Ghost Moon (28 page)
Authors: Rebecca York
“But you absorbed the cultural norms,” Griffin said, “becauseyour society was much less fragmented than ours.”
Caleb nodded.
Quinn joined in a little, but she was mostly enjoying the give-and-take between the two men. Maybe Caleb and Griffin could be friends.
There was only one awkward moment—when Griffin talked about how much he missed his wife, recalling that Zarah had cured him of a disease werewolves sometimes get. “I couldn’t control the change. I was running around the city out of control. And I’m lucky I didn’t get killed.”
He looked up to see that Caleb’s face was white. “Sorry. I forgot . . .”
“I guess I’d better get used to it.”
Quinn wanted to reach for Caleb’s hand under the table. But she didn’t do it because she didn’t know if he’d welcome the contact. It seemed like every few days, she had to get to know him all over again.
“Can I use my old room?” Quinn asked at the end of the meal.
“Of course. It’s still yours.”
“And I’d like a room where I could rest as well,” Caleb said.
“Not with me?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“We need to sleep.”
She felt her throat tighten. So what was he really thinking?That he wanted to avoid getting her pregnant? In Logan’s world, she could go on contraceptive pills—or they could use a condom. But not here. And would he walk away from her when they got back to the other side? She honestly didn’t know.
“Okay,” she managed to say.
“How long will it take to get to the portal?” Caleb asked.
“An hour—on horseback.”
“Then someone should wake us at five in the morning,” Quinn said. “That way, we’ll get back just before dawn.”
She left the men talking and went back to her old room, where she even managed to get a little sleep, probably becauseshe was exhausted. When a soldier knocked on her door at the appointed time, she got up and washed, then came back to the courtyard, where servants had laid out bread, fruit, and meat.
Griffin was waiting for them.
“You didn’t have to get up,” she said.
“I wanted to wish you Godspeed. And I seem to have acquireda . . . dividend.” He held up an old clock that she had seen in one of the rooms of his residence. She had never heard it ticking, but it was ticking now.
“Caleb fixed this for me.”
She turned to him. “You did?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t so hard. I’m good with my hands. When my truck broke down, I could usually get it going again.”
“Maybe fixing the clock wasn’t hard for you,” Griffin said. “But nobody else in this world could do it.” He turned to Quinn. “Please take this letter to Zarah.”
“Or course.” Quinn put the letter into her fanny pack. Four horses were waiting in the courtyard.
She embraced Griffin, then mounted. As they rode out into the city with two soldiers escorting them, she saw that Caleb wasn’t entirely comfortable in the saddle. But by the time they reached the gate, the ability seemed to have come back to him.
To Quinn’s relief, the journey back to the portal was uneventful.She and Caleb dismounted several hundred yards away so the soldiers wouldn’t know the exact location.
They thanked their escort, left the horses with the soldiers,and waited until the men started back to the city beforewalking into the cave.
Quinn stopped short when she saw the opening was stuffed with branches and brush. And she sucked in a breath when she realized she could tip her head and see through the membrane between the worlds.
Wondering what she would find, she made her way through, pushing the obstruction aside as she went.
They emerged into a gray dawn. And as they walked down the hill toward the Marshall house, a wolf that Quinn didn’t recognize stepped into their path, bared its teeth, and growled at them in warning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Quinn stopped short,
staring at the wolf, wonderingwho he was. Not Ross or Logan.
staring at the wolf, wonderingwho he was. Not Ross or Logan.
Caleb stepped in front of her, making his own growling sound deep in his throat in response to the challenge. He could do that. But because he couldn’t change, he’d just made the situation a lot more dangerous for himself. What was he going to do if the other wolf attacked?
She caught his arm. “Don’t!”
“It’s one of them.”
“Yes. But he doesn’t know us. Let me handle this.”
“No.” He kept his gaze firmly on the wolf. “I am Caleb Marshall, the cousin Aden killed. I assume you heard about that?”
The wolf nodded.
“Probably you’re thinking, ‘Funny he doesn’t look like one of us.’ But you also know I’m in another body—of a man who was buried alive in the woods.”
