“Go. And if anyone tries to do anything but take your order, you scream your head off. Got it?”

  “Like I needed you to tell me that,” she muttered, before disappearing into the seafood bar.

  Quickening his steps, he made directly for the escalators. Before he reached the bottom, it became clear this was the ticketing area. Fortunately his prey stood out from those around them, Destiny’s hot-pink bag an out-of-place beacon hanging from the shoulder of the big Nuadian. Jesse slowly made his way to the line where the two men waited, doing his best to blend in with the crowd.

  When they approached the counter, Jesse hung behind a large family carrying a full complement of luggage two windows away.

  The uniformed woman behind the desk scanned the identification Destiny’s Psycho Blondie had handed her before keying information into her terminal. “Do you have any luggage to check for your flight to Phoenix today, Mr. Tyren?”

  He nodded and placed a large suitcase on the scale, keeping Destiny’s shoulder bag with him. Since only Mr. Tyren took a boarding pass from the ticket agent, it appeared only he would be flying.

  Jesse followed as far as the escalators, where the two men paused. Merging with a large group of giggling teenagers and adults, he moved closer, before kneeling down to fidget with his shoe. As discreetly as possible, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and snapped off two quick photos while he listened in on their parting words.

  “You have someone posted here watching the ticketing area?” When Mr. Tyren’s companion nodded, he continued. “Keep searching for her. Do not fail me in this. I need that woman apprehended.”

  “As you wish, Dermond. We search for her even now.”

  Fuck. Jesse’s stomach rolled. Someone he didn’t know and couldn’t identify was hunting for Destiny this very minute, maybe even right here in the airport, and he’d left her all alone.

  “More coffee while you wait, miss?”

  Destiny jumped, her empty cup clinking noisily against the thick white saucer. The voice at her shoulder was only the waitress.

  Willing herself to stop shaking, she nodded her agreement and watched as the waitress refilled her cup before bustling away to check on her other customers.

  No reason to be nervous. She was safe here. There were too many people around for that awful man to try to drag her out of this restaurant. And so what if she’d just ordered a full meal for two and didn’t have two cents in her purse. Correction… didn’t even have a purse to put her imaginary two cents into.

  That big blond creep probably had her purse. He certainly had her laptop case, no mistaking that. Not too many hot-pink leather shoulder bags with gold roses stitched on them running around the country. Especially not being carried by a guy who looked like him.

  “Here you go, honey. Anything else I can get for you?” Destiny jumped again when the waitress leaned across her to place the plates on her table. “You sure you don’t want me to wrap up your friend’s lunch to go?”

  “No. Thank you. He should be here any minute.”

  The waitress lay the dinner ticket facedown on the table, shrugging as if she’d seen it all before. Working as waitstaff in a restaurant at the airport, she probably had.

  Destiny certainly hoped Jesse would be here any minute. She picked up the tab and fingered it nervously. That was twenty-two dollars more than she could cough up at the moment. What would they do to her if he didn’t come back? How long could she linger over this meal, pretending to eat before she had to deal with the whole “not one red cent to her name” fiasco?

  She dropped the check and stared at her plate. Pretending to eat was about all she could do with her stomach threatening to turn itself inside out at any moment.

  Where the hell was he?

  She scanned the restaurant once more in vain before squirting catsup on her plate. Picking up a french fry, she swirled the crispy potato stick in the thick red sauce, flashing back through the years to another meal very much like this one.

  That day had been burgers and fries at a local greasy spoon. She and her little brother, Chase, had been so excited to have a rare lunch out with Mommy, and on a school day at that. The only thing missing was Daddy.

  It was after their meal as she swirled her last french fry in catsup, exactly the way she did now, that she’d listened to her mother explain that her daddy wasn’t coming home anymore. That was the same day her mother had come up with the story of the evil Faeries, the ones who were after their father, and that he had no choice but to leave them to keep them all safe.

  On that day, Destiny had left their table, her mother comforting her crying eight-year-old brother, to make her way to the bathroom, where she’d locked herself in a stall and cried until she threw up.

  When she’d washed her face off and walked out of that bathroom, she’d known her life would never be the same. And it certainly hadn’t been.

  Within months her new sister had been born, and at twelve, Destiny had been forced to grow up quickly. When her mother’s illness had struck a few years later, followed by Rainbow’s hopeless decline into alcoholism, Destiny had felt as if the world often rested on her own pitifully incompetent shoulders. Always she could trace her feelings of panic back to that moment in the restaurant when she’d left the bathroom headed to her seat.

  Her father had left them to make their way on their own.

  Alone.

  All alone.

  Destiny could taste the familiar fear and desperation rising in the back of her throat now as she fought the need to escape to yet another bathroom. That same old horrible, all-consuming panic was rearing its ugly head, building, growing.

  Once it took over, her ability to reason would vanish and she’d be that scared twelve-year-old again, reacting wildly, unable to see the logic that might be staring her in the face. There was no doubt in her mind. It had happened too many times before. Too many times she’d been left alone—when her mother had died, when her brother had left home, when she’d realized Leah was gone.

