“New Mexico. Tae a li’le town called Portales. We have a huge ranch out there. Lots of land and lots of property. A big house full of people. Bodywalkers. Gargoyles. We have a Djynn staying with us now. I doona know if I trust him. And if we get there and you meet him, doona make a wish. Ever. You never know if you’ll get an honest result or some manner of trickery. Grey seems to be aboveboard, but he’s also got his own agenda and none of us really knows what that is. And … I doona want you tae stay long. I want tae get the Amulet off you and send you back home immediately. ’Tis dangerous where we are and … you doona ken what we’re dealing wi’ but tis verra bad and I doona want you tae get hurt.”

She understood the sentiment, even was grateful he was looking out for her. So why was it that a part of her was disappointed, almost hurt by the idea that he would want to be rid of her as soon as possible? What a foolish thing to think!

Kat shrugged the sensation off as best she could, reminding herself that she didn’t want to be away from her home any more than he did. Home was safe and, even under his protection, the world was a frightening place to be caught out in. Every dawn brought horrible dangers with it; would potentially force her to face her fear of it. A fear that was rightfully justified.

By the time they reached Walmart, she felt exhausted from worrying about so many things and the dangers of the slippery roads besides. There had been places not plowed well enough and only the truck’s four-wheel drive had allowed them to pass through. But in the end they arrived safe and sound and, delightfully, the store had electricity! Whether from a generator or that they had not been affected by the storm as Stone Gorge had been, it didn’t matter. He was going to get some clothing and they could get more food. Something better and potentially more nutritious. She wanted to take care of him, she realized. It was very important to her that he get to his touchstone in time. He was far too beautiful to be lost to the world. To be frozen into the state of an ugly Gargoyle. She had not seen him like that thus far, but she could easily imagine what that meant. She had seen her share of Gargoyles over time and they were anything but the handsome man she was now sitting next to.

“Come wi’ me, lass,” he said after jumping out of the truck and walking over to her side. He held out his hand to her and helped her down to the slushy ground. “Karma, stay there,” he said, giving the dog a brief rub at the ears. “We doona want anything tae happen tae a fine lass such as yourself.”

To her, it was the sweetest thing he could have possibly done. He was understanding of how much Karma meant to her. It wasn’t necessary for him to be kind, and yet he was.

If anyone thought anything of a man walking around the store in a towel in the dead of winter, no one said anything. Although she suspected there was more than one covert cellphone picture being taken. Ahnvil bee-lined for the men’s department and after a brief search through a pile of cargo pants he bent over right there in front of God and country and pulled them on under his towel. Once he was clothed he popped off the tag and dropped the towel to the ground. Then he grabbed up a pack of socks and tore into them. He had them on his feet and was heading for shoes a moment later. On the way past the rounders of shirts she grabbed one she thought would fit, a handsome button-down in the fairest shade of pink, so fair it was almost white. As he tried on boots, she pushed the shirt at him.

“Your shirt is stained with blood. If you want to be less obvious … A bloodstained shirt will attract attention.”

“No. I’ll no’ wear pink,” he scoffed, taking a brief walk in the boots he had on. “Find me anything but pink. A T-shirt preferably.”

Grumbling about men who were insecure in their own masculinity, she went back to the men’s department and found him a T-shirt that said, I’LL STOP BEING DISRESPECTFUL WHEN YOU STOP BEING STUPID. He eyed the shirt dubiously. It was a bright red with white lettering.

“It’s not pink,” she said smugly.

“Aye,” he agreed dryly.

On the way to the register she stopped for some pens and a pad of paper. The paper was a bright pink color. Hard to miss.

“Now this,” she said, once again being smug, “is pink.”

After they had checked out she went to the entrance of the store with him, realizing there were two. Dismayed she decided to leave a note inside both entrances. She wrote:

Hi! My name is Katrina Haynes. I am not a ghost. We are heading to Portales, New Mexico. If you can follow us there, maybe we can find out what is happening here. Do you think that’s possible?

Then they waited in the truck for nine o’clock. As time ticked past he grew increasingly restless. “Let me try your phone again,” he said. It was a phrase that was becoming familiar. He had asked her to try it maybe ten times since leaving the house. “What’s the nearest airport?”

“But—”

“It doesna hurt tae try,” he said before she could point out that phone communication might be down still.

She handed him the phone and once he dialed and put it close to his ear she saw the profound wave of relief that washed over him.

“Jackson,” he said on a sigh.

“Ahnvil?” Jackson asked in surprise. “What in hell happened to you?”

“ ’Tis a long story. Suffice it tae say I’m in a spot of trouble.”

“You’ve been over a week without your stone, my friend,” he said, knowing it was a needless thing to point out.

“Aye.”

“We were afraid …”

“No. No’ yet anyway. I need the jet though. I doona know how much time I have left.” It was clear he didn’t want to say it out loud, didn’t want to remind either of them of how dangerous his situation was.

“Where are you?”

“Washington State.”

“Wash—you mean the same Washington State that is in the middle of the blizzard of the century?”

“Aye,” he affirmed grimly.

“Ahnvil, of course I’ll send the jet, but I’m not certain flights are going in and out yet.”

“They will be,” Ahnvil said. They had no other option. They had to be.

“Right. It’s on its way. It’ll be there before sunrise, but I’m not sure we can get you back here before the sun comes out.”