The wolf pawed the ground and nodded again.
“When I was detached from the body,” Caleb continued, “I was able to communicate with the previous owner. He gave me some information you need to have.”
The wolf nodded once more, then backed away and disappearedbehind a nearby tree.
“He’s going to change,” Quinn said.
“I know what the hell he’s going to do!”
“Yes,” she murmured, then more softly, “Sorry.”
Moments later, a dark-haired man wearing only a pair of sweatpants stepped back into view.
“I’m Jacob Marshall, Logan’s younger brother.” While he spoke, he kept his gaze on Caleb as though he expected trouble.
Caleb stood stiffly beside Quinn, but he didn’t make any threatening moves, and she was thankful for that.
“What are you doing here?” Caleb asked.
“I should ask you the same question. I thought you promisednot to come back.”
“Quinn brought me because I agreed not to try and rip out anyone’s throat.”
Quinn winced. Was he hoping to start a fight?
“Your turn,” Caleb challenged.
“We’ve been guarding the portal to make sure nobody came through—except you. We were getting ready to send Rinna and a team in to look for you.”
Quinn sucked in a sharp breath. “Rinna! I can’t imagine she wants to go back there. Even though she knows Falcone, the man who raped her, is dead.”
“She knows her way around. And Zarah can’t do it.”
“I’m sorry you were even thinking of it. You were worried about us?” she asked.
“Yeah. And we’ve got another problem, too.”
“Oh yeah?” Caleb said.
“Give me a minute. Let me get my shoes and shirt,” Jacob said, walking back to the tree where he’d left his clothing.
When he was dressed, Quinn said, “You don’t have to stay here guarding the portal. Nobody but us is coming through.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Baron—the guy who was challenging Griffin— is dead, and his men have enough problems without looking for the portal.”
Jacob nodded. “Then I can go back with you. The others will be glad you’re here.”
“Okay,” Quinn answered, relieved for the moment.
“Why?” Caleb asked.
“Let’s wait until we get there.”
They walked quickly down the hill.
Caleb was silent.
Quinn said, “We haven’t met before.”
“I came to help,” Logan’s brother answered.
Quinn gave him a sidewise glance. Like the rest of the Marshalls, he was tall and dark and trim.
When she saw Logan’s house, Quinn felt her stomach clench. She had broken her promise. But Jacob had made it sound all right. She hoped it was.
She wanted to tell Caleb to wait outside, but she cut him a glance and saw that he looked as tense as she felt. If she went in without him, he would only stand out here stewing. So when Jacob opened the front door, she followed him inside. . . with Caleb right behind her.
Everybody was in the kitchen, and she wanted to warn them to go easy on Caleb. But there was no chance of saying anything now.
As soon as they stepped into the room, Zarah’s body went rigid, her total focus on Quinn.
“Is he all right?” she breathed.
“Yes. Griffin’s fine.”
Zarah jumped up and crossed the room, hugging her tightly. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” she said in a choked voice.
“He loved the pictures of you—and the sonogram of the baby.”
“That sonogram is a miracle,” Zarah said, her voice cracking.She waited a moment, then drew back. “I’m being so selfish. How are the two of you?” She looked from Quinn to Caleb and back again.
Caleb shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“We’re fine,” Quinn answered. “And I have a letter for you—from Griffin.”
Zarah took it in her trembling hand. “Would you excuse me? I need to read it.”
“Of course,” Rinna said, then swung her gaze toward Caleb, who looked like a statue that had been hit with a hammerand was going to shatter into a thousand pieces. “Welcometo our house.”
He gave her a doubtful look. Quinn watched as she crossed to him and embraced him. As she did, Logan looked like he was ready to spring across the room if Caleb made any threatening moves.
He stood stiffly for a moment. Then his hands came up and clasped Rinna.
When she stepped back, his eyes were bright. After a moment,Logan came over and held out his hand. Caleb shook it.
Jacob and Ross did the same.
“I’m glad you made it here,” Logan said.
Caleb nodded tightly. Probably in a million years, he hadn’t expected anything like this from the Marshall family. No, make that seventy-five years.
