“Yes.” No doubt in his mind. “We need to get moving eastward.”

  “Sir,” the paramedic said from the opening in the tent. “The old man wants to tell you something.”

  Carr and Donovan left the tent and knelt next to a very sick-looking Miller.

  Miller grasped Donovan’s arm. “Eugene airport. My son has a chartered jet.”

  “Thanks, Ben.” Donovan removed the hand from his arm. “We’ll get Molly back.”

  Miller nodded weakly. “Thank you … she is innocent … just as the Talisman is.” He closed his eyes and slumped onto the ground.

  The medic shoved them aside to begin CPR. “We need a defibrillator. He is in cardiac arrest.” Two other paramedics moved in with equipment.

  Carr and Donovan moved out of the way.

  Mark strode up to them. “I’ve got a helicopter waiting. The police blockade reported someone matching Darcy Miller’s description passed their roadblock about an hour ago. We need to scoot and make up time.”

  “Are you good to go, Mark?” Donovan asked.

  “I’ll do.”

  The three men and Brenna ran to the helipad.

  “We’ll be cutting it close, but we should get to Eugene airport about the same time Miller does,” Carr said. “Weapons?”

  Mark leapt into the chopper, taking the passenger seat behind the pilot. “This bird is fully loaded. It’s an Air National Guard helicopter. I called in a few favors.”

  Carr took the pilot’s seat with Donovan flying the co-pilot’s seat. Brenna sat behind her husband. He put on the headset and did a down-and-dirty checklist on the bird. “I’m gonna push this baby. So hold onto your seats.”

  Before anyone could say a word, Carr took them up and with one wide swoop over the now-sleeping Sisters, he turned due west toward the Coastal mountains and the Willamette River Valley where Eugene lay.

  CHAPTER 20

  Tuesday, 6:15 p.m. (PST), Eugene Airport

  One hour after leaving the Sisters’ area, Darcy parked next to the Eugene airport charter terminal. He’d pushed the Hummer, taking roads only meant for sixty-five at ninety-plus miles an hour. Luck had been on his side. No cops. No accidents. No traffic.

  Lily hadn’t roused during the trip, nor was she awake now. He’d be worried except for the fact her color was good and she breathed normally. If his luck held, he’d have her on the plane and in the air before she awakened. He had no clue how she’d processed the megatons of energy from the quakes, but imagined it had to be the reason for her current unconscious state.

  He gazed at her naked breasts peeking out from the folds of the blanket. Lily was his now. Satisfaction swept through his body like the heated aftereffects of a good glass of scotch. She was everything he needed—beautiful and strong in her power.

  After he rescued his mother, he’d take his two women to Canada where he could protect them. His father, Brody, and Madoc could all go to hell.

  Darcy checked his surroundings before getting out of the Hummer. The charter terminal was strangely quiet. No air traffic at all. Disquiet skittered down his spine. Something wasn’t right.

  He exited the vehicle, locking all the doors, then proceeded to the hangar where the jet Brody had leased should be parked. Through the open doors of the hanger, he could see no jet, his or any others.

  Anger was his first reaction, anxiety quickly followed. “Fuck! This is not happening.”

  Darcy ran to the charter terminal office and slammed his way inside.

  Behind the counter, a lone human female looked up. “Sir? May I help you?”

  He glared at the young woman. “Name’s Miller. Where’s my charter?”

  The girl gulped. “I’m so sorry, sir. The pilot was recalled to Portland. His boss didn’t want any of his planes in the area because of the quakes and such. The FAA then had issued a ‘no-fly’ order.” At his snarl, she rushed to add, “But it was just rescinded a short while ago. I can get your pilot back—”

  He swore and slammed his hand on the desk. He needed to get away from Eugene. “I’ll go to him.” He leaned over the desk growled, “Where in Portland?”

  The girl eyed him warily. “T-t-the main airport. At the ch-charter terminal. I-I-I … can call and have him ready for you in Portland,” she said.

  He paced in front of the desk, working his anger off before he strangled the puny human for something that wasn’t her fault. “Fine. Do that. Tell them I’ll be there in an hour.”

