Ari steered her car down the highway exit ramp. “Since you convinced me to prowl around at four in the morning, the least you could have done was let me stop for coffee.”
“I’m sorry.” Dalir kissed the back of her hand as he looked out the window. Street lights illuminated the tension hardening his angled jawline. “I just need to know if what you saw in your vision has anything to do with my brother.”
Other than a falling out driving his brother from home, Dalir wouldn’t tell her more about what happened. Ari switched on the air conditioner. Welcome coolness seeped through her T-shirt and jeans. She didn’t have a blood-related sibling that she knew of, but she could understand it. For her, Lauren and Celine were her sisters. If one of them ran off because of an argument, she’d want someone to help her find them.
She turned right at the light. The last time she’d travelled this direction was summer of the previous year. She, Lauren, and Celine had taken a Caribbean cruise. Once they were all together in a few weeks, another girls trip would definitely show up on the welcome home agenda. Not far, just a local weekend someplace where they could relax and catch up. She missed them so much, she’d even consider going with them to Lauren’s mountain cabin in Mazree, Georgia. Ari sent up a silent prayer. She hadn’t heard from them because they were in remote areas without access to the Internet and no cell reception. Wherever they were, right then, she wanted them happy and safe.
Ari backed off of the accelerator. “Well, this is the main road. To the left takes us to the cruise ship docks. Farther up, takes us closer to the clubs and restaurants on the waterfront.”
“What you mentioned sounds more industrial. Where’s that area?”
“I think it’s up ahead.” As they continued on, the landscape grew less commercial. Shipping related businesses and warehouses took over the scenery. “It’s so dark. If the building I saw in my dream is here, how am I supposed to see it?”
“You probably won’t, but follow your instincts. Your gift will let you sense it.”
He saw her intuition as something good and not a burden. Her stomach fluttered. A sense of lightness flowed in. Once she’d told him her secret, he hadn’t treated her differently or backed away in fear like the last guy she’d trusted. Dalir had simply accepted what she said about her ability as if it were normal, even special in some reverent kind of way. She’d done the same with him showing up in her life. Many couples had a hard time not finding fault in their partner’s quirks and differences, but she and Dalir hadn’t. And the theory of him causing stuff to happen, not buying it. Everything started when she hit her head. They were thrown together by happenstance.
The car bounced over a pothole.
One question she didn’t get a chance to ask, though, was why he had been at the store. It probably got lonely not having anyone see you. Maybe he hung out in crowded places, like the mall and the club, to lessen the sense of existing alone. He seemed used to spending time by himself. As weird as it was, they didn’t have to overcomplicate their situation. They could have a similar arrangement to what other couples did when it came to a no-strings hookup. They could just enjoy the sex, and the unusual connection they shared, for however long it lasted.
The landscape became less inhabited. Marshland lined the road.
Nothing. Not a flicker, an inkling or a flash of an image came into her mind.
“I’ll head back. Something may pop out at me the second time through.”
“Hold on.” He peered out the windshield. “Pull the car over. I want to scout out what’s ahead.”
“You can’t walk around out there without a flashlight.” She shuddered. “Snakes, and who knows what else, are out there. It’s too dangerous.”
The light from the dash board illuminated his cocky grin. “You’re not the only gifted one.” Dalir leaned in and gave her quick kiss. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared.
Ari laid her hand on the passenger seat. His warmth remained. Here one minute. Gone in less than a blink. Could she get used to him doing that? Was she able to visit Alandia? But what if she could only exist there like he did here? All of the unanswered questions made her head ache. That’s why she should stick to the first rule. Don’t overcomplicate the situation.
A cargo van sped past in the opposite direction. It had a logo of a circle surrounded by curved rays on the side of it.
A sun symbol like the one in her dream. Her heart sped up. Dalir. Where was he?
The vehicle grew smaller in the rear view.
Dalir said to stay put, but this could help him find his brother. The industrial area wasn’t far. If that’s where they headed, she could see where they stopped, then come back for Dalir. Or he’d find her. Either way, she couldn’t lose them. Ari made a U-turn. She floored the accelerator. He’d said he could read her thoughts. “Dalir?” Or maybe she should say it aloud for good measure. “I’m following a van back toward the industrial area. It has a sun symbol on it.”
The van made a right onto a pitch black vacant road.
Ari kept going. A few yards ahead, she turned the car around. Headlights off, she drove down the pot-holed black top. Where were they? The van couldn’t have gotten far.
Red lights flashed in the rearview mirror.
Hope plummeted. “I’m pulling over to the side of the road. I just got stopped by the cops.” Hands shaking, she found her wallet and registration. “Do me a favor and don’t pop in the car, right now. I’m nervous enough. I don’t want to make the police suspicious.”
The lights beaming through the rear window seemed to heat up the interior of her coupe.
She wiped her palm on her jeans and ran through the standard protocol. Stay calm. Keep her hands on the steering wheel. Smile and answer their questions. No. Don’t smile. She should be concerned about driving in a remote area by herself. Better yet, she should act relieved.
The officer approached.
Ari rolled down the window. “Boy, I’m so glad to see you.”
* * * *
Dalir prowled through the shadows of the small, dimly lit warehouse. He’d found nothing farther up the road, but on his way back to Ari, he’d felt it. Distress, fear, ill intention. He’d followed it and stumbled on Ari’s warehouse. Inside of the place were light-colored crates with sun symbols stamped on them.
