Moon - New Moon Part 62

People scattered in all directions, some of them calling out in pain as chunks of the building hit them on the head and shoulders.

IN the tent, the three men around Rinna staggered back, gasping as the psychic shock wave hit them. Avery fell onto the ground, his body curling into a fetal position. Brusco sat down heavily on a chair, missed the seat, and plopped to the floor. Falcone stayed on his feet, but he had to grab a tent pole, shaking the makes.h.i.+ft structure and almost bringing the whole thing down around them.

The pain that filled Rinna's head was almost too great to bear, but she stared at the men with satisfaction.

Working together, these three had been going to destroy her brain, and she had come up with a desperate plan to defeat them. It was like nothing she had ever done before. But she had learned the theory at school. And understood that it was her only chance to leave with her mind intact.

Falcone recovered first. With a savage cry, he lunged forward, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her so hard her bones rattled. "What the h.e.l.l did you do?"

Her head felt like demons were inside banging on the walls of her skull with pickaxes. Taking a breath, she struggled not to scream.

"What happened?" he bellowed. "What in Carfolian h.e.l.l did you do?"

By gathering all her resolve, she managed to keep her own voice low and steady. "I grabbed hold of the energy you three beamed at me and sent it into the portal. It's gone. You're trapped here. And if you destroy my brain, you'll never get back."

"I have men who can open portals," he bellowed. "How do you think I got the one we just used?"

She tipped her head to one side, looking at him as though he'd just claimed he could speak to the dead-his worst subject in school. "But they're back in Sun Acres, aren't they?"

He gave her one more shake, then took a step back, his eyes narrowing as he focused on her.

Pus.h.i.+ng himself to a sitting position, Avery made a gagging sound, and Rinna directed her next remark to him.

"I'm sorry the psychic transfer was painful to you. Now you have some idea of what it feels like to have someone inside your head throwing energy bolts around."

Avery swallowed but said nothing. Brusco looked at Falcone. "You didn't warn us that she could do something like that."

"Do you think I would have proceeded with the operation if I'd known?" he bellowed.

"What are we going to do?" Avery asked.

Falcone turned back to Rinna, and she saw he was struggling to keep his features from twisting into a mask of anger. Or maybe it was fear. She liked that better. "I order you to open another portal."

Even through her pain, she managed a harsh laugh. "You order me? I don't think so. This isn't Sun Acres. I have choices here. So what's the advantage to me in following your orders?"

His voice turned into a growl, and he reached under her chin, tipping her head up. "Because if you defy me, I can make your life very painful."

Still tied to the chair, she was forced to look into his fierce eyes. "That would give you pleasure," she answered. "But it won't get you back to Sun Acres."

Either she had temporarily disabled his psychic abilities or he was so angry that only physical violence would satisfy his needs. He raised his hand to strike her, but Brusco swayed forward and caught his arm.

Falcone whirled to face him. "How dare you?"

"Think about what you're doing before you act," the other man advised.

Almost totally out of control, Falcone looked at the faces staring at him. "I don't need her. I was planning to invade this world, anyway," he bellowed.

The other two men looked away. But Rinna kept her gaze on him-and her voice even. "But your supply lines have been cut off. And you don't know enough about this place, do you? The longer you stay here without knowing how things work, the more likely that you'll get into serious trouble. Take this tent," she said, gesturing toward the canvas walls. "It's nothing like the tents they use here. It will be conspicuous. People will come nosing around. You could kill them, of course. But that's going to call even more attention to you. And probably you're on private property, so somebody will show up trying to find out what you and a squad of men are doing on their land. Unless you can make them invisible," she added.

"We did that when we came through," Brusco said. "We can't do it again so soon."

Falcone turned and glared at the man, and he closed his mouth abruptly, undoubtedly sorry that he'd given anything away.

She watched Falcone press his fingers to his forehead, ma.s.saging his skin, and she knew that his head hurt. Good.

"If you want me to open a portal, you're going to have to help me do it," she murmured.

WHEN Logan reached the woods, he turned back to the detective. Cooper was staring at him with a confused expression on his face.

"How did you know what was going down?" the detective called out.

Did he expect a wolf to come up with an answer? Obviously that was out of the question. And even if Logan could have gotten words out of his mouth, he didn't know what to say. He'd felt a dangerous vibration in the air, and he'd known something bad was going to happen.

Something connected with the building. But he hadn't known exactly what.

Cooper reached out a hand toward the wolf.

Logan shook his head, then turned and ran deeper into the woods, where the other Marshalls were waiting for him.

They raced back to the spot where they'd previously changed and all reversed the process. Once they'd returned to human form, they dragged on the clothing that Ross had stuffed in the backpacks.

Logan was the first to speak. "Did you feel it?" he asked his brother and his cousin.

"You mean feel a vibration in the air before the building exploded?" Ross answered.

"Yeah, that."

"I felt it, too," Lance said. "And I heard some dogs in neighborhood. There must have been a sound wave that was below human awareness."

"Which doesn't answer the question: What the h.e.l.l happened?" Lance said as he pulled on his sweatpants. "I mean, why did the place blow up?"

Logan's chest was so tight he could barely speak. "My best guess? I think Rinna somehow destroyed the portal so that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Falcone couldn't take her back to her world."

"Good for her."

"I hope n.o.body was inside," Logan muttered.

"It looks like the cops cleared the place out for her."

"Yeah," Logan agreed. "Maybe she even planted that suggestion in the detective's mind."

"So now what?" Lance asked.

"Same as before. We look for her. Maybe that's what she was thinking when she told me to go for help. Maybe she was planning to stall Falcone until I could bring reinforcements."

"Maybe," Ross murmured, although he looked doubtful.

"You don't think so?" Logan demanded.