Wolf Creek Enforcer (19 page)

She swiveled her head back to look at him when he stood and walked towards the door.

“Don’t think for a moment you can escape.  Until I figured out your magic, I had to be sure you wouldn’t just disappear.”  He smiled gently, almost apologetically.  “I had to have time to prepare this room for you, little druid.  The door and window are warded, not to mention the barrier I have around my land.” 

Melanie watched, stunned as he left the room
.  She could not understand how he knew she was a druid.  Their kind had always been secretive, keeping their gifts private.  She worried about the other druid families she knew, all with different talents.  She knew of one family that could heal any disease or injury, almost to the point of bringing someone back from the dead.  She hated to think of Braeden having that kind of power at his fingertips. 

Rubbing her head
, she pushed that worry aside, knowing he would be taken care of at a later date.  Right now her priority was getting out of this room. 

She
ran to the bathroom, that need could not wait.  Searching the bathroom, she found towels and shampoo.  Obviously no woman had purchased the toiletries.  There was no conditioner or feminine products.  Some hairspray would have been nice, at least she could have sprayed that in his eyes.  Leaving the bathroom, she started her search for a weapon in the bedroom.   

Sitting down on the bed, she grew more irritated when no
solution came to her.  Throwing herself backwards, she bounced lightly and stared at the ceiling.

For some reason
, her fireman friend, Paul, popped into her head.  He had told her how to escape a burning apartment if her exits were blocked. 

As she recalled, he’d told her
to grab any hard object and beat through the sheetrock.  Then pull out the insulation and beat through the sheetrock on the other side and escape through another apartment.

Leaping from the bed, Melanie went over to the dresser and yanked out the first drawer. 

The usual exits may be warded so they couldn’t be opened, but she’d bet her life the walls weren’t.  Beating a hole through a wall could not have been anticipated, she hoped. 

Stopping to think, she didn’t know whether to try an interior or exterior wall.  Interior would probably be another bedroom, possible his.  Exterior would mean trying to pound through brick
or maybe another hard substance once the sheetrock was down. 

Exterior was preferable
, she thought.  She could run into the woods and maybe escape his wards.  But the drawer would not be strong enough to break through brick.

Deciding on trying the interior wall,
she swung the drawer with her good hand, hoping the house was large enough to muffle the noise.  She sincerely doubted Braeden would live in a small home. 

The edge of the drawer made a small four by four inch hole where it had struck the wall.  She quickly starting pulling the sheetrock off, not wanting to make any more noise by hitting it repeatedly. 

Sweat rolled down her chest as she threw chunks of sheetrock to the side.  She kept listening for footsteps beyond the door, but all was silent.  When she couldn’t pull off any more chunks, she used the drawer again, making another hole below the first opening.  It was easier to pull the rest off, now that she had weakened the area. 

Once the hole was large enough, she pulled out
the insulation, wincing when a small piece of fiberglass embedded itself in her finger.

Melanie ran into the bathr
oom and quickly washed her hand, hopefully removing all of the insulation.   

Picking up the drawer, she knocked a hole through the sheetrock leading into another room.  Dropping the drawer, she crouched down to look through the hole. 

Seeing another bedroom, she started the process again, pulling down the sheetrock.  Not wasting any time, she used her foot to kick out the remaining pieces. 

Stepping through the new doorw
ay, she was glad to see an unoccupied bedroom.  Quietly walking to the door, she stood with her ear pressed against the wood.  Not hearing anything, she reached for the knob, praying it would open.

The handle clicked when
she turned it.  Pulling the door open half an inch, she peered out, trying to see down the hallway.  Not seeing anyone, she opened it wider, slipped out and silently closed it behind her. 

The house was eerily silent.  Melanie st
ayed close to the wall, gliding down the hallway toward a staircase.  Once on the landing, she waited, watching for movement down below.  Seeing none, she started down the stairs, staying to the side to avoid any loose boards that could creak.  Adrenaline spiked as she crept down, worried she’d be caught at any moment.  Reaching the bottom, she looked both left and right.  To the left she could see the front door, the right led to the kitchen with a door leading outside. 

Melanie turned right and rushed to the back door. 
No one stopped her.  No one yelled out.  She flipped the lock, wrenching the door open.  A loud, screaming alarm filled the air, deafening her.  Who would have believed a wizard would have a burglar alarm system installed, she thought.  

R
unning across the deck, she jumped over the railing and tucked her hand against her body as she ran for the woods.  Expecting to be tackled at any moment, she never looked back as she plunged into the trees. 

She had a few minutes head start before she heard a roar and
knew Braeden was not far behind.  Branches tore at her skin from low hanging limbs.  She hit a root buried under the dirt and immediately tucked and rolled, springing back up to continue running. 

She had too many years of training to be taken down like some horror movie dumb blonde.  Just as that thought entered her head, a blast of
cold wind hit her back and knocked her down.

Jumping back up, she saw Braeden was still a good
three hundred feet back from her.  Running in a zigzag  pattern, she hoped to avoid any more eruptions he threw her way. 

She was getting tired, her head was pounding and she could still feel his wards on the land.  She kept thinking that if she just ran a little further, she would be outside his wards and could transport herself somewhere, anywhere else. 

Melanie screamed as a ball of fire skimmed her shoulder, slamming into a tree and bursting into flame.  Her entire arm felt as though it was on fire, but she knew it was the remnants of black magic making the pain cling to her skin. 

Gritting her teeth, she cradled her arm to keep from jostling it as she dodged around obstacles.  Looking around frantically, she searched for a hiding place.  If she could just lay low, she knew Ian would save her. 

