Wanderers 3: Garden of The Gods (The Wanderers) Read online

  “Yes, we don’t know if there will be a second assault tonight. I’d just as well get moving before we find out,” Rafe said and he accelerated toward the road.

  I goosed the gas and Maia almost shot out from under me. Gripping the handlebars, I eased off on the throttle as I pulled alongside Rafe. I was going to have to relearn how to ride this bike.

  We roared down the dirt road toward Raton, passing the lone survivor of the attack after less than a mile. She moved off the road when she heard us coming.

  Chapter 13

  Raphael

  We stopped for the night, well after midnight in Cañon City, Colorado. After retrieving a few things that we had left in the motel room, we drove to a quiet back street and had Beast and Maia revert to their natural forms. We flew north, staying away from the Interstate and any towns populated enough to show lights. I was concerned about how people kept finding us. Twice we’d been attacked, and I’d thought we’d gotten rid of our tail when Beast took out the harpy. The fact that someone, besides the Asgardians, still managed to locate us was unprecedented in my worldview. No one came looking for a fight with a Wanderer; it just wasn’t done. It was also beginning to piss me off.

  If Rowle was behind these attacks, that was one thing, but if there was another player coming after us, we needed to find out who they were before they found a way to stop us.

  We landed outside Cañon City on a stretch of dirt road that was dark and deserted. Our familiars changed back, and we motored toward town. A massive Super-Max prison, named the Colorado State Penitentiary, had been built on the eastern side of Cañon City. For some reason, it fit Cañon City. After all, they’d turned the old territorial prison, just north of where the Arkansas River flowed through town, into a tourist museum.

  We stopped at the first motel we came to and took one of the numerous vacancies. The tourist season was over and Colorado’s ski season wouldn’t get swinging until about Thanksgiving. I thought that was still a week or two away, but I wasn’t sure. I lose track of dates and even the day of the week.

  Tess registered us after we’d released Maia and Beast for what was left of the night. I waited in the parking lot until she came out with a key. She led the way to the first-floor room at the far eastern side of the building. When she got the door open, I passed her saddlebags to her and stepped inside. The room was clean and smelled faintly of disinfectant. The curtains and the bedspread were a faded shade of hunter green. There wasn’t a kitchenette, but I didn’t figure we’d be here long enough to need one. The rest of the furniture consisted of a coffee table, a small dining table with two chairs, and a couple of over-stuffed chairs. The latter sat near the opposite wall in line with a large, wall-mounted, flat-screen TV.

  Tess had gotten a single king-sized bed again. That surprised me a little.

  “You planning something?” I asked as I tossed my saddlebags onto the back of a chair.

  “You mean the bed? No, I’m about ready for sleep, but if you want to…” she trailed off and looked at me curiously.

  I grinned and shook my head. “No, killing people doesn’t stoke my libido. Fighting with magic sometimes does, but not when I’ve had to kill so many people.”

  “Do you want me to change it?” Tess asked as she dropped her own saddlebags onto the back of an over-stuffed chair. She took off her crossbow and laid it on the table before dropping heavily into the chair. She leaned her head against the back of the chair and stared up at the ceiling.

  “Of course not. I can stand your snoring just as well from the same bed as from across the room.”

  Tess sat up and gave me a look of derision. “I do not snore.”

  “Not too loudly. I think it’s kinda cute,” I said, bending to remove my boots.

  A cushion bounced off the back of my head, almost triggering my shield. I looked up and grinned at Tess.

  “Watch yourself,” she said. “Just because you’re the mentor, doesn’t mean you can get away with everything.”

  I pushed off my boots and started undressing. “Dibs on the shower.”

  “Uh-uh, after the day I’ve had?” Tess said as she rushed to get her own boots off.

  It became a race, but I had a head start. I was out of my chair and headed toward the bathroom before she had her underwear off.

