The Rivers Ran Red by Taylen Carver

Author:Taylen Carver [Carver, Taylen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stories Rule Press
Published: 2020-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jamie was the first to return. She had removed the jewelry from her hair and tied the silver locks back in a rough knot. Beneath the soft wool coat, she had rigged her guns and a pouch that bulged with contents. She drank two long glasses of water from the pitcher Diedre had purified just last night, then caught her breath and leaned back against the sink.

I poured her a third glassful and handed it to her. “You followed tracks?” I asked.

She shook her head. “When we reached the house, I heard a car, heavy engine, fast, just up the road. I reached through the back door, grabbed my guns and took off after it. I followed the exhaust as far as I could. They were heading north, without deviation.” She drank another half-glass and sighed with more than simple relief at quenching her thirst. A vexed look settled in her eyes. “The sentries didn’t warn me. They should have. You had phone reception in the forest. I should have, too.”

“Aurelius looked for the border alarms. After Spain, he learned,” I told her. “He cut them before they came in. One of Haul’s team let me know only a few minutes ago. Aurelius waited for us to leave. It was going to be a simple robbery. He wasn’t counting on finding Diedre here, or Tony.” I grimaced. “Tony was no hinderance. Diedre was a bonus.”

Jamie looked away from me, but not before I saw pain and guilt flare in her eyes. She pulled the coat and dress away from her chest. “I need a shower. Is the bedroom…?”

“It’s clear,” I told her, for Haul’s workforce had turned up and dealt with the bodies first. “How did you know there were bodies?”

“The smell.” She grimaced. “I can’t forget that smell.”

I hesitated. “This isn’t your fault,” I told her. “None of us was expecting Aurelius to attack directly like this. I was comfortably certain he didn’t know I was in Britain, let alone here in Carmarthen. I relaxed.”

Jamie’s crystalline gaze drilled into mine. “We all relaxed, and we shouldn’t have.” She paused. “Ben convinced me nothing would happen until Beltane.” Then she looked away, her jaw tight.

I threw it out there because I knew she needed the distraction. “I know where Aurelius is taking Diedre.”

Jamie’s lips parted. “You…do?” She sounded uncertain, as though she couldn’t quite trust herself to believe it.

I nodded. “I can explain it all to you now, but then you’ll have to hear it all over again when Magorian and Ketill get back. Or you can take your shower while knowing we have a course of action to follow.”

“An actual course of action?” She began to smile. “For a non-combat doctor, that’s pretty impressive, Michael.”

I tried to squash the glow of pleasure building in my chest. “I’ve been a combat-on-the-fringes doctor since I met Magorian. You must have noticed that things happen around him by now.”

“I don’t think it’s just Ben who makes things happen,” Jamie said softly. Her eyes shone.

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