Page 80 of Sapphire Flame
Chapter Eight
Grant started to air-pace just above the sand, though he didn’t go far before returning the opposite direction. He had no idea where Natalie was in relation to either himself or Landris. Given her recent maneuvers, he felt certain she had once again placed herself at a distance from the wizard with the intention of avoiding yet another electrical rain shower.
This time, however, she had been silent and invisible at least ten times longer than any previous attempt. He wasn’t growing impatient so much as anxious. He hated seeing her get hurt.
Her voice suddenly broke the silence. “Landris, I’ve made contact with the future, so don’t send your fiery rain on me again.”
“Done.”
Natalie slowly made herself visible at the far end of the sandpit as she levitated back in their direction. She looked pale and had a deep crease between her brows.
When she drew close, Grant asked, “What’s happened?”
She shook her head and tears filled her eyes. “You know the female wolves you thought you’d saved?”
“Yes.” A cold chill passed through him.
“Fifteen minutes from now, one of Kryder’s team will have re-captured the youngest and brought her in a van to some kind of underground structure. This is what I’ve seen.”
“Shit.”
“What do we do? I don’t know what to do.” She sounded frantic.
Grant thought for a moment and pivoted in Landris’s direction. “First, get us back to Neil’s place as fast as you can.”
The process of having Landris bespell them again and making a return trip through a hall that seemed to go on forever, took less than a minute. The timing was another sign that Landris had employed his wizardry.
The elevator came next, a short if cramped ride. During the ascent, Landris said nothing to either himself or Natalie. But upon exiting, he wished them both well, then vanished. Grant would have thanked Landris for his help, but the wizard had either gone invisible or had left. Seemed typical of his character. Landris was not an engaging man.
Grant found Neil near the fireplace and saw that he was doing better. He was walking around, though his complexion was almost chalk-white at this point.
Grant gave him the short version of what was going on then guided Natalie to the front door. Neil wished them well.
Grant said he’d be in touch later since they only had a handful of minutes to find the young wolf and keep her from Kryder’s depredations. How difficult that would prove, he had no idea, especially since he and Natalie were just figuring things out, how to work together.
Before they took to the air, Grant invoked their invisibility. The brief command, ‘Begin both’, set everything in a glow as it had been in the Elegance sandpit. Natalie confirmed she was seeing the same glow as well.
Once in the air and flying swiftly in the direction of Revel Territory, he drew his phone from the pocket of his leathers and contacted Ryan. He gave him the details, but Ryan said he didn’t know where the woman had been taken. It was part of the process of keeping their safe houses a secret.
Grant ran through a dozen curses in his head then turned his mind to the problem at hand. He asked Ryan to try to find out the wolf’s location, but he wasn’t hopeful he could accomplish the task in such a short time.
When they reached Natalie’s backyard and landed on the grass, he gave her the update. He then asked, “What about your futurism? Can you give it a shot?”
“Of course.” She reached for his hand. “Just ground me and I’ll see what I can do.”
He wasn’t sure exactly what she meant except he knew that looking into the future caused her pain.
Her gaze shifted back and forth over her garden as she spoke aloud. She then told him about Kryder being in her studio and added, “What’s this wolf’s name?”
“Alanna.”
She nodded in swift dips of her chin. She drew a deep breath that was almost a gasp then closed her eyes. Her grip on his hand tightened.
This time, he could almost feel the future opening to her. She winced and panted through a couple of painful breaths. “I see her. Oh, God. I know where she is. We’ve got to hurry.”
She released his hand then took off into the air. He was just smart enough to follow swiftly in her wake and not ask questions.
She flew directly west toward Blackwater Bridge that connected Revel to Savage Territory. She only began to slow at the point where the Graveyard met the massive ditch of barbed wire that separated the two territories. In past decades, many had been fought at this border until the Tribunal made the tough decision to create deep, wide boundaries and filled them with massive broken up cement blocks topped with huge amounts of barbed wire. No one could cross. You either flew over or used the bridge.
