"A human with grand morals," the woman cooed. "How wonderful. You're a dime a dozen, you superhero types."
Her comment stoked a tiny flame of anger inside me. It was thanks to "superhero types" that this woman was alive and not floating around as destroyed particles in the chaotic aftermath of the planned apocalypse. I gritted my teeth, but she met my gaze with an assured smirk that made me want to throttle her. I suddenly wished Roxy were beside me, knowing she would have just the right one-liner to throw at this smug woman and her creepy friends.
She's human. I'm not sure about the others, but we can take them.
Finn let out a little squeak from Cam's backpack. He could sense the oncoming battle.
"I'm not sure," one of the other hooded characters muttered. "They're not worth the fight. I don't sense anything of interest among them."
The large hooded man grunted in disagreement. "I sense something. Not enough for our purposes, perhaps, but these people would be better disposed of than out running around." When he looked our way, I felt like his gaze was right on Dorian and me. "We can't have any obstacles in our way."
A tense second of silence passed as Jessica fervently whipped her head back and forth between our two groups.
"Well, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," the woman said. Her cocky smile grew as her hand landed on the hilt of a blade hidden just beneath the curve of her open cloak.
I steeled myself for battle. Much like Jessica, I had no intention of allowing this group to run off without first answering all my questions. If they needed a good fight to convince them to talk, I was more than willing to provide it. Dorian hissed low beside me. My team was ready.
32
Roxy
"If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them," I told Colin. "You're the animal whisperer, after all." This monster had already tried to kidnap me once before, so I was open to any advice or ideas.
Colin's mouth lifted with mild amusement, but he remained cautious as we inched closer to the creature. It was breathing low and shallow as my other team members made sure it was still restrained.
"It's in pain," Colin muttered, and glanced toward the other side, where Evans and Jones hunkered down to keep watch on the Ghost's ties. "Captain, can you move over there? I want to check something. If you can try to tap into your connection with Kane, that might help."
I was up for anything. Slowly, I stepped toward Jones and Evans. Kane, are you listening? We're trying to come get you.
As soon as I started walking, the beast attempted to swing a claw at me. The weighted net and ropes stopped it, but I sprang backward just in case. Geez. This thing really wanted me for some reason. Genuine interest warred inside me against my natural instinct to get as far from the Ghost as possible.
"Do you think it's the interplanar stuff Joseph told us about?" I asked. The creature let out a low wail. Worry made my stomach turn as I waited for an answer from Kane. None came. The creature settled down once more as I eased off trying to connect to him, but it was eyeing me as best as it could through the ropes.
"I do. I think he was right," Colin said. "It’s bothered by interplanar energies that are out of place, which might mean that the Ghost will take you straight to Kane in an attempt to make it stop, if you two are communicating with each other, making that energy that it doesn’t like. If not, at least we’ll get to the Pocket Space. Now, we need to get this thing back on its feet. If we can anchor the feet down, I can try to put together a quick harness to ride it."
I stared at him expectantly. "And me?" I had a feeling I was signing up for another ride in that mouth of spiky teeth. If I was on his back, the Ghost would probably just fight to dislodge me. Colin gave me a sympathetic shrug. Oh, yeah, it was definitely going to be that kind of plan.
"I think if you stay calm, it won't hurt you. The important thing will be not to struggle," he said gently.
I stared at the creature's mouth. The idea of going back in there chilled my blood, but we needed to do something. I couldn't let Kane die. And, hell, if Joseph was right, then I could save all my limbs and avoid his fate. I just needed to keep cool.
"Relax in a monster's mouth," I said. "Got it." Wow, no pressure at all. Kane was lucky he was worth it.
"That takes guts," Jessie said with a whistle. It was times like these when I wished I didn't have any of those. It would save me from ending up in situations like this.
After Jordan returned, we managed to get the creature up on its legs while maintaining its restraints. The Ghost howled, but Colin kept me in front of it as bait to distract it. He told me to keep thinking about Kane… which was easy enough.
I need you to wake up, Kane. I'm coming for you, whether you like it or not. Once again, silence greeted me like an old friend. I was growing more worried and frustrated by the second. This Ghost had better have a good idea of where Kane was, or this whole plan was screwed.
Wake up. Are you listening?
"I've got it," Colin said as he scrambled onto the monster’s back. He and Jordan had fixed together a saddle with some of our old redbill equipment and weapon straps from the nearby barracks, making quick work as the beast tried to pull against the remaining ties. The saddle was crude, but it would do. "You'll
