The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (78 page)

“I’ll be there in a minute. I’ve got to take care of Gorge first. Marissa will be fine.”

Rayne turned and ran back out the door.

“Just what I need, another baby on the way,” Hayley mumbled as she finished up with Gorge.

When she stood up, Shel was standing in the doorway with Evan in her arms.

Hayley smiled. “He’s fine, just tired.” As she talked, she picked up the chairs that had been knocked over, set them upright, and cleared some bits of wood off the couch. “Can you help me get him up on the couch? He’ll be more comfortable there than on the floor.”

Shel propped Evan up in one of the chairs. Then she and Hayley helped Gorge get on his feet and make his way to the couch.

“He should be fine now,” Hayley said, making her way towards the door. “Fix him some tea and I’ll be back to check on him in a little while.”

“Thank you, sister,” Shel said, tears trailing down her face. “If it hadn’t been for you …”

“I didn’t do anything but close a few cuts,” Hayley said as she stepped through the door. “He was just knocked out. I’ll see you in a little while.” She let the door swing shut as she ran down the steps.

As she passed the slavers seated on the snow-covered ground, she stopped and glared at all four of them, one at a time.

“I’ve got my eye on you,” she said through gritted teeth. “You’ve already caused me enough trouble for one night and I don’t have the time or patience for any more.” Hayley was so irritated the flame inside her opal was dancing. “I’m new to this sister business, and I haven’t had this pendant but a couple of months. I know how to release the flame, but I don’t know how to control it yet. If you make me angry enough that it reduces you to a pile of ashes, I won’t lose one minute of sleep over it, so do not make me have to come back out here. Do you understand me?”

None of the slavers would even meet her eyes. They looked at the ground in front of them and barely breathed. Lance, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear.

Hayley turned her back on all of them and ran over to Marcie’s house, up the front steps, and through the front door. Once inside, she stopped, took a couple of deep breaths, and called out, “Marcie? Where are you?”

“Up here,” Marcie called from upstairs. “Caleb’s bedroom.”

Hayley put her hand on the banister and paused to gather her courage. She didn’t want to do this. She wanted to be snuggled deep in a warm bed, sound asleep. She wanted to wake up fresh in the morning, eat a leisurely breakfast, and spend the day playing in the snow with Marcus. She wanted Marcus. Here. Now.

As she put her foot on the first step, she heard a loud groan followed by a weak whimper. “Here we go again,” Hayley mumbled to herself. Then she took another deep breath, pasted a smile on her face, and climbed the stairs.

~ ~ ~ ~

By the time Hayley was climbing the stairs to check on Marissa, Chris had made it back to the office with dry clothes for Marcus. He handed him a wet cloth, a towel, the clothes, and a pair of boots. “Hope the boots are yours. They were in your room, near the door.”

Marcus took the towel and started drying his hair. “They’re my old ones. Thanks.”

Kevin stepped over to the door. “We’ll give you a few minutes to dry off and get changed. Join us out here when you’re done.” He pulled the door to and he and Chris wandered over to the reception area.

“So? What happened?” Chris asked.

Kevin shook his head. “All I know is slavers were involved and Marcus and the men in the settlement captured them. Then he got the man with the key.”

“Man? Not sorcerer?”

“He said man,” Kevin answered. “And let’s face it. If it had been a seated sorcerer, Marcus probably wouldn’t be here. He’d be ashes and his family and friends would be captives.”

“So one of the sorcerers let someone use the key.”

Kevin nodded. “Like I let you, or Laryn, or Alek, or Marcus.”

Darrell walked into the office before Chris could say anything else. “What’s happening?”

“Marcus had a little excitement at his sister’s tonight. He’ll tell us about it after Gen. Crandal gets here.”

“He’s here,” Gen. Crandal said as he walked in. “Now, why am I here?”

The door to Kevin’s office opened and Marcus stepped out. He looked a lot better than he had when he first arrived. Clean and dry made a big difference, but his face was still a bit pale.

Chris went back to Kevin’s office to pick up the tray of mugs and carafe of coffee. He set the tray on the conference table and started pouring coffee for everyone. Before he was done, Ariel walked in with a tray of cheeses, meats, and some leftover pastries.

“What are you doing up?” Kevin asked him.

“The office is open,” Ariel said, as if that explained everything.

