“You’re new to being a supernatural, correct?” He stared at me and I nodded. “Let me be the first to welcome you to our side of the Wall, then. This is your home, get used to it.”
That wasn’t possible. I’d been on Whidbey Island, and then . . . well, I suppose anything was possible. Not like I knew how Merlin did things.
They lifted me into the back of the semitruck, which had finally caught up to us, and stuffed me into the back. Where Tad already lay, flat on his back. He snored as they turned the big rig around and headed back the way we’d come. The slower pace gave me time to really see where we were. Surrey. The sign to the right of the road was clear as day. We were north of the border then, on the Supes’ side of the Wall, exactly as Flinty Eyes had said. “A place for everyone” was the tagline for the town. I highly doubted that.
We drove past Merlin’s place, and I was sure I saw a flash of his face at one of the windows. I lifted a hand. “Thanks a whole heck of a lot, Merlin. Some warning would have been nice.”
A groan rumbled up from my feet. “I tried to warn you. Why didn’t you shoot them?”
“I don’t know how to use a gun, you dink,” I snapped at Tad. “Since when do I know anything like that? Give me a frying pan and I can do some damage, even a rolling pin and I could have flattened them.”
He sat up, rubbing at his arm where the dart had been. “First lesson: SDMP uses a fast-acting tranquilizer that only works on supernaturals. They shoot first and ask questions later.”
I went to my knees beside him, tucking my heels under my bum. “But aren’t they supposed to be the good guys? Aren’t they the police here on this side of the Wall?”
He snorted. “They’re paid thugs. The Supernatural Department of Mounted Police, SDMP, works for the human government, so their job is to keep us in line, to keep track of us, and make sure we know our place. And they can be bought, sister dear. Which means we are royally screwed.”
“Oh dear, that can’t be good.” I mean, when had being screwed ever been good? Certainly not with Roger.
“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand over his hair. “We can’t get out of this, Lena. They’re going to put tracking devices in both of us. They’ve been on my case since the beginning, but I’ve been able to dodge them until now.”
I reached out and took his hand. “I’m sorry that I messed this up for you. How bad is the tracking device?”
“Keeps you from crossing the Wall. They won’t say that, but it does. You remember the shock collar we had on Petey?”
Petey had been our German shepherd. He’d loved to run, and we’d finally gotten him a shock collar that was tied to an underground wiring system. The farther he got from home, the more the collar shocked him. I swallowed hard. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Same theory.”
“Oh dear.” I put a hand to my neck. “So what do we do?”
He shrugged. “Get ready to be implanted.”
“I don’t want to get implanted.”
“Little late for that.”
Our conversation stalled as we pulled up to a large building that was actually quite pretty. The exterior was done in sheet metal polished to a high sheen so that it was a mirrored reflection. It looked like a giant version of the aluminum cookie sheets I had in my bakery. Three stories tall, it towered over every other building in the area. From what I could see, there were at least three wings to it, all of which circled around a central area.
Two sets of double doors were at the top of the stairs, and they opened up to the courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was a large fountain with an abstract painting–type sculpture thing that at first looked like someone had let a child design it. Water spewed everywhere from multiple spouts on the fountain. The SDMP pulled us out of the back of the rig. Tad fought with them, trying to get free.
I didn’t; I couldn’t stop looking at the fountain. It called to me, and as I was escorted to the doors, which gave me more views of the fountain, I realized why. The fountain was actually a tree bursting out of the ground with such force the earth had exploded around it. But from the back all you saw was the mess of earth in every direction.
“Oh, that’s lovely,” I breathed.
“You aren’t on a field trip.” My escort with the blue eyes jerked my arm, making me stumble.
“You don’t have to be mean, you know. I’m not fighting you,” I said. “Mean-spirited people have holes in their hearts where all the goodness leaks out.” I quoted my mother without thinking. “I bet you have lots of holes.”
The men around us laughed, and even my escort chuckled. “Enough holes. You want to see them?”
My face flamed hot as I realized what I’d said and inadvertently stepped into. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I would make an exception for you,” he muttered softly, low enough that I was sure only I heard. “What are you?”
“What do you mean you’d make an exception for me?” I looked up at him, knowing that his friends had heard me.
Several guffawed. “Making a move on her? Smithy, you’re going to get your ass ticketed if you even think of it.”
My escort, Smithy, went stone-faced. He all but dragged me up the stairs so my feet barely touched the granite surface.
“Hey!” I yelped as he shoved me through the doors. I spun and ended up landing on my butt in a heap. “That wasn’t nice.”