by Linda Howard
Lenna peeked into their shopping carts when she could, curious about what the contents might be. Each cart said something about the person who was pushing it. One woman had collected nothing but sweets and makeup. Another had gloves and bananas and laundry detergent and chocolate—a lot of chocolate—in her cart. Yet another was buying dog food, chew bones, and coffee. Knowing more about Seven thanks to Caine allowing her to read him, she tried to imagine the lives of these women—and the one man who had nothing but potato chips, cookies, and ice cream in his cart. It was a fascinating place, and for the first time she resented not being able to regularly visit and observe this rapidly changing world. Why must the Major Arcana stay on Aeonia? Hunters could freely travel between all worlds, and after a short while in this Walmart place she fiercely envied them that ability. This was just one store. What other marvels did all the worlds hold, that the Major Arcana didn’t even know existed?
A red-haired woman wearing a jacket that appeared to be made of pale blue fur, open over a bright yellow top that revealed almost the top half of her breasts, stopped in her tracks and gave Caine a long, lingering look. Lenna understood that; she had noticed several women watching him pass while they pretended—as best they could—that they weren’t doing exactly what they were doing. Looking at him was a definite pleasure. She did not, however, understand how the woman got her breasts to stand out like that, as if they were propped on a shelf. She had noticed that on a couple of others, and her curiosity got the best of her.
She leaned close to Caine and whispered, “Is it a secret how some of the women get their breasts to do that?” She demonstrated with her hands, though her much smaller breasts couldn’t achieve the same effect, even with her help.
He looked down at her and his gaze lingered on her breasts before flicking briefly to the other woman’s bounty. “It’s a garment called a bra. Support, and padding,” he said succinctly. “You don’t need either.”
Elijah giggled. “I know what that is. Mom calls them her booby-traps.” The words came out without thought, but at the thought of his mother his eyes suddenly filled with tears and his little face began to crumple.
Lenna laid her hand on his shoulder, calming him. “Concentrate, Hunter,” she said. “We’re on a mission.”
Elijah’s lower lip still quivered, but he sniffed and nodded. Caine began pushing the cart faster, taking turns a little too hastily, and in no time the little boy was clinging to the cart and giggling as he said, “Go faster, go faster!”
Lenna started to protest, but a look around told her that there were many children who rode in the shopping carts, or skipped alongside them, or clung to the front as Elijah was doing. She watched them, noting that most of the children were so full of joy, so energetic and … happy. Elijah should have that happiness. He’d had it in the past, and he would have it again. She swore it, on her standing as Strength.
She barely looked at the things Caine piled into their cart, simply kept pace with him as he moved purposefully through the store, barely slowing down to grab goods before moving on. He knew what was necessary to get them through the next couple of days, and she trusted him to make the proper decisions—in this instance at least.
Because Caine had promised, the last place they stopped was the toy section. Elijah hopped down from the cart and went to stand beside Caine, his expression solemn. The two males had bonded, if reluctantly so on Caine’s part. “I don’t know,” Elijah said, and heaved a sigh. “I got most of what I wanted at Christmas, and there isn’t much left.” To Lenna’s eyes there was still a plethora of toys, but this was Elijah’s decision. She wanted him to smile, to run and laugh and ask for silly toys as the other children did, but now that he was here he didn’t.
Then something caught his eye, and he wandered over to a section of boxed games. “Magic,” he said, sounding out the word slowly. “Hey! This is a magic set! I wonder if it’ll teach me how to poof.”
“You’re too young,” Caine said automatically, but he picked up the rectangular box and looked at it. “It has a cape, and a magic wand, and a book of instructions. I don’t know about magic—I believe more in powers—but you can give it a try if you want.”
Elijah nodded eagerly, and Caine placed the box in the cart.
She half expected them to pop out of Walmart the same way they’d popped in, taking their chosen items with them—somehow—but they stood in line with other shoppers so Caine could pay with the “Mr. Smith” credit card. The bill, for this trip and for the hotel, would be paid in the currency of this country, via computer.
Because she had read him, she could put this in context. It was only fair, he thought, that the goods and services he used be properly paid for. To not pay would leave a small footprint on the world, and that needed to be avoided at all costs.
Their purchases were stuffed into plastic bags—toiletries dropped into one bag, clothing into another. Elijah’s magic set went in one bag, then there was yet another larger one for a box that seemed rather heavy. She should have paid better attention to the things Caine had been adding to the cart. She’d been more interested in the people.
At the last minute, she noticed Elijah studying a display of chocolate, and though he didn’t ask for a treat she reached out, grabbed a handful of the thin bars, and added them to their purchases just as the cashier was finishing scanning their goods. Caine turned to look at her, his brows lifting.
“Chocolate,” she said. “I have a craving.”
The look he gave her was one she couldn’t quite read. Maybe she shouldn’t use the word craving in his presence. After last night, she had to admit that she craved him much more than sweets from this world or any other.
Frustration gnawed at Caine when they were safely back in the hotel suite. He wasn’t able to do what needed to be done with both Lenna and Elijah underfoot. He couldn’t do anything about Lenna; he had to keep her close by, at least until she could bother herself to tell him where the deck was.
