” Robert said. “He must be.”
“We don’t know that,” Philip said, surprising Wade—as Philip always tended to suspect Julian. “He works alone. He doesn’t make servants to help him.”
“He made Eleisha,” Wade said.
No one spoke for a few moments, and then Robert asked, “Was the ghost working with this vampire?”
Eleisha’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t know. But it seemed like she was trying to scare me off, to keep me away from Rose. I do think the sight of Seamus frightened her.”
The implications of this left Wade shaken. He had no idea why a ghost and a vampire they’d never met would go to such lengths to attack them.
Rose lifted her head weakly off the back of the couch. “Seamus,” she rasped. “Are you there?”
A slight blur marred the view of the shuttered window close to where Philip was standing, and then Seamus materialized. His expression was troubled.
“Well?” Robert said, as if it was the only necessary word.
Seamus looked over at the couch. “Rose! What happened to you?”
She leaned her head back again. “I’ll be fine.”
“What happened?” he repeated.
“Did you find that . . . girl who jumped out at me?” Eleisha asked.
His transparent eyes narrowed. “No, I tried, but she moves so quickly, blinking from place to place like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
“Do you . . . have you ever spoken with other ghosts?” she asked quietly.
He hesitated. “Yes, but they were like me, tied to a place or to someone in this world. This girl is different.”
“Why would a ghost work for Julian?” Robert asked, not really speaking to anyone.
“We still don’t know it’s Julian,” Philip answered. “We don’t know if the ghost and that vampire are even connected. We don’t know anything.”
“Except that we need to get home!” Eleisha cut in, and the strain in her voice caught Wade’s full attention. “Once we’re back at the church, we’ll be safe