Page 67 of Knight of the Sword

He did not need to be taking drugs. They’d limit the control he had on his powers. Michael shook his head and sent a telepathic message. Since the doctor was concentrating on him, the message went through easily. “Nope. Don’t do drugs.”

The doctor hesitated, frowning. “All right. We’ll keep you for observation for a few hours.”

“I need to make a phone call, then,” Michael said.

“Sorry,” the nurse replied. “Cell phones aren’t allowed in the ER.”

He sighed, wishing he could just get up and walk out, but that would call too much attention to himself. He gave the nurse an appreciative look and smiled. “I understand. Could you make the call for me from a landline?” When she agreed, he gave her the hotel number and a message for Sophie. A few minutes later, he was alone except for the machine monitoring his vital signs. Thankfully, those were all human.

As he pushed himself into a sitting position, something niggled at the back of his mind. Why wasn’t Sophie out in the waiting room? He was sure she had been there on the street. Surely, someone would have told her where he was taken. He closed his eyes, envisioning the hotel room, seeking a mind-link.

Pendragon picked up his telepathic signal. “What’s going on? Where are you?”

“At a hospital. Never mind that. Where’s Sophie?”

“Don’t know. She came up here to tell me about the Sword, then said she was going down to meet you. She said she’d bring me some ice cream.”

“Forget about the ice cream for a minute. What time is it?”

“Nine o’clock. Why?”

He’d been in the ER a little over an hour. Where in the hell was Sophie?

He stretched his mind-link, searching the surrounding area. Nothing. It was like she’d disappeared into thin air.

Then the hair along his nape began to prickle, always a sign of imminent danger. He looked around the room, probed the hall with his mind. Nothing there. But still…

And then, faintly as though from a great distance, he felt Sophie’s presence, accompanied by a thick, murky, dense fog. Balor. Dear Goddess, the demon had Sophie!

Michael began tearing off the various pads attached to him.

Machines beeped and he could hear footsteps running down the hall toward him. He muttered an incantation, cloaking himself from human sight, and slipped out the door as two nurses brushed past him.

And then he heard Sophie scream.

****

Pendragon was waiting for him when Michael burst through their hotel room’s door, under his arm the steel case holding Excalibur.

“Do you know where she is?” the dragon asked.

Michael shook his head. “I got a small impression that she was north of here and then the mind-link went black. She may be unconscious. We’ve no time to lose. Get into your cage so we can leave.”

Pendragon snorted smoke. “I’d be a hell of a lot more effective if I could return to my original form.”

“I’m going to summon Tanio,” Michael said, “but we need to be outside when he appears. I don’t want to have to deal with the police finding a full-grown dragon and blown-out walls.”

A short time later, Michael screeched the brakes to a stop almost as soon as they had driven past the fairgrounds and into the city park. “This will have to do,” he said as he opened Pendragon’s cage. “Thank the Goddess it’s dark.” Chanting an incantation, he lifted Excalibur high.

“Tanio, I summon thee!”

****

When Sophie slowly awakened it was to the sensation of lying on damp grass. She could hear water lapping nearby, but it lacked the salt smell of the Gulf. Pontchartrain, she thought groggily as she opened her eyes to dim light. They must be in a very secluded area for it to be so quiet and dark. As she struggled to sit, she felt a metal chain hit her arm and realized that she also had a metal collar around her neck. Lifting the chain, she followed its length a short distance to a stake driven into the earth. She was chained like a dog.

A chuckle sounded from behind her. Twisting around, she saw three men not far away. One of them was Lucien, another was the kid who had been on the Charleston street and again on the boat. The third man was deep in the shadows, but it was he who spoke.

“You did well, brother,” he said. “She’s a fine-looking piece of ass. I think we’ll wait just a bit until her brain is fully functioning before we take turns screwing her. I want her to feel the full impact.”