The Adversary Read online

  Nodding his head, Colt said, “Yes. I’m putting no one at risk of this Skin Walker killing again.”

  “What a horrible threat you have to live with.”

  “If Yellow Teeth even thinks I’m attracted to you or want you…he may set his sights on you and not me.” It took everything he had to stop staring at her mouth. How badly Colt wanted to kiss Shelly again. Impossible.

  “Well,” she said, “if we’re able to find the emerald, do you think it can help us with the threat of Yellow Teeth?”

  “I don’t know,” Colt muttered. Placing his hands on his hips, he inhaled deeply and released the breath. “Shelly, by being around me, you’re in life-and-death danger. It’s that simple. And you have no training to defend yourself against evil. That’s why I’ve tried to hold you at arm’s length since we met.”

  “I didn’t know whether you even liked me.”

  “Of course I like you. But the moment I allow my shield to dissolve, he’d be here in a heartbeat, plunging in through the top of my head and taking over my body. He’d cut the silver cord to my spirit and force me out of the physical realm.”

  Shivering, Shelly leaned against the wall and wrapped her arms against her chest. “That sounds awful.” Shelly wanted to hug him fiercely, but she didn’t dare. “Can you teach me how to defend myself against an attack like that?”

  “I can show you some things, but not enough to keep you safe a hundred percent of the time,” he admitted in a reflective tone.

  She swallowed hard and held his narrowed blue gaze. “I don’t want anything to happen to either of us while we’re hunting for that sphere. I’m a fast learner, Colt. I’m not afraid.”

  Colt nodded, seeing the determination in the set of her lips, the frown between her brows. “I’ll teach you what I can.” He had never dreamed of meeting someone like Shelly. “I’ll keep us safe,” he promised her.

  Hope moved through Shelly. “Just give me a chance to learn. I don’t want to be a weak link to you.”

  Her frustration came through loud and clear. One corner of his mouth hitched upward. Thrusting his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Colt murmured, “One thing you haven’t been to me is a ball and chain, Shelly.”

  “I hope not. I have other strong paranormal skills in place to help you.”

  “Yes, you do,” Colt acknowledged. “You aren’t a beginner, but fighting evil means having an internal strength of spirit, too. And you don’t have that, Shelly. You can get it, build it over time, but you won’t be able to have enough in place right now, no matter what I show you.”

  “It will have to be enough,” Shelly said, trying to curb her impatience. A long time ago Shelly had realized she had a type A personality—she raced at top speed all the time. Colt was a type B—laid-back and not caught up in her hurry, hurry world. She wanted to know everything immediately. More than that, she wanted to kiss him again. Getting romantically involved wasn’t the brightest thing to do. If she kissed him, it would only create more pressure on herself and that was not what Shelly needed.

  “Besides,” she added, “we have to find this emerald. We can’t get sidetracked knowing Yellow Teeth is around just waiting to attack.”

  “I can feel him around, Shelly. I haven’t seen him, but he’s stalking us. Usually, he’s close, but for whatever reason, he seems to be far away right now.” His brows dipped. “And I don’t understand why he’s hanging back. He’s never done that before.”

  Tilting her head, Shelly asked, “What do you mean?”

  “The Skin Walker has always been close and I could see him. Now, he’s out of my clairvoyant sight. It could be a new tactic he’s trying on me,” Colt said, looking up and down the quiet hall once again. He wanted no one to hear their conversation.

  “I’ll shoulder just as much of the load as I can.” Shelly tried to show confidence.

  He smiled tentatively. “A wild horse always surges ahead,” he told her.

  Shelly gazed at him for a long moment. “Is that how you see me? I’m a wild horse?”

  “Your red hair reminds me of the mane of a war-bonnet paint mare that runs in our area with a wild herd of mustangs. When she’s running, her mane is the same color as your hair.”

  “She must be very beautiful.”

  You are beautiful. Colt caught the words that begged to be spoken to her. “She is. I enjoy watching the herd running along the mesa outside our small community. It makes my heart sing.”

