Page 68 of Blood Bearon
Rachel got out of the police cruiser, closing the door in his face, taking a second to regain her composure. She should have known joking around with him would lead to flirting. It just felt so natural, it made holding back harder than ever. But she had to, she reminded herself, because he was planning to kill their target.
“Why are we actually here?” she asked. “It’s not even open, they’ve gone home early. Like everywhere else.”
“I know,” Khove replied as he grabbed a pair of duffel bags from the trunk. “But we’re not here for that. Not really.” He gestured up the sloping incline to the single-story building.
“We aren’t?” Rachel was confused now. Why else would they be there?
“No. We’re here because the motel across the street is the single largest Ursa property that Korred hasn’t struck yet, and I can’t see him leaving it untouched.”
“You think he’s going to strike it tonight,” she asked, looking up into the sky to the west as the sun began to set below the horizon.
“Yes,” was all Khove said in reply.
“So, shouldn’t we, I don’t know, call in backup or something?” Rachel suddenly felt exposed. “Nobody knows we’re here. Do you have a plan?”
“No. I know. Yes.”
They reached the top of the slope and Khove headed around toward the rear. Rachel followed hot on his heels.
“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, trying not to snap at him. “When are you going to inform me about what’s going on? And just where are we going?”
“Out of sight,” he said.
“Khove, there’s a police cruiser in the parking lot. Don’t you think he might, oh I don’t know, see that and figure out that we’re here?”
“Exactly. I’m planning on it.”
Rachel frowned. “Wait. You’re planning on him seeing the cruiser and coming over here to get us? Isn’t he some sort of super powerful magician?”
“Mage. Magicians practice illusion and sleight of hand. Korred uses real magic.” He undid the latch and walked into the fenced-off gravel area at the back of the clinic where she assumed the animals were let out to play.
“Right. My bad. So, this mage comes over here, throwing spells in an attempt to catch us. To my knowledge, you’ve never admitted to being a mage yourself.”
“I’m not,” he confirmed, heading straight for the back corner. Wherever he was going, he wasn’t hesitating.
Rachel looked to the sky for strength. Normally, Khove wasn’t this obtuse. What had gotten into him?
“I thought we had agreed to be partners,” she said, stopping in her tracks and crossing her arms across her stomach.
“We did.” Khove crouched down, putting the bags off to the side. “Why?”
“Why? Because partners tell the other what’s going on. They don’t operate mysteriously. Especially when it comes to things like magic, where one partner has no idea what to do and is scared.”
“There’s no need to be scared. I told you, I have a plan.” He reached down and brushed aside some of the gravel.
“I’m aware of that,” she ground out. “But this is the part where you tell your partner what it is. Because that’s called being polite.”
Khove glanced back over his shoulder and grinned widely. “My plan is called misdirection.” Then he stood and lifted a chunk of the ground with him.
Rachel stared open-mouthed as he lifted some sort of door, revealing a square hole in the ground.
“Ladies first,” he chuckled, gesturing for her to enter.
“What the hell is that?” she asked, pointing at the dark opening.
“The entryway to a tunnel that leads us over to the motel. One that doesn’t have security cameras or any other visual way of us being seen entering or exiting. More importantly, it’s one Korred doesn’t know exists.”
She tapped her foot in thought. “So, in other words, he arrives, sees the cruiser, comes looking for us over here, and we—”
