He forced himself to continue forward at a methodical pace. No use in drawing Cody"s attention to the problem until absolutely necessary.
As D.J. drew closer, he realized the shape was too bulky to be Reggie sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. Relief washed through him, but it was mixed with frustration. A live body might have been able to tell him where Reggie was now. A corpse was a complication.
"Hey, over here!"
The excitement in Cody"s voice had D.J. running toward the other side of the building.
"What did you find?"
Cody was standing in the glow of light coming from a small room. "I think maybe they kept Reggie in here. There"s a half-eaten hamburger and an empty soft-drink cup."
D.J. poked at the sc.r.a.ps from the sandwich. "The bread"s definitely fresh. Nice job, Cody."
The kid pushed his gla.s.ses up on his nose. "There"s more. Somebody scratched something in the paint on the wall behind the door. I"m thinking Reggie was trying to leave us a message where her captors might not see it."
Sure enough, there were two words scratched into the paint, the letters scrawled as if done in a hurry. He didn"t give a d.a.m.n about Reggie"s penmanship though. What had him seeing red was the meaning behind the message written there.
"Lava caves? What do you think she means by that?"
D.J."s blood ran cold and his temper hot. He knew exactly what she meant. He ignored Cody"s question as he punched in Devlin"s phone number. Son of a b.i.t.c.h, could this get any worse?
"Dev, they"ve taken her to a lava cave. Check the files and see if we have any record of a crossing point in this area."
It didn"t take long. His friend read him the coordinates and then said, "Lonzo and Trahern should catch up with you soon. The chopper dropped them in Medford where they rented a car. I already texted them your location."
"Good. Have Cullen do a search on the ownership of this warehouse, too. Maybe that will tell us something. Let Lonzo know that Cody will be waiting for them here. They can catch up with me later."
Devlin immediately objected. "D.J., d.a.m.n it, don"t go off half-c.o.c.ked. Wait for them. No way you"re going in alone."
Like h.e.l.l he"d wait. "And if they suddenly decide that Reggie has become a liability? They"ve got to suspect we"re coming after them."
"So you"ll be walking into a trap."
D.J. knew Devlin was right, but he didn"t care. He played his trump card. "Did you listen to orders when it was Laurel who"d been kidnapped? Seems like you broke a few rules back then."
"That was different. She was part of our organization."
They both knew Devlin was on the losing end of this particular argument. The Paladin leader would"ve done anything, no matter what, to save his woman.
"d.a.m.n it, Devlin, do you need me to spell it all out for you? You let Barak live, Trahern brought in an outsider without clearance, and then Cullen crossed into Kalithia to bring back Lusahn and the kids. I could go on, but listen to what I"m telling you. I"d go after any woman in this predicament, but Reggie"s important to me."
Devlin conceded the battle. "Watch your back. The guys will be right behind you. I"ll let them know what"s going on."
There was a brief pause. "And if you manage to get yourself killed, I"ll be waiting to kick your a.s.s as soon as you start breathing again."
"Fair enough."
Cody was blocking the doorway when D.J. hung up. "You aren"t leaving me here."
"Yes, I am. We"ve already been over this. I might be willing to get myself killed, but not you. Besides, you"ll be coming with the second wave."
"But-"
"No buts, kid. And every second you stand here and argue with me is delaying my getting to Reggie before they take her into that cave."
Cody let him pa.s.s but dogged his steps all the way back to the truck. He finally grabbed D.J. by the arm, trying to prevent him from getting into the truck.
"What"s the big deal about a cave? Why would they take her there? Who are these guys?"
This was not the time for long explanations. He jerked his arm free and turned the tables on the kid, slamming him up against the truck fender.
"Weren"t you listening when I told you about what Paladins do for a living? Two of the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who have Reggie are from that other world. The cave must have a stretch of barrier in it. If I reach them before it all goes down, maybe I can get Reggie back before they have a chance to drag her across into Kalithia. She already knows too much for these guys to let her live. If you don"t believe we"re dealing with stone-cold killers, there"s a dead body back in the warehouse that should convince you."
D.J. stepped back. "You will wait here. Trahern and Lonzo will be along soon enough. Tell them everything."
Cody looked back toward the warehouse. "There"s really a dead guy in there?"
D.J. nodded. "Yeah. He"s probably the one whose phone Reggie stole."
"Go get her, D.J., please before they . . ." Cody"s voice trailed off, but the misery in his eyes finished the statement anyway.
"I will."
He handed Cody the gun he had stuck in his waistband and then pulled a sword out of the toolbox. "Take these and stay inside and out of sight. I don"t know what kind of vehicle my friends will be driving, but they"ll recognize my sword. Trahern"s tall and has pale gray eyes. He"s scary as s.h.i.t, but he"ll take care of you."
