She saw nothing.

Closing her eyes, she went very still, trying to calm herself and figure out what had happened. Something had reached out toward her, but it was far away.

Vandar? She didnat think he could actually reach through the portal so directly. Unless the deeper contact with her mind had made it possible.

Goose b.u.mps rose on her flesh, and she went very still, listening. But she heard nothing with her ears. It was like the presence had been waiting for her and found her almost as soon as shead stepped through the portal.

As suddenly as it had touched her, it was gone, leaving her standing with her pulse pounding.

Had she imagined it, because she was so off-kilter? Or was it something real?

She looked back over her shoulder, toward the portal which was now hidden by the trees. Going back to her world wasnat an option. So she dragged in a breath and let it out before starting down the hill again.

When she peered into the open s.p.a.ce around the lodge, she thought she saw a male figure standing in front of the building, and a surge of joy went through her.

Talon!

Unable to contain her feelings, she ran forward, drinking in the details. He wore the kind of clothing Talon favored: running shoes, jeans, and a T-shirt. And his hair was dark like Talonas. But as she drew closer, she saw that it was longer and greasier. And his body was shorter and chunkier.

It wasnat him.

Should she stop before he saw her?

But it was already too late for that. Head heard her coming and jerked around to confront her.

As they faced each other, she saw that the look in his blue eyes was wary.

aWho are you?a he demanded.

Wondering what kind of response he expected, she answered, aA friend of Talonas.a aOh yeah? Where did you come from?a aThe woods.a aYouare just dropping in on him?a She nodded, thinking this was a very strange conversation, and not just on her part. Studying him, she asked, aWho are you?a aA friend of Talonas,a he answered. But the way he said it sent a shiver down her spine.

aWhatas your name?a she asked.

aYou donat need to know.a A large rounded can with a spout sat a few yards away on the ground. When she looked at it, she recognized the kind of can that Talon used to fill his chain saw and other equipment. With . . . gasoline. He had told her it was dangerous, that it could catch on fire. And she was supposed to stay away from it.

aWhat are you doing?a she asked, keeping her voice even when her heart had started to pound.

aNothing you need to worry about. Talonas not home. This isnat a good time to visit.a aHeall be home soon.a aOh yeah?a As he spoke, he lunged toward her, but she reacted instantly, using her mind to put up a stumbling block near his feet. He tripped, sprawling on the ground. aWhat the h.e.l.l?a Her breath came fast and hard as she stared at him. She hadnat intended to use her power so openly, but when head attacked, she simply reacted.

aStay away from me,a she whispered, hoping he wouldnat realize she had tripped him. Shead had no real plan when shead stopped him, but now she was thinking that she would run back into the woods and hidea"with the gas can that was still on the ground.

s.n.a.t.c.hing up the can, she turned and sprinted toward the trees. But before she had gotten more than a few feet, something hit her square in the back, and she went down, knocking the breath from her lungs.

Seconds later, the man was on top of her, grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head against the ground.

She saw bright splotches in front of her eyes. Then everything went dark.

KENNAaS eyes blinked open. For a long moment, she struggled to figure out where she was. She was lying on her side, on a bed. Facing a wall.

She closed her eyes, letting herself drift. Her head hurt. And . . . and, when she tried to push herself up, she realized that her hands were tied behind her back. Looking down, she saw that her legs were also tied at the ankles with thick cord.

G.o.ds! Had Vandar brought her back to her world to sacrifice her?

Her heart started to pound as she stared at the wall. It was smoother than any wall in the cave.

aCalm down,a she muttered to herself. aItas not the cave. Itas not that.a Swiveling around, she saw a chest of drawers that she recognized.

She was inside Talonas lodge. But she didnat remember coming inside. How had she gotten in here?

Teeth gritted, she struggled to dredge up her most recent memories. Vandar had sent her back. Shead come down the hill from the portal and found a man at Talonas house. A man with a gas can.

Theyad talked. Then . . .

The last part was fuzzy, but she knew head lunged at her, and shead tripped him before turning and running toward the woods.

But shead never gotten there. Moving her shoulders, she felt a renewal of the pain. She hadnat been facing him, but she was pretty sure head hit her with something hard.

