“Do we have any other option? What is there left for us other than to run?”
“Lure him in.”
“What?”
He was vaguely aware of the office door slowly opening. There was a sense of uneasiness, like a barely detectable shift in the present, but Cayn dismissed it as he waited for the sheriff to elaborate further.
“Wh—”
He couldn’t finish the word. Neither could he glance over at his wife. And the expression on Conroy’s face didn’t change. The man didn’t blink, didn’t breathe, didn’t…
A sinister chuckle came from behind him.
Push
Cayn tried not to panic as he realized what was happening. Like the sheriff, he couldn’t breathe or blink, or move in any way, but he could still think. Observe and think.
Juda!
If this paralysis continued much longer, she could suffocate. She and the babe. They all could suffocate. Yet somehow he knew Goen wouldn’t let that happen. The man wanted his revenge and prize, and he wasn’t about to lose the chance for both.
He heard a grunt, followed by a series of unusual sounds. Footsteps rapidly exited the sheriff’s office. A distant door slammed, and suddenly he was free to breathe again.
Fighting the momentary giddiness, Cayn jumped to his feet and started for the front door. The other deputies remained standing around, staring blankly at each other, not quite understanding what had happened. They watched Cayn in dazed confusion as he hurried past them.
“You were frozen in time!” he yelled at them. “Goen has Juda!”
He prayed the Nomad had loosened his power over her as he paused on the sidewalk and checked both ways for signs of the man. An elderly couple glanced at him, curious to know what was going on.
“Did you see a man carrying a woman in his arms or over his shoulder just now?” he begged them.
“Yep. They went that-a-way.” The old guy pointed behind them, indicating the side of the building.
Cayn was aware of someone coming up behind him but he ignored whoever it was until Conroy ordered, “You go after her. Me and my men will go around the other way and try to head ‘im off.”
Cayn took off. All bets were off now. Goen had obviously used his ability to stop time so he could get to Juda. And in doing so, he proved to us that non-Nomads are susceptible to our abilities.
Or maybe he has known all along.
The realization hit him, along with the possibility that there might be more Goen knew about what could and could not be done with their abilities. The idea was almost terrifying.
He reached the back of the building just as Conroy and his men arrived. They checked around for any sign of Goen or Juda, but there was none.
Deputy Shiner slapped the granite rock wall behind them. “Goen’s cell is on the other side of this,” he noted.
“Then this is probably where Haram sent him,” Conroy surmised. “All he had to do was walk around to the front of the office and let himself in.” He kicked the ground and let out a curse word. “He was here all along and now he’s gone.” He glanced up at Cayn. “Did he take her into the future?”
Closing his eyes, Cayn centered himself. Tears stung his eyes as the truth became horrifyingly clear. “She is not here,” he whispered. “Neither of them are here in this time.” He looked over at where the sheriff and his deputies were staring at him. “I must go find her. I must save her from him.”
Conroy nodded. “Good luck.”
Cayn gave a nod. The next instant, he was gone.
Her lungs screamed for air. Juda struggled to draw a breath, but her body refused to comply. She felt herself being scooped up and thrown over a shoulder. Even without being able to see who her kidnapper was, her senses told her it was Goen.
She was unable to see anything other than the sweaty and bloodstained shirt her face bounced against. She knew she was being carried out of the building and away from Cayn, but there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t fight. She couldn’t struggle. She couldn’t…
The world went hazy and she felt herself blacking out, when suddenly she could breathe again. Juda gasped for air, sucking in lungful after lungful as the world around her solidified.
