Gabriel nodded. As they drove away, he shape-changed, winging his way down the mountain after them to ensure they got away safely. Then he wheeled around and headed back to the camp.
Kazdan was on the move.
He saw two men carry Sam to a large white van and put her inside. Kazdan climbed in after her and the van moved off. Several other cars were lined up in the parking lot. Men scurried antlike from the buildings to the vehicles, carrying all manner of equipment. No one made any attempt to fight the fire.
Fire trucks were approaching fast, but he doubted if they’d be in time to stop the evacuation. And while he’d love to know just what Kazdan was up to in that compound, Sam had to be his first priority, because she seemed to be Kazdan’s first priority. With a flick of his wings, he headed east, after the first van.
They drove for about an hour. The wind grew stronger, buffeting his wings and carrying with it the salty tang of the sea. He studied the horizon. Beyond the dusting of house lights, beyond the trees that danced and swayed to the music of the breeze, he could see the ocean—a blanket of foam washed blue-black. They were nearing Western Port Bay.
Kazdan turned before he got to the beach road, heading inland for several miles, then finally slowing as he approached an isolated farmhouse.
Gabriel drifted closer. A familiar tingle ran through his limbs, a warning that he was approaching a changer shield. Why would they have something like that way out here? It was the sort of device used to protect military installations, not isolated farmhouses. He flicked his wings, soaring left, wondering just how large the shield was. A blue-white light speared out of the darkness below him. Before he could turn away, before he could react in any way, it hit, flaring bright against his chest.
He couldn’t move. Couldn’t fly.
All he could do was watch the approach of the ground as he plummeted toward it.
PAIN WASHED THROUGH EVERY MUSCLE, every cell. Sam’s whole body ached. It felt as if it were being stretched, being invaded somehow. She groaned … and even that hurt. Her throat felt like sandpaper and was as dry as a desert. Her tongue seemed swollen and rasped harshly against the roof of her mouth.
Boot heels echoed softly against metal, coming toward her. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt so heavy they might have been weighted down by concrete. It took several attempts before she managed to open them, and even then, her vision was reduced to mere slits.
The harsh light made her blink back tears.
“I did ask if you’d do this the easy way,” Jack said, somewhere to her left. “It would have been so much better.”
The warmth had gone from his tone, leaving only harshness. Or maybe it had always been like that, and she’d never noticed it before now.
“What have you done?” Her question came out a cracked whisper. She tried to swallow, but she couldn’t. Maybe he’d sucked all the moisture away, as easily as he sucked the life from others.
“Nothing much, yet. There are plenty of tests left to try.”
He sounded almost jovial. The footsteps came closer, and then she could see him. His smile, like the light in his eyes, was one of a conqueror about to demolish his foe. Had she been able to draw enough moisture together, she would have spat at him.
“This isn’t exactly a good way to get me to help you,” she said.
His smile was serene. “By the time I’m finished with you, my friend, you’ll be begging me to let you help.”
He certainly didn’t know her very well if he thought she would ever beg. Still, the viciousness behind his words shook her. This man, this demon, called himself her friend, yet he was more than willing to tear her apart. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I prefer to be a leader rather than a follower. Because I’m sick of pussyfooting around. And because I want a better world for my kid.” He motioned to someone beyond her line of sight. “Now, lie back and enjoy the ride.”
Like hell she would. She lashed out, trying to catch him unawares, but metal bit into her wrist, cold and hard, stopping her arm from rising any more than an inch or so. Similar metal clamps bit into her ankles and neck.
Jack laughed. “I’m not foolish enough to let you loose a second time. You’ll stay here until I’ve finished.”
“Damn you for this, Jack.” Damn him for destroying a friendship she’d held dear. Even if it was a friendship based on a lie, she’d believed in it.
His laugh was edged with sadness. “I was damned a long time ago, Sam. Now I must live with it the best I can.”
Heat began to creep through her fingers and toes, a tingling warmth that made her skin itch and made her heart leap uncomfortably in her chest. Then pain hit, sucking at her strength, leaching away her consciousness. Soon there was nothi
ng but a well of darkness, and she fell into it screaming.
HE WAS IN A BOAT that rocked gently back and forth, a soothing sensation that failed to ease the alarms ringing in his mind, forcing him toward consciousness. The breeze pulled at his hair and cooled the warm moisture trickling down his face and back. Somewhere above him, leaves sighed, and branches groaned under the increasing strength of the wind.
He became aware of something hard biting deep into his stomach. To his left, wood splintered—a sound not unlike the cracking of a tree branch.
Confused, wondering where the hell he was, Gabriel opened his eyes. The ground was a good twenty feet away, rising and dipping in a sickening motion.