Falling Light (Game of Shadows #2)(39)

She shook her head and covered her eyes, unable to speak. Then she felt Astra interpose her calm energy between them.

“She’s been traveling at the speed of light over some rough terrain over the last few days,” the old woman said to Michael, as she put a gnarled hand on his chest and pushed him back. “Give her some space and let her react.”

He resisted her feeble push. “Mary?”

It was too much. She felt too many complicated nuances with too many people. Too many subterranean, half-understood emotions.

She pointed the gun and emptied the clip at them.

Just like Michael had taught her.

The physician in her noted with clinical detachment her clammy skin, shaking hands, her sick sense of nausea and racing heart rate, and diagnosed post-trauma stress. Instinctively she made the decisions that would slow her heart rate down and ease her other symptoms.

She said hoarsely, “I can’t talk right now.”

“Why not?” His gaze was sword sharp.

“I need some time to process what’s happened.”

He stepped around Astra and moved in close to her. He moved in too close, and she knew he did it deliberately. He was crowding her, trying to get her to look up at him. “Mary, look at me.”

It was too much. She dropped her hand and looked up. “Michael, I shot a gun at two people,” she said between her teeth. “I swore once that I would never shoot a gun. Sometimes I don’t know who I am, so I need you to give me a little bit of space.”

His expression went cold and still. His fingers loosened and slid away from her arms. “I understand,” he said. “I’ll be down at the boat if either of you need me.” He stepped around them and disappeared down the path.

She stared down the path where he had disappeared. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Of course you did,” Astra said in exasperation. “What you didn’t mean to do was hurt him. Well, his feelings are hurt and that’s his choice. He didn’t have to take it that way.”

She said, “I need to go after him.”

“No, you don’t. Both of you are stressed, overtired and overwrought, which magnifies everything. Just leave things be for a while.” Astra paused, then snapped, “Goddammit, listen to me. I don’t have time to mother-hen you two. While you’re busy playing soap opera, we have real problems.”

Mary remembered the sick man in the cabin, and she turned back to Astra. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” The other woman snorted as if any other possibility were inconceivable.

Mary took several deep breaths until she felt steadier. “I’ve been talking to you for under an hour, and I’ve already lost count of how many times I’ve apologized.”

“Some people might take that as a sign that they need to shut up for a while,” Astra said as she stomped off toward the cabin.

Mary started to laugh. The sound seemed somewhat lost and forlorn. It earned her a glare, so she struggled to contain herself.

As she followed Astra, she looked over the well-tended scene that spanned several acres. Fruit trees dotted the clipped lawn. An extensive herb bed curved around the cabin. A large vegetable garden covered the south end of the clearing. On the far side of the building she saw a corner of a greenhouse, and beyond that a tangle of what appeared to be black raspberry bushes. A couple of other small buildings dotted the sunlit space.

It was an idyllic place. She imagined what it would be like to winter here in profound isolation, with the thunderous grays and gorgeous icy whites of the Lake, and the sound of the wind as it sliced through the trees while snow blanketed the clearing. She couldn’t know for sure without experiencing it, but she thought she might love it.

The cabin was more spacious and well appointed than she expected, with a large communal space that contained the kitchen, dining and living room area. Several doorways led off from the main area. A thin staircase, so steep it was almost a ladder, led to an overhead loft.

Later, she would find out the doorways led to a couple of bedrooms, a bathroom, a mud and laundry room and a locked room that held an office with the latest electronics and a compact lethal armory.

As she and Astra stepped inside, a tall, dark-haired teenage boy appeared in one of the doorways. He was large and gangly like a colt, with a hint of more growth in the width of his shoulders. The utter misery in his reddened eyes made Mary wince with sympathy.

He’s a good boy, but watch what you say around him, Astra said to her. Unlike his grandfather and his uncle, he doesn’t have a clue about what is really going on.

Mary nodded.

Astra said aloud, “Jamie, Mary’s a doctor. She’s going to take a look at your grandpa.”

Sudden hope flared to life in his young, dark eyes. “Good.” His mouth trembled. “He’s not doing so well.”

Mary set aside everything else to deal with later. She smiled at Jamie as she walked over. “It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t you take a break right now? Eat something if you can, go outside and get a breath of fresh air, while I talk to your grandpa.”

“You’ll come get me if you need me?” the boy asked, his gaze clinging to hers. “If—if anything happens?”

“Of course I will.” She touched his shoulder and walked into the bedroom, and closed the door firmly in the boy’s anxious face.