If anyone had looked up into the stand of trees, they might have thought that the inferno was spreading. But in a heartbeat, the tall tower of flames was gone and darkness reigned supreme again.
Rune’s phone call a few hours later explained how they had been tracked.
“It was under Terri’s left breast,” he said. “I don’t know if it will be the same with Shea, but that seems a good place to start checking.”
“I will.” Torin looked across the room at Shea. She hadn’t spoken again since he’d flashed her to a new motel. It had taken longer than he would have liked to cover the distance between Flagstaff, Arizona, and where they were now, in tiny El Rito, New Mexico. But he’d wanted as much distance between them and the last attack as possible.
Now he was glad of it. If there was another tracker on Shea’s body somewhere, they had to find it before whoever was after them had time to catch up.
Shea paced the small motel room. Her nerves were so tight, her power was spiking and Torin felt it as he would have a fever. Tension was ripe in the air between them and damned if he knew how to break it. He had done what he would always do. What he must do. Protect her. He would protect them all. If she couldn’t see that . . .
“Doc Fender is back in the mix, too,” Rune was saying and Torin paid attention.
He went completely still at that piece of news. “Are you sure?”
“The witches of Sanctuary are sure,” his friend said. “He’s the head of the Seekers.”
“I’ve heard of them.” Nothing good, either. They were a rogue band of militia types, well armed and scared. Not a good combination. But Torin had had no idea that Henry Fender was a part of that group. The man was infamous for his cruelty and his fanaticism. Knowing that he was part of an organized group operating outside of federal rules and regulations told Torin that the stakes had just gone higher.
Fender couldn’t be predicted. The man was mad and dedicated to what he saw as his God-given duty. To destroy witches. He hadn’t been heard from recently and Torin had hoped he was dead.
“The witches claim that he’s turning some of his victims,” Rune told him. “Offering to stop the pain if they’ll help capture others like them.”
“Bastard.”
“Exactly. So keep your eyes open. Seekers could be on your trail as well as everyone else.”
“I will.” His gaze touched Shea again. He couldn’t help but look to her wherever she was. It was as if unless he was touching her, he was only half alive.
Then Rune started talking again and Torin was caught up in the possibilities offered by the Sanctuary libraries of spell books. “She can reach them anywhere?”
“According to Karen, yes. Though it’s easier all around if you’re at least close to a Sanctuary. Something about power bridges built by the witches.” He blew out a breath. “The magics are stronger when you can draw on combined power.”
“Right. We’ll try it.”
Shea turned to look at him, a question in her eyes. He nodded to let her know he would tell her everything. She smiled briefly and Torin felt a rush of pride in her swell within him. His woman had a core of steel.
“Have you heard anything about Egan?”
“No,” Rune admitted. “But I’m going to check in with a few of the others. See if anyone’s seen him.” He paused. “You know how it is, Torin. After centuries of waiting, some can only deal with it by disappearing. Keeping to themselves.”
“That time is past,” Torin said. “The Awakening is begun and we must all stand by our witches. So you need to find Egan.”
“I will. Watch your back.”
Torin hung up and looked across the room at his woman. The strength of his gaze finally caught her attention and she looked at him. “What are we going to try?”
“The witches of Sanctuary have set up a library of ancient spell books and shadow tomes. They say you can access whatever you need through a dimensional portal.”
She laughed shortly, but there was no humor in it. “Sure. Dimensional portals. No problem. I’ll get right on it.” Shaking her head, she admitted, “I have no idea how to do that, Torin.”
“We’ll figure it out, Shea. Together.”
She studied him for a long minute. “There’s something else. What is it?”