Lying on her back hurt her arms, and she eased to her side again. But she knew she couldnat stay in the bed. The man was here to do something bad. She was sure of that, and she was the only one who could stop him. Except that she was tied up, and he was probably the one who had done it.

Closing her eyes, she focused on her wrists. They were held together with some kind of restraint, but she couldnat see what it was. And she didnat think it was the same stuff as the rope that bound her ankles.

Could she manipulate the wrist cords without seeing them?

Shead never done anything like that before. How could you move something when you had no idea what it looked like?

She didnat know, but she had to try.

Moving her arms, she felt the way the restraints rested against her skin. There wasnat much play in the stuff, which made it hard to figure out what she needed to do.

Her mind spun as she lay with her fists clenched. Then she swung back to the chest. A mirror hung above it. If she could get to it, maybe she could see her wrists.

By wiggling her body, she inched to the edge of the bed, careful not to dump herself onto the floor. Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side, then eased her feet onto the floor.

Now came the hard part. Carefully, she stood up, fighting a wave of pain as she changed the angle of her head.

Thrown off balance, she flopped back onto the mattress and sat breathing heavily. She longed to lie down again, but she didnat have that luxury. More carefully this time, she stood. When she felt steady on her feet, she took short, hopping steps to the dresser, where she braced her hips against the front. Then she slowly turned so that her hands were facing the mirror.

Twisting around, she got a look at the restraints. As shead thought, it wasnat the same thing that tied her ankles. That rope looked like it was made of fiber. The cord on her wrists was from a telephone.

Apparently, the man had scrambled around for something to secure her and head used whatever he could find quickly.

Working slowly and methodically, she tried to get her mind inside the telephone cord, but it was disorienting seeing it in the mirror instead of straight on.

Still, millimeter by millimeter she began to stretch it.

When she found she could move her wrists, she felt a spurt of victory. But it wasnat enough. So she kept up the mental pressure, pulling her wrists apart until finally, finally she was able to slip her hands out of the binding.

It dropped to the floor.

With a sigh, she flopped back down onto the bed resting from the effort. In a moment, shead tackle the rope around her ankles.

She was just starting to sit up when she heard footsteps coming rapidly down the hall.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

KENNA SLUNG HER hands behind her, in the same position theyad been in when the phone cord had held them fast. Rolling to her back, she turned her head toward the door.

The man from outside stepped into the room, his gaze zeroing in on her where she lay on the bed.

aYouare awake.a As she stared at him, a terrible thought closed her throat. Shead dropped the cord when shead freed her hands. Where was it now? What if he saw it?

When her breath turned ragged, he smiled at her. aToo bad you came along. But I canat leave any witnesses.a aWhat happened to me?a she whispered.

aI brought you down with a rock.a So that was it! aPlease, let me go,a she whispered, because that was what she thought he expected.

aSorry.a He stayed where he was, and she prayed to the Great Mother that he wouldnat come any farther into the room. When he took a step toward her, she clenched her teeth, ready to spring up at him if he found shead freed herself.

aHow did you trip me?a he asked, his voice hard.

She widened her eyes. aI donat know what you mean.a aI think you do.a aNo.a He clenched his fists. aToo bad I donat have time to beat the truth out of you. But Iave got to burn the house down and split.a As she tried to digest his words, he turned and disappeared down the hall again. When she was alone, she let out the breath shead been holding, listening intently for the sound of footsteps coming back.

TALON was about to turn into the driveway that led to the lodge when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. A pickup truck pulled into a little break in the woods.

Who was parked on his property? A stranded motorist?

Easing his van onto the gravel shoulder, he got out and cautiously approached the truck. No one was inside. There was no white handkerchief or anything else tied to the door handle, indicating that the motorist was in trouble. And the vehicle was almost hidden from view. He wouldnat have seen it in the shadows if he hadnat been scanning the woods the way he often did when he came home from one of his trips.

A shiver slithered down his spine. He didnat like this. First he memorized the license tag. Then he strode farther into the woods where he ducked behind the ma.s.sive trunk of an oak and started taking off his clothes as he said the chant that changed him from man to wolf, pushing through the transformation.

