Crimson Dahlia (17 page)

Several
days later, Lila and Ramsey were both going absolutely stir crazy. It was a
miracle that they hadn't killed each other… yet. But today, finally, some
action.

The
tribes that Oren had been able to reach were gathering at last to discuss
options. While they couldn’t contact every clan on the planet, they’d still
managed to tap most of the larger ones. When Sheila had been kidnapped, she had
been in the process of trying to locate additional groups. But all the ones
Selene was aware of had come. Even the Brazilian tribe, who called themselves
by an ancient Amazonian title that Lila had difficulty pronouncing. It was
something like
Timening
, which apparently meant jaguar, a symbol of
power in their indigenous culture. The Brazilians seemed to be impressed by
Ellie's ability to shift into just such a creature.

Nate
and Talia took a trip to where Talia had been held by Maddox – the same place
where Selene had been held the previous year. Ostensibly, they were there to
try to solve the mystery of who Talia was. In reality, they’d been sent away so
that they wouldn't know about everything happening in the castle.

Selene
had other plans for them, which included feeding them false information to
incite an attack on the castle when the Vyusher, Timening, and all the other
tribes were actually ready for them.

Griffin
had been telepathically allowing Ramsey and Lila to see and hear the arrivals
through his eyes. Lila thought the sensation was very odd, a bit like watching
TV on the back of her eyeballs. And now, from many levels below the others,
Lila and Ramsey watched and listened as the official gathering began. The image
reminded Lila of a scene from one of her favorite movies,
Brigadoon
.
There was a wedding scene in that movie in which all of the different Scottish
clans gathered together, each coming in wearing their family’s colors and
piping their bagpipes.

This
wasn't quite the same. No one was wearing a kilt. And there certainly weren't
any bagpipes. Each group entered the hall separately, the leaders at the front,
their people lined up behind them. In addition to the Brazilians, there were
tribes from all over the world, every continent except Antarctica.

Like
the Vyusher and Timening, some of the tribes had some kind of localized name
for themselves. Most actually called themselves Svatura - especially those from
Europe or America - having descended from the original group that Ellie's and
Griffin’s great-grandparents had founded almost two-thousand years before.

But
no matter what they were called, they were all the same type of people… powerful.
More than human.

Lila
watched through Griffin’s thoughts as Selene stood, looking every inch the
queen she was, and waited patiently for all to arrive in the Great Hall.
Finally, Selene held up her hand, and silence descended upon the room.
"Welcome to all of our honored guests. We hope that you are comfortable
with your accommodations. We are grateful for your presence here and hope to
build strong new alliances that will last for millennia to come."

The
room erupted in applause. But once it had quieted down, the leader of the
Brazilian tribe stepped forward. She was a woman who Lila thought embodied the
concept of an Amazon – tall, muscled, and gorgeous, with mocha-colored skin,
long gleaming black hair, and striking dark eyes.

She
spoke excellent English, with only a slight accent. "While we agree to
come together to face a common enemy, do not mistake that for a desire for
further alliance. We still do not trust the Vyusher."

Selene
gave the Brazilians a little half-bow of acknowledgement. "We understand.
And we won’t make any assumptions further than the need to help each other with
this current threat. But it is also my personal goal to earn your trust at the
same time."

A
murmur swept through the room. Obviously many were here for the sake of self-preservation
only. But that was a start.

“The
enemy of my enemy and so forth,”
thought Lila.

“Damn
straight,”
she heard Griffin mentally agree with her.

“You
agree?”
she asked him.

There
was a small pause, and then Griffin came back with
“You heard that?”

“Yeah.”
Lila frowned,
confused.

“Huh.
I didn’t think I’d let you hear that thought,”
he said.
“Anyways,
y
ou should see the hoops Selene had to jump through to ensure no fighting
broke out between all these people.”

“Like
what?”
Lila
asked.

“Well,
for one thing, the Mongolian clan can't be near the Russian clan because of
something that happened between them over a thousand years ago. And that's only
one example. It's been a logistical nightmare.”

Lila
chuckled.

Selene
had been waiting patiently as some back-and-forth between several tribes went
on, but now she held up her hand. "Let us concentrate on our primary
objective – that of defeating Maddox – which is why we're all here now."

*****

"Do
you think it will work?" Lila wondered aloud. "Selene's plan?"

She
and Ramsey were sitting on her cot, eating their dinners off trays balanced on
their laps. They had been listening to the negotiating and strategizing all
day.

