It was a several-hour drive from Denver to Bluff Springs. I’d never been to Colorado, hell I’d barely been out New York before...well, before all of this. When I was little, there was one really nice foster family that took me to Disneyland, but I barely remembered that. Seeing the countryside was interesting to me, and though I thought most of my companions were bored out of their minds, I was over-awed by how green everything was. I felt like the entire state was Central Park. Snow-capped mountains peaked up and over the tree line, a majestic view like nothing I had ever seen in real life.

We reached Bluff Springs in the late afternoon. It was just like the satellite images we’d seen; a quaint town nestled in a green valley, surrounded by thick trees. The ridges were high enough that snow-covered some of them.

“Think we can get some skiing in while we are here?” Rebecca asked. She joined me in the back of one of the SUVs.

“Don’t know. I’ve never skied before. Is it fun?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s incredible! You’ll love it. It’s one hell of a rush.”

As we drove into town we received some odd and curious stares. While I saw a few smiling faces, there were more than a few sullen glares and hostile glances, as the few people wandering the main street watched us drive into their little town.

Guess they didn’t like strangers. Which was too bad, considering you don’t come much stranger than us.

August pulled into the one roadside motel on the opposite side of town. He booked eight double rooms. This was going to be a luxury compared to the barracks we were used to. Rebecca and I got a room together and everyone else paired off. To my surprise, August and Jessica ended up in separate rooms.

Not that I was really paying attention to what they did of course.

August gave us an hour to get some rest before the Seers were going to try to home in on the group of Changed. None of us felt any strange tingles when we drove through town, but that did not mean anything in particular; they could simply not have been near the roads we drove by, or out at the shop, or any number of things.

While Rebecca showered, I spent time cleaning my pistol. I’d been assigned a rifle as well, but frankly, I did not think that it was something I wanted to drag around for a social visit. A pistol on my hip or down the back of my pants seemed about the speed I wanted to go.

When I finished, I decided to get a soda from the machine outside the office. I yelled through to the shower where Rebecca was singing off-key to see if she wanted anything. “Oh, get me something diet please,” she yelled back.

There was a chill in the air as I walked across the gravel parking lot to the office. It got dark quick around here; there was little light that wasn’t cast from the windows of the various occupied rooms, the office, and the large cola and snack machines by the icebox.

“Let’s see what you have for me,” I said.

“It’s a trap,” a quiet voice said from the darkness on the other side of the soda machine. I leaped back in surprise.

“Who the fuck?” I demanded. Reaching for my pistol, I realized it was still lying in my room.

A shadow detached itself from the wall, stepping around the machine. Garbed in the black, beaten jacket and hoodie was the nut job from Charlottesville.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, my heart slamming in my throat.

“Following you, Peri Delaney,” he said, as though that was not creepy as fuck.

“What, you’re stalking me?”

His sad eyes regarded me, though there was the flicker of a smile on his lips. “You have set things in motion, Peri Delaney, events which I want to see to their conclusion.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

He cocked his head to the side for a moment, inspecting me. “Did you not drive back an angel? Did you not stop the machinations of a group of believers from their murderous intent?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“It has to do with a lot of things, Peri Delaney. You and your group have attracted the attention of powerful forces that seek to see them used or destroyed. Your success has made these forces all the more eager to see you become a pawn or be taken from the board.”

Ok, I drew the line at chess metaphors.

“Seriously, where do you get this shit? What are you, some new kind of Changed?”

This time he did smile. “Peri, I am so much more than that. You have seen such a tiny part of the world. But if you survive what is coming, you will see much, much more.”

“You are ace at talking and saying absolutely nothing at the same time. How do you do it? No, wait, never mind, I don’t care. How do you know this shit? Can you see the future?”

He shook his head. “You make the mistake of thinking that answering your questions would bring you any kind of satisfaction.”

Really? “No, I’m pretty fucking sure that I’d be satisfied if you would tell me something, give me anything to go on, rather than a bunch of fortune cookie bullshit. Why should I listen to anything you say?”

“Because every time we have met, I have aided you. Why would you not listen to what I have to say?”

“Because you won’t tell me who you are. Because the last time you ‘helped’ me, you fucked over a friend of mine with some mystic whammy and then sent me off to murder two guys. That’s not exactly something I’m proud of, thank you very much.”

As my voice became more high-pitched and hysterical, his became lower and calmer. “I gave you the opportunity to act. What you did once you were there was your own choice. You are angry for the wrong reasons, Peri Delaney. You are a savior, a hero like of old.”

Like of old? Who the fuck talked like that. I was two mouthfuls of bullshit away from just decking this guy and seeing where it led me.

“Well tell you what, why don’t you come with me and tell August what’s going on. I’m sure he would love to meet you.”

“Yes, no doubt Mr. Riley would indeed love to meet me. That will have to wait for another time, I’m afraid, after both he and you learn more about your role in the events that are occurring around you. Then, and only then, will he and I meet.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I swore this guy was giving me a headache. “Fine,” I said. “What do you mean we are walking into a trap?”

Those sad eyes gazed at me a moment. “There is grave danger for all of you at the end of the road you are now walking, danger laid down for you both by those who wish you ill and those who wish to use you. Violence is planned for you and your friends. You must be smarter and quicker than they expect if you are to avoid the outcome they both hope for.”

“They? Wait, we have two people yanking our chains?”

“More than that I’m afraid. The shadow players cannot even see each other as they tug backward and forwards on the yoke around your necks. They do not care if they break you, only that you go in the direction they choose. You must foil both their goals.”

“Ok, what do they want us to do? How do I stop them and foil their plans?”

“I cannot tell you that.” The fuck?

“Because I do not know how.” At least he looked guilty as he said it.

Of course not. Why did I even think there was a point in asking him?