  Halfway across the room, I stumbled against something on the floor and fell forward. I reflexively triggered my shield, and it caught me before my face smashed into the carpet. A second later, Tess, threw her bra toward the bed, stepped over me and rushed into the bathroom.

  “You minx,” I said. “You tripped me with a shield.”

  “You wanted me to practice,” she said as she stepped out of her panties and tossed them at me.

  I caught them as I regained my feet.

  She shut the bathroom door. A few seconds later, I heard the shower starting.

  I considered being a good loser and fixing us a couple of drinks while I waited for her to finish. Then I realized that our race and the sight of her bouncing posterior stepping over me had changed my opinion about sleeping.

  I tried the bathroom door. It was unlocked.

  I grinned to myself and stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

  * * *

  We slept late, until nearly noon. I awoke to find Tess already in the bathroom and obviously taking another shower. I couldn’t blame her; the vigorous sex had left both of us gamey and a little sticky. I climbed out of bed and made coffee in the single cup coffee maker. Tess had been thoughtful enough to fill two cups with water before claiming the bathroom. When the first was done, I set the maker up for another and sat down to enjoy mine.

  When I heard the shower stop, I activated the coffee maker and sat back down to wait. The bathroom door opened a few minutes later. Tess appeared, already dressed in her leather pants and a sports bra.

  She retrieved the cup of coffee, sat down in the chair next to me, and started pulling on her boots. “Thanks for the coffee, the bathroom’s all yours.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said and retreated to the bath with my underwear clutched in my hand.

  When I came out, Tess had finished dressing and was standing in front of the windows, gazing out at a brightly lit day.

  “What are we doing today?” she asked, turning. The bright window backlit her silhouette.

  “We’re going to keep moving. We’ll stop somewhere long enough for you to get a little practice and then move again until we decide where to stop for the night,” I said as I pulled on my leathers.

  “Are we still headed toward Colorado Springs?”

  “More or less. There doesn’t seem to be any rush, at least Verðandi hasn’t pushed the summonings on us, but that’s our final destination for now. If it gets urgent, I’m sure Verðandi will notify us. Right now I’m more concerned with your training and avoiding whoever thinks they need to bump us off.”

  “You have some of Abrams’ hair. Can’t you cast that locator spell to on her?” Tess asked.

  I pulled on my boots and grinned at her. “Yeah, I can find her, and if they’ve picked her up, I can find them.”

  “Then what’s stopping us? Let’s go get them,” Tess said.

  “Bloodthirsty much? I thought you didn’t want me killing any more of them than necessary.”

  “I don’t,” Tess said with a wave of her hands. “But I don’t want them trying to blow us up either. I’d rather you persuade them as to the folly of their ways on your own terms rather than waiting for them to get up the nerve to come after us again.”

  “Good point, but anything I do proactively will also endanger you. I’m trying to be protective of my Apprentice.”

  Her hands started waving before she decided what she wanted to say. “Protective, I can appreciate, but as you’ve said before, you can’t let people attack us without retribution. It’ll give them the idea they can come after us anytime they want.”

  I finished tying my boot laces and stood up. “You’re right, but I wa
nt to give them a chance to realize their mistake. They have Abrams and whoever escaped in that second helicopter to let them know just how badly they fucked up when they came after us. If they have any sense, they won’t make a second attempt.”

  “And if they don’t have any sense, the next time they’ll be more prepared,” Tess argued.

  I shrugged. “True, but whoever sicced them on us only provided a little magical defense to counter mine. They’ve seen what little use their weapons and those lame ass shields were. Unless they can get someone to augment their magic capabilities, they must realize they don’t have a prayer of getting past our defenses.”

  “But what if they do?

  I shrugged again. “That’s why they pay us the big bucks.”

  I’d said it as a joke, but Tess only frowned. Then I remembered; I had used that line on her before. She knew there was no money in the Wanderer business and Verðandi wasn’t the kind to pay a salary.

