AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No one else moved.
“Come.” Rutger waved the gun in the direction of the door. “The rest of you stay here. My good friend Oliver Stevenson and some of his associates will be along momentarily. Since you’ve been unable to find the amulet, Ollie will keep you entertained while the others do what you should have done before now.”
Who was this man? In two years of working together, he’d never been anything but jovial. I did as he directed, mainly so no one else would get hurt. Passing Rafe, I tried to stop, Rutger jabbed me with the barrel of the pistol. “Keep going.”
“Where?” We only had a few steps before we’d reach the front door. The amulet bumped against my thigh. Whatever else happened, I couldn’t let Rutger know I had it.
“Out. Keep moving.”
I stepped outside into a world of fog.
Figures stepped out of a fog so thick it hid even the ocean. They came closer. Oliver Stevenson and three other men, likely those who’d flung witchfire at us the day we’d gone after Margaret.
“Good. You’re here.” Rutger gave me a shove in their direction. “Two of you take this one and get him out of the way. Search him first, or he’ll turn a clod of dirt into a key to let himself out.”
I could, in fact, turn dirt into a key. Now the question became whether I could turn the amulet into something they wouldn’t notice.
I thought not, but I’d have to try.
Oliver’s friends grabbed me by the elbows and frog-marched me to the dock. One was young, all angles and bones, with a mean scar tugging his lower lip out of line. He pointed a nasty snub-nosed pistol at me. The other, the one who had my elbow in a death grip, was both taller and broader than me, and he smelled strongly of fish.
Midway up the dock, they wrestled me aboard a skiff. The low moan of the foghorn sent us on our way, although our destination was hidden.
I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“Where’s the damned boat?” Stevenson barked at his companion.
“Hell if I know.”
They each had a paddle and we moved along at a good clip. I’d begun to hope they’d give up and take us back to the dock when a dark shadow emerged off to our right.
“There,” Stevenson said.
They adjusted their strokes and soon we came up alongside a fishing boat. It stayed quiet in the water, as if it knew better than to travel far in fog this thick. The bony one grabbed a rope, pulling us closer still, and shoved me toward the other boat.
“Better make a good leap or you’ll need to know how to swim.”
I did as I was told. They followed.
I stumbled and landed on my knees, immediately looking for a weapon – or something I could turn into a weapon. Both of them were more agile than I’d expected. Bony was up and over almost as soon as I was, and his bulky friend had my hands trapped behind my back before I could reach for anything.
“Get the mitts,” the big man said and Bony left my line of sight. I tried to wrestle myself free, but my captor had the advantage – both in size and strength, if not determination.
I was very good at many things but fighting my way free of an evildoer was not one of my skills. There was no way to charm my way out of this debacle.
Bony returned and between the two of them, they shoved stiff mittens over my hands, trying them together in the process. As soon as they let go, I sent a push of power into one hand, intending to turn the mitt into a sharp dagger.
Nothing happened.
In fact, rather than turning the mitten into something I could fight with, my power doubled back on itself, singing my fingertips as it dissipated.
I must have gasped, because the big man laughed. “Hurts, doesn’t it? These are lined with lead, son. You won’t be able to do anything with them on.” He gave me a shove, sending me stumbling toward the prow of the boat. I managed to stay on my feet, if only because I couldn’t bear to fall in whatever slimed the bottom.
“Let’s go,” the big man said.
“Should we search him?”
The man’s chuckle was answer enough. “They wouldn’t have trusted this pansy with anything important.”
