Read The Rogue Retrieval for Free Online Page B

Couldn’t cross the threshold. It was like trying to walk through Plexiglas.”
    â€œFoxtrot protocol?” she asked.
    â€œMust be.”
    â€œWait, I’m sorry,” Quinn said. “What is Foxtrot protocol?”
    â€œA security lockdown procedure,” Kiara said. “We have means to physically seal the gateway from the other side.”
    â€œFor how long?” Quinn asked.
    â€œUntil the threat has been addressed,” she said.
    â€œWhat if we drag Holt all the way back here and it’s still locked?” he demanded.
    â€œIt won’t be,” Kiara said. She sounded confident, but how could she know?
    â€œI hope you’re right,” Quinn said. He damn well didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in this place. It might be pristine, but he doubted they had a strip like Vegas.
    I t wasn’t long before they encountered the first of Holt’s little surprises. Twilight was already approaching; according to Chaudri, the days and nights between here and Earth were never quite in sync. Logan gave no indication that they’d stop even in darkness. They had LED globes disguised as torches, for when it came to that.
    They were riding single file in dense woods when Logan collided with an invisible barrier.
    â€œOof!” The impact of it nearly tossed Logan out of the saddle. Kiara sawed her gelding’s reins to keep from plowing right into him. Quinn jerked back on his, as did Chaudri. It was like a medieval six-­horse pileup in slow motion.
    â€œWhat?” Kiara demanded.
    â€œWhat the hell—­” Logan nudged the horse sideways and kicked out with a leather boot, getting a dull thud for his effort. Then he had his sword out and probed at it. “There’s some kind of a barrier here.”
    Quinn saw it now, a slight distortion of the forest ahead of him, as if looking through an old leaden window. It appeared to extend left and right as far as he could make out. Logan dismounted, stepped close to give it a look. “Not sure what I’m looking at.”
    Kiara’s face was a mask of concern. “Let’s backtrack and try another way.”
    Logan jumped back on and spurred his horse past them. They all wheeled and followed. A quarter mile away, some distance to the southwest, they hit the barrier again. Same thing to the southeast.
    â€œIt wasn’t here two months ago,” Logan said. “Our scouting party came right along this trail.”
    He made a dedicated effort with his sword, and then a crossbow. Nothing could penetrate the barrier.
    Kiara dismounted. She found a branch and threw it at the barrier; it bounced off harmlessly. She stepped close to inspect it. “Alissians don’t even have lead-­free glass yet. Must be some kind of magic.”
    Finally, Quinn thought. A problem that Logan and Kiara couldn’t solve right away. Time to show that he could be a team player. He’d been waiting for a chance to try out some of the equipment anyway.
    He wound up his right arm like a pitcher and made a throwing motion. A melon-­sized ball of fire flew from it, roared through the air, and slammed into the barrier. It made for an impressive show, even if it had little effect on the barrier itself. And caught part of his sleeve on fire, which he quickly patted out.
    â€œWow!” Chaudri said.
    â€œImpressive, Bradley,” Kiara said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think it helped us.”
    â€œIt was worth a shot,” Quinn said. He wound up and threw another fireball, this one at the leaf-­strewn ground beneath a tall conifer near the barrier. The needles and dried twigs flared up immediately.
    â€œYour aim needs a little work,” Logan said. He moved over to stomp out the flames.
    â€œLeave it,” Quinn said. He slid out of the saddle. “I want the smoke.”
    Logan grunted and stood back. The fire grew. When enough of the brush had caught, Quinn snuffed it out