Worlds Apart (25 page)

The house was clean. They didn't
see her purse. A computer in the kitchen was not on. A glass
half-filled with water sat on the counter. An empty yogurt
container and spoon were in the sink.

Ringstrom frowned. “Let's check
the office.”

There wasn't anything there,
either. “Normal,” Will said. “It's all set up for tomorrow's
patients.”

Ringstrom headed outside. “I'm
going to Damien's.”

“I'll follow you.”

At the apartment, Ringstrom
pointed at Will's car. “Stay here unless I call you.”

It started to rain. Will leaned
against his hood and watched as Ringstrom knocked on the door.
After three seconds, he knocked again, calling out, “Damien, you in
there? Answer the door. It's Ringstrom.” Nothing. “Police! Open
up.” Ringstrom tried the handle, but it was locked. He glanced back
at Will. “Get the manager. I want to go in.”

Will raced to the manager’s office
and found Sam Durlock closing up. When they returned to Damien’s
apartment, the sheriff was on his walkie-talkie. Ringstrom motioned
for Sam to unlock the door as he finished his call with a brusque,
“Keep looking. I’ll call you.”

The studio was small, and they
took it in with one glance. Clean, but not perfectly so. A few
dishes in the sink. A layer of dust on the furniture. A girlie
magazine open on the coffee table with a can of beer next to
it.

Will caught an ominous and
familiar odor, and turned toward the bathroom, his gut clenching in
anxiety. He pointed. “In there.”

Ringstrom drew his gun and
approached the partly closed door. He pushed it with his foot and
the blood drained from his face. “Jesus H. Christ.”

Sam gagged. Will forced his
discomfort to fade away into stoic professionalism. He’d never get
through this otherwise.

Ringstrom stepped into the room.
“It's a cat.”

The animal was stretched out over
the tub, held by a clothesline fed under its collar. Its skin hung
from the body in furry sheets. Blood covered the walls, floor, tub,
and even the ceiling. They could see its face, twisted in agonized
stiffness.

“It's Beowulf. Tina's cat,” Will
said.

“How do you know that?” Ringstrom
sounded like he believed him; he just needed to make
sure.

“That's his collar. And he's been
missing for a couple of days.”

Ringstrom turned, jabbing his
radio. He strode from the room talking in quick, hard sentences to
his dispatcher, ordering a search party and putting out an All
Points Bulletin. Will and Sam stared at each other until Ringstrom
poked his head back in.

“Lock it up, Sam. This is a crime
scene. Keep everyone away. Doc, it might be a good idea to get an
EMT crew out to Grillman Road for when we find her.”

Chapter 30

Frantic beeps shrilled from
Clive's strap. He jerked his arm up to read it, holding his hat
over it to keep it dry from the rain. Bright green letters flashed
at him.
Urgent. Meeting Now. Urgent, Urgent. Port
appended.

His heartbeat raced in staccato
jumps. Something had happened.

He accessed the port spell,
muttered the words and ran three steps. A portal opened in front of
him, then popped away behind him. He almost ran into Riff Freeder,
who was racing through his own portal a few feet away. Others were
arriving too, temporary portals popping in and out of existence as
the team assembled.

Kasia stood off to the side, arms
folded across her chest. Her eyes blazed into Clive's. Behind her,
Shandari checked through a medical bag. Clive moved without thought
to stand in front of Kasia. Both of them ignored the rest of the
team.

“Tina's been kidnapped,” Kasia
said.

“When? Where?” The rockslide was
clear in his mind, adding panic to his words.

She raised her voice so all could
hear her. She glanced around as she spoke, but her eyes kept
returning to Clive. “All right, listen up. We've intercepted a
bulletin sent to all law enforcement agencies in the area. Dr.
Cassidy has been kidnapped. The bulletin includes a picture of the
kidnapper and I have no doubt he's our werewolf. They're out in the
wilderness somewhere. I've sent the information to your straps.
Since the Flatlanders are involved, we're changing our
plans.”

She gestured to the Keeper's
house. “There's new gear for everyone inside—rain jackets and
identification. We're now part of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. They call it the FBI. If anyone questions you, just
refer them to me. I'll be in contact with the local officers.
Evidently, it's not unusual for the FBI to take over this kind of
investigation. That will work in our favor.

“They seem to know the general
area where Dr. Cassidy is being held. That information is also on
your straps. I want a perimeter established at a ten-mile radius.
Our werewolf is there, and I want him brought in, dead or
alive.”

Clive jerked at that, imagining
Tina caught in the crossfire, but Kasia placed a cautionary hand on
his arm. She glared around at her team. “Make every effort to save
Dr. Cassidy, and I mean every effort. Not only is she an innocent
Flatlander, she also has a special magic that we must preserve and
study. Her safety is our first concern at all times. Does everyone
understand?”

Clive heard his own struggling
breath as Kasia's gaze went from person to person. She nodded.
“Teams Ekah and Dvau, set up and maintain the perimeter. The rest
of us will contact the Flatlanders and help them search. Get your
equipment and go.”

~~

A bush slashed Tina's face as she
crashed through it, but she ignored the pain, tossing her head to
throw raindrops from her eyes. Her chest burned, and her breath
came in deep gasps, but she could not fight the compulsion to
follow Damien, keeping up with his rapid tear through the forest.
He'd said she could resist him, but she didn't know how she did it.
It wasn't happening at the moment.

When he'd released the iron straps
that held her down, it was only to haul her to her feet. He struck
her again across her face, then held her still, his hand entwined
in her hair to hold her head back. He bent down, his face buried in
her neck like a parody of an ardent lover.