  Even seemingly small events could trigger the panic, like being stood up for a date or having a boyfriend tell her he didn’t want to see her anymore. And this—what she experienced now—was no small event. Jesse was her best hope to find Leah.

  If he didn’t come back, she was lost.

  She fought it, tried to deny the icy tendrils of fear closing in on her.

  I don’t need him or anyone, she told herself fiercely. She wasn’t twelve anymore. She’d manage somehow. She always had.

  “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.”

  Startled, she looked up, shocked to find Jesse at her side. He’d come back for her.

  “But what about the food? Should we have them wrap—”

  “No,” he interrupted, pulling at her arm to rush her from her seat. “You okay?”

  Embarrassed that he’d caught her crying, she snatched up the ticket, waving it in front of him. “I couldn’t pay.”

  His jaw tightened in what looked like irritation as he pulled bills from his pocket, tossing two twenties next to her plate.

  “That’s way too much,” she began, but stopped as he practically dragged her from the table.

  “Forget it. No time to wait on these people. We have to go. Now.”

  His urgency frightened her, so she said no more, almost running to keep up with his long stride. He didn’t slow down until they reached the rental car parking area and he opened the passenger door on a large white SUV.

  She climbed in and fastened her seat belt, trying to catch her breath as he gunned the engine and screeched out of the parking lot.

  “What happened in there? You didn’t get my laptop? Didn’t you find him?”

  He didn’t take his eyes off the road when he answered. “Psycho Blondie is headed to Phoenix.”

  Arizona. Just like the dream had told her. If Jesse had any doubts before, this should eliminate them.

  “For the record, his name is Dermond Tyren and he has people looking for you right now.”

  “People? As in more than just him?” Somehow the knowledge that this Tyren man wasn’t working alone was much, much scarier than the idea of his being an isolated psycho kidnapper.

  “Exactly. And as soon as we get out of town and I can afford to concentrate on something other than the possibility of our being followed, you’ve got some explaining to do.”

  “Explaining? What are you talking about?”

  Jesse spared only a quick glance in her direction as he merged into traffic, his expression dark. “It’s time for you to tell me the truth about why Psycho Blondie and his Nuadian Fae friends are really after you.”

  Chapter 10

  This was exactly why he always left interactions with clients to the office staff. Lovey always did tell him he was too blunt to be allowed to open his mouth around the general public.

  But it was difficult to have the office interfacing with a “client” they didn’t know existed.

  Jesse turned his head from the dark, wet ribbon of road to cast a brief look in Destiny’s direction. She lay with her head at an odd angle against the SUV window, cushioned by the pink VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS emblazoned T-shirt he’d bought her today when they’d stopped for supplies at the big discount store.

  From the sound of her slow, regular breathing, it appeared she’d stopped pretending to sleep in order to avoid conversation with him and had actually dozed off.

  One thing for sure, she was going to wake with one hell of a sore neck, and from what he knew of Destiny so far, she’d likely be grouchy as all get-out. The thought made him smile. She certainly didn’t go out of her way to hide her feelings.

  Which was why it bothered him all the more that he’d hurt those feelings earlier.

  Ah well, better a little emotional pain than a whole lot of physical pain. She’d just have to deal with the fact that Faeries actually did roam the planet, and for some reason she either didn’t know—or didn’t want to share—they were after her. And likely already had her sister.

  It was the “didn’t want to share” possibility that gnawed at him still, even though they’d discussed it.

  Discussed? Yeah, right. That was like saying the drenching rain outside was a gentle mist.

  She’d been withdrawn through their entire shopping trip, surprisingly choosing only a few items. She wouldn’t even have picked up a purse for herself if he hadn’t grabbed one. A purse, for God’s sake. He hadn’t put in all these years surrounded by the women in his family not to recognize how a purse was a female essential. Even his little niece already had a play purse she carried her favorite things in.

  When he’d tossed the little pink leather bag in the basket, she’d simply eyed him with the same look of distrust she’d worn since they left the airport, continuing on in silence to the checkout counter.

  The silence lasted until they left the store and approached their vehicle.

  “I can’t stand it any longer,” she’d said, stopping with her bags clutched to her chest. “You need to explain what you said back at the airport. What the heck is a Nuadian Fae?”

  He’d opened the back passenger door and tossed his bag inside. “The bad guys, babe. Faeries who want to alter life as we know it.”

  She’d tilted her head, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Faeries? Faeries as in… what? Disneyland faeries?”

  He wasn’t prepared to let her slide. He expected honesty. Demanded it. One hundred percent. He gave no less. “I think you know what I’m talking about. Faeries, as in otherworld beings. Like us, only… not. It would appear they have your sister and they’re damn well doing their best to get you, too.”

  “Faeries. Have you actually seen any of these vicious little creatures flying around, carrying people off?”

  “Sure have, babe, and so have you. His name’s Dermond Tyren. Psycho Blondie, remember him?” He’d reached for her bags but she’d backed up a step, still holding them to her chest.

  They’d needed to get out of that parking lot and on the road. They did not need to be standing there in the open discussing the goddamned Fae, where anyone searching for her could easily spot them. Maybe he should have reasoned with her. Should have tried explaining how he knew what he knew. But he hadn’t. He’d lost his patience and grabbed her arm, tugging her toward the SUV.

