Amalgamate

Chapter 83

When Cahal entered Dugald's office the air was tainted with the permeating smell of blood and decaying flesh. He observed body parts scattered throughout the room. "Somebody was a little cranky. What a mess." He searched the room for anything valuable, but chances were it'd already been picked over. He wouldn't be here long. The stench was unbearable. Trackers were a lot of things, but masochistic wasn't one of them. They preferred to handle things...differently.

The only way to find the portal was to ghost. Moving between worlds was like walking down a familiar street, easy as breathing. Separate trails were visible immediately. Thin red lines would lead him into a portal of an experienced female sifter, but he knew it wasn't Mairin's she couldn't sift. She was travelin' with someone. But there was another trail here, too. A male had been here. He didn't recognize this signature, but it was very ragged along the edges and intensely white like the rapids of a raging river. Whoever it was he came in on fire, like he would expect say, a male in search of his mate to? Cahal knew the safe bet was that this mystery visitor slaughtered the demon when he realized his mate wasn't here.

The damage suggested he was Raine's mate, the girl he'd agreed to find for Rowan. He couldn't bother with that one, so he stepped into the red. The lines were thin, symmetrical, and direct...a sign of an accomplished portal manipulator. Moving between realms was no easy feat unless you were a tracker. This sifter was very dangerous.

Sometimes the older creatures could sense ghosts amongst them, but it was rare, and he was cocky enough to go for it. He continued forward and in seconds he found himself standing in a field of tall unkempt grass surrounding a house of the old antebellum south. Mairin and her companion had been careless, too long out of the game perhaps? They'd forgotten to cover their tracks.

There were small wooden buildings lying on the outskirts of what was once a plantation. He knew exactly what they were, slave quarters.

Shit. Problem with his being in the south was that it had such a tragic history. Thousands of soldiers met their maker in fields just like this one, which meant ghosts were everywhere. Granted, they weren't trackers: they were just people who were stuck in this realm. But, they were the only creatures who could see a tracker in their ghost form, and sometimes that made his work more difficult. Poor folks always wanted to hitch a ride to another realm which slowed him down. They never seemed to have anything to offer for the ride, and Cahal wasn't a guy who donated his time. If he wasn't gaining something substantial from his involvement, he didn't get involved.

He followed the blades of grass that had been disturbed, leading up to the front porch. Seeing movement in a window at ground level he decided to go right through the door. He could move objects in his ghost form, but it called attention to his presence and took more effort than he was willing to expend. He needed to conserve his power just in case he ran into Mairin, or worse, Vertigen. Even though he was mere feet from some very dangerous people, all he could think about was the time he would have with Rowan as soon as he delivered the goods. She still probably had no idea what she'd agreed to.

He heard chains clanking beneath the warped, stained, pine floor. He lowered himself through the floor and found himself staring at a young boy who was scared out of his mind. His eyes were swollen from crying, his voice was too hoarse to speak and the room reeked of urine.

The woman was there, too, in an adjacent cell. Her swollen hands were covered in bruises from trying to break loose from the hand cuffs. There was blood on the floor, and someone had lost an ear. She just stood there staring at the boy. He watched them for several minutes just to see who he was dealing with. Raine looked like she was 100 proof and would definitely leave a mark. Pacing the cage while she constantly spoke kind words to the boy. Telling him how she would save him, they would get out- someone would come for them. He could see why Rowan liked her. She was a fighter, too.