But Elijah—Elijah was a different story.
Lenna was determined to protect the child, but she wasn’t battle-trained. He knew beyond doubt that if they had to fight Hunters as well as deal with a murderer, the child would need to be left in someone else’s care. There was no other choice.
One of the day’s purchases was a small laptop computer, a cheap one, but it would do. Electronics didn’t fare well on jaunts between worlds, so he just bought a new one when and if it was needed. It didn’t take long to get the new computer set up and running. He’d done this before, many times.
Elijah sat on the couch, eating a chocolate bar from Walmart as he intently watched cartoons. Cartoons seemed to be the child’s escape, Caine thought, a way to let reality go for a while.
Lenna stood at Caine’s shoulder as he worked. “It’s fascinating,” she said in a lowered voice. “So much knowledge, right there for the taking with nothing more than a bit of typing.”
“And Wi-Fi,” he added.
Lenna nodded. Thanks to him, she knew very well what Wi-Fi was.
He pulled up the local news website, and there it was, what he’d been searching for. A woman’s body had been found by a young man who’d lost control of his car on the ice and slid into a roadside park. He’d gone into the nearby woods—to take a piss, most likely, though the story didn’t get into specifics—and had found the body, which had not yet been identified.
It would be, by fingerprints most likely. As soon as the police had an ID, Caine would be tripping over investigators right and left as everyone attempted to find the murderer. It would make his job—his secondary job, which had to be completed before he could get to his primary job—that much tougher.
It was possible this body was a different murder victim, not Elijah’s mother at all, but … he didn’t think so. He also didn’t think the car sliding into that roadside park was coincidence. So little, in this world or any other, truly was.
“We need to get busy,” he said.
Lenna, wh
o had been reading over his shoulder, gave a nod.
“We can’t do what needs to be done with a child tagging along.”
“But—”
“No buts.” He spun his chair to face her, and slowly stood so he could look down at her. “I’ll be facing a murderer as well as at least two Hunters who are working for Veton. Judging by what happened at Elijah’s house, the murderer has the assistance of at least one man. It will be dangerous. I would prefer to leave the boy with friends of mine.”
“You have friends? Here?”
“That surprises you?” he asked crisply.
“A little. I didn’t—” She stopped and began blushing.
“You didn’t see them when you peeked into my head?”
“No,” she admitted.
He couldn’t say he was sorry to still have a few secrets left. “I’m here on Seven often enough that it makes sense to have useful acquaintances in this world.”
She looked up at him, earnestly searching his gaze as if looking for … something. “Is that all they are? Useful acquaintances?”
“I trust them. Elijah will be safe.”
He would love to leave Lenna with his friends, as well, but if he did, if they separated, she would no longer be shielded from the other Hunters. No, he was stuck with her for the duration of this damnable situation.
Lenna wasn’t yet convinced. “How can we be sure Uncle Bobby won’t find Elijah, wherever you leave him?”
Caine grinned. “Trust me, no one will find him.”
She glanced at the kid and her expression changed. It softened, but at the same time there was a fierce determination in her eyes. She barely knew Elijah, but she did care for him.
“He won’t be happy to be left with strangers,” she said.
“No, but he’ll safe. He can be happy some other time.”
For Elijah and for Lenna, happiness would return. For Caine, happiness was elusive. Unnecessary. Not a part of his job description. He was pleased, on occasion. He could be content, for short periods of time. Happy? Never.
He did get the distinct feeling that he might finally experience happiness of a sort when this damn job was over and he saw the last of Lenna and Elijah.
Chapter 12
Lenna frowned at the purchases that had been placed atop the bed, trying not to feel ungrateful, and failing. She should have paid more attention to the clothes Caine had grabbed for her, rather than eavesdropping on the shoppers around them, because she would certainly have countermanded his choices. He’d apparently gone out of his way to pick the drabbest, plainest clothing possible: pants in brown and black, and the shirts were a drab green and the other gray. Really! There were so many wonderful fashions on Seven, so much color and fine fabrics, why had he chosen these atrocities?
Then she made a wry face. Despite how much she disliked the plainness of the garments, she understood. He wanted her to blend in, to disappear into the background no matter where she might be. Fading into the woodwork wasn’t in her nature, but in this case she would try to be as invisible as possible. That, too, was why he’d chosen solid colors instead of shirts with pictures or words on them; she’d seen some that were entertaining, if not exactly pretty, and therefore more likely to stick in an observer’s memory. That was what they didn’t want. Though, really, the underwear he’d picked out wasn’t going to be seen, so why had he chosen black for them?
At least he allowed her to keep the boots she had taken from Zack’s mom’s closet, as well as the red bag that held her own card from the Alexandria Deck, tucked into a back inside pocket. He’d told her to wear the bag under her jacket, which she was more than happy to do. She was glad now she hadn’t taken the entire deck, because it would have been far too noticeable in that small bag; Caine would have pounced on it at once.
Making an effort to ensure that she wouldn’t stand out in a crowd of humans had nothing to do with the atrocious nightgown he’d bought for her to wear. It was long, in a material he called “flannel,” and decorated with a thousand tiny pink roses. She didn’t know why she cared, since no one other than him would see, but she did. She’d rather sleep naked.