Then D.J. got in the truck and drove like h.e.l.l.
Reggie shuffled her feet, hoping to slow everyone down. All it accomplished though was to force one of the long-haired guys with the odd accents to drag her along by her arm as they traveled over the uneven ground. When she stumbled and fell forward, her escort managed to keep her from hitting the ground. Barely. She didn"t bother to thank him.
"Where are we going?"
His pale eyes squinted up against the early evening sun. "Home."
Ray turned around. "Both of you shut up! Jeban, the less she knows, the better."
Reggie gave her companion an incredulous look. "You actually live in the caves?"
At first she didn"t think he was going to answer her. When he did, his thick accent made it difficult to understand.
"My home lies beyond the caves. In the land of the dying suns."
She trudged along the barely discernible path. The land of the dying suns? Was that some kind of Native American name for this area? Nothing made sense, but then she was bordering on exhaustion. It had been hours since she"d had anything to eat or drink other than that greasy hamburger and soft drink, neither of which had settled very well.
She prayed D.J. had found her cryptic clue, and that it had set him on their trail. Sure as heck no one else was going to come riding to her rescue. Besides, she"d come to some pretty strange conclusions about what was going on. She couldn"t wait to pin him down on some of the finer points to see how close she"d come to the truth.
First and foremost, if the Regents existed, then so did the Paladins. If that much was true, then the next leap in logic was that D.J. himself was a Paladin. Which she really, really hoped meant he rescued the occasional damsel in distress.
They climbed steadily until the trail narrowed enough that her escort had to let go of her arm to squeeze between some boulders. Beyond that point, the trail twisted sharply to the right and then doubled back again. Nestled behind the last outcropping, a rock wall curved around a small, gra.s.sy clearing. There were three narrow fissures in the rock face.
Reggie shuddered as she noticed how well hidden they were. Surrounded by solid rock and trees, the openings couldn"t possibly be visible from any distance. She watched as Ray and company whipped out flashlights and walked straight into the center one without hesitation. Before following them inside, she dropped down to retie her shoes.
Jeban stopped to wait for her, blocking the way back down the trail. "Come on, woman. Time is running short."
She finished, hoping that she"d managed to leave enough of an impression in the dusty ground for D.J. to see. When Jeban wasn"t looking, she quickly marked an X in the dust. Hopefully it would keep D.J. from wasting time checking out the other two openings in the rock.
Just inside the entrance, she found herself in a small cavern barely big enough for the six of them. Okay, this was getting seriously creepy. She fought down the panic creeping up her spine. It didn"t make sense that they"d drag her all the way here just to kill her. There"d already been plenty of opportunities without going to this much trouble.
Cold comfort, but she"d take what she could get.
A pair of narrow pa.s.sages opened out of the back wall. Ray motioned for Jeban"s partner to lead the way through the one on the right. They all fell into line, journeying into the chilly depths of the hillside with only the dim flashlights to show the way. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Reggie to keep going. Feeling claustrophobic, the weight of the surrounding rock pressed down on her until she could barely move forward.
Jeban shoved her forward, sending her stumbling into Ray. He turned around to snarl at her. "Watch where you"re going."
She bit back the temptation to run into him again. As much as she wanted to resist every inch of the way, right now the man had the power of life and death over her. He"d already demonstrated once that he wouldn"t hesitate to kill. She probably shouldn"t risk provoking him even if it went against her nature to simply surrender.
That"s when she noticed a strange glow coming from just ahead. Either their flashlights had suddenly grown in strength or there was another source of light. The pa.s.sageway widened out into a large chamber. It would"ve been unremarkable in itself, but it was the sheet of swirling color that formed about an eight-foot stretch of wall that took her breath away.
She ignored her companions as she approached it. The hair on her arms stood up in response to the buzz of energy in the air.
"What is that?" she asked as she reached out to touch it.
Jeban lunged forward to knock her hand down. "Foolish woman, do you want to die?"
Ray laughed. "That barrier will crispy-critter you in a matter of seconds. Who knows, maybe you"d find that idea more appealing that accompanying my two friends here to their world for a nice vacation."
Was he joking? She looked from man to man, but none of them was laughing. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen.
"Their world? What"s that supposed to mean?"
She addressed the question to Jeban, hoping he"d answer her honestly instead of in riddles.
He jerked his head in the direction of the shimmering light and then spoke slowly, maybe so she"d have an easier time understanding him.
"The wall of light divides this world from mine. When it goes down, we"ll cross into Kalithia."
Ohh-kay. She really wanted to believe Jeban was as crazy as they come, but he sounded all too matter-of-fact about the whole thing. Her logical mind wanted to deny even the possibility that she was standing but a few feet from an alien world, but too much was starting to add up.
