Chapter 34

They hiked up the side of the mountain, the sand and clay baked hard enough to walk easily. The sun was low on the horizon, just beginning its evening light show no more brilliant anywhere in the world than right here in the desert; the pinks and golden yellows

visually stunning as they fell over the bleak landscape, shadows giving depth and character to the otherwise stark terrain.

It was a long haul. They had chosen to hike up the far side of the hill in order to stay out of any sightlines. The cabin they sought was on the other side, a short drop down from the peak. Their march was mostly in silence, a necessary safety precaution given the excellent hearing of the supernatural being that could be waiting on the other side.

When they did crest the peak, Becca stopped, crouching with the others to take in the view. It was amazing. She could see the dark waters of the Salton Sea, the edge of the sand dunes, a few clusters of civilization that must have been Brawley and Indio. Their lights were just coming on for the night giving an eerie glow to the dark masses of homes all shoved together, huddling for safety against the heat and solitude that personified the desert just outside their artificially green lawns.

Gabrielle touched her arm, motioning her to follow. Becca fell in behind her. Kyle and Danny were next with Ryan bringing up the rear. He was most likely to keep Danny in line. He hadn't said much thus far since Gabrielle snapped at him in the truck. Not that Becca much cared at this point. His brooding was getting old.

Partner or no, Becca had no patience for a bigot. His espousing hatred for the men and woman who had accepted her, defended her and fought with her because they were different was unacceptable.

Before she could get too worked up over him Becca had to pay more attention to her feet. Going up had been relatively easy but on this side, the lee side of the mountain, the winds and small amount of rainfall had fluffed the sand into unpredictable mounds on top of the clay. The loose piles slid under their feet, making for a treacherous downhill descent. They slipped and slid several times as they made their way down.

The group of five stopped at an outcropping. By Ryan's figuring they were to wait until full dark to continue to the cabin. It was a long, painful wait. Her watch said it was five. This time of year full sunset wouldn't be until after seven. The unstructured downtime was horrid and to compound matters, they were to keep their noise to a minimum.

She'd been leaning against her pack, comparing finger lengths and seeing how many stars she could block when her vision began to play with her. Sitting up in a rush, Becca assessed their camp. Nothing was amiss, no one doing anything eventful. Eyes and ears, even her nose strained for a hint of some other danger. Nothing.

The answer came to her and as quickly as it came, she knew it was right. The danger wasn't hers, it was Michael's, and judging from the mildness of the warning it wasn't urgent. Not yet. How had her ability tied in with Michael as a warning system? Did that happen when she jumped into someone? Maybe some residual connection remained or it was tied to the blood she'd taken from him. Whatever had given her the insight didn't matter. Becoming familiar with the process, Becca closed her eyes and jumped.

At first she thought it hadn't worked when nothing but views of the desert at dusk appeared in her head. The scene was like a dozen she'd seen all day. Becca was ready to give up when she noticed the perspective was wrong. She was looking up the hill, not down and the figure to her side wasn't any member of her party. It was the tall pale figure that always made her vision dance and her stomach turn. It was the admiral.

She had done it! Becca had made the link again and with it she felt the familiar surge of lightening in her head and twisting of her stomach. Being in Michael was much more powerful than Ryan. This time, instead of trying to overcome it, she welcomed it. Absently, her hand rubbed itself over her middle, caressing the roiling mess it had suddenly become.

A hand laid itself on her arm and Becca started. She caught herself before she lost the connection. Carefully, using his eyes to be sure nothing dire was happening just at that second, she withdrew. She was hesitant to leave him and found it comforting to know she could be on the lookout for him even at a distance.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the entire party was watching her. Even Danny had dropped the attitude in his curiosity. Gabrielle was glaring at Kyle. She seemed to know what Becca was doing and what Kyle had done by interrupting. That was interesting.

"What are you doing?" he whispered. Concern was etched plainly on his face. "You looked totally freaked out."

"Did you see them?" Gabrielle asked, barely making a sound. Becca nodded. "They're here. On the mountain, downhill."

Confusion creased Kyle's brow. He hadn't been there when they'd been discussing the whole "jumping" thing and she didn't know how much he would understand. Now wasn't the time to explain.

Ryan scooted over to crouch between Gabrielle and Becca. "Where?"

