Crossroads

was concerned about you. I heard there were skinwalkers on the reservation at war with the vampire. I came to warn you.

How noble. You weren’t afraid those same skinwalkers would hunt you?

My expression must reflect the skepticism churning the acid in my stomach because he ignores the question and fol ows with, Then when I got here I heard about the terrible accident that took the life of Frey’s wife and sister-in-law. I thought you had enough on your mind. I’d wait until a better time to tell you. It must have been a skinwalker that got Judith. I told her she was foolish to venture out of the room.

It must have been a skinwalker.

Must have been. I’ve never seen Chael project insecurity before — anxious, rambling, fil ing his thoughts with empty words in a desperate attempt to persuade or distract me.

Until?

Someone must be on the way to help him.

Time to move things along before he thinks to ask again why I’m here or worse, how I found him.

Well, we’d better get you out of here. The police are taking roll downstairs and you are going to be missed. You and the late Judith Williams. I have a place for you to hide until we can decide what to do.

He backs away. No. I feel safer here. I have a contact on the Navajo police. I’ve been trying to reach him but all I get is his voice mail.

That’s probably because he’s downstairs with the rest.

And as long as there are others present, he’s not going to be able to help you. Come on. I know a way we can climb down over the wall in back and sneak away.

His face draws up. His thoughts are cloaked, but I can feel the intensity of the battle he’s waging. He doesn’t trust me, but he’s alone and so am I. In his arrogance, he is sure he can handle anything I throw at him.

All right. I’ll go with you.

I turn my back and start toward the slider at the same time there’s a knock on the guestroom door.

“Police, Mr. Sidhu. Open up.”

Chael pushes against me in an effort to propel us forward faster. The grin that lights my face is hidden by the fact that I’m out the slider and headed for the corner of the building so fast, al Chael sees is the blur of my back.

He’s as dexterous as I am and we shimmy down the building like two reptiles fleeing the talons of a raptor. Once on the ground, we move too quickly to be noticed by the police officers posted at the back door to the lodge. Then we’re off across the desert floor, headed for the mesa a mile away.

Chael is fast, almost faster than I. At one point, he slows and sends a message. Where are we going?

It’s not far now, I reply. I have a vehicle hidden in the mouth of a cave.

The answer satisfies him. He was not looking forward to a long trek on foot. Even vampires have their limits.

I have to scan the area Frey mentioned before I find the opening about twelve feet up a dirt and loose rock pathway. I point. There.

Chael shields his eyes with a hand. I don’t see a vehicle.

It’s back inside. Come on. We’d better take cover before we’re spotted.

He’s looking up at the rock strewn path with distaste. Why don’t you get the car? I’ll wait for you here.

Afraid to scuff your loafers? I let the sarcasm drip. Get over it. It’s too soon to be trekking across the desert leaving a plume of dust anyone can follow. We’ll hole up for a while, until it’s clear.

He doesn’t like the idea, but the reasoning is sound so he gives in with a shrug. He fol ows close behind me, slipping on rock and gravel his smooth-soled loafers were never meant to travel. The legs of his dark trousers are powdered with dust. I’m sure the idea that he’d be trekking through the desert with me was the last thing on his mind when he got dressed this morning.

When we reach the mouth of the cave, he peers inside.

This cave is far different from the one I explored yesterday.

The floor is littered with guano dust and animal scat. The smel of rotting vegetation and stale air gusts out at us.

Chael wrinkles his elegant nose. How far back is the car?

A ways.

He lets the barrier slip from his thoughts. His eyes turn hard. What are you playing at, Anna Strong?

We’re facing each other, the pretense of civility fal ing away like shattered glass.

Oh, I’m not playing at anything, Chael. I brought you here to answer for Sarah and Mary. You took innocent lives to what purpose? To keep me here? I want to know one thing before I kill you. Who is the skinwalker helping you?

He draws himself up, a flicker of anger tenses muscles, fists clench and unclench at his side. Again, you show your arrogance, your ignorance. What do you think will happen if you kill me? Do you think my death will go unavenged? I am a leader of one of the Thirteen Tribes. I have followers who are even now on their way to help me. They will hunt you down and everyone close to you and no one will be spared. You will have sparked a war that will destroy the very things you argued so eloquently to protect at council.

Pretty words, Chael. I take a step closer, baring teeth that ache to tear out his throat. Perhaps you should have thought of that before you sent me on this fool’s errand. I was turned down by the council. You knew I’d not be allowed to see the shaman. Was the plan to let skinwalker curse magic destroy me?

That I saw Sani anyway I keep buried.

A smile draws the corners of his mouth into a humorless grin. Turned down by the council? You really don’t have a clue, do you? He pauses, as if savoring what wil come next.

Your request was not turned down. Sarah never got the chance make her plea to the council.

He watches me, enjoying the flashes of emotion that flicker through my thoughts. Anger that he lies so blatantly, fury that he thinks I’l fal for it. . curiosity because I don’t know why he’d throw out such an outlandish lie. George told me I’d been turned down. Insinuated that Sarah’s death was my fault because she was kil ed coming back from the council meeting where she pled my case.

George lied. Chael’s shoulders drop, as if he knows he’s hooked me and he can release some of the tension gripping his body. Sarah was never allowed to speak at council.

None of the tension has drained from my body, however. I lower my head and growl at him. How do you know this?

I know a member of the council. He had been well paid to see that your request was considered. He came to me after, to tell me what had transpired. A problem had been brought by the elders to the council’s attention and it occupied the entire meeting. Sarah was told to come back next week.

I turn away from Chael — not completely. I would never be so foolish as to turn my back to him. I step close to the rock wal of the cave so I can gather my thoughts. Privately. I al ow nothing to come through that he might pick up.

If Chael is tel ing the truth, George purposely led me to believe Sarah had spoken to the council. There was no misunderstanding. He told me my request had been turned down. I remember how he looked sitting at the kitchen table, the way he swept an arm and said, All this was for nothing.

I recal every word Sani said. He never told me how he knew I was seeking his council, did he?

But why should I believe Chael? How can I know?

I can do but one thing. Chael offers his thoughts in response to my own.