The Royal Hunter Read Free Page B

turned to him and said, “Step through it.”
    Archer looked in front of him and, amid the jungle of plants and flowers, he saw a small triangle emerge in the air. It grew larger, the air inside it wavy, like liquid, as if it had trapped all the heat and contained it. Only it hadn’t. Archer was sweating, his palms damp, but his skin was oddly chilled.
What in the hell was happening? Was this really possible?
    He stared at Baleweg. He hardly knew this bloke and here he was, about to follow him into God knew what.
    “The doorway will not remain open forever,” Baleweg replied, his features looking somewhat strained. “Go or stay. Choose now.”
    “Shit.” Archer slapped his thigh and Ringer jumped into his arms. “Until we figure out where in the hell we are, just stay a cat, dammit, hear me?” Ringer merely purred and butted his head against Archer’s hand.
    Archer held him tightly, then stepped into the watery air in front of them. Baleweg followed.
    A moment later Archer found himself standing on a busy downtown thoroughfare. He turned and looked behind him just as the triangle doorway to Baleweg’s jungle garden shrank to almost nothing, then evaporated. In a blink it was as if it never existed.
    He swallowed hard, urging his heart to slow to a rate that would keep it from exploding out of his chest. He’d faced the unknown many times.
This is merely another adventure, mate
.
    The buildings didn’t tower nearly so tall. In fact, he could see the tops of every one of them. And sky traffic was nonexistent. Also, the building materials were more raw and crude-looking. The busy intersection was filled as usual with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Then he noticed all the cars rested directly on the ground. He coughed as one sped by. And they belched smoke.
    “Great.” He waved a hand in front of his face. Whatever time they were in, air purification hadn’t been mandated yet. Ringer squirmed in his arms. He looked down. “Jesus, didn’t I tell you—Never mind.” He tucked him under one arm. “Just stay quiet, for God’s sake.”
    Clusters of people pushed by them, apparently oblivious to the sudden arrival of two men … and a big white duck. “What year is it, anyway?”
    “It is the beginning of the second millennium. The year two thousand one, to be exact.”
    “What part of Britain is this? This isn’t Llanfair.”
    “No, it isn’t. Britain was still somewhat united in those days, with only one monarchy, I believe, not three. But we are not in Britain. We are in America.”
    Archer swung his gaze back to the old man. “America? We hopped time
and
continents? Are you sure we’re even in the right place?”
    “Close enough. We are in the right state. Connecticut.”
    “How in the hell can you tell?”
    Baleweg gestured at a metal plate on one of the vehicles parked curbside.
    Archer ignored the smile. “She’s here, then? Eleri is here?”
    Baleweg laid his hand on Archer’s heart. “The one you seek is close.” Then he turned, white robes flowing, and whistled sharply for a taxi.

Chapter 2
    T alia, can you come here? Something’s wrong with this puppy.”
    Talia Trahaern crossed the day room and helped her new employee with the wriggling pile of fluff he was trying to handle. “What happened?”
    The young man looked to her, eyes overbright. “The colonel was playing tug with his blanket and he caught his teeth in the threads and—I’m sorry, Talia.”
    “It’s okay.” Talia felt a bit like squirming herself under Jimmy’s imploring stare. There was something about him that bothered her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Something about the focused way he watched her. But he was always polite, extremely loyal, and good with the animals. He was probably just trying too hard, she told herself. That was rare enough these days and dedicated kennel help was difficult to find. Still, her smile was a bit forced. “I can take it from here. Why don’t you go help Miss Helen over