Ramsey
shrugged as he finished chewing his bite of ravioli. "If she can keep all
those tribes from going to war with each other, I think the plan has a shot. We
certainly have numbers on our side."

"Seriously.
I can't believe Selene was able to manage even a smidgen of cooperation among
the tribes during the talks today."

"I
got the impression that she had a little help in that department," Ramsey
said as he pinned her with a knowing look.

Lila
blushed. She was sure no one else had noticed. How could they, when they didn't
even know she was there? "Maybe a little."

"Careful
with that. If they figure it out, they won't be happy," he warned.

Lila
gave him a sheepish glance. "I kept the emotional healing stuff to a very
minimum. Only when I thought she really needed help. Being Queen has got to
suck."

"It's
not a position I envy," Ramsey said.

Lila
nodded. "Nope. If I ever get a chance to be a queen, remind me about
today."

"I'll
remember that," he said wryly.

"Do
you think that Maddox will attack soon?"

Ramsey
thought that over for a moment. "He’s got Sheila now. So he has to know
we've gathered a large group of people. The only thing keeping him safe is that
we don't know where he is. He has to be aware that with this many powers
gathered in one place, we will likely be able to figure it out soon. Plus with
the stuff we’re about to start feeding through Nate and Talia once they get
back…"

"The
best defense is a good offense?" Lila asked.

Ramsey's
lips quirked in a small smile. "That's the second time today you've used a
warlike cliché. But yeah, something like that."

Lila
rolled her eyes at him. "Clichés became what they are for a reason. There
is inherent truth in them," she stated with haughty dignity.

"Touché,"
he said, and saluted her with a fry before popping it into his mouth.

Lila
ignored him. "Well, when the attack does come, we’ll be ready."

"Yes,
we will. I just wish I could figure out where he's hiding. Then we could bring
the fight to him."

"Is
that what you’ve been doing all this time on the computer?" she asked.

"Yeah.”
He shrugged. “Stupid to think that I could figure out something that all of
Selene's High Council and others couldn’t.”

"What
exactly are you searching for?"

"Caves
similar to the ones he kept you prisoner in."

"Smart.
Why don’t you show me what you’ve found so far? Maybe I can help.”

Ramsey
gave her an odd look. “You really think it’s worth digging into?”

“I
do,” she said. A twinkle appeared in her eyes. “Besides, what else are we going
to do down here? I don’t know about you, but I’m going a little stir crazy.”

Ramsey
eyed her, trying to determine how serious she was. She gave him a little push.
“Go get your computer and show me what you’ve got.”

As
he left the cell, she thought she heard him mumble, “I could think of a few
other things I’d rather be doing together.”

Lila
bit her lip. So could she.

“Lila…
Lila, wake up.”

Lila
pulled herself out of the depths of sleep with difficulty. She and Ramsey had
been up well into the early hours of the morning going through everything he’d
already researched, and she was still exhausted.

"Lila,"
Ramsey's deep voice repeated.

Without
opening her eyes, Lila moaned, "What?"

"Wake
up."

"Go
away. I'm sleeping," she slurred. She still hadn't opened her eyes. Maybe
if he went away now, she could fall right back asleep.

A
rough hand cruelly shook her. "Seriously. Wake up."

"Ugh.
All right." Lila struggled to sit up. She drew her legs up, rested her
elbows on her knees, and rubbed her tired eyes. "This had better be
good."

"It's
good. I think I've figured out where Maddox is hiding."

Lila
flopped back down into bed, yanking the sleeping bag back up over her
shoulders. And then his words penetrated her foggy brain. "Seriously?
Where?"

"He's
just outside of Austin, Texas."

Despite
the almost impossible likelihood of finding Maddox, Lila was intrigued. She
cracked open one eye. Just as she guessed, Ramsey stood over her cot, arms
crossed as he watched her.

Lila
sighed as she unzipped the sleeping bag and swung her feet down to the chilly
stone floor. "Okay. Okay. Show me what you’ve got."

She
followed Ramsey into his cell and plopped down on his cot, folding her legs
crisscross to get comfy. Ramsey sat down beside her with his laptop propped on
his knees. She looked over his shoulder at the screen.

"After
we realized that the list of potential places was still too long, even after we
had narrowed down the possibilities, I got the idea to cross-reference our
shorter list with unusual wolf sightings."

Lila
felt the stirrings of excitement. "Smart. They've gotta come out for
provisions, and I seriously doubt they can do much training inside. Did you
find anything?"

