23. Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Angela remembered the Orvax doctor as the one who had spent the most time questioning her about what had happened to Captain LaGrange.
He still looked angry when he took her to the other room and pulled out the tool to implant the tracker. It was awfully convenient that he had it there but she had the feeling he would have been looking for a reason to use it.
He worked in silence, his expression serious.
"I still don't know what happened to the Captain," she told him after she couldn't take the silence any longer. "I didn't have anything to do with it."
"I believe you were not an active participant it what happened," he said. "Though I do not think even you are aware of how you came to be part of it. The truth will out, however, and I will find a way to reverse his condition."
"Has it gotten worse?" she asked.
"We have arrested it for now," he said. "And being with his Mate is helping fight its progression."
"I'm glad they're able to be together," she said. "I never really understood how mates worked until I met Zoric."
Mintonar harrumphed at her and she got the feeling he didn't like Zoric much, either.
"I'll help if I can," she told him.
He walked behind her and shot the tracker into the muscles below her neck, just next to her spine. "Yes, you will."
A shiver ran down her spine when he put the tool away and walked out. Zoric hurried in a moment later, a set of keys in his hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling her into his arms.
She rolled her shoulders back, trying to get rid of the phantom pain that lingered from the tracking device.
"I'm fine," she said. "I think. Are those the keys to the truck?"
"They are. The Colonel gave you his personal vehicle, and a stipend in cash for gas. I suspect it was out of his personal accounts."
She grinned. "He's smarter than I thought. Or he realizes just how far back into the mountains we're going to make this call."
It was still before noon when they left the base and Angela didn't realize how long she'd been holding her breath at the gate when they drove out until the world started to spin slightly with the deep breath she took when the arm went up letting them out.
Human vehicles were not made for Chelion but Angela was happy to drive the entire way while he asked her questions about where they were going.
With all his questions, she realized that he had, in a very real sense, lived under a rock for most of his adult life. What modern culture he was exposed to was brought in by the women they kidnapped and the few humans willing to trade with them.
When they pulled off the highway eight hours later, she was describing some of her favorite cartoons to him.
"Bugs Bunny may have been a chaos spirit," she told him with a grin. "But he was also one of the greatest landscape artists of our time."
Zoric, who did have some knowledge of Bugs Bunny, laughed and agreed with her. Then, he turned his gaze to the solid rock wall that seemed to have sprung up directly next to the truck.
"I thought you said their were roads out to your mother's house?"
"There are," she said. "We're just not taking the obvious ones."
"You're right, I would never have mistaken this for a road. It barely looks like a deer trail."
She grinned at him. "It's sturdier than it looks. And it's faster than taking the routes everyone else knows. We'll get there before midnight this way."
"Were you ever able to tell your mother you were coming?"
Angela shook her head. "She doesn't have a phone. There used to be a party line that ran to the base of the mountain but they stopped supporting that around the time I was born. No cell towers out here or anything, either, but she has her ways of knowing things."
Her accent got thicker the deeper they drove into the mountains and she tried to hide her embarrassment from Zoric. She'd worked hard to drop the worst of it when she'd joined the Marines but some of it stuck no matter where she went.
The trees and rocks pressed closer to the truck and an unnatural hush fell over the cab. While they'd been talking for hours on the highway, neither of them seemed inclined to so much as breathe heavily as they got further into the forest that climbed up the mountains.
Finally, with almost ten minutes to midnight, they pulled into a clearing that had been invisible from the road. There was a cabin in the middle of it, with rusted tools in the yard, and a warm yellow light glowing in the window.
A woman, almost the spitting image of Angela with maybe a little more silver in her hair, opened the door. Warm light spilled out from behind her onto the porch and Angela found herself returning the smile she could barely see across the front yard.
"Hey, Mama!" she called, stepping out of the open truck door. "Did you miss me?"
"Angel!" her mama shouted, and rushed out of the house to pull her into a hug. "Oh, Angel, I was so worried about you. They kept you buried so deep, I couldn't see what was going on."
"I'm alright, Mama," Angela said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm alright. And I have someone I'd like you to meet but we need to make a call before it gets too late."
Her mother pulled away and looked over her shoulder at Zoric. Surprise and fear crossed her usually unflappable mother's face, before she turned back to her daughter.
"You're cutting it mighty close if you want an answer soon."
"I know," Angela said. "I took the shortcut, too. So maybe he'll be awake a little later."
"You can try. It's on my dresser. Hurry if you're going to try tonight."
Angela nodded and hurried into their house. Behind her, Zoric had been stopped by her Mama, with a "Not so fast, young man. We're going to have a talk."
The mirror she'd been looking for was on her mother's dresser, like she'd put it down only a few minutes earlier. Picking up a pin from the cushion that was sitting next to it, Angela pricked her finger until a drop of blood welled up, then she tapped it three times against the glass. The blood smeared against the glass, then disappeared as the silver backing turned black and a familiar, ageless face appeared.
"Angela," he said, obvious pleasure in his voice. "I had not thought to hear from you again so soon! Your mother told me you had extended your time in the Marines."
She nodded and bit her lip. Somehow, she wasn't surprised her mother hadn't told him about the legal issues. They never liked to bother him with unimportant things.
"I did but I'm back visiting Mama for a few days. I brought someone to meet here, and you, and I have a favor to ask."
"A boy?" he asked. "I hadn't thought you'd find one out in the world."
"Not exactly a boy," she said. "And I don't think I would have found him anywhere else."
"And what is this favor you want to ask?"
"It's hard to explain like this," Angela started.
Her uncle's eyes turned green and she stared. "Then show me, Angela, descendent of the witch of the forest, let me see through your eyes what you cannot speak."
With those words, her mind relaxed, and Angela showed him everything that had happened over the last few months. Fear, anger, uncertainty, and love flowed through her in a rush she couldn't control.
Before she met Zoric, she would have had no idea what was happening. Now, she felt foolish for not realizing the truth all along.
When the story was out of her, his eyes changed, and softened. "My poor Angela. I do not know who is hunting you but I can the pain you have been in. I will be there tomorrow at dusk and we will discuss if your Mate is truly worthy of you."
"What about the rest?" she asked.
His eyes darkened. "We will discuss that, too."