  How badly Shelly wanted to taste Colt’s unshielded vulnerable side for just a few minutes longer. “Maybe she’s in your life to remind you that you can have the same freedom she does.”

  The words, spoken so quietly, like a breeze through the halls of his mind, startled him. Colt eyed her sharply, then sighed. This woman had a tremendous amount of insight because of her clairvoyant abilities. “Until I can confront Yellow Teeth,” he said, “I am in a prison of sorts. I’ve been waiting for years for him to attack me.”

  “Can’t you stalk him?”

  “No. I wish I could, but I don’t have that kind of ability. I have to wait for him to charge.”

  Again, a chill worked its way up through Shelly. “You will win, won’t you?” Suddenly, Shelly couldn’t conceive of life without Colt in it. He was powerful. A warrior. And she believed that good overcame bad. But did it really? Was that her idealism speaking?

  “I don’t know. No one knows until the battle begins. I know I’m strong in spirit. But so is he. We’re evenly matched.” And then, more grimly, the expression in his eyes distant, “but I have one thing on my side he doesn’t. I have a murderous rage toward him. This will make me stronger.”

  Shelly felt the cold resolve within him, along with his armor. The man who had talked with her in this hall was gone. At least now she understood why. Her lips tingled wildly in memory of that mouth upon hers.

  “Listen, we need sleep,” Shelly said. In her heart of hearts, she wanted to say, Come to bed with me, Colt. Be at my side. Let me love you. Let me show you the freedom that you can have… All dreams, Shelly realized, a ribbon of sadness moving through her heart. If Colt dropped those walls, he was vulnerable to Yellow Teeth. And the shape-shifter could attack him at that moment. Shelly wrestled with her own feelings.

  Pulling his hands out of his pockets, Colt said, “You’re right.” Without thinking, he reached out and slid his hand behind her head, his fingers tangling within the soft strands of her red hair. Leaning down, he pressed a chaste kiss to her brow. “Tonight, I will dream of you, my wild mustang woman….” It would be all he would ever have: dreams of Shelly. If Yellow Teeth even suspected he was falling in love with Shelly, the Skin Walker would go after her first. And he couldn’t stand the idea of a second person in his life being ripped away from him. Not ever.

  Chapter 8

  By 6:00 a.m. the next morning, Shelly and Colt were on the trail leading to Lake Agnes. The dawn was crisp with fog blanketing Lake Louise. They moved steadily upward as they left it behind and hiked toward a much smaller area nestled deep in the Rockies. At this time, only the brave were out hiking or jogging on this particularly steep trail. Shelly cherished the quiet moments. The jays squawked and followed them from tree to tree as they went into the forest.

  The path was wide enough for Colt to walk at her side. She gave him a quick smile. Just being with him sent warmth cascading through her. She felt his protectiveness.

  “How did your dad take to you being a vortex hunter?” Colt wondered. “Did he have a dream for you to do something else? Maybe became an investment banker like him?”

  “My dad already had me taking over his investment banking business when he retired.” She laughed and saw his somber and serious expression lighten a little. “My mother wanted me to be a teacher like herself.”

  “So, you had your parents each wanting you to walk their path in a certain career.”

  “Yes, just like your father groomed you to become a medicine man.”

  Colt nodded and wa
tched the shafts of sunlight cascading on the mountain before them. The granite was blue and only a bit of snow was at the summits. The sky was a light blue at this time of morning. “Did you wrestle with this?”

  “Their expectations tore me apart when I was young, Colt. Of course I wanted to please them. They would tell me the positives of being an investment banker and a teacher. They focused on a good living, the ability to buy a house and be economically secure. What about your father? What did he tell you when he wanted you to become a medicine man?”

  The path was smooth with evergreens on either side. Colt watched where he put his feet. He felt Yellow Teeth, but he was still at a distance and this confounded Colt. The Skin Walker was just waiting for him to drop his protection completely. “Since the first day I can remember, my father told me I was going to become a medicine man. I don’t remember anything different.”

  “Told you? Or asked if you wanted to be one?”

  He gave her a strange look. “Did your parents ask you if you wanted to be an investment banker or teacher? Or did they tell you that you had to choose between one of those careers?”

