Chapter 50: Pick Pocket

The street bustles with tourist activity, six hours or so behind where we just left. The night is still young, fresh. But I haven't forgotten Sage's internal clock. It has no use for time zones. We may have gained a few hours, but he's still on day four with time running short.

"Now what?" Sage looks up and down the street, turning sideways to block me from a group of teenagers. "We've lost all our stuff."

Our carryons are gone, left behind on the airplane. No money, no papers. But we don't need passports anymore, at least. Money, on the other hand...

"You," I say to him, pushing him toward a small café, open to the air, an empty table next to the sidewalk. I still have the change in the pocket of my dress from paying for his sandwich. "Have a coffee. I'll be right back."

Sage's frown tells me he knows what I'm up to, but he doesn't argue. I leave him as a girl comes to wait on him, watch a moment as he smiles at her, makes her blush. He's so good with people, so genuine everyone adores him.

I have to save him.

Though I'm not proud of these particular skills, I've been well trained as a pickpocket. In fact, it was the first thing I learned as a young girl, taught by one of the Black Souls. He thought it amusing to teach the young of the werenation to steal, the mighty werewolves reduced to taking pocket change from strangers. And though I'm a bit out of practice, I was always the best of my age group. With a few brushes by tourists and accidental bumps into the odd rich girl with her tiny clutch dangling from her hip, I have more than enough wallets to mine for what I need.

I take a moment in a dark alley behind an oriental restaurant to sift through my gains. The wallets and all their plastic go in the dumpster beside me, while the cash makes a comforting wad in the padding of my bra. Two thousand or so, rich girl's coin purse the most generous, more than enough to carry us across the country without a problem.

Sage doesn't comment when I stroll up to him, just stands and follows me, leaving a generous tip beside his barely touched cup of coffee. It's not until we round the corner he takes my hand and sighs.

"All set?" At least he's not arguing with me this time.

"One more thing to do and we're ready to go." I spot exactly what I'm looking for in a large parking lot across the street. We saunter over to the small econobox like we own it. Sage's scowl never leaves him while my hands search the door handle. A touch of power and it's unlocked, power I mask as carefully as I can. They might know we're off the plane, but the Enforcers will have no idea where we ended up. As long as I'm not the only werewolf on the continent-I know for certain I'm not-this small dose of magic shouldn't be noticed.

I hope.

The engine fires easily, and I grin at the full tank of gas. Whoever the owner is, I send them a thank you into the night as I pull out and onto the street, heading north and west.

"Next stop, California," I say, trying to be cheerful.

Sage nods, looking out the passenger window. I focus on driving through the busy Miami streets, on the pedestrians and flashing lights that distract me. So, when Sage turns to me, I'm surprised by his anger.

"When this is over," he says, "I don't ever want to steal anything ever again."

It's hard not to glare back at him. He's lucky, in fact, I'm busy with driving or he'd get a healthy smack for being an ass. "I already told you," I say. "I'll do anything to save you."

"Fine," he says, crossing his arms over his chest, "and I'm okay with that. But promise me."

"You think I'm enjoying this?" Maybe a little, but he doesn't have to know that. I take pride in how well I've been trained, how well I do my job. But he's more than a job to me, and I love him too much to let this get between us.

"I don't know." Sage sighs, lets his arms go. "I just want this to be over." He winces, rolls his left shoulder.

"Me, too," I say. We come to a stop light and I bite my lower lip, wondering. "There could be another way." Can I figure it out? How to transport us through the veil? Maybe, if we find a quiet place I can try it.

"That hole you made in the air?" He turns to me.

"It's called the veil," I say as we start moving again. The lights are bright in my eyes as I talk, cars flashing by. "It is the place between planes."

"Planes." Sage sounds confused, and I hardly blame him.

"There's a lot more I haven't told you," I say.

He sits back with that sexy grin of his. "We have a long drive and lots of time."

Maybe not, if I can figure this out. When we come to the next light, I pull over into a gas station parking lot. I turn to him when I park, taking his hand in mine.

"Okay," I say, "here it is. There are thousands of worlds, all connected by the veil. It's like a curtain keeping all the planes apart. But there are certain people who can cut through it and even use it to travel from place to place. Or plane to plane."

Sage swallows, nods. "Got it," he says. "Not sure I believe it, but okay."

I roll my eyes. "You've been in it, met a drach, and you still don't believe?"

He swallows again. "Right, the dragon. I forgot about him."

I laugh, I can't help myself. "He's called a drach," I say. "And you're taking this very well."

Sage answers my laugh with a shaky one of his own, green eyes almost glowing in a trick of the light coming from the gas station through the car window. "Do I have any choice?"

"I've never been able to use the veil before," I say. "Syd's an old pro at it, and Piers. But he uses a different method than we do." I don't have time to explain all the different kinds of magic to him, not now. "My fear must have given me the boost I needed to cut through."

"But without an exit," Sage says.

I nod. "Because I didn't have a plan," I say. "I just wanted to get away from Andre. And save you."

Sage's eyes narrow, hand tightening around mine. "You're going to have to tell me what he did to you."

Not a chance. "If I can figure out how I did it," I say, "access it consciously, we can dump this car right now and go direct to California."

"No dragons?" Sage winks, grins, but he's shaking a little. So brave, my love.

"Hopefully not this time," I say. I reach inside as he watches me. I can feel his focus on me, his tension through the connection of our hands.

"What, now?" His voice squeaks slightly as the pitch rises.

"No time like it," I say. "Now shush."

It's there, I feel it as I focus. The veil is right there next to me, all around me, and my magic is tied to it now. As though traveling through it once made the difference. This could work. To get to California now, tonight, with three days to spare... I'm sure I can find the answers I need in time.

But no matter how hard I pull, push, tug, cut, the veil remains closed to me. Frustration builds into an almost tangible thing inside the cabin of the little car until I finally open my eyes and blink into the bright lights of the gas station's exterior.

"Slow way, huh?" Sage pulls me to him, kisses my forehead. "It's okay, Charlie."

I shake my head, fury replacing frustration a moment, wolf flaring in my eyes. I slam both hands down on the steering wheel before staring the engine.

Useless. We have a long drive ahead of us and I've just lost us two days in travel because I can't figure out how to use my power properly.

It's a quiet drive into the south Florida night.



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