“Marissa,” Casey repeated, eyes running over the small child. “What else did Minnie tell you about me, Marissa?”
“That you would come with him.” She nodded toward Theron, standing close at Casey’s back. “And not to be afraid of him.” She leaned in close to Casey’s ear. “The others don’t understand that. Not even Nick. But he’s here to protect you, and you need him as much as we need you.”
“Why?” Casey whispered.
Marissa pushed the doll into Casey’s hands. “Let Minnie show you.”
The moment Casey’s fingers touched the girl’s hand, a jolt shot through her, and suddenly she was soaring through time and space, then standing on the edge of a great cliff, looking down at a horrific scene.
Flames shot to the heavens. Screams echoed above and beyond, and a great roar rose from a scuffle just beyond the fire. The youngster—Marissa—was hurt and bleeding, flames engulfing her dress and searing her flesh. A woman was working to smother them but couldn’t get them out fast enough to save the child’s delicate skin. Beyond them, the same monsters that had converged on Casey’s store earlier in the day were devouring a man.
Then Nick appeared on the scene and began battling the creatures, just as he had in her store.
He was swift and efficient, and his strength and skill were mind-boggling. He saved the young girl and her mother, but the man was devoured before the child’s eyes, and in horror Casey watched as the monster reached into the screaming man’s chest and ripped out his heart.
The girl’s hand on Casey’s arm pulled her from the vision and back to the present. But the pain was still fresh and real in the youngster’s good eye, and Casey felt it too. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “What they’ll do to you will be worse.”
“Marissa!”
At the sound of the sharp female voice, Casey eased to her feet, more shaken than she wanted to admit. The woman who came running at breakneck speed was also burned and scarred, and she scooped Marissa up into her arms just before shooting Theron a scorching look and hurrying off into the village, speaking in a language Casey didn’t understand.
Casey’s heart was beating a mile a minute as she looked up at Nick, but if she’d expected answers on his hard face, it was clear she was on her own. His amber eyes were narrowed, and focused directly on her as if he were seeing her for the first time.
“Marissa is a soothsayer,” Nick mumbled. “A seer. She uses Minnie, her doll, as her medium, but she senses happenings in the future without her.”
Ooookay. That didn’t help any. Because somehow Casey knew that what she’d seen hadn’t been the future, but the past.
Casey let out a nervous laugh that held absolutely no humor. “Well, this time she’s wrong. She’s obviously mistaken about me. I can barely save myself, let alone anyone else.”
Theron and Nick exchanged confused glances, and weird clairvoyant child or not, Casey decided it was time for some answers.
She squared her shoulders. “Just what’s going on here, Nick? What were those things back there, and where the hell are we?” She looked Theron’s way. “And where on earth did you really come from?” She glanced between the two mammoth men again as panic edged its way back into her voice. “It’s about time someone started talking, or I’m walking.”
Nick’s eyes settled on Theron. “I think it’s about time we all got some answers. But not here in front of the others. We’ll do this in the lodge.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The lodge was a massive expanse of wood built at the far end of the enormous cavern. As they walked through the central courtyard and passed the waterfall, Theron stayed close to Acacia’s side. Though he sensed the villagers’ unease was solely due to his presence, he didn’t put it past them to take a swipe at her because of him.
Gods, there were so many. He scanned the crowd that parted for them. So many worn and battered and bearing marks of battles past. How could so many have been kept secret from the Argonauts for so long?
It was clear Nick was the band of half-breeds’ leader. He exuded an air of authority over the entire colony, and heads bowed slightly as he passed. Not for the first time, Theron wondered who this rogue warrior was. He’d noticed the fingerless leather gloves Nick wore, and that strange sense that had struck Theron at Acacia’s store hit him again as they walked—the feeling that this man was both human and Argonaut.
But how could that be possible?