Crimson Dahlia (4 page)

Ellie
stretched like a lazy cat as sunlight spilled across the room, waking her from
her sleep. Or maybe the feel of Alex softly trailing his fingertips over her
shoulder and down her back was what had roused her.

A
warm smile graced her lips. “Mmmmmm. What a lovely way to wake up,” she
murmured. She gave a little squeak of surprise as Alex moved suddenly. He
rolled her beneath him and pinned her hands on either side of her face. Before
she could protest, his lips covered hers in a searing kiss. And Ellie just
plain forgot what she was going to protest about as she lost herself in the
heat of his mouth.

Alex
pulled back slightly. “Were you going to say something, wife?” he teased.

Ellie
shook her head, her violet blue eyes sparkling. “Can’t think of a darn thing
with you doing such distracting things to my body.”

“Damn
straight.” Alex looked stern for a moment and then grinned. Ellie wrapped her
arms around his neck, sinking her fingers into his thick, black hair, and
pulled him back down to her eager lips.

“Ah-hem,”
a small cough interrupted them. With a groan, Alex lifted up onto his forearms
and glanced over his shoulder. There he saw the ghostly figure of Oren. The
older man’s eyes were closed, giving them a small amount of privacy.

“Come
back in a few minutes, Oren. We’ll get dressed,” Alex directed.

Oren
nodded and faded away.

Alex
flopped back down on the bed. “When I pictured our honeymoon, it did
not
include trying to track down my sister in Brazil or being interrupted at
very
inopportune moments by an astral-projector,” he grumbled.

Ellie
stifled a giggle. She leaned over to kiss his neck, which earned her a look of
sheer frustration. “We’ll take a real honeymoon when this is all over.
Promise.”

Ellie
and Alex had only been married a short while. They’d met a few years before
when Ellie and Griffin had found Alex’s family and helped protect them from the
Vyusher, who, at that time, were dangerous enemies. At first Alex had thought
that Ellie was just a normal teenage girl who’d befriended his adopted sisters,
Lila and Adelaide. He’d been shocked to realize she was also gifted, but he’d
gotten over it quickly when he realized she was also his
te’sorthene
.

Alex
gave his new bride a stern look, softened by the tenderness in his silver-blue
eyes. “I’ll hold you to that, Mrs. Jenner.”

Five
minutes later, dressed and ready, Alex and Ellie sat on the foot of the bed and
listened to Oren.

“I
can’t believe they got into the castle undetected. How’s that possible?” Ellie asked,
as she absorbed the news of Sheila’s capture.

“We’re
working on that,” Oren said.

Ellie
and Alex looked at each other. “Oren, we’ve tracked down the Brazilian tribe
Lila and Marcus tried to meet before they were captured. The
Timening
–
that’s what they call themselves - have been a bit…um, resistant… but have at
least talked to us. However, the only reason they did was because they’ve had a
few disappearances themselves, starting shortly after Lila went missing.”

Oren
silently considered the implications of this news. “I’ll inform Selene at
once.”

Ellie
nodded. “They rejected any sort of alliance when Lila was here. But now that
they haven’t been able to stop these kidnappings, they’re more open to
negotiations.”

“Speaking
of which, what precautions is Selene taking?” Alex asked.

“She’s
considering having Griffin put his shield up around the entire castle. But they
think that it might be too much of a drain on him to hold it constant. And it’s
possible that abilities like Charlotte’s could bypass him anyway.”

Alex
and Ellie nodded. One of Griffin’s powers was the ability to construct an
invisible physical shield that he could stretch over any size.

“Is
Selene going to have Xavier move the castle again?” Ellie asked. They’d moved
the location of the castle after Lila’s disappearance, though they’d stayed in
Canada.

“We’ve
tried that, and they found us anyway.”

“Should
we come back?”

Oren
shook his head. “Finding Lila might be the key to stopping Maddox or at least
slowing him down. Any leads there?”

Ellie
stood and paced the small hotel room. “We’ve determined that Lila was captured
just after trying to meet with the
Timening
. I think they were on their
way home but still in this area. Doesn’t really tell us much, but we’ll keep
looking. Tell Selene that we’ll send a faction from this tribe to meet with her
soon.”

“I’ll
pass that on. Also, there’s one other bit of news that you should be aware of,”
Oren said.

“Better
news than your first piece, I hope,” Alex mumbled. He grunted as Ellie bumped
him with her elbow.

“Our
sleeping guest has awoken. Her name is Talia,” Oren said, ignoring the couple’s
byplay.