  “But-t-t it takes at least an hour and a half—”

  He cut her off. “An hour. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir. An hour.” She reached to pick up the phone and began dialing. Satisfied she was doing her job, he turned and stalked from the office.

  At the passenger door to the Hummer, he stopped and pulled out his sat phone. Before he drove to Portland, he needed to call Brody and give him an update and to check on his mother’s welfare. He didn’t want the sadistic son of a bitch to hurt his mother because of an excusable delay.

  “Brody here.”

  The Destroyer’s voice chilled him even over the phone.

  Darcy swallowed the bile threatening to climb his throat and then shook off the frisson of icy evil that snaked down his spine.

  “It’s Darcy. I have her.” He let out a breath at Brody’s rumble of satisfaction. “How’s my mother?”

  “Molly is fine. When will you get here?”

  “There’s been a minor problem—”

  “What problem?”

  “The company you leased the jet from called the pilot back to Portland because of the seismic activity.”

  Brody swore foully. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m driving to Portland and picking the plane up there.”

  “Good. Get to it. I want Lily here as soon as possible…”

  Brody’s sinister laugh dug into Darcy’s gut.

  “…I have plans for the little Earth Talisman. She’ll take the place of my soon-to-be-ex-wife admirably.”

  Darcy grimaced. Rumors had it that Brody’s wife had been the receptacle of all sorts of depraved abuse at her husband’s hands. He felt almost sorry for the woman. Brody had a habit of killing those who were of no use to him any longer. He vowed the evil bastard would never touch Lily. Darcy could kill Brody if he had to in order to accomplish that. Of course, first, he had to figure out how to get around Brody’s power.

  But Darcy was smarter than people gave him credit for—and cunning—so he was confident he’d succeed. “We’ll be there when we get there.” His tone was sharp, forceful.

  “Finding a spine, Darcy?” Brody chuckled, a rusty sound filled with the confidence of a master predator. “Don’t.”

  Pain tore through Darcy. Dry heaving, he went to his knees on the rough asphalt. He dropped the phone and held his aching head with both hands. He’d swear his skull was splitting in two.

  “Darcy!” Brody’s forceful tone had him picking up the sat phone even though he dreaded what he’d hear.

  “Yes-s-s?” He choked on the stomach acid burning his esophagus.

  “Don’t get a spine.” Brody cut the connection.

  “Fuck.” He bent over and vomited what little he had in his stomach.

  Finally, when he could catch a breath and didn’t fear falling on his face, he stood, using the handle on the passenger’s side to aid him. He leaned his over-heated body on the cool metal of the vehicle for a few seconds until the world around him stopped whirling.

  When he was sure he wouldn’t fall, he did a quick check on Lily through the window. She was still unconscious. Good, she hadn’t seen his weakness.

  Darcy didn’t want to turn Lily over to Brody. But after Brody’s display of power over the fucking phone, he wasn’t so sure he could keep her and still save his mother, along with his own hide.

  He slammed his hand on the vehicle’s hood so hard he left dents. There had to be a way to have it all. He’d just have to find it.

  Darcy circled the car and got in. He buckled up. Turning on the engine, he programmed the GPS for the Portland airport and peeled out of the lot.

  Something woke Lily.

  Instinct had her keeping her eyes closed even as she controlled her breathing. Something was off. There was a noise that shouldn’t be there if she were still in the tent at the Sisters’ site. It was the sound of a vehicle, a powerful one, and a sensation of movement. Carr and Donovan had said nothing about driving out of the area after she controlled the quake.

  In a state halfway between waking and sleeping, she realized something warm and slightly rough wrapped her body tightly. She was naked under the covering.

  Her possessive consort Carr would never have taken her out of the tent without first clothing her.

  Something was very wrong here.

  Lily sniffed the air cautiously. Carr’s scent was on her, on the material surrounding her, but not in the air.

  The air smelled bad—tainted. It wasn’t the smell of exhaust or gasoline or even the sulfur of a volcanic eruption but was more like something spoiled.

