“Tritium. The sights are made with it so you can aim better in low light.”
“In my world I can make a substance that glows much like that.” He noticed that she paid close attention to the weapon. He recalled how well she handled a knife. This was a woman who knew the value of weapons in staying alive. He retrieved the molded polymer paddle holster and pushed it down over his waistband. When he holstered the gun, the retention lock clicked into place. He threw on a light jacket to hide the gun, then took several boxes of hollow-point ammunition from a drawer and put them in the jacket pockets along with the loaded magazines.
He retrieved all the cash he had in the safe and stuffed most of it in his pockets. He handed some to Jax. She looked at it as if she were seeing some otherworldly secret.
“It’s money,” he told her. “We’ll need money. You should have some on you just in case.”
Without questioning, she folded the cash and slipped it into a pocket at her waist.
“We’re going to need to get you some clothes.”
“I’m wearing clothes,” she said.
“Yes, but you kind of stand out in that black dress and cloak. If we’re trying not to be found, then I think it would be best for you not to stand out. We need to blend in, be invisible among people.”
She smiled. “Good thinking. Hurry, now. It would be bad if we were trapped here.”
The whole idea of people from another world chasing them seemed like some crazy waking nightmare to him. At the same time, it felt more real than anything in his life had ever felt.
“Do you know who is after us?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Pirates.”
21
WAIT HERE UNTIL I MAKE sure it’s clear and I start the truck,” Alex said, gesturing out at his faded red Cherokee sitting in the drive.
Jax glanced back into the dark house from the kitchen doorway. “All right, but hurry.”
She was clearly more focused on what might be behind them in the darkness. The intruders had come through the front door the last time. He wondered if she expected more of them to arrive and come up behind them through the house.
Alex carefully ducked his head out, took a quick look, then pulled back in. The rain wasn’t letting up. He looked out a second time, checking the other direction. The Jeep was parked right outside in the driveway that ran along the side of the house.
“I don’t see anyone,” he told her.
She turned back from her survey of the darkness within. “That doesn’t mean a lot. It’s dark and hard to see in the rain. They could be hiding anywhere. But more than that, just because you don’t see anyone right now doesn’t mean they couldn’t show up at any moment.”
That was a disturbing thought. “Can they do that anywhere they want?”
“Theoretically, yes, but as a practical matter, no. Queen Bethany and her thugs knew this location. They came to this world right here, in this place. It only makes sense that others might have this point plotted as well.”
“You mean that to come here you have to know specifically where you want to go?”
“Not exactly. It’s not so much that it’s a problem having to do with coming here as it is knowing specifically where you want to be when you get here. The worlds — yours and mine — are big places. Imagine if you were to go to my world, not knowing anything about it. How would you find me, one person, in that whole world, among millions of people? Coming here is one thing, knowing where you want to be when you get here is quite another.”
“I see what you mean. Sounds like it must be difficult.”
“When I was trying to find you the second time I watched the area of the art gallery because it was a place I knew you went. It was where we first located you and at the time the only known place I had for you. That’s why we need to get away from your known locations.”
“That complicates things.”
“I didn’t promise you it would be easy.”
“I guess not.”
With his index finger he absently pressed the release lever on the side of holster and lifted the gun just enough to make sure that it was clear. He let the weapon drop back and click into place.
“Best if we stick to the plan, then. You stay hidden in the shadows and keep a lookout until I start the truck. And pull the door shut behind you when you leave the house,” he added. “I’d like to have a home to come back to one of these days.”
Jax smiled sympathetically. “I know how you feel.”
Alex slipped out the doorway and into the rain. It felt to him like stepping out of his old life and into a new one.
Everything felt new to him, different, as if he were seeing the world with new eyes.
It seemed he could feel each individual muscle in his body as he moved. He thought that he could have counted every cold drop of rain that fell on him. He was aware of the different sensations of the rain on his face, of it matting his hair, of it wetting his pant legs, and of it spattering on the backs of his hands. He could smell the wet dirt, the concrete, and the trees. He could hear the rain beating against the roof of the house, gurgling down the gutters, splashing in puddles, whispering against the leaves of the big maple tree at the rear corner of his house, and drumming on the metal panels of the Jeep. Clouds lit from within by lightning revealed their greenish, roiling shapes before going dark again. He could feel the thunder in the distance rumbling through the ground. Lightning flickered closer in the west, illuminating the glistening, wet scene in stark, colorless contrast.
All of his senses were firing. The world was not just new to him, but an alien place.
He swiftly unlocked the driver’s door and popped it open only enough to turn on the interior dome light. He looked in the windows, checking that no one was hiding in the back. Once he knew the truck was empty he hopped in and hit the unlock button so that Jax would be able to get in on the passenger side.
When he turned the key in the ignition he heard only a click. His pounding heart seemed to skip a beat. He tried again, and again it only clicked. The starter was resting in a dead spot. He knew from experience that he could turn the key all night and it wouldn’t start the engine.
Alex was furious at himself. He could hardly believe that he hadn’t replaced the starter when he’d had the time. With everything surrounding Ben’s death he had ignored the matter of the starter. The excuse was pointless. An excuse wouldn’t undo the mistake.
Jax ran from the house to stand in the open door of the truck. “What’s wrong? Does it always take this long?”
“It won’t start.”
“Magic is a lot more dependable than technology,” she said as she leaned in a little under the shelter of the roof.
“Really? How’s your magic working for you right now?”
She sighed when she realized she had no argument.
“I just need to roll it down the driveway to get it to start.”
He always backed the truck up the sloping drive for just such an eventuality.
“I’ll push it to get it going. I do it often enough. It will be fine. Run around and get in the—”
Alex looked up just as a dark form slammed full force into Jax from behind. The breath left her lungs in a grunt. The violence of the impact drove her onto Alex, knocking him back over the center console. The armrest jammed painfully into his kidneys. His shoulders were pressed down against the passenger seat, his neck bent at a torturous angle. In such an awkward position, the full weight of both Jax and the huge man atop her prevented him from drawing a full breath.
Time seemed to stop.
The growling man had a meaty arm around Jax’s neck. Lethal rage lit his dark eyes. He was only an instant
