The men were obviously in no mood to chat so they rode in silence, which was fine with Destiny.

  Robert’s presence prevented any discussion of what had happened between her and Jesse this morning, and maybe that was for the best. What was there to say anyway?

  Destiny stared aimlessly out her window at the passing scenery, surprised when it occurred to her that dust spotted the glass, blurring her view just as in the vision she’d had. Ahead of them, she spotted the next bit she’d already “seen.” Heavy timber poles like tree trunks holding aloft the weathered copper FLAGSTAFF sign.

  “Keep an eye out, babe—our turnoff should be just ahead.”

  The feeling of déjà vu rolled over her as it always did in these moments. To think she’d lived with this sort of thing her whole life and yet could never bring herself to accept Faeries.

  She’d spent her entire life with a closed mind. But all that was going to be different now. She’d already started down the path of change.

  After her amazing morning, she couldn’t decide if she should be ashamed of her brazen behavior or just plain proud of herself for having had the courage to do what she had wanted to do.

  Whichever way she went with that, she had no doubt that what came next was where the difficulties would lie. Where did she and Jesse go from here?

  She felt herself in completely foreign territory. She’d had a couple of relationships, but they hadn’t amounted to anything serious. Totally her fault, she knew. She’d never allowed herself to trust a man before, to open up that protected, locked-away piece of her that you had to let someone into before you could build a real relationship.

  But Jesse was so different. She trusted him. He’d been honest and open from the beginning, doing exactly what he said. Winning her over one kindness at time.

  It was an entirely new feeling for her, this mix of trust and dependence. It was also scary as all get-out. With the exception of her family, she’d never allowed herself to need anyone.

  With good reason. If those closest to her could abandon her without notice, what would keep an outsider from walking away?

  It was her biggest fear. Abandonment. All those people she’d cared about had left her.

  Not Jesse, she reassured herself. He wouldn’t do that. He was different. She didn’t know exactly what they had together, but she’d certainly felt something with him.

  Working her way through the tangle of her thoughts and emotions, she found time passed quickly. They’d picked up speed after they switched roads, and within what seemed like a very short time they were less than a mile out of Sedona.

  With five hours to spare.

  The tinny music announcing Jesse had a phone call broke the silence and he flipped open the cell.

  “Tell me you have what I want.” He paused, obviously listening to the person on the other end of the line. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Did you get reservations made? Good. Sending coordinates through to the GPS for both? You did good, Peter. Brews on me when I get back.”

  “Do we have them?” Robert spoke up for the first time since they’d left the airport.

  “Sure as hell looks that way. We’ll find out shortly.”

  Jesse slowed, staring at the little screen on his phone for a moment, looking up in time to take a hard turn on the first road they came to.

  He grinned at her look of concern. “Sorry. Almost missed my turnoff.”

  “I thought we needed to go into Sedona to get to the Farmers’ Market.” She was certain of it, in fact. She’d checked the red circle on the map at least a dozen times.

  “We’re not headed to the market yet. And if all goes well, we won’t have to go there.”

  “What do you mean? We have to meet those people at five thirty.” Or she’d never see Leah again. Their message had been quite clear—this was her last chance.

  “Maybe not.” The grim smile on Jesse’s face sent shivers down her spine. “Peter was able to track the email. We have a fix on their location.”

  He turned off onto a winding forested road, and from there to a tree-lined private drive.

  “Overlook Creek Spa.” Destiny read the sign out loud. “Is this where they’re holding Leah?”

  “No. This is where you’re going to wait for us while we go get your sister.”

  “For a quiet lass she has quite the temper, does she no?” Robert asked the question without looking at him.

  Which was probably a good thing, since Jesse could hear the laughter in his friend’s voice, even over the blood pounding inside his head. He wasn’t really in any mood to discuss Destiny or her bad attitude about being left behind.

  And he certainly wasn’t in any mood to put up with any of Robbie’s shit right now.

  “You just keep your eyes on that screen and let me know ahead of time before we get to the next turnoff.”

  He’d like to think that given more time, or at least a little privacy, he could have diffused her anger.

  But with Robbie standing there listening to every word, he wasn’t about to go into some long line about how he wanted her safely tucked away while he dealt with the Nuadians. Or about how having her around was too big a distraction for the work he needed to do. Or about how he wasn’t sure how he’d deal with a direct threat to her.

  Or about how he felt about her.

  Instead he’d stuck to the standard line he’d give any client. Clients stayed in the background. Period.

  She hadn’t taken it well at all.

  Didn’t matter. If things went as he hoped, he and Robbie would survey the place where the Nuadians held the girl and be in and out long before the arranged meeting at the Farmers’ Market.

  And if that didn’t work?

  They’d go back, pick up Destiny, and make the appointment. A choice he really didn’t want to resort to, because regardless of what Destiny might think, he knew in his gut that meeting would not result in her sister’s release.

  If anything, those bastards were aiming to grab Destiny.

  These guys weren’t your garden-variety kidnappers after money or publicity for a cause. They were maniacs, infected by an ancient evil, and neither Destiny nor her sister would be safe around them, not even in a public place like the Farmers’ Market.