Ellie’s
eyebrows shot up. “Holy smokes, really? How is she?”

“Doesn’t
remember much. Griffin’s working with her much like he does with Dexter’s
mother, Mary.”

Ellie
nodded. “Well, tell her welcome to the tribe for us. I’ll be curious to meet
her. Hopefully soon.”

Oren
gave a formal little half bow of acknowledgement.

“How’s
Lucy doing?” Ellie always asked this same question, and Oren always answered
the same way.

“She’s
holding up. Keeps herself busy putting care packages together for you two and
for Ramsey. Charlotte will be by with your next one tomorrow.”

He
paused a moment and seemed to be listening to something else, likely something
on his side. “I must go now.”

“All
right, then. See you in a few days. Love to the family.”

*****

Lila
felt as if she’d been wandering through the grey mist for ages. She had yet to
encounter anything. Not a tree, not a rock, not a building. Definitely not
another person. Maybe she was moving in circles? Because there was no way she
could walk as long as she had been and not come across
something
. Lila
stopped. It was clearly a useless exercise. She put her hands on her hips and
turned in a full circle, searching for well,
anything
, through the fog.
Nothing.

Where
the hell am I?

Lila
glanced down and noticed that while she could see her feet, she couldn’t make
out the ground on which she was standing. She bent over and tried to get a
better look, but to no avail—the fog was too thick. Lila got down on her knees
and lowered her face until she was within millimeters of the ground. Nothing.
Sitting back up, Lila held her hands straight out in front of her. She could
see them just fine. So it wasn’t that the mist was so thick that it obscured
the ground from her view.

Lila
sucked in a breath as her hands dropped to her lap.
Either I’m dead, or I’m
crazy… ‘cause this is not a dream.

Just
in case, she gave her arm a pinch.
No pain. So maybe she was dreaming.
But it sure didn’t feel like one. She closed her eyes, tipped her head back,
and reopened her eyes to look heavenward. Only there was nothing to look at
except fog.

For
now, I’ll assume I’m not dead. Crazy is still on the table. But on the off
chance I’m not, what else could this be?

She
tried to remember how she got here. But the more she tried to remember
something,
anything
, the more she couldn’t. She couldn’t recall where
she’d been, or who she’d been with, or…

I
don’t know who I am.

The
realization should have brought feelings of alarm. Instead, Lila merely
shrugged her shoulders apathetically. She lay down on her back to get more
comfortable and just let her mind wander. She raised her hand to push the mist
around in lazy circles, watching the swirling patterns that rippled through the
dense grey haze.

After
a while, she began to hum a little tune, not anything specific, just random
little notes strung together to form some unknown melody. The sounds seemed to
drift around her as if they clung to the fog. Lila almost giggled at the
thought but was too listless to bother to giggle.

Someone
will come along to find me eventually, right?
Although, does it really
matter?

Lila
gave a mental shrug. She was perfectly content right where she was. She was
warm and comfy. But… wasn’t there something odd about that thought? Warm and
comfy didn’t really seem to go along with lying around in the mist.

Another
mental shrug.

I’ll
just relax here for a little bit. Then I’ll go… somewhere. Although… why would
I want to leave here anyway? Where I am right now is just fine.

On
that uncaring thought, Lila shut her eyes and allowed her mind to tune out and
drift.

Several
mornings after Sheila’s kidnapping, Ramsey was still searching. He packed up
his camp and headed out. Over the last few days, he’d made his way higher into
the mountains, so his trek was a little slower as he hiked his way up a steeper
incline. The sounds of the forest surrounded him, and pine needles crunched under
his feet as he walked. At least he had a little cloud cover today. The last few
days had been still and hot with a brutal sun blazing in the sky.

Ramsey
followed his link with Lila. But, as had been happening for weeks, he felt as
though he were walking in circles. He had the constant feeling that he was
close. Sometimes he could swear that if he just looked around the next tree,
he’d find her standing there. But he had spent more than a month of searching,
and no luck.

Ramsey
stopped beside a gurgling spring and dropped his pack to the ground. He pulled
out various items, filled his canteen, and treated the water to be drinkable.
Then he pulled out some of the food Charlotte had brought him that morning for
his lunch. He sat on a rock and listened to the soothing sounds of the trickling
stream as he ate his turkey sandwich.

Lila,
where are you?

His
connection with her felt so real, so strong, that he almost expected to hear
her voice answering him. Ramsey shook his head. He quickly finished eating, neatly
packed everything back in his pack, and hefted it onto his strong shoulders.