  “We’ll be fine,” I said. “You concentrate on learning what you have to know, and I’ll make the strategic decisions on unleashing Wanderer fury on the miscreants that need a comeuppance.”

  “Comeuppance?” Tess asked.

  “It’s a word,” I said.

  She shook her head. “You’re the boss.”

  “Exactly, experience beats youthful enthusiasm anytime.”

  She made a snort of derision and picked up her saddlebags. “Ready?”

  I grabbed my own. “Ready.”

  Tess opened the door and stepped out into the noonday Colorado sun. The sun was warm, but a stiff breeze that kept the day from being pleasant. I could see a line of dark clouds over the western mountains.

  “Looks like snow is coming,” I observed.

  “Really? Not the best conditions for riding bikes.”

  “Don’t sweat it. You have a familiar now. You don’t have to worry about road conditions slowing you down,” I said.

  Beast and Maia were parked close to each other at the back of the lot. I motioned that way, and we joined them. The motel’s parking lot was nearly deserted at noon. Everyone had either left for other locations or were out getting lunch. This kind of motel wasn’t usually a favorite of long-term guests. People either chose the cheaper motels with a weekly rate or if they were on business, a more expensive place that would be more relaxing.

  I put my saddlebags on Beast and then mounted up. His engine roared to life as I sat down, indicating that he too was ready to hit the road. Tess was standing beside Maia, running her hand along the gas tank. I watched her for a minute and realized she was petting her familiar.

  Weird, I’ll never understand women.

  “Ah, do you two want to be alone?” I asked.

  Tess gave me a glare and then mounted up.

  Maia’s engine started. I shifted Beast into gear and pulled out of the parking lot with Tess close behind. We stopped for breakfast at the outskirts of Cañon City and then headed east out of town and turned north along Highway 115. It was a short ride to the Springs, but I wanted to find somewhere to get off the road long enough to give Tess some practice time before actually entering the Springs. As usual, Verðandi’s summons was short on the when and why, concentrating on the where rather than the how soon. She’d given us a few days since she’d originally told us we’d be needed in Colorado, I was curious if events were partially hidden from her or if there was someone Fate couldn’t sense. I had already gathered that Rowle was capable of hiding his own fate from Verðandi, but I was unsure as for whether it was something he did or just a natural occurrence when a Wanderer went rogue.

  A half-hour up highway 115, I found a spot that looked promising. We pulled off the highway onto a dirt road that led up into the foothills away from the sprawling property that made up Fort Carson.

  Finding an abandoned quarry, we got situated, and I had Tess concentrate on practicing the enhanced senses spell. It was a natural follow up to her other spells and allowed a Wanderer to spot threats in time to use their shield before it became too late.

  A few hours later, I thought Tess had the spell memorized well enough to get by. She was able to generate the spell and then hold it while triggering her one tat. She even held it against my application of energy blasts, fire, and lightning. A little more practice and I might even trust to leave her alone for a few hours.

  “Are you ready to try the healing tattoo?” I asked.

  To her credit, she didn’t respond immediately. A few seconds passed and then she nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’m ready.”

  “Okay, where do you intend to put it?”

  She shrugged and started removing her jacket. “I guess I’ll follow your example again and put it over my heart.”

  “All right.”

  I opened my main grimoire to the correct page while she laid her leather jacket to the side and started unbuttoning her blouse. I watched her and then frowned.

  Tess folded her blouse, laid it atop her jacket, and caught my frown. “What’s wrong?”

  I reached over and traced the pattern across her in the same location I had mine. My fingertip slid over the skin beneath her left breast, over the side of her sports bra, across the top, and then back down between her breasts. “Hmmm,” I said, thinking to myself.

  “What?”

  “I’m not sure you can get it right just there. Your breast is not as flat as my chest.”

  She guffawed, “I should say not, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

  I frowned again. “I’m not sure it does, I’ve never considered the problem before.”

