Capturing Caroline (11 page)

Torrent sighed.
"We need to go back."

She traced a
path up his arm with her fingertip. "What if we never went back?
What if we just ran away? We could go anywhere in your world, deep
into the wilderness where no one could find us. We could build a
little house, live on our own." She paused and when she spoke next
her voice was heavy with tears. "We could have babies, raise
them..." Her voice trailed off.

Torrent closed
his eyes against a sudden stinging. He'd wondered what their
children would look like, what they'd be like. They'd never know.
What she offered was so tempting. Just run away, live out their
lives in love, in peace....

"Caroline, You
know—"

"I know," she
answered quickly. "I'm not serious, not really. If we ran away,
you'd never forgive yourself." She paused. "I'd never forgive
myself, either."

"Duty is
difficult."

"There's the
understatement of the year."

He shifted onto
his side and covered her heart with his hand. "I will always be
with you, Caroline. I will live in your heart, your mind, your
soul."

She covered his
hand with hers. "I don't want you just in my heart, my mind, my
soul...I want you all those places and also beside me."

"I know. I want
that too."

They laid
together in silence for several minutes. Finally, Caroline pushed
to her feet and held out her hand. "Come on. You're right. We need
to get back."

He took her
hand, stood, and drew her into his arms, his mouth descending on
hers.

She melted
against him.

"Let's stay
here for a while longer instead,” he murmured against her
cloud-soft lips. “They can have me later. Right now, I'm
yours."

The Magica city
of Titan, rose into the sky, stabbing the heavy gray clouds with
sharp, shiny spikes. It reminded Caroline, as before, of a city
from her reality, but with an alien feel. The buildings were all
made from that weird dark rock. It made the whole of Titan look
covered in charcoal.

"We're
approaching the gates," warned Jessa in a whisper from the front of
the wagon. Caroline and Torrent sat in the back, legs swinging over
the edge. The traditional Magica garb they wore—drab, black and
white and voluminous—was wrinkled and dirty from the trip. Caroline
bet they could all pass as natives.

The only
possible problem was Torrent. He was massively larger than any
Magica male. Logan was smaller than average for a Lycaon.
Apparently that was the reason he'd been chosen spy on the Magica
in the first place.

But
Torrent...

Before they’d
left, Jessa had said that if Torrent was forced to stand for any
reason, their goose was cooked. So, Jessa's whisper about the gates
released tiny little butterflies in Caroline's stomach and nearly
made her sick.

"I feel
nauseous," she murmured to Torrent.

He grabbed her
hand and squeezed it.

"I'm serious."
She pressed her fingers to her mouth as if she could stop herself
from heaving.

All of a sudden
she felt like she was going to throw up. “I
really
feel
sick.”

The thought
struck her like a slap in the face…was she pregnant? Would morning
sickness happen so soon if she was? With a human pregnancy, she
suspected not…but Torrent wasn’t human.

"We'll be
okay," he whispered back.

She turned to
look down the road in front of them. Two huge black gates rose at
the end of the lane. Their little group definitely wasn’t the only
one attempting to gain entrance. The line went at least twenty
carts deep.

Torrent had
told her before they'd left that there were ways of getting into
Titan without having to pass through Magica gate security. However,
by passing through a set of gates they obtained the Magica's
approval for being the city and would be able to travel without
trouble inside. Because of Torrent’s height, this was necessary. He
would be calling attention to himself once inside and needed that
stamp of approval from the guards. It was a little sleight of hand
that was risky, but could pay off in a major way.

Her stomach did
another little flip, and she swallowed hard. Now was not the time
to toss her cookies.

They pulled up
behind a group of sedate men dressed in loose black pants and white
shirts, all of them traveling by foot. From the look of their dirty
and worn boots, they'd come a long way. They all carried dark green
packs on their backs.

"Good
afternoon, fellow travelers," Jessa greeted them. "Returning from a
sales trip to Yaccabich, I'm betting."

