The Gates of Winter - Mark Anthony [180]
Deirdre held a hand to her aching head. “Wait a minute, Beltan—what can Travis do to stop all of this from happening?”
“Everything,” Vani said. She rose, prowling around the table. “Travis has two of the Great Stones, which Mohg seeks, and which are the key to breaking the First Rune. What's more, he is the Runebreaker spoken of in prophecy. It is his fate to be there at the end of the world.”
Anders gaped at her. “So you mean Travis Wilder is the one who's going to break this rune thing and destroy the world? But how is that any better than this Mohg person doing it?”
Vani and Beltan answered only with silence.
Deirdre's brain struggled to grasp all these esoteric names and words. It still didn't make sense, but Beltan was right about one thing—they had to find Travis. Somehow he was the key to everything.
“I think we could all use a little more ale,” Beltan said.
He stood and headed for the kitchen. Despite his turtleneck and blue jeans, Deirdre would never have mistaken him for just any Londoner. He moved his long, lean body with a predatory grace.
“Forgive my asking,” Anders said as Beltan sat back down. “But do you really need our help? You've got the transport device, and from what I read in the report you're both pretty good at taking out Duratek agents. Why didn't you just go to Denver to find Mr. Wilder yourself?”
“We tried.” Vani looked at Deirdre. “When we activated the gate artifact, we sought to open a doorway to Denver. However, something . . . happened.”
“What happened?”
The T'gol coiled a hand beneath her chin. “I am still not certain. It was as if there was some kind of . . . resistance. We were nearly lost in the Void. At the last moment, I envisioned a new destination—this city, London. I journeyed here once during my three years on Earth. The gate responded to my new command, and we found ourselves here.”
“So this gate thing can take you anywhere you can picture?” Anders said. “Bloody amazing. But why did you pick London?”
Deirdre gazed at Vani. “You knew the Seekers were here, didn't you?”
Vani nodded. “I learned something of the Seekers in my time on Earth. You have tools at your disposal that could aid us in our search for Travis Wilder. It was my hope you would help us, Deirdre Falling Hawk, so I searched the city for you. It took me some days, but I found the location of the Seeker base. After that, it was a simple matter to follow you here.”
Anders raised up a hand. “All right, I'll buy for a moment that wicked gods are helping Duratek to take over Eldh, and that Travis Wilder is the only one who can stop them. But how do you know Wilder is in Denver in the first place?”
“This is how.” Beltan reached for his coat—which he had thrown on the couch—pulled something out, and tossed it on the table. “We purchased this in a shop down the street.”
It was a copy of yesterday's Denver Post. Deirdre picked it up in shaking hands. The headline was something about how the use of the illegal drug Electria had reached epidemic proportions, especially among young people, but Deirdre didn't read the article. Instead her eyes moved to the small photograph of a man at the bottom of the front page. New evidence suggests fugitive still at large in Denver, read the caption.
The man in the photo was Travis Wilder.
Deirdre looked up. “We'll catch the first flight we can tomorrow.”
Six hours later, Deirdre rose with the smeary gray light of dawn, let the hot water of the shower pound her back to life, and took a taxi to the Seeker Charterhouse, arriving just before eight o'clock. Nakamura usually got in early, and after signing in with Madeleine, she found him already at work in his office.
As she sat down across from the assistant director, Deirdre hoped everything was all right back at the flat. She had left Anders to keep watch over Beltan and Vani.
“You're here early, Miss Falling Hawk,” Nakamura said before Deirdre could speak. He took a sip of tea. “Were you aware then?”
“Aware of what?”
“That new orders arrived for you this morning.