“We’re running,” Jared said. “You know that.”

Blaed nodded. “We’re being hunted. I know that, too.”

“One of us serves Dorothea SaDiablo.”

Blaed digested this and nodded again. “At least one of us.”

Jared narrowed his eyes. “You’re thinking of Garth?”

“Hard not to.”

Jared scanned the countryside. Then he opened his inner barriers enough to make a strong psychic probe.

Nothing. Not even a pocket of emptiness that might have indicated a psychic shield. A lighter-Jeweled psychic shield, he amended. If there was a Red Jewel out there, he might not be able to sense it. But a Red wouldn’t go up against another Red. Not alone.

“Whom do you trust among us?” Jared asked suddenly.

“Besides Lia? Thera. Thayne because we grew up together. You.”

Jared hesitated but had to ask. “Do you trust Thera because you’re attracted to her or because you truly believe she’s not a danger?”

“Oh, she’s a danger,” Blaed replied, “but not to Lia.” He paused, then chose his words as if he were picking his way over rough ground. “Even when they were both trying to deceive everyone with those illusion spells, I think they recognized something in each other, something that made them friends despite the deception. Hell’s fire, Jared. Right from the start, they quarreled like friends who just couldn’t see eye to eye. So, yes, I trust Thera. Besides, I think she’s the kind of witch Dorothea would see as a rival, not a tool.”

Jared thought that over and, reluctantly, had to agree. “What about the children? Do you trust them?”

Blaed shook his head. “Too vulnerable. Useful as a weapon against us, though, unless you can hold Lia down during an attack.”

“Damn.”

“What’s in our favor is that Dorothea’s pet has to be in a constant cold sweat by now.”

“Why?” Jared asked, curious.

Blaed made that amused snort. “Jared, do you know where we’re making camp tonight?”

Jared thought about it for a moment and huffed. “No.” Then he started to sweat. He didn’t know. Lia wandered off the main roads for no reason he could figure out, sometimes wandered off the roads altogether for a little while whenever the terrain permitted. Always heading north or northwest, true, but this was rolling countryside, sufficiently wooded to provide plenty of hiding places for a pedlar’s wagon and a small group of people. If a man didn’t know where to look for her . . .

He’d assumed he’d be able to catch up to them if he left for a few hours. He’d assumed he’d be able to find them.

“Have we got any spare rope?” Jared asked.

“We’ve got the leads we were using for the saddle horses. Why?”

“I’m thinking of tying one end around Lia’s waist and the other end around mine.”

Blaed chuckled. “Better make sure it’s long enough for her to go into the bushes by herself.”

“Maybe,” Jared growled.