  The putrid odor was also familiar, a smell from her past. Nightmare images flashed across her mind. Sweet, blessed Gaia, it couldn’t be.

  Praying she was wrong and that her senses lied, she peered slightly through slitted lids. In her peripheral vision, she saw the driver of the car. Darcy! Her stomach clenched, and she swallowed the whimper that threatened to emerge. Somehow the bastard had found her, taken her away from Carr.

  What had he done to Carr?

  Carr! Are you okay? Carr? Answer me.

  For several seconds, she held her breath. Was he even alive? He had to be. She could feel his essence still connected with hers. Why wasn’t he answering her? Maybe her signal was weak. She sought and ripped energy from the earth rapidly passing beneath the vehicle. Then she tried again.

  Carr. Answer me—please.

  A faint voice reached her. Lily? Sweetheart? Are you hurt? Has Miller—

  I’m fine. The “for now” went unsaid. Just tired. In a vehicle with Darcy. She paused and peered from under her lashes at the dashboard GPS. Good, she was still in Oregon. Heading north toward Portland. The airport.

  We are in a ’copter—behind you. Don’t worry, love.

  I’m not. I’ll stall him.

  Don’t take any chances.

  I won’t. Love you.

  Love you more.

  Her panic at the knowledge that Darcy had abducted her abated because Carr and the others were on their way. The mental connection with Carr gave her strength and a confidence she could never have achieved on her own.

  Now, all she had to do was figure out a way to stall Darcy until Carr arrived.

  Then she knew what she could do. She was, after all, the Earth Talisman.

  Keeping her eyes closed, her body relaxed, and her breathing steady, she sent her essence deep into the earth. The earth welcomed her as if the battle she’d fought with it earlier was a distant memory. Now, the earth sought to nourish her rather than destroy.

  All she needed was a fault or a ley line she could tap into to gather just enough energy to stop Darcy from taking off in a plane with her.

  Her lips quirked. She found several possibilities, minor fault lines that would put off just enough of a tremor to shut down all flights.

  All she had to do was rest, conserve her powers, and wait to make her move.

  Darcy would curse the day he’d set his eyes on her.

  “Fuck it all to hell!” Carr forced himself to calm down. While swearing might make him feel better, it was a waste of time and oxygen. He needed a plan to save Lily from Miller.

  “Is she all right?” Brenna spoke over the helicopter’s intercom system.

  “She said so.”

  “But you don’t believe her?” Mark said.

  “She tends to downplay danger.” He’d learned that much from the quake in Indiana. His Talisman had too much courage. It scared him. “I felt her fear hiding in the recesses of her mind even as she plotted how to stop Miller.”

  “At least she’s one of those people who doesn’t let fear cause them to freeze,” Donovan said, admiration in his tone. “How will she stop him?”

  The KOTE leader, having taken over the controls while Carr had been distracted communicating with Lily, made a slight adjustment to their airspeed to deal with crosswinds.

  Carr looked at Donovan. “She plans to set off a small, but controlled quake in the Portland area so the airport will shut down.”

  “Good plan,” Donovan said, “that is, if she can keep it small and limit the damage.”

  “She can.” Carr rotated his neck to get the stiffness out of it. Tension had him wound up tighter than a spring. “I just hope it will be enough to stop Miller.”

  “Claire just texted me some information about the Air Talisman and her Consort,” Mark said. “They know where Brody lives. Now that they have the hurricanes under some semblance of control, maybe they could detour to New York. With the help some of our New York people, they could put a plan in place to get old man Miller’s wife back from Brody and eliminate him. That way we’d also have people in place if Miller manages to leave Oregon with Lily.”

  Carr turned in the co-pilot’s seat to face Mark. “We can’t let that happen.”

  “Got that,” Mark said, “but if he did, we’d have back up in New York all set up.”

  “Do you think they’d want to go back into the lion’s den?” Carr asked.

  Mark shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt to ask. They’re familiar with the layout and would have the best chance of getting us in and out.” Carr wanted, no, needed, Lily back in his arms now, not later. He’d failed to protect her. He had to get her back while she was still in Oregon.