Taking a step closer to him, Quinn reached for his hand and clasped it. Maybe this really was going to work out okay.
“We’re glad to meet you,” Ross said. “It took guts to walk into this situation.”
Caleb answered with a little nod.
“We’re hoping you can help us,” Ross said.
“With what?”
“We need information about Colonel Jim Bowie,” Ross said. “He’s running some kind of militia group out in FrederickCounty.”
She felt Caleb wavering on his feet. He looked like he was about to fall over, and she clasped his hand more tightly—knowing why he was reacting. She’d heard him say that name when Pamina was trying to forge the connection between his mind and body. And now Ross was asking about the same man.
Caleb braced his shoulder against the wall, breathing hard. Sweat had broken out on his forehead. “Actually, he’s the bastard who ordered me killed. Well, not me. Wyatt Reynolds.”
Ross watched him closely. “How do you know?”
“Because Wyatt Reynolds told me.”
“You’re talking about the man who was murdered?” Ross asked.
“Yes.”
“You have his memories?”
“Some. Sometimes.” As he spoke Caleb crossed the room and sat down heavily at the table.
Rinna ran water from the tap and handed Caleb a glass. He took a gulp. “Thank you.”
“Bowie must be an assumed name. There are no records of the man before two years ago. What else do you know about him?” Ross asked.
“He was a . . . monster,” Caleb answered. “Strict with his men. If you joined his organization, you conformed to his rules. And he’s planning some big operation—soon.”
“What the hell is he going to do?” Logan pressed, then softened his tone. “Sorry.”
Caleb shook his head. “I wish I knew.”
“Too bad,” Ross muttered. “We’d like to know why he killed Reynolds.”
“He was a spy,” Caleb said. “I remember that much.”
“Who was he working for?” Ross asked.
Caleb’s brow wrinkled. After a long moment, he said, “I don’t know.”
“We need to jog your memory.”
“How?”
“Maybe I can help,” Zarah said from the doorway.
Caleb looked up, seeing the anxious faces around him. He had said he didn’t want to have a psychic work on him, and Quinn waited tensely to see what he would say now that he saw how much these people needed him.
“If you give us a little privacy,” he said in a low voice.
“Of course,” Rinna answered.
“We can use my bedroom,” Quinn offered, then wonderedif he’d ask to do it somewhere else.
But he only nodded.
She let out the breath she was holding, but she was worriedenough to ask, “Can I come with you?”
“Yes,” he answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
While the others waited in the living room, she, Zarah, and Caleb went downstairs.
“Lie down and get comfortable,” Zarah said to Caleb, then went to fetch her lamp.
Caleb stretched out on the bed, and Quinn brought in an extra chair from the family room. Then she sat on the side opposite the door.
Caleb lay with his body rigid, his hands clasped across his middle, as though he needed to hold on to something. Quinn wished he’d reached for her hand instead, but she wouldn’t force him to turn to her.
When Zarah came back, she sat down in the chair on Caleb’s other side and lit her lamp.
Quinn tried to quiet her own nerves. But she was worried about what was going to happen now. Surely nothing like what Pamina had done.
She stole a look at Caleb’s rigid face and wondered what he was thinking.
Zarah looked down at him and smiled. “I’m going to lend you my energy and the energy of the flame—to strengthen your memories.” She flicked a look across the prone man. “It will help if you have Quinn’s energy, too.”
Quinn thought that was probably true. She also thought Zarah had felt the strain between herself and Caleb and was trying to bring them closer together.
She waited with her breath frozen in her lungs, then heard him swallow hard before muttering, “Okay.”
She closed her eyes, telling herself his reluctance wasn’t a rejection. Then she heard Zarah’s voice again,
“Quinn, take one of his hands.” Grateful to be included, she did as her friend asked and felt Caleb’s hand quiver. She wanted to ask him what he was feeling, but she kept the question locked behind her lips.
Still holding the lamp, Zarah took his other hand with her free one. She made a humming sound, but didn’t speak for several moments. Finally, she murmured, “I feel the man who was in this body. You said his name was Wyatt Reynolds?”
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