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She and Joy were buried where they’d been struck down in the middle of the small peach orchard on the western side of the property.
Jude went there often to sit and think.
He’d once thought to build workers’ cottages near the orchard, but Nathan, who had been with him from a year before his marriage, insisted on hiring outside help and services.
When he’d purchased the island, he’d built a stone bridge for all the non-flight laborers to use during construction.
As he sipped his coffee and took his time with the cupcake, he stared out across the lake.
He almost felt at ease, until Nathan started moving slowly toward the window, frowning. “What is it, Nathan?”
With a large pot he’d just cleaned still in hand, Nathan peered out the window. “Ordinarily, I’d say that’s lake mist, but I swear I’ve never seen it look like that before. It’s moving in a strange pattern.”
Jude set his coffee down and moved in the direction of the door leading to the porch. This side of the island fell away, so that the gardens below had a terraced look. The porch itself he always referred to as a balcony, even though it was on the ground floor.
He moved to the center of the stone balustrade and stared hard. Using his realm cell-phone, he contacted his other lieutenant, Reese. “Do you have anyone near Castle Island?”
“You got Invictus sign?”
“No. I’ve got some kind of weird-ass mist on the lake moving steadily in my direction. Should hit in about two minutes.”
“Rising from the lake?”
“No, moving across it like a thin strange fog. I don’t like it.”
“What do you need me to do?”
Jude felt sick inside his body the closer the mist drew. “I want you to keep all your forces away from this mist. It doesn’t feel right to me. Bring a squad over here but do not engage. Just stick close enough to keep your eye on things.”
“Got it.”
The mist was maybe thirty yards away and closing faster than he’d thought.
Nathan, pot in hand, moved up next to Jude. “Is it me, or does it have a sickly sweet smell?”
“It does. Something like death.”
And before Jude understood anything, Nathan dropped unconscious to the balcony floor, the pot clattering on the stone.
He made a quick decision and contacted Paul.
“Yes, Mastyr.”
“I need Hannah at the castle, the back balcony and I need her now. This is an emergency. There’s some kind of mist. But don’t … go past … ”
Confusion hit first, then he felt himself falling.
~ ~ ~
Hannah sat on the bench at the end of her bed, lacing up her soft, black leather work shoes when Paul about gave her a heart attack. He suddenly appeared on the porch outside her bedroom door and rapped hard on the glass.
Thank God she already had her jeans and tank top on. She was almost ready to head down the hill to the Gold Rush, but thought that on the way she might just give Paul a lecture about how not to go about scaring humans.
“Give me a sec,” she called out.
She’d grabbed her cellphone, shoving it into her pocket, then started across the room.
Paul called to her. “Hannah, it’s Jude. He’s in trouble. He wants you at Castle Island. Now.”