He’d
taken a few steps, and then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He stood there
for a few moments. Something was wrong. He could feel it. But he couldn’t quite
put his finger on what it was.

His
head snapped up as he realized what was missing. Thinking about their
connection had clued him in.

“No,”
he whispered.

He
stood still and waited. At one point he almost moved, but then he stopped himself.

“No,
no, no,” he muttered, as a sense of panic set in.

The
word continued to echo in his mind long after he stopped saying it aloud.
No,
no, no, no… I can’t feel her.

“Lila,”
he whispered, his voice breaking.

Whatever
connection he’d been able to feel with her was now gone. It hadn’t been sudden
or obvious. He hadn’t felt any pain with the departure of that link. It was as
though it had just quietly faded away.

Oh
my God. I can’t lose her!

The
vanishing of their connection may not have physically hurt him, but the
realization that the link was gone and what that meant for his chances of
finding Lila almost made Ramsey double over. He sucked in a breath as his hands
erupted in flames.

Get
it together, man. Losing it will not help anything.

Taking
long deep breaths, Ramsey forced himself to calm down, despite the fact that
his heart was being torn to shreds. Burning down this entire forest wasn’t the
answer.

I’m
not leaving her. It’s got to come back. It has to. I’ll just wait here until I
can feel her again.

But,
what if the reason his link to Lila had vanished was because Maddox had moved
her somewhere too far away for it to work? Ramsey discarded that idea as
quickly as it occurred to him. He’d been connected to her all the way from
Canada. He was certain he should be able to sense her no matter where she was.

What
if she’s…

Ramsey
shook his head. He wasn’t going to think that way. Lila had to be alive. This
was just an interruption in their connection. He’d get it back.

So
Ramsey stayed where he was. Standing. Thinking.

Eventually
some reason prevailed. He pulled out his cell phone and saw that he had a
signal. Quickly he sent a text message to everyone in his family.

*****

“Thanks
guys, I appreciate the ride down to school,” Adelaide said as she hopped into
the back seat of Brian’s red truck.

“No
problem!” Brian said.

“I’m
excited to get to catch up,” Juliette added.  “We never see you guys anymore.”

It
had been Selene who’d insisted that she, Adelaide, and Nate continue college, despite
everything that was going on. Partly it was to keep up appearances for their
regular human friends. They all hoped to return to that life after the threat
Maddox posed was eradicated. But really, Selene insisted that they keep up
“normal” lives when and where they could. And normal included school. Selene
was in college for the first time and claimed she’d missed a century of
opportunities because of Gideon, and she wouldn’t wait for life to get out of
her way anymore. Adelaide had to admit that her college courses gave her
something to concentrate on other than worrying about Lila.

“How’re
Lila and Ramsey enjoying studying abroad in Italy?” Juliette asked.

Adelaide
forced a smile. “They love it. They’ve been doing lots of traveling. We hardly
know where they are most of the time.”

Juliette
laughed. “Sounds romantic.” She glanced at Brian. “We should do that one year,
don’t you think?”

“What?
You don’t already see me enough?” he teased.

“Never.”
Juliette gave him a sassy wink.

“Well,
I guess it’s a good sign that you’re not sick of me yet.” He sighed
dramatically. “By the way… where’s Nate? He already down there?”

Adelaide
shook her head. “He’s not feeling well, so he stayed home today.” She hated lying
to her friends, but it came with the life she led. She should be used to it by
now. Of course, nothing was actually wrong with Nate, but he’d insisted on
staying home with Talia. Her conversation with him about it that morning hadn’t
been a happy one.  Lately Nate had been…
distant
, for lack of a better
word.

“So
anything new with you guys?” Adelaide asked to distract herself.

The
couple shared a happy smile. “I was going to wait to tell you…”Juliette began.
“We’re engaged!”

Adelaide
grinned. “I’m so excited for you! Ellie will claim she started it all. Tell me
all the details.” And then she settled back to discuss wedding plans the rest
of the way from Estes Park to Fort Collins.

*****

Hugh
walked into the kitchen where Lucy was hard at work baking a host of
travel-friendly treats for Ramsey, Ellie, and Alex. She looked over her
shoulder as he entered the room and Hugh’s heart swelled at the sight of his
wife. His
te’sorthene
. They had been together for almost 600 years now.
And despite the ups and downs and even the occasional tedium of daily life, he
still lit up inside at the sight of his beautiful wife.

“Adelaide
leave for school?” she asked.