Men dressed in tactical gear, carrying semi-automatics, stood in the gray building. Guards patrolled outside the loading bay.
Staying hidden between rows of stacked wooden pallets, Dalir inched closer. As a precaution, he’d dialed back his energy to almost nothing, so if Kell were around, he wouldn’t sense his presence. That also meant he wouldn’t pick up on Kell or be able to call up his swords for increased protection and power.
“This stuff has to go. Now.” A thin man wearing a suit paced the cement floor.
“Our guys and Tampa are ready to handle the shipment.” A guy with the muscular build of a brawler and sporting a crew cut crossed his arms. “The deal was a month.”
“Screw the deal, Henshaw. Headquarters is conducting surprise audits. They’re inspecting every building on the books, even the inactive ones. They could show up today, tomorrow or next week. No one knows. It’s too dangerous. I could lose everything if these rifles are found.”
A van backed into the loading area. The men removed crates from the rear of the vehicle.
“Did you not hear a word I said?” The guy in the suit swiped his arm in the air. “Get this shit out of here. We’re done.”
Henshaw picked up the man by the throat with one hand and slammed him against the wall. “You don’t dictate when we’re done. The boss does. We’ll move out of here in one month. Understood?”
The smaller man’s face turned red as he clawed at Henshaw’s fingers and gasped for breath.
Henshaw slipped a manila envelope from inside of his weapons vest. He stuffed it into the man’s front suit pocket. “I suggest you stop buying expensive jewelry for your mistress and use the cash we’ve been paying you to take care of the problem instead. If you don’t, one of your sons might just have to disappear.” He released him.
The man crumpled to the floor. “Don’t bring my family into this.”
“We didn’t. You did, when you chose to do business with us.” Henshaw jerked his chin toward one of the men in the warehouse. “Get him the fuck outta here.”
One of the guards, a dark haired woman with a ponytail, came inside. She tipped her head, motioning to Henshaw to join her near the pallets, just feet away from Dalir. “You can’t mention what Tate said to the boss.”
“I have to. If I don’t someone else will. Tate’s a smart man. He’ll figure out what to do.” Henshaw’s expression turned grim. “I just have to stop the boss from smokin’ Tate’s ass before the inspection shit gets sorted out.”
“That’s my point. If you tell him, you know he’s going to fly off the handle like he did in Tampa.” She lowered her voice. “I don’t like the way this is going. I’m loyal to the cause like everyone else, but he’s too erratic to lead us. I’m not the only one who feels that way. He leaves behind bodies that you have to dispose of, and he’s stamping that stupid symbol on everything making us more identifiable. He’s a lunatic.”
Henshaw grabbed her roughly by the arm. “Stow that shit.”
Dalir tensed.
“It’s the truth and you know it.” She laid her palm on Henshaw’s chest. Her gaze held fear. “Please, baby, let’s just leave. We have enough cash saved up. We can find another group to join. Those guys we met in Montana seemed pretty organized.”
“And that’s why the boss is meeting with them. It’s too fuckin’ risky. He’s resurrecting all the chapters. Everyone’s so caught up in his message it’s as if he’s the Second Coming or something. They’re not seeing the other side of him. If we leave, there’s no going back for us anywhere. We’ll have to go underground or he’ll kill us.”
A side door opened.
A male police officer shoved Ari inside.
Dalir’s heart raced.
As she stumbled forward, the soles of her tennis shoes squeaked on the concrete. Handcuffs bound her wrists. “I don’t understand. Why did you bring me here? What’s going on?”
Henshaw stalked to the light haired officer. “Who is she.”
The officer handed him a wallet. “Ari Frasier, a local. She was following the van. You’re lucky I saw her. She’s all yours. And Henshaw, make sure you take care of her out of my area.”
Ari’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. You can’t leave me here with them.”
“You’re not staying long.” Henshaw sneered. “You can go as soon as you tell me who sent you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Kell strolled in from the loading dock, dressed in tactical gear. He drew a pistol from a shoulder holster. “You know what we do with intruders. We get rid of them.”
Dalir ramped up his power, quick phased, and swooped Ari up. Ribbons of time flowed in front of him. As they flew through a tunnel of golden light, her screams pierced his ears.
Pain, as if she were suddenly set on fire was what she’d experienced, but he couldn’t slow down.
Kell’s phase signature streamed behind them, closing in.
Dalir manipulated time, faster and faster. Putting distance between him and Kell. Whipping past hours, months, years into the future. Then, he doubled back, zigzagging, bouncing in and out of random places in seconds, leaving multiple energy signatures. The equivalent of numerous footprints would make it harder for Kell to track him down.
Ari went limp in his arms.
“Hang on, Little One, I’ve got you.” She couldn’t take much more.
Gambling it was finally safe, Dalir broke from the time stream and dove into the barrier between The Drift and the Earthly dimension. Silent, heavy darkness engulfed them. He slowed to a hover and dimmed his energy. He waited.
Nothing.
Not willing to take chances, Dalir shot out small pulses of power at intervals. Inertia floated them closer to their destination.
Finally satisfied Kell hadn’t followed, Dalir phased to The Drift.