She shook her head in frustration. "Don't know. I didn't get a chance to see. They weren't in trouble, just waiting it looked like. Like us."

They nodded, both frowning in thought.

"Can you tell him we're here?" Ryan asked.

"It doesn't work like that." Becca sighed. "I'm there but all I can do is see." She didn't add that with him she could sense something else. Why tell them when she didn't know exactly what it was she was feeling?

"Damn," Ryan growled. "We'll have to suck it up and call." He fished his phone out of his pocket. He held it up, cursing. "What good is all this stuff if we can't get it to work."

"We'll have to keep our eyes on them then to make sure we don't accidentally blow somebody up." Gabrielle gave Becca a meaningful look.

"Before we go after this thing," Becca's eyes held hers, "Michael said it was dangerous, more than usual. Is there anything you think we need to know before we go any further?"

Gabrielle and Ryan were so tense the air around them shimmered in the fading light. Both refused to answer.

"What are we up against?" Swallowing her frustration, she kept her voice even. There was no point getting into a fight amongst themselves.

"A demon," Ryan answered just as plainly.

Becca was glad she was sitting down. At once, heeding Gabrielle's assignment as "eyes," she jumped without hesitation.

"They've moved east. They'll attack from that direction." She felt somehow that was right. "Should we join up with them or stay on the other side should they need support?"

She heard them discussing strategy, Danny even taking part. Kyle remained quiet, his tactical experience the most limited of the bunch. For her part, she watched Michael and Black's movements through Michael's eyes.

Black moved first, Michael went where he was told. There was a small washout and Black wanted to go around while Michael pointed out it would save time. He argued that it was worth the brief time they would lose sight of the area they were focusing on. Michael attempted to take a step, Black said one word and just like that she felt the tension in his head and the physical pain at resisting Black's command.

It was both fascinating and disturbing. A faint whispering in her mind told her what it was and she saw everything slide into place as she let it unfold in her head. His loyalty to Black. Black's willingness to give control and trust to one over all the rest. Michael was being held hostage somehow, tied to Admiral Black by some unseen tether. He had no choice but to follow orders, disloyalty wasn't an option.

Admiral Black was a cruel bastard. The only vindication Becca saw in Black was his willingness to do whatever it took to protect their country and those willing to live by its laws. At the same time she assumed his patriotism wasn't merely an act of selflessness. No one willing to do what he'd done to Michael could possibly be so altruistic.

By allying himself with the U.S. government Black gave himself unlimited resources and guaranteed his own safety. He alone could say that. No other of his race could because

he was the global authority in supernatural and preternatural affairs. They were all at his mercy. In a way, Black was the leader of the entire non-human population worldwide. The ramifications were staggering.

Becca kept her revelation to herself. She wasn't sure if the wolves knew of the bond between master and servant and she could see how it could be used to manipulate Michael if the wrong people found out. She wouldn't be responsible for giving anyone else power over him if she could help it.

"Bec," Kyle stage whispered. He was careful not to touch her this time, she noted.

Looking up and blinking, Becca saw that full darkness was finally upon them. Standing as a group and pulling the straps of their packs over their shoulders, the five were ready to head down.

Gabrielle led again, half jogging over the slippery sand. Becca noticed if they kept to the faster speed, and let the counterweight of their packs pull them back on their heels it was actually relatively easy to move along. Her dual vision took some getting used to but the nice thing about having to concentrate was that it kept her mind too busy to worry about the fact that they were running toward a demon.

They agreed that if they could signal their comrades without risking either position they would, otherwise they would have to operate independently. The burden of monitoring both positions was theirs. Becca constantly kept checking the visuals of each set of eyes against each other; if anyone took any damage because of an oversight it would be her fault.

Roughly a half-mile from the little cabin located up the hill from them in a diagonal trajectory, Ryan and Gabrielle took up their positions. Becca couldn't see it with her human eyes, but the set that could make it out clearly was just as close.

"How can you tell where it is?" Danny asked her, dubious but less confrontational. Time or exhaustion was taking some of his steam away.

"Can't you smell the sulfur?" Gabrielle asked. Becca shook her head.

"It was how Black knew her master. When she was staked we smelled it. She was bound to it."

"When someone is bound is it forever? Can it be broken?"

Gabrielle kept her binoculars trained on the cabin. "Only death can break a bond between servant and master."

With that to chew on, Becca went back into his head.