Most of them
ignored her, but one man found his manners and glanced at her.
"Yes, mistress. It was not a good journey, I'm afraid. We're
returning with most of our wares still in our packs.

"May I ask what
items you're selling?"

Oh, now the men
were more interested. A couple of them turned and smiled. The line
moved forward, and her stomach lurched again. Nerves....nerves. She
needed to steady herself.

"We have the
latest edition of the Magica Compendium, mistress," answered the
first man.

Caroline knew
from listening to Jessa's continuous lessons about the Magica that
the Compendium was sort of like their Bible. The books contained
all the magick that was legal for the masses to practice, plus all
the rules—and there were many—that pertained to the spells. They
came out with a new compendium every year.

So these guys
were like traveling Bible salesman. Their garb made more sense now.
They were akin to holy people. That meant they enjoyed a position
of power in Magica culture, no matter how beat up their boots or
how poor they seemed. It also meant they were powerful in the
magical arts. The fact they were in front of them did not ease her
anxiety...or her nausea.

"Well, you’re
in luck then, my friends!" said Jessa. "We just happen to be in
need of several such volumes, isn't that right?" Jessa turned and
looked Logan, Caroline and Torrent in turn.

Caroline
blinked, then understood. Jessa was putting all the odds on their
side by buttering up these holy men. Who knew when they might need
a little extra help getting through the gate? Seeming to be friends
with these guys would help them out. Her estimation of Jessa
rose.

"Oh, yes, we
certainly do," Caroline spoke up. "Why, I, myself, need five. I
haven't purchased my new version yet and I have four family members
who haven't, either. I’ll pick some up for them."

"We'll take ten
total," said Jessa with a beaming smile. "What luck to have you in
front of us! We have been away from the city for so long and there
were no compendiums available where we were. This is so very
fortunate!"

The salesmen
were all very friendly now that it looked likely they'd be
unloading some of their wares. The first man fumbled for his pack.
"Most definitely, mistress. Ten it is."

Jessa pulled
out a wad of money and made the exchange. Once they stacked the ten
thick volumes in the back of the cart, Jessa, Logan and the men
chatted easily all the way up to the front of the line.

The guards all
looked like hard soldier types. Although they were probably the
tallest, broadest men the Magica had to offer, their demeanor made
her assume they were all men with small hearts and big inferiority
complexes. She erped again and pressed a hand to her mouth.

Torrent touched
her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

She closed her
eyes and nodded her head, afraid if she opened her mouth something
other than words might come out. She wanted to confide her
suspicions to him—that she carried his child—but it felt cruel. It
would only add to his despair.

Oh, but it made
a sliver of hope and happiness flicker deep inside her. She prayed
it was true.

The guards
dealt quickly with the compendium salesmen, opening all their packs
and asking them a few general questions. Each person needed to show
their identification, something Jessa and Logan had already
prepared for them. Jessa's plan of buying the books had been a
sound one. The guards had watched the group smiling and laughing
all the way up to the gate. It made them seem relaxed and as though
they belonged there.

"Halt!"
commanded the head guard when their wagon approached the entrance.
All of the men were dressed in black from head to toe and had an
orange armband wrapped around their right biceps. Each of them held
one of those long magicksticks that looked a lot like a cattle
prod. "Get out of the cart, state your names, and show your
identification."

Crap! They
hadn’t made anyone in the other wagons stand. Why them? Torrent
couldn’t get up. He just couldn’t!

Caroline
thought fast. "Sir, I'm sorry, but my husband has hurt his ankle on
the road. He shouldn't put any pressure on it. May I request he
remain sitting?"

"No, mistress.
It's our policy that all vehicles of commerce be fully checked."
The man paused. "But he can remain sitting until after we check the
rest of you."