  Shelly smiled a bit. Her breath was coming a little faster as they made the slow ascent through the dark, cool woodlands. “They didn’t tell me, Colt. They always talked about how it would be great if I’d be a banker or a teacher. They never told me I had to be one or the other.”

  “I see.”

  “But they still pressured me. And it was uncomfortable. I’m sure it was for you, too. Or did you always want to be a medicine man?”

  Colt shrugged. “It’s different in the Navajo culture. A medicine man is considered equal to the chief or leader of the tribe. It is a very responsible position, and one that is respected by others.”

  “I see,” Shelly said. They broke out of the woods. In front of them was a steep, winding set of stairs. Above it stood the stone and log teahouse. As they climbed to the top, out of breath, they saw a small oval lake surrounded by the gray and blue granite mountains. There were swathes of snow here and there. The rib-like horizontal striations on the summits had given this area the name beehives. Agnes sat at the bottom of the talus slopes like a blue jewel. A few clumps of evergreens could be seen at some points of the lakeshore.

  Pointing toward the small oval lake, she said, “You remember the saying, ‘as above, so below’? Look at the reflection of the mountain across the glassy water’s surface. If you didn’t know where you were, you might not know which was real and which wasn’t.”

  Colt appreciated the incredible beauty of the reflection. “Yes, my father taught me that. Seeing it like this gives it new meaning. Where are we, really? Is that reflection more real than where we are presently standing? Do we really know?”

  “That’s what it’s like between the different dimensions. Things are the same. When I’m seeing in the fourth dimension with my third eye—” and she touched the center of her brow “—I’ve learned to reorient myself so I know what is in that dimension and where I’m standing physically in this dimension.”

  “Yes, I agree. Still, to see this law of our universe to be repeated here in the third dimension is to remind us that there are other worlds just like ours.”

  “I’m sure Yellow Teeth feels the same way about us.”

  Colt grunted. “Yes. He’s more dangerous to us in spirit because he can move at will in the blink of a thought between the dimensions. Us? We’ll have to trudge one step at a time toward our goal because we are in body.”

  “We can’t just think it and be there?” She chuckled, enjoying him. Looking into Colt’s blue eyes, she found happiness lurking in their shadowy depths. Intuitively, she knew he liked being with her. Last night, Shelly had lain awake for a long time thinking about their conversation outside her hotel room. And about their wonderful, melting kiss. It had taken hours before her body settled down and stopped wanting him. There was nothing to dislike about Colt. He was sensitive and philosophical behind that wall. Shelly liked those traits and they matched her own. None of the men she’d chosen before had had a similar background to her. Maybe that was her mistake and why they had all ended up in heartbreak. Yet, a huge armored wall stood between them with Yellow Teeth at the center of it all.

  Now, as Shelly drowned in the blueness of his eyes, she felt a new stirring in her heart. One that she’d never felt before. Was this real love? The kind her parents had talked about? She’d fallen in love before. Or thought she had—with the wrong kind of man. What she was feeling now for Colt was so different, beautiful and haunting.

  Confused, Shelly gently broke contact with his gaze and turned toward the lake far below them. Lake Agnes was actually a large oval lake although it appeared pear-shaped because the eastern end was smaller.

  She had to have time to absorb these new tendrils that were alive and clamoring in her fast-beating heart. It wasn’t the altitude that was making her pulse race. It was that tender look Colt had just shared with her for a split second before he grew distant once more. It made her breathless to see the real Colt.

  Colt sensed Shelly’s need of him. It was an incredible feeling much like a gentle breeze riffling upward from his toes to the top of his head. He discovered at precious, unexpected moments like this he could see the gold dancing in the depths of her green-and-brown eyes. And that gold was her desire for him. When he’d shifted his gaze to her parted lips, she’d turned away and looked down at the lake. Yes, they both remembered their hot, fusing kiss from last night. He wanted more, much more. For now, Colt gently put aside need and focused on the lake below.