Her control over her emotions had become more tenuous as the day had progressed. It finally shredded completely, and she went on the attack. She directed all her pent-up fury right at Ray. It was his fault she was there in the first place. Time to put her self-defense cla.s.ses to good use. She didn"t stand a chance against five adult men, but she could make sure Ray was hurting before it was all over with.
She stomped down on his instep and then shoved the palm of her hand into the b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s nose. The resulting crunch of cartilage was most satisfying. Next, she threw him to the floor hard enough to rattle his brain. Before she had a chance to launch an attack on his most vulnerable parts, her original kidnappers had her by the arms and were yanking her back.
"Woman, are you f.u.c.king crazy?" one of them demanded. "He just shot a guy for a h.e.l.l of a lot less than that!"
Jeban and his partner remained impa.s.sive, but she was pretty sure that both of them had found the incident amusing. Even so, they helped Ray back up off the floor of the cave. He pulled out a handkerchief to staunch the gush of blood from his nose. When the bleeding slowed, he crossed over to where his two thugs held Reggie immobilized.
He drew back his fist as if to punch her. To her surprise, Jeban blocked the blow. He and his partner had both drawn knives. The blades were long and curved, unlike anything she"d ever seen before.
Ray turned his temper on them. "What the h.e.l.l do you two think you"re doing? Why do you care if I get a little payback?"
Jeban shrugged. "We want her unmarked. Damaged, she is of less value to us."
Ray laughed, his eyes lighting up with a crazed joy. "Well, all right then. We"ll send her across to your world unblemished. When I want her back, I"ll leave a message here in the cavern. It will probably take a couple of weeks to make sure that no one is still looking for her before I can safely put her to work for me. You boys can enjoy her other talents until then."
The barrier flickered, the colors pulsing bright and then fading. Ray checked his watch. "Right on time. Until I send word, I leave her in your capable hands."
There was nothing Reggie could say to that. Instead, she joined her captors in watching the light show. And when it blinked out completely, she got her first glimpse of Kalithia.
Chapter 10.
D.J. was getting close. He"d found the black truck Reggie had described several minutes ago, tucked in a stand of trees. Rather than leave his own vehicle in plain sight, he"d parked it off the road behind some boulders about a quarter mile away.
Preparing for the hunt, he armed himself and picked up his weapons bag. The first thing he did before taking off along the trail was slash the tires on the panel truck. After he was finished, he called Trahern.
"D.J., what the h.e.l.l are you doing?"
His friend"s worried growl had D.J. grinning. "I"m hunting. If you hurry, I might even leave some game for you."
"Can the jokes, you idiot, and tell me what"s going on."
Okay, Trahern had even less of a sense of humor than usual. "I"ve disabled the kidnappers" truck, so they won"t be going anywhere soon. Try not to kill them all though. No doubt Devlin has some interesting plans for them."
"Fine," Trahern groused, "but where"s the fun in that?"
D.J. could hear another voice in the background. "I guess you"ve met our newest recruit. He"s a good kid."
"h.e.l.l of an introduction, don"t you think? Nothing like a kidnapping and a dead body to get the new guy off to a good start. Nice that he knows how to wield a sword though."
"Yeah, gotta love that. Where are you now?"
As he listened, D.J. knelt to study the footprints in the dust. After he"d learned all he could, he slung his bag over his shoulder and started up the hillside, talking as he walked.
"Listen, you"re only about twenty minutes behind me now. I"ll be following the trail these guys left. I count three different male human footprints plus Reggie"s. There are also two sets that look like they were made by smooth-soled Kalith boots."
The thought of her alone with those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had D.J. moving faster. "Call me when you get here. I parked about a quarter mile west of their truck, near some boulders. I have a seriously bad feeling about all of this. There"s no reason for them to drag her all the way out here with them just so those two Kalith can go home alone."
Trahern"s silence on the subject was telling. Finally, the man said, "I"d tell you to wait for us, but that"s not going to happen, is it? I wouldn"t either if it were Brenna up there, but watch your back. Last thing I want to do is haul your dead a.s.s down a mountainside."
D.J. grinned at the rough concern in his friend"s voice. "I"ll be careful. I"d hate to put you out for any reason. See you soon."
He continued along the trail, stopping every so often to listen for voices and to make sure he was still moving in the right direction. About half a mile farther, he came to a screeching halt, positive he"d heard the angry rumble of a man"s voice.
Rather than risk being caught in the open, he ducked behind some boulders and waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later three all-too-human males came hot-footing it down the trail. Two looked like hired muscle, leaving the third man to be the one in charge. He noted the guy"s swollen nose. It looked as if he"d just taken a punch and was willing to bet Reggie was the one responsible. He respected her gumption but worried that she might have pushed a killer too far.