Her haunted eyes stared unblinking into memories. “You feel as if you have somehow plummeted into eternity. You feel alone beyond anything I could explain.
“There comes a time when you begin to believe that you’ve died. You can’t see anything, you can’t hear anything. You feel as if you must be dead.”
Jax seemed to force herself to abandon the memory, as if staying there any longer might cause the place to snatch her back. She took a purging breath and looked over at him.
“When I start for this world I have a reference point found with the aid of magic, so from here there is no way for me to find a reference point in my world, no way to know where to return to. That’s why I need a lifeline to pull me back through that eternal void to my world. Without a lifeline there is no way to return.
“When I went back the last time I took the painting you gave me, but I lost it in the void. I loved that painting and wanted more than anything to take it back with me for others to see. I held it as tightly as I could, but I lost it. I don’t remember where or how it was gone, it just was. That experience proved what we had thought — things can’t be brought back from this world to ours.
“I’m sorry, Alex, that I lost your beautiful gift.”
He offered her a smile of comfort. “I’ll paint you another.”
She nodded her thanks for his understanding.
“When I saw Bethany and her thugs at your door I knew that I didn’t have a moment to lose. I had to come immediately, even though I had no lifeline ready.
“I had to come because you are the right man, Alex.”
Alex listened to the rain drumming steadily against the roof of the Jeep and the distant rumble of thunder. He remembered the day in his studio that she had described. He had forgotten all about the mirror by then; he thought that he would never see her again. That hadn’t been the only day he had raged against death for taking Ben. If she had been watching him, she would know that, too.
Ben wouldn’t be dead were it not for these people coming to his world, coming for his family, coming for him.
If he didn’t stop them, who would? How many more would die?
Jax laid a hand on his arm. “Are you all right, Alex?”
He nodded. He wondered how she could be all right, knowing that she had no way to get home.
“We need to stop them,” he said with quiet resolve. “I don’t know if I’m the right man, but I’m the only Rahl you’ve got. If I can do anything to help, I will. If we can figure this out and stop them, then maybe other people won’t needlessly lose their loved ones.”
“Thank you, Alex,” she whispered. She again gently rested her hand on his arm, as if to say she understood all that his words conveyed, and was sorry to have to ask so much of him.
He knew that, for her, there was no turning back. There wasn’t any turning back for him, either. No matter what happened, they were now committed.
Her face brightened with a small smile. “So, any ideas?”
“Well,” he said, “Bethany knew something about what these other people were after. She wanted to bear my successor. That could only gain one thing: the inheritance that came to be mine when I turned twenty-seven. I think we need to find out about this land that I’m inheriting.”
“I suppose that it makes sense for us to look into it. But I can’t see how it would have anything to do with what they’re after. What do they need with land?”
“I don’t know, but Bethany sure seemed intent on having it.”
“Not necessarily. It makes more sense to me that what she was really after was your child, a Rahl child.”
“What good would a Rahl child do her?”
“A Rahl in my world would be currency of immense value. A Rahl heir would have made her far more important than she otherwise was.”
“You think she intended to get pregnant and return to your world? You just said that you can’t take anything back.”
“But if she got pregnant, the child would have been hers as well. It would have been a part of her. That, I’d be willing to bet, she could have taken back through the void to my world.”
“I was sure it had to be something to do with the land,” Alex muttered.
“It may be,” Jax said. “I’m only saying there are other important reasons she would have wanted you to get her pregnant. I can see why she would want a Rahl child, but I can’t imagine what she would want with land. She has land — a lot of it.”
“So you’re convinced it’s not the land they’re after?”
Jax shrugged. “I’m only pointing out that there are other reasons people from my world might be interested in you.”
Alex let out a sigh. “Well, as far as I know my mother is the only other living Rahl. I’ve heard her say that people always want to know things from her.
“The land is far away, but my mother is close. Before we consider the land angle I think we should go ask my mother what these people want to know from her. I’m not sure if she’ll be able to talk, but we can try.”
“You said she was crazy.”
“Maybe she isn’t as crazy as I thought. Maybe they’ve driven her crazy. Anyway, it’s a place to start.”
Jax watched his eyes for a moment. “That makes sense. Tomorrow, then, we go see your mother.” She lay back and yawned. “You were right, we’d better get some sleep.”
Alex nodded as he yawned in turn. He watched as she rearranged her duffel-bag pillow. Her eyes closed.
“Jax, you’re someone important where you come from, aren’t you?”
“I’m just a woman, Alex. A woman who has no powers here. A woman who is afraid that she will never see her home again. A woman who is afraid for the lives of those she loves.”
“Those you love. Like a man you love?”
“No,” she whispered, her eyes still closed. “Not that kind of love. I have no one like that.”
He watched her breathing slow for a time. She looked bone-tired. Traveling from a distant world through that void had sounded like more than merely an exhausting experience.
“Jax,” he asked softly, “are you like a queen or something?”
She smiled sadly without opening her eyes, “In my world, queens once bowed to those like me, but not anymore. Now they bow to Cain.” Her voice seemed halfway into the world of sleep. “Now I’m just a frightened, desperate woman a long way from home. A woman who often fears she is foolish to think she can win against these people.”
He watched her for a time. “I don’t think you’re foolish in the least,” he whispered as he tucked the jacket around her, “I think you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
She was already asleep and didn’t hear him.
25
THAT’ S FINE,” MR. FENTON SAID. “I shouldn’t have any trouble having the final title documents ready for you in a few days.” “Thank you,” Alex said into the phone. “That should work out. I’m not sure of my travel plans yet, but I imagine that it will take me at least a few days to get there.”
“I’ll give you a call, Mr. Rahl, and let you know when the documents are ready.”
“Uh, no. . don’t bother,” Alex said, his mind racing for an excuse. “I’m having trouble receiving calls on my phone. There’s something wrong with it. When I get time I’m going to have to see about getting it fixed or replaced. I’ll let you know when I do. In the meantime I’d hate to miss your calls and I wouldn’t be aware that you were trying to reach me. Tell you what, I’ll call you in a few days and let you know when I’ll be in Boston.”
“I look forward to seeing you. Thank you for calling. Oh, and the people at the Daggett Trust were quite pleased with your decision and are eager to meet you.”
Alex wondered why.