  “Carr, Mark’s correct. We must plan for the worst-case scenario concerning Lily. We’ll make a concerted effort not to let Miller get away with her, but shit happens,” Donovan said. “Trent and Autumn are the best bet to get Molly Miller back and defeat Brody. If for some reason we miss rescuing Lily, they can lead us to the estate.” Donovan spoke to Mark. “Get in touch with Claire. Have her ask them if they’d divert to New York and help us out.”

  “On it, boss,” said Mark as he typed into his phone.

  “What’s the plan at the Portland airport?” Brenna asked.

  “Simple.” Carr clenched his fists on his lap. “Get Lily and kill Miller for touching her.”

  Donovan shot a sharp glance his way. “Carr, killing is not—”

  Carr met the KOTE leader’s gaze. “Don’t get in my way, Donovan. I’m a soldier. This is war. Miller is the enemy of everything we Terrans stand for. I refuse to let him get away again.” He shifted in his seat and stared out the front at the approaching Portland skyline and majestic Mt. Hood in the background. “Besides, he’ll force our hand. He knows the Council will imprison him for life for his treachery. He’ll fight … and die.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled over the cabin of the chopper; only the sound of the powerful jet engine and the rattling hum of the powerful rotors broke it.

  Fifty-five minutes after leaving the Eugene airport, Darcy drove into the parking lot for the Portland charter terminal. A quick perusal of the tarmac and he found his leased jet. The fueling truck had just pulled away. The human clerk had done what she’d promised.

  “Finally,” he said under his breath, “something is going my way.”

  He glanced over at Lily. She hadn’t changed position. She was still, too still. Maybe she was ill? She could’ve injured herself shutting down the quake. Who would he get to treat her if she were sick or dying? Only KOTE had access to doctors who specialized in Terran physiology and ascending to a talismanic state could have also changed her body in some way.

  Shit. She couldn’t be sick. It would spoil everything.

  Concern had him placing two fingers on her carotid. He counted silently, timing the pulse. He breathed out when he found it strong and a little fast for a resting heart rate, but not dangerously so—probably a result of her body recharging.

  Darcy stroked some hair away from her face and tested her skin temperature with the back of his hand. Not hot. Not cold. He let out another breath of relief. She was not sick, merely exhausted.

  As he exited the Hummer, his Earth powers sensed the wrenching of a fault deep within the earth.

  An earthquake? Now? Here?

  He shot a quick glance at Mt. Hood just to make sure it wasn’t erupting. No signs of steam from the crater. So it was just an earthquake.

  The shaking reached the surface. He held onto the car door to keep from being tossed side-to-side. His teeth chattered in his head as the S-waves rolled over the ground. A 4.0 at least.

  “Damn it to hell!” He beat his fist on the side of the vehicle. They’d close the airport for this.

  As soon as he’d had the thought, he glared through the open door at Lily. Was his Talisman playing possum? Had she incited the earthquake to keep them on the ground?

  “It won’t work, Lily.” His lips twisted into a sneer. “That fucking pilot is gonna take off no matter what.”

  Lily’s eyelashes fluttered open, and she swept him with a look of icy contempt. “They’ll stop you.” She struggled to get an arm out of the blanket. When she managed it, she began to unbuckle her seat belt.

  “No, they won’t. I have a hostage.” He ran around to the passenger side and opened the door. Then he reached inside to grab her. She kicked at him, her small bare foot hitting his thigh and glancing off his cock. Her foot had little impact, but instincts had him turning away to protect his manhood from assault.

  Lily followed her kick by exiting the Hummer. The blanket fell to the ground. Gloriously naked, she continued to strike out at him, punching and scratching.

  Darcy easily contained her girly punches. Holding one of her arms in a tight grip, he backhanded her across the face, driving her body into the side of the vehicle. Before she managed to recover, he jerked her into his arms and applied just enough pressure to her carotid to knock her out.

  “Hell cat.” His hell cat.

  Darcy grabbed the blanket and covered her nudity. He shifted her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and headed toward the waiting jet.