And she would. He could wear the damn nightgown if both of them being naked bothered him so much.
She gave a little smile at the realization that she had just sworn using Seven terminology, and hadn’t even had to think about it; it had come naturally, which meant Caine had used the term more than once. He was very at home here.
Elijah’s new clothes were more colorful, but she’d noticed all the children’s clothing was, anyway, with no drab choices available. There were also some short pants and T-shirts, as well as underwear. He seemed to like what Caine had chosen, but then, none of them were made of flannel. He was more taken with the magic set; he’d donned the cape and kept flourishing the magic wand around, though he didn’t seem disappointed when nothing happened. Perhaps in his imagination, he was making magic happen all around him.
A child who had lost everything needed a little bit of something he could control.
Caine was standing beside her as she surveyed his purchases, his narrowed gaze on her face as if he waited for her protest. She didn’t intend to give him that satisfaction; she didn’t like the drab clothing and she didn’t like letting Elijah out of her care, but she understood why both were necessary.
They hadn’t yet told Elijah that they were taking him somewhere to leave him, that he couldn’t stay with them while they tried to find out who Uncle Bobby was. She thought he’d take the news better if he met these friends of Caine’s first, and got comfortable with them, but if they gave him warning he’d already be resentful when they arrived, which wouldn’t be a good situation for any of them.
Caine was evidently still waiting for her to comment about her clothes, so she shrugged. “They’re ugly, but they’ll do.” Except for that nightgown. That thing was in a class all by itself, and it wouldn’t do at all. After all, she didn’t have to blend in when they were alone at night. But she didn’t mention the nightgown because right now they had more important things to deal with—such as Elijah.
Together they packed Elijah’s clothes, as well as most of the chocolate, in one of the plastic shopping bags. When that was done they went into the suite’s parlor, where Elijah was still whirling around in his cape and performing invisible feats of magic. “Ready to go poof?” Caine asked. “Bring your magic set.”
“Yay!” Elijah scrambled to get everything back in the box, then he tucked it under his arm and dashed over to Caine. With his free arm he hugged Caine. “Where are we going this time? Let’s do a circus!”
“I don’t know where any circuses are,” Caine replied. “But I think you’ll like this.”
Lenna was holding the plastic bag. Caine put his arm around her and his hand on Elijah.
She would never get used to it, she thought, the sensation of electric energy and speed too great to comprehend, the sense of power that was all Caine. If he hadn’t been holding her, she’d have fallen to the … sand. In the blink of an eye, their surroundings changed from a hotel room to a beach. This was more of a shock than even the first time he’d done it, because the environment was so wildly different.
Instead of cold, there was a balmy warmth that felt like silk on the skin.
Instead of gray sky, there was a vibrantly blue sky, and a deliciously hot sun. The turquoise waves of the ocean flowed endlessly at them, shading into palest green as it reached toward the beach and foamed almost at their feet. The smell was fresh and salty, a little fishy, lush and rich and so different it took her breath away. Was it always that way with travel between and within worlds? Was it always a shock to the system?
She was holding the plastic bag in one hand, with the other clinging to Caine. She didn’t immediately release him; she never did. She needed that moment of contact with him to steady herself, to recover from the heated sexual rush and regain her composure. Perhaps touching the man who had caused that sexual rush wasn’t the
most intelligent choice but it was what it was. In that moment after, she needed his strength—she, who was strength embodied, needed him.
After a moment she lifted her head and looked out at the ocean. The ocean! She had seen the seas of Seven in Caine’s memory, and she had glimpsed them from afar—from Aeonia. Long ago in the beginning, when the Major Arcana had been able to travel, she had seen an ocean, had stood upon a shore, but … not this one. Her ocean had been gray and rocky and rough. This one was gentle and jewellike, the blues and greens sparkling and clear. The sand was so white it was dazzling.
It was utterly magnificent.
Perhaps being separated from Seven for so long had enhanced her appreciation of its natural beauty. Aeonia was beautiful, of course, but there was no contrast, no sense of adventure or exploration, no vibrancy.
“Where are we?” she asked, her voice low and reverent.
“Caribbean island,” Caine said. He released her and Elijah and turned, pointed toward a lush-leafed jungle. “We go that way.”
She was reluctant to leave the ocean—she wanted to go wading—but the vegetation ahead had its own appeal. It was all shades of green, dotted with the reds and yellows and pinks of flowers. Now that she was looking she could see a sandy trail leading through the jungle.
“Yay!” Elijah jumped up and down, kicked up sand, spun in circles. “This is so cool! I love magic. I can’t wait to be a magician! Can you teach me? I know I’m too young, but just one small trick. Anything. Maybe I can disappear. Poof! I saw a guy on TV once. He disappeared. It was so cool! Teach me! Teach me!”
“Not today,” Caine said.
Elijah kicked the sand again and made an almost adult-sounding snort of disappointment, but he obediently followed along. Both he and Lenna kept turning their heads to look back at the ocean, lured by the hypnotic power of the endless water.