“Who told you?”

“I’ve asked to be awakened if anything comes up during the night. It’s part of my job. Would you like something else?”

“No, and thank you.” Kevin sat down at the table.

Ariel nodded. “Do you want me to wait outside?”

Kevin shook his head. “No, that’s fine.” Then he looked at Marcus. “Have a seat and tell us what happened.”

For the next fifteen minutes Marcus gave them a blow by blow account of his night from the time Caleb woke him up until he landed in Kevin’s office.

“Do you know who the man with the key was?” Gen. Crandal asked.

Marcus shook his head. “I’ve never seen him before in my life, but I’d know him if I ever saw him again.”

“Do you have any idea where he took you?” the general continued. “Which province?”

Marcus shook his head again. “I heard a lot of voices, but they were jumbled, and I didn’t hang around to ask questions. I just grabbed that key and got out of there. For all I knew, there could have been a seated sorcerer out there, and I didn’t want to tangle with one of them.”

“Smart decision,” Kevin mumbled.

“I don’t know whether it was day or night. All I know is I was in a cave, and from the stale air I was breathing, it was pretty deep.” He looked at Kevin. “I guess I could take you there if you really want to go.”

Before Kevin could answer, Darrell shook his head. “Not without having some idea what you might be walking into. It’s too risky.”

Chris nodded. “I agree with Darrell.”

Kevin agreed. “Maybe the slavers you captured can tell us something.”

Marcus shook his head. “You can ask, but I doubt they can tell you much. I got the impression the guy with the key took over as soon as they had the captives ready to go. I’m not sure they know who he is, much less where he’s from, but it’s worth a try.”

Gen. Crandal stood up. “I’ll have a squad ready to go in fifteen minutes, Myron. We can bring the slavers back here for questioning. Maybe the thought of prison for the rest of their lives will loosen their tongues.”

“You’re willing to make a deal with them for information?” Chris asked. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing, just curious.”

“I don’t usually, and I won’t turn them loose, but we may find someplace we can keep an eye on them without locking them up if they prove helpful. We’ll see.” Then he left to go get his men.

Gen. Crandal hadn’t been gone more than five minutes when Theresa walked in. She went straight to Marcus and pushed his hair back to look at the gash on his forehead. “This isn’t so bad.” She put her hand over it to close it. “From what Josef said, I expected to find you half dead.”

“I probably looked a lot worse than I was,” Marcus said. “I know I felt like I was going to die for a few minutes there.” He turned towards Kevin. “I’ve been through the energy field a lot, but never like that. My arms felt like they were going to be ripped right out of my shoulders. It was like I was a big fish on the end of a line. I know I was only in the field for a few seconds, but it felt like forever. And when we came out, I flopped around all over the place until I landed in that pool.” Marcus crinkled up his nose. “The water was slimy, and smelled horrible, but at least it wasn’t deep. I don’t know how much I swallowed before I managed to get my head out though. The air had a funny odor to it, and every breath I took hurt. I don’t know how I managed to get the key away from that man as weak as I was.”

“Well, you seem to have recovered.” Theresa sat down. “What happened? And where’s Hayley? I thought you were supposed to be at your sister’s for the night.”

“I was,” Marcus said. “We were raided.”

“Slavers?” Theresa asked.

Marcus nodded.

“Where’s Hayley?”

“She’s still there. When I left she was checking on injuries.”

Theresa looked at Kevin. “I need to go.”

“We’re waiting for Gen. Crandal and a few of his soldiers,” Chris said. “They want to take charge of the slavers.”

“Well, you can’t take everyone at one time, so why don’t you take me now? That way I can help Hayley.”

“Not without a bodyguard, you don’t,” Darrell said. “I’ll get Alek.”

Kevin shook his head. “There’s no reason to get him up in the middle of the night. Believe me, I’m not going into this unaware of possible danger. I’ll be careful.”

Darrell paused for a moment. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

Kevin didn’t bother to argue. He took off his key, held his arms out, and as soon as Darrell, Theresa, Marcus, and Chris all had a hand on him, he turned the key and they left the office.

~ ~ ~ ~

As soon as they arrived in Marcie’s front yard, Kevin handed Chris the key to Terah. “Looks like everything’s under control here. When Gen. Crandal and his men get to the office, bring them here.”

