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roviding.
Eleanor made another pulling motion with her hand, and the wind became a ring of ice that bit deep into Maddie’s neck and wrenched her forward.
“Up,” Eleanor repeated.
The leash pulled so tightly against Maddie’s throat she could barely breathe. She scrambled to her feet and the tightness eased, allowing her to drag in great gulps of air. But the sudden movement made the drummer in her head go crazy. Dizziness hit her. She reached for the wall, trying to steady herself.
Eleanor gave her no time to recover, yanking on the leash again. “Come, my dear. The day is passing, and we have a trap to lay.”
Her feet felt frozen and half numb, and her legs were so wobbly they didn’t seem strong enough to support her weight. But as she stumbled through the doorway, a fierce sense of elation ran through her. Because as Eleanor continued to force her forward, she didn’t stop to re-lock the door.
There was still a chance to fulfill her promise to Evan. All she had to do was keep Eleanor occupied long enough for Teresa to slip away.
“IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME TO ADMIT THAT I DON’T REALLY know that much about witchcraft?” Mack hauled his coat collar up around his neck, leaned his hip against the car, and shoved his hands deep into his pockets.
Jon smiled grimly. Mack looked like a man suddenly facing the gates of hell. And it was probably a fair estimation of what awaited them.
“Eleanor’s not really a witch. She’s a sorcerer. It’s the next step up the ladder.” He stopped carving the end of the small white-ash branch and held it up to the light. A few more cuts and his makeshift dagger would be ready.
Mack turned and studied the trees, his face giving little away. But Jon could feel his unease, saw the shadow snaking through the agent’s usually confident aura.
“You suddenly don’t seem in so much of a hurry,” Mack said.
Jon made a few final cuts along the limb, then put it down to join the other half dozen near his feet. “That’s because I know what Eleanor is capable of, and I have no intention of going up there unarmed.” Which was why he’d made Mack detour past the cabin they’d found Evan in on their way up here. He needed the supplies locked in the back of his truck.
Mack patted his shoulder. “I have a gun, you know. And backup is on its way.”
“Eleanor can change shape quicker than you can shoot.” Jon stood up and flexed his leg. The knife wound throbbed in protest, but he could move around fairly normally now, and that was all that mattered. “As for your backup, they have five minutes, then I’m off.”
“Don’t be a fool, Barnett. You can’t go after this woman alone if you want the kid or your Maddie to survive.”
Your Maddie. The phrase whispered through his mind, soothing the lonely ache in his soul. Only she wasn’t his Maddie and never could be. He angrily snatched up the white-ash daggers near his feet.
“Take these and keep them safe,” he said, handing Mack four of the weapons. “They’ll protect you from Eleanor when all else fails.”
Mack raised a skeptical eyebrow. “How could a few crudely carved bits of wood possibly do that?”
“They’re made of white ash. It’s an ancient wood deadly to shapeshifters.” He dragged his black bag off the car hood and rummaged around inside until he found the small metal medallion Seline had given him.
“So white ash can kill you?”
Jon glanced up sharply. “Yes, it can. Why? Do you plan to use it on me when this is all over?”
Mack gave him his sharklike grin. “Arrest you, maybe. Kill you, no.” He hesitated and glanced past Jon. “The cavalry just arrived.”
Jon looked over his shoulder and saw the three police vehicles pull to a halt. Mack strode across to the first car and began a hurried conversation with the driver. Jon listened for a few moments, then turned his attention back to the medallion in his hand. Looped with a shoelace, and so black with age that he couldn’t make out the markings that surrounded the blue-green stone at its heart, it certainly didn’t look like an amulet that would protect him from the worst of Eleanor’s magic. But Seline had assured him that it would work, and she seldom promised what she couldn’t deliver.
He slid the amulet around his neck, then bent and placed two of the white-ash daggers in his boots. The third he slid into the loop he’d sewn inside his jacket.
His gaze ran back to the mountain peak lost in the mist and the trees above them. Maddie was up there somewhere, cold and alone and probably terrified. His fault.
He dragged up the zipper on his jacket and marched across to Mack. “Time to get moving.”
Mack raised an eyebrow in surprise, but nodded. “How do you want to play it?”
“Send four men up the trail by that pine. The others follow the trail to our right.” Both were little more than wild goose chases, but they would keep the policemen from interfering too soon. And probably keep them alive in the process. He met Mack’s knowing gaze steadily. “You and I will take the trail near the creek.”
“You know the drill,” Mack growled to the men. “Let’s move.” Jon turned and walked across to Mack’s car, grabbing Maddie’s backpack from the backseat. She’d need something warm to change into once he’d rescued her. The soft hint of roses spun around him as he put it on.