  No, taking them down in their own backyard was his best option.

  “We’ve a left coming up, but I dinna see anything resembling a road on this map.” Head down, Robert scratched his chin as he clearly compared the GPS screen on Jesse’s phone with the paper road map.

  “What’s that?” Ahead Jesse spotted a dirt track leading off the main road.

  “Whatever it is, it’s near the proper place, according to what Petey’s sent over to us. I’d say we go for it.”

  Jesse slowed to pull off onto the rutted tracks, following them through the scrub trees and red rocks.

  “Looks to me like they’re getting ready to do some building here.” Robert pointed to several wooden stakes positioned along both sides of the road, all with colored ribbons—blue, red, or yellow—whipping in the breeze.

  Jesse agreed. Likely more of this pristine wilderness was being platted off for developing more expensive homes like the others they’d seen out this direction. The terrain grew rougher until at last they came to the end of the road. Nothing but trees, drop-offs, and desert.

  “Let me see that GPS.” It didn’t make any sense. They should be almost there, according to the device.

  “Well, damnation,” Robert muttered. “Have a look at this, will you. We should have gone just a bit farther and we’d have found the road into that enclave.” He pointed at the scattered mansions below.

  Jesse propped his sunglasses on top of his head and studied the spot on the map Robert had indicated.

  “Nope. Look at that. Gated community. We’re not getting in there in daylight without raising a few eyebrows. I’ve got a better idea. Come on.”

  He climbed out of the SUV and walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking the houses below.

  “I’m guessing it’s that one. Right at the base of this cliff. I say we grab the binoculars and make ourselves comfortable right down there on that overhang.”

  “Wait.” Robert grabbed his arm to stop him. “There’s activity down there.”

  The big Scot squatted to his knee, closing one eye to focus in on the house below.

  Jesse followed the direction of his friend’s gaze.

  Two identical black sedans sat in the driveway, the driver’s door of one open. A moment later a big man emerged. Long blond hair, built like a football player.

  “That’s him.” Jesse squatted to Robert’s side. “Dermond Tyren, in the flesh.”

  “Then that one must be family.” Robert pointed to another man emerging from the house. This one also had the long blond hair, but a slighter build.

  “Who knows?” Jesse grinned at his friend, adrenaline rising as the excitement of imminent action kicked in. “Those Fae all look alike to me.”

  Robert snorted, not taking his eyes from the scene below. “You’d best no let the Prince hear you say that.”

  “You may have a point—”

  Jesse stopped midsentence, the mindless banter completely forgotten as he watched Dermond open the back passenger door of the car as a woman stepped out of the house.

  A tall redhead. The kind built to make men lose their minds.

  Robert shook his head slowly. “I’ve always had a rule about avoiding redheads. But that one’s a woman to make a man consider breaking the rules if ever I’ve seen one.”

  She did indeed look like she’d just stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine. And from the deferential nodding of the two Nuadians, Jesse was ready to bet the farm she was the one in charge of this mess.

  Without looking back, she lifted her hand, reminding Jesse of a trail boss from one of those old Westerns he used to watch with his dad.

  “Holy Mother,” Robert murmured, drawing Jesse’s attention away from the woman. “Likely that’s our girl, is it no?”

  “Very likely. Son of a bitch.” Jesse bit off the words, irritated they were this far away from the action below.

  Two men had emerged from the house, half carrying a young blond woman between them, her wrists bound. She obviously struggled to break free of their hold, but to no avail.

  They shoved her into the open car door, holding it respectfully for the elegant redhead to seat herself next to the girl before closing the door behind her.

  Dermond slid into the driver’s seat while the other two men got into the other car with the second Nuadian.

  Both cars started up.

  “Son of a bitch,” Jesse said again, louder this time. “Let’s roll. If we haul ass, we should be able to hit the highway at the same time they do. We are not losing these guys.”

  Robert was already on his feet, running back to their vehicle.

  Once they were in the SUV, Jesse floored it, getting as much speed as the terrain and six cylinders would allow. If he lost Leah after getting so close, Destiny would be heartbroken.

  When the SUV bounced over a rock, slamming them both sideways, Robert spoke up.

  “You’d best slow it just a wee bit, my friend. A broken axle or worse will put us out of the chase entirely.”

  Robert should know. For a man who’d been born in the thirteenth century, he’d taken to machines like a kid to candy. He’d learned more about cars than anyone Jesse had ever met.

  Jesse didn’t bother to respond, but he did let up on the gas for the remainder of their drive back to the main road.

  The asphalt was within fifty feet when they saw the two sedans pull out of the side road and onto the highway. One headed north, one headed south. With their dark windows, there was no way to tell which was which.

  Jesse slammed on the brakes, waiting for the black car heading south to pass by.

  Suddenly a rear window slid down and a long slim arm snaked out, something dangling from her fingers. As quickly as it happened, it was over, her arm retracted and the window gliding up.

  “Did you see what she had? Did she drop it?”

  “No, she dinna drop a thing,” Robert responded thoughtfully. “Merely held whatever it was out the window.”

  It wasn’t important anyway. What was important was that they’d spotted their man. Or in this case, their woman.