  “We need to start exploring,” he said. The bank on one side had a well-worn trail and they could walk along the bank with ease. The other side had no trail and was rocky. He pointed toward a spiral of smoke coming from within the trees at the northern end of the lake. “That’s the teahouse I saw in my dream.”

  Shelly brightened. “Great! I could use a cup of hot tea or coffee. We’ve earned that after this climb.”

  Without thinking, Colt reached out and touched her blazing red cheek. Hiking always made Shelly’s cheeks flush, which did nothing but emphasize the beauty of her large, intelligent eyes. “Come on, my wild mustang woman, let’s go.” He grazed her cheek with his fingers. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her. His patience was thinning.

  He dropped his hand and moved to one side of the path. Fortunately, it was well-maintained by the forest service who removed rocks to prevent people from accidentally walking on them and rolling into a fall. Since there was enough room for two people, he gestured for her to walk beside him. They agreed to search the small lake first and then reward themselves with coffee at the teahouse.

  Shelly felt the tingly sensation upon her cheek. Colt’s touch was completely unexpected. Until this moment, Shelly hadn’t realized how much she wanted him to touch her again. And, for a split second, she almost leaned up on her toes to place a quick kiss on his mouth. But to what purpose? As long as Colt fought the Skin Walker, there would be no room for her in his life.

  The knowledge was bittersweet as they ambled down the curving path across the slippery talus slope. Shelly wanted to return to the thread of their topic back in the forest. “Are you curious how I became a vortex hunter instead of an investment banker or teacher?”

  “Yes, I am,” he said. “I wonder how anyone could break away from their parents’ demands to follow their dream.”

  “I wasn’t breaking away from what my parents wanted for me. I had this calling,” she said, touching her heart. “Throughout our family’s history, we have had the Sight. When my parents brought me into the park for picnics and weekends, I was always searching out places of good-feeling energy. Over the years when they saw my passion for finding energy, which were vortexes or Hartmann lines, they realized I had a unique paranormal skill.”

  “A calling?”

  “Yes,” she said, giving him a quick smile. “It’s my passion, too. Whenever my family drove from Canmore into Banff National Park, I
became so excited.”

  “So, as a little girl you were like a butterfly? Only you weren’t landing on flowers, but seeking and finding these interesting energies upon the land instead?”

  “Exactly,” Shelly said with a laugh. “Everyone has a passion, Colt. All my parents had to say was Banff and I turned into their wild child.”

  “Or maybe your passion triggered your wild-mustang sense of freedom?” he guessed.

  “When you follow your passion, freedom automatically comes with it,” Shelly agreed.

  “How did your parents figure out what you were doing every time you came out here to the park?”

  “My parents knew about vortexes. My grandmother back in Ireland was what they called a ‘walker of the land.’ She’d made quite a name for herself in Ireland. People hired her to walk their land. Sometimes they wanted to build a home on a specific site of land, and they’d ask her to come to find out if the lines of energy that crisscrossed it were good or bad. No one wanted to build a home where there was a negative line of energy. It’s very unhealthy. People would get very sick and some would die.”

  “That’s interesting,” Colt murmured. “I’ve run into negative energy areas on our res, too.”

  Halting at a slight promontory that overlooked Agnes, Shelly was glad for the rest. The high altitude made her heart pound even on the descent toward the lake. “I’m sure walking the land has many labels,” Shelly said. “Are your medicine people aware of this technique?”

  Colt shook his head. “Some are. Mostly, our tradition is in creating sand paintings and singing songs so that patients may get well.”

  “That is the wonder of our world, Colt. So many beautiful ways to help people and heal the land. My grandmother knew where ancient battles had been fought on the land, what lines of energy, if any, ran through an area, or if a discarnate spirit was wandering around.”

  Frowning, Colt muttered, “Spirits…”

  “In your world, they are to be feared,” Shelly said. “In my world, they are merely lost souls who haven’t moved on to the light after dying. They remain in a place for a reason. My grandmother would tell their spouses were still alive and they remained here on Earth to care for them from the Other Side. Sometimes, the spirit was attached to a possession such as a house, an orchard or whatever they valued and didn’t want to leave it after dying.”