and instantly, the other Amazons surrounded the car, backs to the machine, gazes fixed on the trees, mountain and sky.
“No fucking way,” Rune insisted, already starting for the redheaded witch. “I got the tracer out myself. Cut it out of her neck.”
“There’s one you missed, Eternal,” Selena told him. “And until it’s out, nobody goes any farther. As it is, if they’re following her, they’ve come too close already.” She glanced at the other witch. “Rachel, find it.”
“Right.”
“Just a damn minute,” Rune shouted.
“It’s okay,” Terri called out, stepping from the car. She looked at all of the women standing ready to protect her and her family and then glanced at Rune. “If there’s another one, I want it out, too.” She looked at Rachel. “Just do what you have to do.”
The witch called on her magic again and ran her hands up and down Terri’s body. Sparks flew and power shuddered in the air. Intense focus etched lines into Rachel’s expression until she stopped at last. “Found it. Here. Under her breast.”
“Impossible.” Rune shook his head. He’d checked Terri personally. No way would he have been able to miss a silver tracker.
“Rachel’s never wrong,” Selena told him flatly, then said, “Get it done, Rachel.”
“Trust me,” Rachel said, staring directly into Terri’s eyes.
Once again, Rune was impressed with the human’s strength of will. She only nodded and closed her eyes. He wouldn’t look away, though. He watched every move the witch made, ready to jump in and protect Terri even if it meant every weapon in the place would be turned loose on him.
Rachel lifted Terri’s shirt, bared her breast and then laid her palm beneath the full curve. “I can feel it. It’s deep. I can get it but it’s going to hurt like a bitch.”
“More good news,” Terri murmured. “Do it.”
He could only watch and wait. Not things Rune was good at.
Rachel held her hand beneath Terri’s breast, closed her eyes and drew on her magic again. This time, the sparks flew like fireworks. Her hair lifted in that magical wind again and she chanted beneath her breath as Terri moaned softly and bit into her bottom lip.
“Mommy!” Amanda’s shocked cry burst from the car and one of the witches reached through a window to comfort the child with a touch.
Seconds became minutes and minutes stretched into an eternity. Rune never took his gaze off Rachel until at last, with a single harsh cry from Terri, the witch grinned and held up her hand. Blood covered her palm but in the center of that dark red fluid lay a flashing silver chip, smaller than the one he’d taken from the back of her neck. Rune was forced to admit he’d missed it.
But how?
“It’s bespelled,” Rachel said, answering his unspoken question.
“You mean another witch spelled the metal used to track her sisters?” Selena’s voice was horrified.
“It’s the only explanation,” Rachel said and destroyed the chip under her bootheel. She then turned back to Terri, healed her wound and patted her shoulder. “You did great.”
“That explains why you couldn’t find the tracker,” Selena told Rune. “If there’s a ward on it protecting it from detection, you wouldn’t have noticed it at all. You’d have to be looking for it specifically to feel the magical vibration.”
“That’s just great,” he muttered and told himself to call Torin the moment he could. If Terri had been bugged twice, then most likely so had Shea. “So what about it?” he asked Selena as Terri climbed back into the car to comfort her daughter. “Are you going to help these women or not?”
Selena nodded, turned and lifted both hands toward the rockfall blocking the road. A rush of magic spilled from her and the road opened, displaying the landslide to be nothing more than a well-constructed illusion.
Dropping her hands, she looked at Rune and the women in the car. “Welcome to Sanctuary.”
Chapter 29
With Torin out rounding up food, Shea took some time to try to get things straight in her head. So much had happened so quickly, she hardly knew what to think anymore.
But one thing was sure. Nothing was ever going to be the same for her again. Not since her Awakening. Not since Torin.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and slipped out of her shirt and bra. Staring at the two tiny flames, the beginning of the mating brand at the tip of her breast, she felt a swirl of magic rush through her. She inhaled sharply and let it come, relishing