Coming down on all fours, he started up the hill toward the lodge, speeding through the forest. When he broke from the cover of the trees, he saw something that raised the hairs on his back.

A stranger with a gas can in his hand.

But where was Kenna?

KENNA listened intently. Was the man really gone? Or was he waiting to trick her?

Finally, she sat up and began to untie the rope that bound her ankles.

As she worked, her mind scrambled for a plan. Head told her he was going to burn down the lodge. She had to stop him.

Vandar had asked her to bring guns to her world, and she knew Talon had some, locked in a cabinet in one of the rooms. She had seen them, but she didnat know how to use them. So she couldnat shoot the man.

Could she throw something at hima"and give the missile extra weight with her hidden power?

AS the man began to pour the gas around the foundation of the lodge, Talon crept silently closer, preparing to spring. Then, around the corner on the other side of the house, he saw something that froze the blood in his veins.

Kenna. She was here. With a can of something from the pantry, raised high in her hand. Lord, did she think she was going to stop the guy with that?

He wanted to shout, aNo! Get back.a But he couldnat speak in his wolf form. All he could do was spring forward, trying to get to the guy before Kenna reached him.

The man heard the wolf and whirled, gasping as he saw the charging animal.

Talon followed, snarling as he closed in on his quarry, preparing to bring the b.a.s.t.a.r.d down and rip out his miserable throata"until he heard footsteps behind him.

Jesus! It could only be Kenna, following them.

He stopped in his tracks. The guy made a moaning sound and sprinted onward, toward the truck hidden in the woods.

Torn, Talon hesitated. But the idea of Kenna seeing him tear someone to shreds made his stomach curdle.

Turning, he stepped into Kennaas path, and she screeched to a halt on the leaves that covered the forest floor. They stood facing each other long enough for him to hear the car engine start and know that the would-be arsonist had gotten away.

s.h.i.t!

He snarled in frustration, and she took a step back.

aWho are you?a she gasped.

He couldnat answer, so he turned and trotted deeper into the woods, stopping behind a tree where he could watch Kenna.

She scanned the landscape, looking for him.

aCome back!a she called.

Long seconds pa.s.sed and he wondered if she was going to plunge into the darkened forest. Finally, shoulders slumped, she turned and headed back toward the house.

Once he knew she was out of danger, Talon circled back toward the place where he had left his clothing. After confirming that the invader was gone, he silently said the chant that transformed him back to human form, then climbed into his clothing before running back to his van and climbing in.

Minutes later, he was speeding up the driveway toward the lodge. When he climbed out, the gasoline-saturated air made him cough.

aKenna?a he called. aKenna, where are you?a When she didnat answer, he started toward the woods, toward the spot where head last seen her.

As he reached the trees, he caught sight of her, trudging back the way shead come. She stopped short when she saw him, then ran forward, straight into his embrace.

He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight.

KENNA clung to Talon, hardly able to believe that he was holding her in his arms. He had come back, just when she needed him.

aHow did you know . . . ?a she managed to say.

She heard him swallow. aI was coming up the road toward my driveway when a truck pulled out from a hiding place in the woods and peeled rubber down the highway.a He gripped her more tightly. aWas he here?a aSomeone was here.a aSomeone you knew?a aNo.a She pushed far enough away so she could look into Talonas eyes. aBut the wolf chased him away. Who is he? I mean . . . the wolf.a He gave her the same line he had before. aA friend of mine.a He changed the subject back to the intruder. aWhat was the guy doing?a aI found him outside when . . .a She had been about to say, when I came back from my world, but she stopped and started again. aHe had a gas can. When I asked him what he was doing, he hit me and knocked me out. I woke up in the lodge, tied up. Then he told me he had to hurry because he was going to burn the lodge.a Talon winced. aAre you all right?a aYes.a aHow did you get free?a She knew then that she had made a mistake. aI guess he did a sloppy job of tying the knots. But I knew I had to stop him.a aYou could have gotten hurt. You should have called the police.a aI . . .a aOkay. Right. Youare trying to stay away from the cops,a he clipped out.