  Now she was frowning. “Well, decide, I don’t want to go through that much pain just to find out the tattoo doesn’t work.”

  I nodded and considered everything I knew about Wanderer tattoos. They could span voids, as when my two upraised fingers formed a Cub Scout salute and completed one tattoo and another formed when I made the same hand into a fist. So would the fact that her round, and oh so lovely, breast actually have a problem with the tattoo?

  Finally, I shook my head. “No, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

  Tess sighed visibly. “Good, you had me worried for a minute there. Okay, same as last time?”

  “Sure,” I said and triggered my levitation tat.

  She floated from her cross-legged position to a prone position about waist high. As I stood, she undid the front closure on her bra and dropped it toward her blouse and jacket. It continued to float beside her.

  She frowned at it. “Are you going to fix that?”

  I nodded, concentrated, and the bra dropped to her blouse.

  I held my grimoire over her face so she could read the spell and then put my finger on the smooth skin just beneath her left breast. “Start here.”

  Tess focused, using my eyes to see the placement of that finger. She gave a little gasp as the first glow appeared beneath her skin. “Shit, that hurts.”

  “Some areas have many more nerve endings than others. I’ll help you,” I said.

  “No, let me do it myself. I can handle it.”

  “Okay, but if you change your mind–”

  “I won’t,” Tess snapped.

  I could feel her resolve and knew that the pain was also making her testy.

  I didn’t reply, but instead slowly drew my finger along where the pattern needed to be burned. She probably didn’t need my finger’s input, but I knew that it would distract her, if ever so slightly, from the pain.

  For the next twenty minutes, my finger slid slowly over her skin, circling her nipple, and touching spots along her breast that was usually pleasurable to us both. This time, not so much.

  Tess completed the pattern with a sigh and the tattoo glowed to life immediately as it tried to heal the burns beneath her skin.

  I bent and kissed her left nipple and then raised my lips to hers. We kissed long and passionately. When I finally pulled back, I could feel both our pulses raising with excitement.

  “Good job, Tess,” I said as I rotated
her upright and lowered her boots to the ground.

  “If we’re not in any hurry,” she said as she eyes me hungrily.

  I grinned. “Anticipation, Apprentice. It sweetens everything.”

  She bit her lower lip and stared up at me. I almost surrendered right then.

  “Get dressed,” I ordered. “Time to move on.”

  I canceled the circle as she bent to recover her clothes. She mumbled something under her breath, but I pretended not to hear. I grinned to myself. I would have to make this up to her later and it would be my pleasure.

  Getting back on Highway 115, we drove past the main entrances to Fort Carson and continued on, entering Colorado Springs via the super-busy South Nevada Avenue. South Nevada had entire blocks that hadn’t changed since long before I became a Wanderer. Old tourist motels still sat between numerous liquor stores and modern fast food outlets. There was nothing really touristy in this section of the Springs unless you drove toward the mountain shadows and encountered The Broadmoor. Up there, where the shadows of the mountains had already brought twilight, the five-star resort covered many acres of the city’s southwest side.

  But surprisingly, there was new construction on South Nevada. Motels, that were older than I, had vanished and been replaced by fast food and other restaurants.

  Stopped at a traffic light, Tess leaned toward me. “Rafe, let’s pull in here.”

  I glanced in the direction of her head toss. “What do you need?”

  “You promised we’d get phones.”

  Hell, I’d forgot all about that promise. “Okay, lead the way.”

  She turned right on red and then immediately turned left into a strip mall that was older than she was. When she stopped, I pulled into the parking space beside her. I killed Beast’s engine and leaned him onto his kickstand.

  “I guess you know how to get one,” I said.

  “Sort of, if your identity is good enough for a credit check.”

  “Credit check? To buy a phone?”

  She looked at me as if I was from the Twilight Zone. “Of course, have you really never had a cell phone?”

  “Of course I haven’t. Also, I don’t know anything about credit checks, and I’ve never bought anything on credit.”