Chris nodded and turned the key.

While Kevin was talking to Chris, Lance had walked over to Marcus. “Good to see you back.” He playfully slugged Marcus in the arm. “You scared your sister half to death. She thought for sure you were dead. Good thing Hayley was here to calm her down.”

Theresa nearly laughed. Hayley being the calm one was definitely new. “Excuse me,” Theresa said. “I’m Sister Theresa. Could you tell me where Sister Hayley is?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but the last time we saw Hayley she was headed towards my house,” Lance said.

“If you’ll point me towards your house, I’ll go see what she needs me to do.”

Before Lance could answer, Marcus said, “Theresa, this is Lance, my sister’s husband. Lance, this is Sister Theresa, the sister Hayley and I were telling you about.”

Lance’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he took in the slender young woman with delicate features standing in front of him. It was hard to picture her doing half of what he’d heard.

Theresa bit back a laugh at his reaction. “I’ll go see how things are going at your house if you’ll point the way.”

Kevin and Darrell walked up while Theresa was speaking.

Marcus introduced Lance, Thom, and the other three men from the settlement, Nick, Oryn, and Vernon. After he introduced Sanju, the only slaver whose name he knew, he looked at Kevin and said, “I’ll be back in a minute. I want to let Marcie know I’m all right.”

Kevin nodded.

Marcus turned to Theresa. “Come on. I’ll take you to Hayley.”

After they walked off, Kevin noticed everyone within hearing distance was staring at him. No one was speaking or moving, and the only one breathing normally was Darrell.

Kevin smiled and tried to break the ice by thanking the men for taking care of the slavers. “They’ve raided a couple of other places along the river, but you’re the first ones who’ve been able to stand up to them. You did a good job rounding them up for us.”

No one moved, spoke, or looked at each other. They all just stared at him. “Gen. Crandal will be here soon with some soldiers to take charge of the prisoners. These men will never bother you again.” When even Lance remained silent, Kevin decided the best thing he could do was give the men an out. “I’m sure you’d like to check on your families, so if you’d like to go, Cpt. Darrell and I will be glad to stay here and guard the prisoners until Gen. Crandal gets here.”

For another full minute the men stared at him without so much as a whisper. Finally Thom gave a quick nod, cleared his throat, muttered “Thank you,” and ran to Marcie’s house to see what was going on with his wife. Once Thom moved, the trance was broken. Lance stayed put, but the rest of the men quickly turned towards their homes.

When Thom ran through the front door of Lance’s house, he didn’t see anyone, but he heard noise coming from upstairs, and then he heard a muffled scream. He’d know that voice anywhere; it was Marissa’s.

He headed up the steps at a dead run, taking two at a time.

~ ~ ~ ~

By daybreak, things were beginning to settle down. Most of the children had gone back to sleep, but none of the parents even bothered to lie back down. They knew sleep wouldn’t come any time soon. Every one of them realized that if Marcus hadn’t been there, they would have been captured and taken who knows where to spend the rest of their lives as slaves. That thought right there was enough to drive sleep from their minds for the foreseeable future.

Gen. Crandal, Darrell, and Kevin had taken the slavers back to Milhaven and locked them away. Soldiers patrolled the woods around the settlement and Marcus alternated between keeping Thom company and checking on his neighbors. But even with all the support they’d had over the past twelve hours, none of them felt safe in their homes.

Around mid-morning, Kevin and Gen. Crandal returned to the settlement. Kevin asked Lance to round up the men and have them meet in Marcie’s kitchen. When everyone got there, Gen. Crandal cleared his throat and said, “The soldiers will stay here through the weekend. I don’t think you’ll have any more trouble, but if you do, I want to make sure you have plenty of help. And I’ve spoken with Marcus. He’s going to stay here through Monday. So that gives you a sorcerer, too.”

“We appreciate that,” Nick said. “And I don’t mean to insult anyone, but we’re not willing to sit back and put our safety in someone else’s hands.”

“I understand,” Gen. Crandal said. “What I’m offering is support, to be used as you see fit. That’s why we’re meeting here this morning. We want you to come up with a plan of defense you’ll feel comfortable with. How do you want to use the soldiers? Do you want them to patrol? Or do you want them to spread out around the settlement and guard a particular area?”