"There
are some caves just north of Austin called Inner Space Caverns. It's a natural
system formed in the limestone. There's a portion open to the public that has
been well explored. And it's fairly well guarded, though Maddox's people can
get around that easily enough. There are other parts that have been blocked by
natural cave-ins that have yet to be explored."

Ramsey
flipped through a few different webpages showing pictures of stalactites and
stalagmites glistening in various shades of browns and whites.

"Okay.
Sounds like a potential place... What makes you think he's there?" Lila
asked.

Ramsey
flipped to another website. This one looked like a personal blog. "There's
a large limestone quarry not too far from the public entrance to the caves.
Just recently a foreman cited a large gray wolf prowling the edge of the
quarry."

Ramsey
pointed out the somewhat blurry picture of an animal standing at the edge of
what looked to be a stark white cliff. It had clearly been taken by a cell
phone from far away. But Lila could tell with one glance that it was an
oversized wolf in the picture.

"Are
wolves common in that area?" She didn't want to get too excited.

Ramsey
shook his head and flipped to yet another website. "The Texas Gray Wolf
was common in the area a hundred years ago or so. They’ve been extinct since
1942. That's the only reference I can find to wolves that might be around
there."

Lila  
leaned back, thinking through any other possibilities. "When was this wolf
spotted?"

"Only
two days ago," Ramsey said. He went back to the blog and pointed out the
date posted.

Excitement
pumped through Lila. She looked at Ramsey and saw her own eagerness reflected
back at her. "I think you're right. I think you've found him."

Ramsey
gave her his rare grin that took her breath away. It transformed his face from
ruggedly handsome into something a little softer… and sexier, if that were
possible. "It means that for the first time since we joined Selene and the
Vyusher and started fighting Maddox, we might actually have an advantage."

Lila
grinned back. “So, Austin… didn’t Ellie and Griffin live there just before
moving to Estes Park?”

“I
think they did. Maybe their knowledge of the area will give us an extra
advantage.”

"We
have to tell Selene," Lila said. "She'll need to talk to the clans.
They need to revise their strategy and take the fight to Maddox's door."

"I
agree," Ramsey said.

Lila
gave a mental frown. She could have sworn that she had just heard Ramsey’s
agreement in stereo. She rubbed at her ears.

"Do
you want to call Griffin? Or do you want me to?" she asked Ramsey.

"He's
already gathering Selene, Ellie, and Charlotte. They'll be down here in a
second," he said.

She
didn’t hear the double voice again, so Lila figured whatever was messed up with
her ears had fixed itself. “Okay.”

"Sooner
than that," Griffin's voice sounded from the cell doorway.

Ellie
looked around as she walked into the room. "It looks even more depressing
in here that when we first got you set up. We really need to get you new
digs," she said with a teasing smile.

"We
need to get rid of Maddox and his followers," Ramsey replied. "And we
might be able to help with that."

That
got their attention.

"How?"
Selene demanded.

Ramsey
walked them all through his original theory, the research both he and Lila had
done, and finally what he’d turned up in Austin.

As
soon as he finished, Griffin gave a low whistle. He looked at Selene.
"Time for a change of plan, perhaps.”

"You
may be right," Selene said.

Ellie
and Charlotte both nodded. "Is it worth getting Darius out there to try to
figure out where the caves reach and where Maddox might be?” Charlotte asked.
“Those caves could be extensive, and he could have built them out with
underground buildings as he did in California.”

“Good
call,” Selene said. “Too bad we don’t have Sheila though.”

“Maybe
I can help with what you’re thinking,” Griffin said.

They
all looked at him expectantly. “I should be able to hear their thoughts. Based
on that, I can get us pretty close.”

“We
can’t have too many of us roaming those woods, or they’ll find out and our
advantage will be lost,” Ramsey warned.

“Just
Charlotte, Darius, and Griffin then,” Selene said. “And I need to go gather the
clan leaders to discuss a new strategy.”

“We
should attack him soon, in case he decides to move locations,” Lila said.

Selene
nodded. She gave Ramsey and Lila an apologetic look. “You two get to stay down
here until then, unfortunately.”

“We
figured,” Lila said with a shrug. “You go do what you’ve got to do. Just let us
know what the decisions are so we can be ready when you call.”

“Of
course,” Selene replied.

Griffin,
Ellie, Selene, and Charlotte disappeared back to the upper levels of the
castle. Lila could almost immediately feel the amped up emotions in the castle
as Selene got all the various balls rolling.
God I hope this works
, she
thought.