“You know this for certain? Goen said he wants to kill Cayn because of what Cayn can do to him?”
Juda dropped her gaze again. “We have not heard him say as much. ‘Tis only speculation on our part.”
“So how are you able to go through time? To travel through it?”
“It is what Nomads can do.”
“But how are you able to do what you do? Huh? That bit about travelling through time. If I believe any of it in the first place.”
This time she shrugged. “Maybe Cayn can answer your questions.”
There was a knock on the door, and Deputy Shiner stuck his head inside. “Sorry to bother you, Sheriff, but our other detainee is being very uncooperative. He keeps insisting he and Juda need to leave as soon as possible. In fact, he’s getting panicky over it.”
Conroy nodded and got up from his chair. “I’ll go speak with him. You stay here and watch this little lady, would you? Make sure she stays put. If I personally don’t return but that Cayn guy shows up, lock the door. Got me?”
“Yes, sir,” Shiner replied.
The sheriff looked down at the doorknob in his hand. “On second thought, go ahead and lock the door behind me.” He threw a glance at Juda. “I won’t be long…I hope.”
Juda watched the man leave and the deputy lock the door before taking the sheriff’s empty seat. Sighing, she placed her hands in her lap to wait.
Explanation
Cayn watched the sheriff enter the little room where he was being held. With his hands bound behind his back, he was helpless. Not that he intended on sending the man back in time, but because he couldn’t send Goen back when the man reappeared.
And Goen would reappear. It was just a matter of when.
The man took the seat recently vacated by the deputy who’d tried to get him to answer a few questions. The questions were unimportant. What mattered now was where they were holding Juda, and could he get to her in time before Goen reappeared.
He silently cursed the fact that he had no control over how far back he could send the man or anyone else. It was the one factor about his ability that irritated him, although Juda often scolded him for being negative about an ability he should be grateful having.
Juda. He quickly sent a prayer of thanks to whatever gods had led him back to her.
Conroy crossed one leg over a knee and placed his hands in his lap. Several long seconds passed as the guy silently observed him before finally speaking.
“Miss Plesh has told me what sounds like a highly imaginative story. If it weren’t for the fact that I personally witnessed two grown men vanish like farts in the wind, I wouldn’t believe her.”
Cayn remained silent yet curious. He sensed the sheriff had an ace or two up his sleeve and was waiting for the right moment to expose his hand.
“She told me people like you and her are called Nomads. She told me you had the ability to send people back in time, but that she couldn’t. She told me the two men you supposedly sent back were here to kill you. Have I got that right so far?”
Cayn simply nodded.
“All right. So explain to me why this guy Goen is so set on seeing you dead?”
This was his chance. “Because I can send him back. Because he wants to be able to wreak as much havoc on people without having someone like me trying to stop him.”
“What do you mean, wreak havoc on people? Are you talking about mass killings and such?”
“That and worse. Goen thrives on chaos. On death. On seeing people suffer.”
“Is Goen a Nomad?”
“Yes.”
“Does he have the ability to send people back through time like you?”
Cayn shook his head. “I do not believe he can.”
