"That I can do." Nick scooted off the bar stool and headed into the kitchen.
"Nae, I can't find her," Ceara said. "I can't pinpoint her exact location. I told you, something powerful protects her. Something that is beginning to feel like a god's power to me."
"Camulus?"
"I'm not sure. Part of it feels like it could be a Celtic god and yet there is something more."
"What?"
"It's more like powers are commingled. Like two gods are protecting themselves."
"Why?"
She shrugged.
Nick cursed. "There's no food in here. There's nothing but grass and tofu and shit. There's not even a Coke. Man, T, your girlfriend is whacked."
Nick pulled out the block of soy cheese and smelled it. "This looks kind of edible though. I mean, you can't really screw up cheese, right?"
"Yeah, Nick. Eat the cheese." He turned back to Ceara. while Nick searched for a knife to slice it. "Will they free her?"
"I can't tell you the future, Speirr, you know the rules."
"I have to know she's going to live."
Ceara hesitated before she answered. "Today, she will."
"And tomorrow?"
Ceara looked away. "I can't tell you that."
Talon cursed.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light entered the room. Talon shielded his eyes from the glare and watched as Acheron and two men appeared just inside the doorway. He'd never seen the two men before, but one look told him they were Katagaria. The air around them was rife with animalistic, psychic power.
"Oh man," Nick snapped. "I hate that pooling shit. You scared me so bad, Ash, you made me eat this crappy cheese." He looked back at Talon. "What is this stuff anyway?"
"Soy cheese."
The Katagaria exchanged a disgusted look.
"So much for my dinner," the taller Katagaria said. "Now his whole system is polluted. Be at least a week before it leaves his cell tissue and he's edible again."
Nick paled considerably.
"You ready to go after Sunshine?" Acheron asked Talon.
Steeled with determination, Talon nodded. "Let's do it."
Acheron glanced to Nick in the kitchen. "Nick, I want you to head over to Zarek's and keep him out of sight for the time being. He's under house arrest, so if I catch him out and about, he's in deep shit and so are you."
Nick grimaced. "Okay, but for the record, I want you to know that if a woman's life wasn't on the line, I'd tell you to stuff that order."
Nick walked out the door, past the Katagaria, mumbling all the while. " 'Nick, fetch my car, fetch my clothes, sweep the chimney, make my bed, watch my psychopath, fetch my slippers.' Yeah, I'll fetch those slippers and stick them someplace real uncomfortable." Just when Talon thought he was through, he heard one last parting comment. "I swear, my mother should have named me Fido."
"Hey, I'll have you know my best friend is named Fido," the taller Katagaria said over his shoulder.
The other Katagaria shoved him lightly. "Would you stop?"