One cannot walk fifty yards without encountering a lay line, much like those Starbucks in Manhattan. Using magic on this earth is akin to a landline telephone. You have to find a line to tap into. They are spread miles apart. These energy lines vary in potency. Some are like rivers; some like streams, brooks, and so forth. The more energy that flows through a line, the easier and safer the transfer is between worlds.” Lelani pointed to a zone north of the city. “This was the point of entry for your group.”
“Dutchess County?” Cal said. “That’s about two hours’ drive from here. Is that where you came in?”
“No. Dorn may have posted guards at that transfer point. I used a smaller lay line running deep under Central Park. It was dangerous, but I was alone and thought I could navigate it. I would prefer not to use it again.”
“You think going back to the original transfer point up north will give us a lead?”
“More than that, my lord.”
Cat flinched as the horse-woman called Cal her lord. She looked for any sign of embarrassment in her husband’s face. He barely noticed it. The ten-year veteran of the NYPD-this pretender to peasantry-was at home at the top of the food chain. He had an air about him now, like he expected others to serve him and his cause. Cat didn’t like it.
“The last remaining magus on this earth resides somewhere near there,” Lelani said. “An old friend of Master Proust’s named Rosencrantz. He might know a way to give the others their memories back no matter where they are on this world. We should seek his aid.”
“Okay. That’s a start. What about you? You can’t travel looking-well, like you are now.”
“If I cast another illusion spell, I will deplete the last of my energy supplies. As I tried to explain earlier, bending photons is not simple. Illusion has a high-energy initiation cost.”
“Can you recharge at the lay line?”
“Yes… but should we encounter sorceries on the way…”
“Do it. There isn’t any choice.”
He was a soldier again, Cat concluded-a commander. Do it, he says, and he expected it done. Would this change the partnership they had created?
“We’re off to see the wizard, are we?” Cat said.
“Cat, I’ll drop you and Bree off at your mother’s…”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry. I meant, may I come with you… your lordship. ” Cat attempted a curtsy.
“Catherine…”
“Should I bend lower? This is my first curtsy.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“No fucking kidding, Cal. Did you think I didn’t notice the giant and the swordsman trying to cut our throats a few hours ago? Wizards and trolls? Where the hell is safe? You tell me.”
Cal pursed his lips into a tight line. He looked taller. More rigid. Confident. He was still the man she loved and still just as much of a stranger. She had always held more ground in the marriage. He had spoiled her with power. She was not used to butting heads on serious decisions. Cat wondered how he saw her now. Was it through a new spectrum… his mother, his sisters, the kaleidoscope of women from his past? She owed him a victory, or three, for years of acquiescing. But this would not be one of them. He had left his family once before and it cost him thirteen years of his life. Cat could not stand to lose Cal for thirteen years or thirteen minutes. He had accepted a piece of her soul on the day they exchanged vows, and he could not just disappear with it. She would defend it.
“Bree goes to Mom,” she said. “I go with you. Discussion closed.”
“Fine.”
“Hey, do I have to come?” Seth asked.
“Yes!” said the other three in unison.
CHAPTER 12
1
A pothole jolted Cat back to the world. Her temple lay against the cold window, a string of dribble crept down her collar. The world whizzed by Cat’s head at the speed of life. She peeled herself off the window and made note of her surroundings. They were driving north on Route 22 in the Ford Explorer. The rain had not made it this far north; the trees and pastures were bleached with frost, a shadowless cinereal landscape under the absent noon sun. Cal drove with a firm gaze and heavy thoughts on his brow. Cat pulled down the sun visor to wipe her chin in the mirror. Out of habit, she inspected the backseat through the reflection, forgetting that Bree was with her mother.
Seth, in the rear seat, had passed out. He had gone through a six-pack and was sleeping off the difference. Better for everyone, Cat thought. Lelani lay crouched in the rear of the Explorer. Her newly redisguised legs looked human enough, but she couldn’t fool the car. Cat felt the extra weight at every acceleration. They were all quite tired from the previous night’s activities. Cal and Lelani seemed to be handling it the best.
Lelani admitted to having a vague idea of where to find this Earth-born sorcerer, Rosencrantz. He lived along the northern lay line, a virtual river of energy flowing from the center of all creation, in the vicinity of a major transdimensional gate. Dorn would likely have left guards behind, the centaur warned. Cal had taken his spare vest, both guns, and all the bullets.
Cat watched Lelani study the passing world. She had an appetite for knowledge, a mind like a glue trap, and a physique and dexterity that could make mincemeat out of Serena Williams on the tennis court. Cal said she was unique. In his experience, magi were the types whose cuffs soaked in their soup bowls while they absorbed text from a scroll. They were geniuses, but also awkward and clumsy in their youth-the types that seldom had girlfriends or boyfriends even in their own circles; in other words, nerds. Cal confessed to taunting a few with his friends when he was a child. Lelani, according to Cal, was a cut above the basic spell-tosser. Her bravery had returned his identity, made him complete for the first time in more than a decade. They were lucky she had been picked for this mission, Cal explained. A mixed blessing at best. Cat couldn’t help wonder if a less able rescuer might not have been preferable, someone not as likely to have succeeded. After all, she’d earned her husband fair and square.
Cat had rescued Cal from an orphan’s existence… a man with no beginnings. But he had rescued her as well, from an endless line of flawed, unintriguing men; a parade of players and insecure minds threatened by a strong will and a sharp psyche, or worse, ready to surrender their authority completely. Cal was the balance-the strongest man she’d ever met, not just in body, but also in his virtue. Chivalry became palatable through his sincerity. With Cal, it was possible to enjoy the comforts of feminine vulnerability and not surrender her self-respect. For that, she’d give him the world.
Bree’s birth had marked a new beginning for Cal. Through nine months of pregnancy, and six hours of labor, Cat inaugurated her husband into the simple experience that many took for granted-a blood relative. And she’d do it again if they had the chance. They were on course for a happy life. A brother or sister for Bree, a promotion to ESU for Cal, her MBA and reentry in the workforce, and eventually a home in Westchester. Cal would retire at fifty with full benefits. When the kids were in college, they could travel while still relatively young. Lelani’s failure would have left them content. Her husband would still be hers alone. No one would have known… not even Cal’s tortured family in Aandor. Cat was embarrassed to have such selfish thoughts.
That damned guilt boomeranged and settled in the nape of her neck again. Previously, she’d have moved heaven and earth to discover his origins; it was the only thing missing from his life. Cat realized she wasn’t thinking clearly. If Lelani had not come, Cal may not have survived Dorn’s attack. She’d be a widow right now; another cop’s wife filling out benefits forms. Sweeping Cal’s history under the carpet as it threatened to unravel everything they’d built was not the solution. She wanted to protect him from the dangers his past brought with it. How far could she