“Fear,” he said, his voice muffled
against her. “Pain. Fear of pain. Fear from pain. Hopelessness.” He
raised his head, and his amused smile sent shivers through her.
“You don't feel hopelessness yet, do you? Think maybe you got a
message out? Think they'll find you?”

He laughed, and she knew beyond
doubt that they never would find her. He moved her head back and
forth, his breath hot on her cheek. “That's better, Tina. You're
helpless. You have no hope. Remember that.”

He'd released her then, but the
compulsion to stay with him had overwhelmed her. So when he stepped
off on a fast walk into the trees, she went with him, fighting to
keep up. He never once looked back or tried to help her up the
steep slopes.

She didn't know how long they tore
through the forest. Every moment had become a torturous
concentration to take one more step, to keep going, while her sides
screamed and her lungs raged. She was covered in cuts and bruises
from her many falls and slips.

Her shaking hands gripped a branch
as she pulled herself to the crest of a hill, and for the first
time in an eternity, she stopped. Where was he? The compulsion had
not lessened, it beat at her, forcing her to move, but with no idea
of which direction he'd taken she turned in a circle, searching
through the dark rain for a glimpse of him.

The pine needles under her feet
gave way as she turned. A terrifying and nauseating weightlessness
surrounded her, but the fall was over before she found breath to
scream. Then she was sliding, feet first. It occurred to her that
it might be better to die rather than face whatever Damien had in
mind. But her hand found a bush, which slowed her, then Damien
grabbed her by her jacket, lifting her and dragging her with him
along the slope.

They'd gone just a few feet when
he turned, pushing her against the mountainside, then through an
opening. She didn’t feel the rain anymore. He took her a few more
feet, then let her fall to the ground. She lay there for several
minutes, doing nothing but getting her breath back and waiting for
her sides to stop hurting.

A surge of heat brought her
upright in a rush of terror. Was he going to burn her
alive?

But there was no fire. They were
in a cave—a large one, high enough for Damien to stand in. She was
crouching against the rock wall, to the right of the entrance about
halfway to the end of the cave. A few feet to her right, a smaller
opening was visible, but she couldn't see anything inside. Damien
stood at the end of the cave, staring at the left wall, his hands
moving in a slow, complex pattern over the rocks.

She watched him, bewildered. It
took a few moments for her to realize that it should be dark in the
cave, that she shouldn't be able to see anything at all. She could
see because he was making the wall glow. The light rippled with the
pattern of the limestone and chert conglomerate, casting uneasy
shadows deeper into the cave. The surge of heat she'd felt receded
into a steady warmth centered on the glowing rock under his hands.
Tina huddled against her own wall, and glanced toward the entrance.
Did she dare?

“You can't get out,” Damien said,
his attention still on the wall and the pattern his hands were
making. Tina shuddered. Could he see behind him? Did he sense her
somehow, or know what she was thinking?

He nodded once as he brought his
hands to rest at his sides. The wall continued to glow. Then in one
movement, he turned, picked up a small rock, and tossed it to the
cave entrance.

It bounced back.

Damien smiled at her. “Just a gate
spell. You can come and go when I allow it. Test it if you
like.”

She hesitated. Even if she managed
to leave the cave, how far would she get? She had no doubt of his
magical abilities. Kasia said he was powerful, and she'd already
seen enough to know he could do amazing things. He was gloating,
standing with crossed arms and watching her with a smile of
disdain. Tina lifted her chin, returning his look with one of
determination. She stood, forsaking some pride as she held the wall
for balance. She hurt everywhere, as if she'd been hit by a car.
She forced herself to inch along the wall until she reached the
cave opening, aware of Damien watching her every step with amused
anticipation.

She picked up a stick and tossed
it out of the cave. It didn't quite get all the way out before
bouncing back and landing a few feet away. Fear pounded through her
arteries, but she refused to look at Damien, hoping he wouldn't see
it. Picking up another stick, she kept hold of it, pushing it out
of the opening. A few inches, then a few more. The force of the
stick flying from her hand back into the cave sent a jolt of pain
up her arm.

Damien laughed.

She leaned against the wall,
breathing hard. When she forced herself to meet his gaze, his
glittering eyes made her want to throw up, but she tried to sound
calm. “So what is your plan? What are we doing here?”

He turned without answering,
disappearing into the smaller opening. She glanced at the cave
entrance, biting her lip. Poking it with another stick brought the
same result as before. She was rubbing her arm when Damien
reappeared with a backpack in his hands. He sat on the ground near
the warm wall and pulled out two bottles of water and wrapped
sandwiches, placing one of each a few feet away from
him.

He gestured at them before opening
his own bottle. “Have some food,” he said. “I didn't bring you here
to starve you to death.”

The sight of the water made her
realize how thirsty she was, and although she wouldn’t have thought
it was possible, she was hungry, too. She’d had the cup of yogurt
several hours ago.

He left the choice up to her,
draining his water, and unwrapping his sandwich without another
word.

She stayed against the wall,
trying to think it through.
I don't know what he wants, or what
he intends to do. But if I'm going to get away, I have to take care
of myself. Just stay alert.

She approached close enough to
grab her food and water, but retreated to the entrance to
eat.

He laughed again. “It's warmer
over here.”

She shrugged, deciding he didn't
need a response. The sandwich was from Eddie's, and Tina's eyes
filled with tears as she took the first bite. Would she ever see
her friends again? Did Will get her message?

She stopped chewing, alarmed at
the sudden thought of what might happen if Will did get her
message. What would he do? Could any of them fight against Damien?
Had her call for help condemned them all?

Her shaking hands dropped the
sandwich, and she sniffed, wiping away a tear with her arm. Across
the cave, Damien lifted his head as if smelling the air, reminding
her of his earlier actions. He seemed to feed off her fear. Would
it work to hide her fear, to stay defiant or angry?