Hugh
nodded. “She caught a ride down with Brian and Juliette.”

Lucy
stopped kneading the dough for the bread and turned to him with a frown. “That
doesn’t sound very safe.”

“Griffin
and Charlotte are both here. We need Griffin to keep his shield up around us.
But he’s keeping tabs on Delia with his telepathy. If they have to get to her
fast, Charlotte can do it.”

Every
time the kids had class, Hugh and Lucy came down and stayed at their Estes Park
house. Lucy claimed that she couldn’t stand the thought of being so far away
from one daughter, even for a few hours, when she had no idea where the other
daughter was. Besides which, Hugh had to be at his law office during the week
whenever he could. They’d thought about closing it, but hadn’t cut that cord
yet.

Lucy
looked out the window over the kitchen sink, and a sense of serenity seemed to
settle over her. Hugh had noticed that she seemed more at peace in this house
than at the castle. And that made these regular trips well worth the effort.

“Where’s
Nate?” she asked. “Doesn’t he have class too?”

Hugh
shook his head. “He does, but Talia gets too nervous when he’s gone that long.
He’s taking a week off and telling his professors he’s sick.”

A crease
marred Lucy’s brow. Hugh crossed the kitchen and, gently using the tips of his
fingers, smoothed the frown away for her. She gave him a small smile. “I don’t
like her being there without one of us with immediate access. It’s too
dangerous.”

“I
know.” Hugh gave her a light kiss on her nose. “But Griffin and Charlotte
insist they can cover her from here.”

Lucy
sighed, but nodded and turned back to her baking. “Okay. But next time, someone
is on campus with her.”

“Yes,
ma’am.” Hugh gave her a little salute and then lightly kissed her cheek before
leaving.

Griffin
glanced up from the show he was watching on T.V. as Hugh sat down beside him on
the couch. Charlotte was already curled up on the loveseat reading.

“Lucy
not too happy, huh?” Griffin asked.

Hugh
grimaced. “Can’t say I’m too happy about it either.”

Griffin
gave Hugh an understanding look. Given his telepathy, Griffin knew better than
anyone else that although Hugh kept a brave face for Lucy and the others, he
was just as heartsick over Lila’s disappearance.

A
few hours later, with the smells of fresh baked bread wafting from the kitchen,
Griffin felt the buzz in his back pocket. At the sound of both Hugh’s and
Charlotte’s cell phones ringing, the three of them glanced at each other with
trepidation.

It
was a text message from Ramsey—

Emergency.
Lost her. Come now.

Just
as Griffin and Hugh stood up, they heard Lucy cry out, “Hugh!” She rushed out
of the kitchen right into Hugh’s arms. “What does he mean?”

“We’ll
find out shortly,” Hugh answered.

Griffin
was already on the phone with Ellie, who’d received the same text. Brazil was
just a little too far away for him to reach her telepathically. He nodded at Charlotte,
and she popped out of the room. As he was dialing Adelaide’s number, Oren’s ghostly
figure misted into view.

“Selene
received an emergency text from Ramsey,” he announced.

“Yes,”
Hugh acknowledged. “We’ll send Charlotte for her in a minute. She’s getting
Ellie and Alex now.”

Oren
nodded and disappeared again.

Griffin
shook his head. “It’s going to voicemail,” he said. “She must still be in
class.”

Charlotte
suddenly appeared in the room with Ellie and Alex in tow.

“Selene
and Nate,” Griffin said. Without a sound, Charlotte was gone again.

“Does
anyone know what’s going on yet?” Ellie asked.

“Not
yet,” Hugh answered. “We’ll have to get to Ramsey to find out.”

Griffin
turned to the room. “Adelaide’s class will be out in about fifteen minutes. She
doesn’t think she can leave without the professor’s causing a scene. She said
to send Charlotte the second class lets out.”

As
Griffin finished speaking, Charlotte reappeared with Selene, who went straight
to Griffin’s side.

“Where’s
Nate?” Hugh asked.

“He
said he couldn’t leave Talia,” Charlotte replied.

Hugh
and Lucy exchanged a worried look but didn’t say anything.

“Charlotte,
Adelaide’s gonna meet you outside her biology classroom in about ten minutes,”
Griffin said.

“Should
we all go?” Charlotte asked.

“Better
if just you go versus all of us. Such a large group of her family would
probably look a little odd to her friends,” Alex said.

Charlotte
nodded and disappeared once more.

The
rest of them waited. Silent. They’d learned long ago that any speculation was
useless and only served to make the worry worse.

So
they waited.