Caroline met
Torrent's eyes for a moment, then she slid off the back of the
wagon and joined Logan and Jessa in front of the guard. They each
stated their false name and showed their false identification. The
guard seemed bored as he verified everything. Caroline
erped
again, and the guard glanced up at her, frowning. "Are you all
right, mistress?"

"I’m just a
little sick from the road."

He dismissed
them and jerked a thumb at Torrent. "Now, you," he barked.

Torrent held
Caroline’s gaze for a moment, then, slowly began to rise.

Caroline
decided that was a great time to throw up. She thought of every
disgusting thing she could—specifically hard-boiled eggs with
ketchup—and the contents of her stomach spewed out in a rush that
would have made any horror movie director proud.

Logan and Jessa
stared in horror and all the guards backed away. She finished
vomiting and glanced at Torrent. Every muscle in his body looked
strained, like he was trying very hard not to go to her. She gave
him a small smile and a little nod to let him know she was
okay.

The head guard
covered his nose and mouth with his hand and waved them through.
"Go,
go!
All of you. Consider yourself checked. Here are
your papers. Move along." He thrust some papers at Jessa.

They nodded and
all of them apologized profusely, moving through the huge gates of
Titan...and into enemy territory. Again.

She took a seat
on the back of the wagon and Torrent wound an arm protectively
around her, feeling her forehead. "You really are sick," he
murmured. "We need to get you somewhere you can rest."

"No worries."
She smiled up at him. "It was just nerves. I feel much better
now."

Caroline
swallowed hard and tried not to gawk as they entered the city. Of
course she'd been here before, but that time she'd been running for
her life. She couldn't remember much of what the city looked
like.

Whereas Lycaon
territory was all about living in communion with nature, the Magica
world seemed to be about dominating it. Honestly, it felt a lot
like the Flip Side, what she'd come to call the human world. Funny
how she thought of herself as less and less human these days.

Apparently
being able to turn into a huge wolf on command did that to a
person.

The streets
were smooth and made with some kind of dull gray stone. There were
large thoroughfares for horse drawn carriages. Walkways lined the
streets on either side for pedestrians. It reminded Caroline of a
mix of the Middle Ages and modern times, with a ounce of
Puritan.

People seemed
not to laugh or talk all that much. In fact, the quiet on the
street was a little eerie. As they traveled past the buildings,
proper papers now procured, thanks to her unsettled stomach,
Caroline watched people barter for goods and walk in and out
shops.

Jessa had told
them they would seek sanctuary in a safe house in the northern part
of Titan and Caroline couldn't wait to get there. Apparently the
magical trigger switch they needed to trip was somewhere near the
heart of this great Magica civilization.

It was nearly
twilight before they arrived. The safe house was a smaller, narrow
building nestled in among much taller structures. It looked to
Caroline like a townhouse in some strange version of London. Logan
drew up the carriage in front and allowed them to unload their
packs. That accomplished, he traveled a short distance down the
street to stable the horses.

"So," Caroline
said as they gathered their things and headed to the door. "If the
Magica are so advanced and all, why don't they have cars?"

Jessa answered.
"Energy in the form you’re accustomed to is not compatible to our
magick. We have illumination, but it's not electricity, not in the
way you know it."

They got all
their things through the front door and into a small foyer. A
hallway led to a downstairs sitting room, and there looked to be a
kitchen in the back. A stairway led to the second floor. That's
where they went with all their stuff. There were two bedrooms and a
bathroom up there. Everyone went downstairs to make dinner, but she
stayed upstairs to change her clothes and clean up a little.

When she made
it back downstairs, it was dark outside and some of the
"illuminations" that Jessa had told her about flickered in sconces
on the walls. There hadn't been many of those in the jail where she
and Torrent had met.

Jessa, Logan
and Torrent were all in the kitchen, a map spread out over a table
in the center of the room. Bowls and plates of food sat on a nearby
serving table and everyone was helping themselves. Suddenly
ravenous, she picked up a plate and helped herself to bread, cheese
and fruit.