  “Look. I’m tired of the bullshit. The longer you withhold important information from me, the longer it’s going to take to find your little sister. You’re making this harder for all of us.”

  Destiny had jerked her arm away, her mouth drawn into a thin, disapproving line. “You’re tired of the…” She bit off her words and slammed the bag she held into his chest, poking the plastic he now held in front of him like a shield. “Look. You don’t want to tell me what’s really going on? Fine. Don’t make up crap like I’m some simpleminded bimbo who’ll swallow whatever BS you dish out. I don’t appreciate being treated like I’m twelve.” She’d pushed past him and climbed up into the seat, leaning out for one last onslaught before slamming the door behind her. “What is it with you? Do you do drugs? Does your employer have any idea what a total freak you are?”

  As he’d climbed in the vehicle with her, she was still muttering. The last words he’d heard between then and now was something about her life having turned into a toilet, surrounded by psycho kidnappers and wannabe Highlanders.

  In response, he’d pointed out that technically he was a Highlander, but she hadn’t been impressed enough to do more than glare at him.

  One more glance in her direction. Yeah, she was one fiery little bundle of spunk, all right.

  He could have pursued the discussion, forced the issue right then and there, but he’d thought of his sister and the thousand times she’d advised him to bite his tongue and back away from situations best left for another time. Finally he’d decided there was no gain to be had in slugging it out now. There would surely be a better opportunity before they reached Arizona.

  And if there wasn’t?

  He’d just have to make his own opportunity. The only problem was, if it came to that, there’d be no backing down to spare her feelings. He wouldn’t have that kind of luxury next time they had the Faerie discussion.

  Rain pelted the car as they sped forward, but he could still see well enough. According to the road signs, there was an exit up ahead lined with hotels.

  He passed it by without even slowing.

  No real point in pulling off now. Destiny was already out and he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. Without all the facts he needed, it was probably just as well. Better he should try to plan for any contingency, try to be ready for any possibility.

  Unfortunately it was starting to look an awful lot like one of those possibilities just might be that she really didn’t have a clue about the Fae.

  Or even—assuming those visions of hers were the real thing—about being descended from Faeries herself.

  A fine, light-reflecting mist clung to her, flowing around her waist high, hampering her passage. It took all her energy to make the slightest forward motion, her body feeling as if she weighed tons. When she finally forced a step, her movement sent the smokelike tendrils dancing in beautiful swirls and eddies, each sparkling with rainbow hues.

  Destiny pushed against an unseen force, fighting uselessly to move forward.

  This was all wrong. Different dream-visions never came so close together. They had always repeated, like reruns on television, until she’d actually lived through whatever she’d seen last.

  But this was no repeat. It was very different from the last vision she’d had. Stifling, dark if not for the incandescent flickering of the fog around her.

  Destiny dipped her hand into the opaque vapors, fascinated by their writhing motion and hypnotic patterns. She allowed the undercurrent of the mist to gently carry her hand backward until she was forced to turn her whole body. Only then did she reluctantly lift her hand, watching as the colored vapors snaked around her fingers. Tickling and tingling against her skin, they spiraled up into the air before diving down to rejoin the mass.

  The smoky mist felt almost alive.

  “It is alive.”

  Her father’s voice. Destiny knew that when she awoke she’d be angry that she had dreamed so vividly of the man who had deserted her family, remembering so distinctly the sound of his voice after all these years. But for now, here in her dream-vision, his voice guided her, comforted her, as it sometimes did in this reality.

  “It’s the time flow of the All-Conscious, Desi. Don’t fight it. Let yourself go with it and it will show you what you seek.”

  Go with it?

  Though her body struggled in vain to move forward, her hand had floated effortlessly backward in the mist, turning her body around, pulling at her as if she were to follow it. Was that the key, moving backward? Had she missed something in the vision she’d had earlier?

  Tentatively she took a step, and then another. It felt as if the mist urged her on, pushing her to hurry.

  No wonder it wanted her to hurry. In the distance, she could see the light that would soon flood this reality already gathering its strength, roiling in great heaving clouds of white and yellow, like eruptions on the sun gone wild.

  Her time here would be ending soon.

  She broke into a run and the mist evaporated. Ahead she could see the Arizona road sign, but she was moving much faster than if she were on foot, or even in a car, because the sign flew past her. Now, in the distance and closing, another sign. Large, weathered copper held aloft by massive poles like stripped tree trunks. As she passed it, more slowly than the first sign, she thought she saw the word FLAGSTAFF, but it was as if she viewed it through a dirty pane of glass.

  A car window?

  Then it, too, was gone, and she floated, suspended once again in the mist.

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

  Jesse’s voice. Even in the dream reality he insisted on using that stupid endearment when he talked to her.

  She swatted away the thought. It wasn’t an endearment. More likely it was because he couldn’t remember her name half the time. Besides, the term itself wasn’t an important piece of the vision, unlike his being here. He sat beside her, driving the vehicle in which they rode.