Glancing behind her, she saw Braeden was still coming, but at a slower pace.  He seemed to be breathing heavily, jogging now instead of running. 

Knowing how using magic drained her energy, she assumed it worked the same way for wizards.  Her energy level wa
s fine, it was her cheek, arm and hand giving her problems.  But she still had the strength to run, the pain would have to be put aside, hopefully her natural endorphins would kick in and grant her some relief. 

Coming upon a small stream, she
saw a load of mud and sticks at the edge of the creek.  This was it, her hiding place.  Recognizing that it was an abandoned beaver lodge, she noted the holes that hadn’t been patched up. 

Slipping
behind a tree close to the water, she ducked down where the dams logs and branches protected her from sight.  Crawling into the creek, she caught her breath at the chilly water seeping through her clothes.  Swimming around the lodge, she looked for a hole big enough to pull her body through.  At least the cold water helped numb the pain in her arm.  Seeing a small opening, she pulled out more branches and mud to make it easier to get through. 

Holding onto a large log
above the opening, she lifted her feet over the sticks and lowered herself into the murky shelter.  There was enough light to see a ledge where the dam was built close to the edge of the stream.  Pushing herself through the water, she used her good arm to reach across the mud and slowly pull herself onto the shelf.  She lay on her back, resting her arm on her stomach and tried to calm her breathing. 

It seemed like it had taken hours to reach this spot, but in actuality
, it had only been a few minutes. 

She listened for any sound, afraid to move and give her hiding place away.  Looking around the lodge, she r
ealized she was very lucky there were no critters sharing her space.  She could just imagine an angry beaver attacking her for invading their home.  I wonder if beavers attack, she thought irrationally. 

Hearing a noise, Melanie froze, holding her breath and listening intently.  It sounded like someone was walking around, but she couldn’t quite place the location.  The l
odge and the water distorted sounds, making them bounce around and echo inside her enclosure. 

Staring at the sticks above her head, she tried to relax so she could think.  If he found her, she would have to dive to the bottom of the lodge, hoping she could find another hole underneath and swim for her freedom.  The thought of trying to see in the muddy water was frightening,
if there was no hole, she could drown.  Not much of a plan, but she couldn’t think of another option.

As she lay shivering, she tried to mentally call for Ian.  Having no clue as to where she was, she couldn’t even tell him where to look for her.  In her minds eye, she found the image of when she had last seen him.
  Calling for him, she felt the vibes as she sent her energy out to him.  She almost cried when she felt it hit a barrier and come back to her. 

Not hearing
any more movement from outside her shelter, she decided to take a breather and sort out her next move.  Melanie closed her eyes, trying to rest so she would be ready to fight again.  She was so cold it was difficult to relax.  Holding her arms close to her body, she tried to keep from shaking and give her position away by disturbing the sticks above her.  Melanie groaned when she clamped her jaw shut to stop her teeth from chattering.  Her cheek was aching where Braeden had slapped her.  He must have used some black magic since it was still hurting.  Damp, cold and miserable, Melanie curled onto her side, praying for Ian to find her. 

Chapter 13

Where the hell did she go
, he wondered.  Braeden walked to the edge of the water, looking up and down the moving stream.  She seemed to have disappeared into thin air.  He knew she was still on his land.  There was no break in his barrier, the wards were holding strong. 

Braeden was furious at how Melanie had escaped his home. 
He assumed an intruder had set off his alarm and went to make sure Melanie was secure in her room before running out the back door.   Never had he imagined she would break through a wall.  Having an alarm system along with his magic should have been enough.  It didn’t matter.  She may think she was free, but she would not be able to pass through the wards surrounding his property.  All he needed to do was wait her out.

He walked down to the last place he’d seen her, near a tree by a load of debris piled at the edge.  There were no footprints in the mud leading into the water.  He could see where some
type of animal had made a trench to slide into the creek. 

He debated staying there or searching further into the trees.  She was not in the water, he thought, he would have seen her swimming either up or down stream.

Getting angrier by the minute, he turned abruptly and headed for his house.  He would find a spell that would bring her out of hiding.  The forest was too large for him to search alone. 

He needed an
assistant, someone to do his bidding.  Feeling no remorse for Krew’s death, he contemplated finding another fledgling wizard.  Someone younger he could mold as he saw fit, someone whose loyalty could not be questioned. 

As he crossed the threshold of his
back door, he felt it.   Something was trying to infiltrate his wards.  It was very powerful, moving around the perimeters, looking for a weak point in his walls. 

“Damn!” he shouted.  “What now?”
 

His plans were quickly falling apart.  He would not give the girl up.  She would be much easier to control than the fae warrior.  That incantation he’d used on Robert would not work again.  The spell had disappeared from the book once he’d used it.  He would not forget that lesson, being sure to use the knowledge in the book wisely, not frivolously. 

Hurrying through the kitchen, he marched over to a panel on the wall.  It looked like an ordinary alarm system, with numbers and the date lit up digitally in blue.  Punching in a code, the wall slid open, revealing his secret room.  As the door closed behind him, the lights turned on with a wave of his hand.  Using magic and modern technology amused him.  He could sit back and observe from several monitors whoever was trying to break down his walls.

* * *

Rafe pulled back onto the blacktop after his pack had hidden their vehicle in the trees beyond the road.  He’d felt his men shift and knew they were hurrying to get as close as they could to Braeden’s hiding place.  One of his enforcers would travel on foot to carry the rifles once they took their positions.  His plan was to get as close as possible and distract the wizard.  He was running different scenarios through his head when he heard Lisa snickering.