Page 28 of Shadow Mate

“Take care of her,” said Colby.

“I will, brother. She is safe with me. You and Brie take care of each other.”

Hamish stuck his head in the study. “Ye best get yer ass in gear. That female of yours is snarling and spitting about being behind schedule.”

Colby grinned. “That’s my girl.” He stopped for a moment as if he was going to say something, then thought better of it and with a jaunty wave over his head as he walked away, hurried down to the quay to be away with the fishing fleet.

On paper it had looked like an easy trip: Alaska to Maine; Maine to Greenland; Greenland to Iceland; and finally, Iceland to Wales. There’d been a change in the itinerary. The hangar beneath the abbey wasn’t quite finished so there would be no place to hide the plane, so they changed their flight plan as they left Iceland bound for Cardiff in Wales. From there, they would catch a high-speed train to the station closest to the abbey, where they would disembark and send the private car Colby had arranged for—now empty—on to London. Colby and the pilot had split the flying, but they were still exhausted, and their passengers hadn’t fared much better.

As they were setting down on Cardiff’s landing strip for private aircraft, Colby moved forward to the cockpit.

“I’ve arranged for a private hangar to put the plane in. I’d like to believe that we’ve evaded detection, but the League’s intelligence network is almost as good as mine. Murphy, I want you and the boys to take a cab, find a really expensive hotel, and spend the next few days living it up. Make sure the hotel knows they aren’t to disturb the ultra-private guests. Have fun but be prepared for anything.”

“What about you and the ladies?”

“We’ll be taking a private car on one of the high-speed trains. I’ve had it stocked with food and they’ll be able to rest. One of my men from the Abbey arranged it all, as well as firearms in case we need them.”

“Maybe we should come with you, boss.”

“I think our best defense is to keep them guessing, and holing up in a hotel is just the thing I’d be likely to do. I can move the ladies more quietly and not leave a trail. I want to check our defenses at the Abbey. Murphy, keep your phone handy. If I don’t think we’re secure, you’re going to need to fly down to pick us up.”

“I’ll get the plane refueled and make a show of it.”

Colby grinned at him. “Good man. Keep safe and have a good time.”

He strolled back into the cabin of the plane.

“What’s up?” asked Brie as she looked out the window. “I thought we were making a sea landing.”

“We’ve had a change of plans. You lovely ladies will be traveling with me via a private car on the high-speed train that will take us to the little village where St. Piran’s is located.”

“The village rates a stop for the train?”

Colby grinned. “It does when I pay an inordinate amount of money for them to do so without logging it anywhere.”

Brie shook her head, trying to fight returning his grin, but failing in the end. “You are… I don’t know what you are, but you are. How long is the trip?”

“A little more than five hours.” She groaned. “Not to worry. I arranged for us to have first-class accommodations. There is food on board, and the seats are extra-large and recline all the way back. We should be comfortable and secure. You should try and get some sleep. We’ve got a secure SUV to get us to the train.”

They rolled into a large hangar and came to a full stop. The bodyguards he had with them disembarked and swept the hangar to make sure it was safe. At their signal, two SUVs pulled inside. One would take the pilot and the bodyguards to the hotel and the other would leave by the airport’s interior roads onto the backroads to take them to the train station.

Colby didn’t allow himself to relax even the tiniest bit until they were on the train and moving at full speed. It was just as he sat down that the locked door into the train was blown open and several of Strode’s men burst in.

“We need the witch alive,” said one.

“Which one is the witch?” said the other. “She’s supposed to be young and have black hair.”

“None of them have black hair.”

“Fuck it. Keep the two younger ones alive.”

They stormed Colby, who realized Brie was at his side. “Not enough room to shift,” she said quietly—her voice firm and strong.

“Agreed. I guess we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

The train rattled and swayed as it sped down the tracks, the sound of metal on metal filling the air and covering the sounds of the fight. They met their attackers in hand-to-hand combat. Not only couldn’t they shift, but guns in what was basically a metal tube would be incredibly unsafe as there was no way of telling where ricochets might go. Even so, Strode’s men had drawn guns, but Brie and Colby quickly managed to disarm them. What might have been a skirmish quickly escalated into a deadly fight where only one side would prevail.

The train car was small and was hurtling down the tracks at a brutally fast speed. Colby managed to fight one of the attackers back and onto the small landing between the cars. The man propelled him onto the safety chain and might have pushed him over if the train hadn’t made a tight turn at high speed and given Colby the advantage. They were headed over a high bridge and Colby was able to force the man through the chain. His assailant hung for a moment suspended off the train—only his feet and the chain in one hand keeping him on board.

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