“We won’t come back, ever,” Leander said.“Is there anything else you need?”
“They took Momma’s jewelry,” he mumbled.
Leander hadn’t thought a ten-year-old child would care about jewelry.“I have no way to recover it, and we need to leave before we’re caught.”
Salem nodded and pushed dark curls out of his eyes.While Leander wasn’t the best at reading people’s expressions, it seemed like he had hope in his eyes.Few people had ever looked at Leander like that, and suddenly the danger of what he was doing felt like a weight on his shoulders.Salem was counting on him.Leander held out his hand to the boy while keeping the backpack in his other.
Salem took it, and Leander led him back down the hall.The caretaker was still watching the television, so he moved as quickly as he could, pulling Salem into the master bedroom and then out of the window.The boy watched, eyes huge as Leander put his hand on the sapling growing on the sill.Leander pulled the magic back out of the plant, feeling as it died cell by cell until only the brittle skeleton of a tree remained.Leander pulled it free as easily as a dead vine and threw it away from the window.
That would make it more difficult to determine who had broken in.After all, Leander had many tricks he had shown no one.Not even Druwolf would know what the marks on the sill meant.He turned, took Salem’s hand again, heading for the street.The surrounding shadows darkened and fear squeezed Leander’s heart.Creek’s promise to hide their escape felt like a vow written on tissue paper.
He pulled Salem closer, and the boy pressed against his side.But the shadows didn’t close in.Police cars didn’t pull up to the curb.The night was quiet, or as quiet as the city ever got.Leander headed for his car, pulling Salem along with him.He threw the backpack onto the rear seat with his bag and urged the boy to get in on the passenger side before he started the car and put it into gear.
The shadows grew deeper as Leander pulled away, but within a block, they had faded.
Chapter Four
Leander stepped offthe plane, and the scent of China filled the air.There was a spice, a scent, an aura to the country he recognized, even after so many years.Salem asked from behind him, “Is this our new home?”
“We’re closer to it.”Chongqing was too big for Leander to feel comfortable.Westerners were everywhere, and any of them could be a spy, if not for Druwolf then for the other groups that would be interested in an American magic user.People in the countryside would hate them, but they would let Leander and Salem stay once they saw the magic he controlled.“Remember your name,” Leander whispered.
Salem nodded.Leander was Lian.It meant lotus and was less likely to attract attention on paperwork.Salem was now Shanlin.Mountain forestwas a good name, but Salem needed to get used to it.
Salem walked next to Leander, and he let his hand fall on the boy’s shoulder, letting everyone know the boy was his.There were too many people rushing past, and he had an irrational fear Salem would get lost.
“Ba?”Salem asked.
Having Finn’s child call him father still left Leander disquieted.“Yes, Shanlin?”
“How long will it take us to reach our new home?”
“As long as it takes.”
“Will it take hours or days?”
Leander sighed.“That will depend on the trains.”And whether Leander could find the town based on a description Heng had given him over a decade ago.Nie Heng had tried to convince Leander to stay in China because of Leander’s stupid, drunken confession.After Leander refused, he’d made Leander memorize the route from Chongqing to the Orange Flower Hills.