  Turning south, Jesse followed.

  “You will need to be brave.”

  Destiny jerked away from the strong arms that held her, staring up into Jesse’s eyes. The words had come from his mouth, but the voice wasn’t his.

  “No,” she groaned. “Not now.”

  Up to this point, she’d been having the most wonderful dream. Jesse had held her hand as they walked down a garden path, headed toward the most beautiful cottage she’d ever seen. When he’d lowered his lips to hers, enfolding her in his embrace, she’d melted into his delicious heat as if she belonged there. She’d been so happy, so sure this was a real, honest-to-goodness dream, not one of her visions.

  But now?

  Though the eyes holding her prisoner often seemed to shift from brown to green, the change they underwent now was drastic. As she watched, the corners tilted up and the green darkened, morphing into deep pools of emerald.

  “This is but the destination your heart desires, my child. You must be brave, you must trust to have any hope of reaching it.”

  It was her father’s face she stared into now, her father who spoke to her.

  “I don’t understand. What am I supposed to do?”

  Even as she tightened her hold on his arm, he turned to smoke and she was alone. Alone, surrounded by the dark, clammy mist she recognized as the Time Flow of the All-Conscious.

  “What if she doesn’t come?”

  Destiny froze, her heart pounding in her chest. She knew that voice. It was the Nuadian, Tyren. Though she couldn’t see him, his words seemed to echo off the walls around her.

  She resisted the urge to fold into herself, to try to hide in the dark mist, forcing herself to take one step forward. And then one more.

  “If she doesn’t come?” a woman’s voice repeated, low and melodious. “Then we’ll leave as we planned. It will be her loss. Hers and her sister’s.”

  “You must go with them if Leah’s to have any hope. Only in that way will you find her.” Her father’s voice again, feathering against her ear as if it were the mist itself.

  “But Jesse’s gone to where they’re holding her. He and Robert…”

  “No!”

  The mist buffeted her face like tiny stinging needles and she closed her eyes against the onslaught. When she opened her eyes, she stood in a ghostly marketplace, tables filled with a variety of semitransparent vegetables.

  “Be strong, Desi. Trust in yourself. You alone must go to this place in order to find the way. A circle within a circle. Travel the line with the man who wears the mark. You must follow the narrow path to reach your destination.”

  His words echoed in her ears as a blinding flash of light burst up around her, engulfing her, squeezing the breath from her lungs as it seemed to pierce her body.

  Destiny’s eyes flew open and she gasped for air, her head cradled in the crook of her arm, propped on the table next to her open laptop. Her neck hurt and her stomach felt weak with fear and confusion as her father’s words throbbed in her mind. Go with them, go alone—what could the contradictory statements really mean?

  She rubbed her hands over her face. How long had she slept?

  The bright blue 4:58 showing on the bedside clock across the room did nothing to settle her stomach.

  A glance to the lower right-hand corner of the computer screen confirmed that the clock wasn’t wrong.

  She stood and walked to the door leading into the suite she shared with Jesse and Robert. An empty silence greeted her. Though time was running out, they weren’t back yet, and a quick glance at the telephone’s dark message light showed there had been no calls for her.

  “Where are they?” she groaned, running a hand through her hair.

  If they didn’t return soon, what should she do? Jesse had told her to stay put inside this room when he’d left.

  “Aren’t you going to call in the police?” she’d asked as he’d prepared to leave her here to go find the men, the Faeries, who held her sister.

  But no. Jesse explained that these Fae had the ability to control the minds of Mortals. Something he’d called a compulsion. He didn’t want to take a chance on the bad guys being tipped off by anyone on the police force who might be under their control.

  So he and Robert had gone off like rogue cowboys, on their own, to rescue Leah, promising to call the minute they had Leah safely in their custody.

  Obviously they hadn’t been successful or she would have heard.

  Again she glanced at the phone. There’d been no call.

  Her stomach knotted with worry, both for Leah and for Jesse. The old familiar panic began to build, its tiny icy fingers tightening around her throat as she returned to her bedroom.

  What if the whole origin of the email thing had been a ruse, leading Jesse and Robert off on a wild-goose chase? She had absolutely no idea how far away they could have gone following those coordinates Peter had sent. What if the bad guys had managed to look like they were somewhere else entirely?

  What if Jesse wasn’t coming back? Was that what her father’s words in the vision had meant when he’d told her she’d have to do this alone?

  She couldn’t think about it anymore. Just like always, she was driving herself crazy with what-if, opening the door and inviting the panic in to control her.

  Fighting the approaching terror, she paced the length of the room. What was the smart thing to do?

  Call Jesse. Of course. He’d left his number for her on that little sheet of paper. She’d picked it up while they were arguing about her staying here and she’d… what? What had she done with it?

  Not on the table, not on the bed.

  Destiny checked the bathroom counter before racing into the main communal area of their suite. A quick glance around showed no papers anywhere.

  She hurried back into her bedroom and spotted her new purse on the floor by the bed. Dumping it out revealed the only things in her little pink bag were her driver’s license, two tissues, and a little roll of Dramamine.