I saw the girl struggling, reaching out to me. They were headed toward the docks. If they took her to a warehouse, I could do something. If they took to the water…
My worst fears came true as they jumped into a boat, its engines already running and waiting for them. It seemed in an instant, they were gone. The glare from the sun off the water made it impossible for me to track them.
I fell to my knees at the edge of the dock, breathing hard. I slammed my fists into the wood, cursing myself for letting them get away.
“Can you teleport us?” Silver asked.
I could not focus enough to teleport myself let alone attempt to bring someone else with me.
“Where?!” I asked sharply in between deep intakes of air. “Even if I could see the boat, I couldn’t get myself on it while it’s moving.”
Silver said something, rubbing my back, but I did not hear it. I put my head down on the dock and thought about screaming in frustration, but had not caught my breath enough to put forth the effort.
This could not be happening. Not again.
Chapter 13
Kitteren sat next to me in the common room of our suite. Silver spoke quietly with the Highlands Office TIO agents. I had gone numb. My mind did not want to accept that history appeared to be repeating itself.
I already gave my statement and Kitteren just kept her arm around my shoulders.
Mother and Father argued quietly on the other side of the room. Somehow quietly enough I could not hear them in the small area.
Father gestured in my direction at one point and Mother put her hand on his arm, gently pushing it down. What had I done? All I wanted to do was save the girl.
“Ket, talk to me. Please,” Kitteren begged. I had not spoken beyond giving my statement.
I held my tongue. My legs still ached and I rubbed my calves, trying to get the soreness out.
Silver had called Father. Father then called the Highlands TIO Office. Somehow they got here in record time. Kitteren gave Silver a hard time about what happened until I stepped in and informed her it had been my decision.
At this rate I was bound to get a headache. I enjoyed not having them.
“You should probably stretch,” Kitteren suggested quietly.
“If I’m not needed, I’m going for a swim,” I said, getting up and heading for the room I shared with my sister. I remembered seeing a changing area at the pool itself so I would not have to walk past them in my swimsuit.
I heard Kitteren start to argue and then one of the agents saying they were done here for now.
I managed to get my suit and brushed past everyone before anyone could stop me. I needed time to think and there were too many people around. I knew the agents would not be able to stop these people in time. No one knew about this better than I did and likely no one would take me seriously if I tried to explain.
I mourned the loss I likely would have to take to do this. The fairie was a monster - I would do everything I could to maintain myself, but I started to wonder how high the cost would be this time. Likely I would lose Kitteren if she found out.
~*~
Despite the signs saying not to, I dove in. I was alone in the pool room and I needed to get wet fast or I would find the water too cold to get in all the way.
Turning over, I floated on my back, staring at the ceiling. I had not actually wanted to swim, but I needed to get away from the others.
The slave traders changed their method from 50 years ago. Was it even the same crew? Something told me yes, at least at the top. It felt like someone was baiting me to go after them.
The last time they held the children in one of the warehouses. Would they have doubled-back after we left? But why have a boat waiting in the first place? I marked the idea as highly unlikely.
Now they were being held in the harbor, but where? With such a busy port there were many trade vessels in and out daily. I did not know where to start. Then I needed to take into account the local fishing industry also.
I needed to shake off my escorts and go down to the waterfront and investigate. There had to be some clue. I just hoped it would not be too late by the time I found the child. With any luck, they were still collecting the children to sell and were not ready to meet with a buyer.
The water flowed around me quietly while I contemplated the actions of the two men. I think they knew somehow, but I did not remember them from the last time. Why wait for me to see them take the girl? This trip had been a horrible mistake, but I could not let this go even with the potential of it being a trap.
I sensed someone enter the pool room and folded up, swimming under the water until I got to the side near the door. I peeked over the edge of the pool.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Silver said, taking a seat in one of the chairs. He had not changed from earlier and it did not look like he planned on swimming.
“I came here to be alone,” I said flatly.
Silver toyed with his braid once he settled. “Too bad. Dayko asked me to come down and make sure you were okay. You could just pretend I’m not here.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, not moving from where I was hiding most of my body. “Why you and not Kitteren?” Him being sent made little sense to me, but most things this trip had.
“Because I was with you when it happened. And he and Lindale were having what looked like was going to be a lengthy conversation with her when I left,” Silver said. “I take it you didn’t bring your violin this time.”
“No…” Silver had become more observant than I remembered. I floated along the wall, still holding on so I could keep my head up and keep track of him.
Silver sighed loudly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. You can go back to what you were doing. You looked peaceful.”
Not the word I would have used. And it irritated me I needed to be watched by people I trusted. And now I had to have a babysitter inside the hotel. How in the Hells could I move to go find the children when I could not even be free to think?
“You’re planning on going after them, aren’t you?”
“What does it matter to you?” I snapped and immediately regretted it. I sank back into the water in shame.
Silver got up and came over to kneel next to where I floated. “You’re my partner and more importantly my friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I glared at him and debated moving away, but I had pulled myself against the wall to try and hide as much of my thin frame as I could.
Silver stood up, “Look, the Highlands agents have things under control. They’ll find the girl.”
“It’ll be too late,” I whispered, not having planned to speak aloud.
Silver sat back on his heels and watched me for a minute. I disliked the feeling of being sized up. “Ketayl, what is it? I’ve never seen you so agitated. Not even when you were balancing quizzing me while pulling late nights in the lab and answering my thousands of questions while trying to study yourself. You can tell me - I want to help where I can.”
I shivered - I needed to get out. It overrode my need to hide my small form from Silver and I swam to the end of the pool near the towels.
I dropped down under the water, holding onto the wall and pulled myself up quickly, bringing up a shower of water. I sat on the edge for a moment before rolling to my feet and grabbing a towel.
After wrapping myself in a large, fluffy towel, I grabbed a smaller one to start drying my face and hair. “What matters is I know what is going on better than anyone else. I’ll be able to find her. There are probably others as well, but I have to do this alone.”
“No way that’s happening,” Silver said, coming over to where I stood. I’d use my power to dry off when I went to change, but I enjoyed the luxury of wrapping up in a large towel. “What about working with the Highlands agents?”
I leveled a look at him which I hope conveyed the fact no one would let me work a case while on vacation.
“Right,” Silver said, taking the smaller to
wel from me and helping soak the excess water out of my hair. I thought about pulling away, but it might hurt. “Then let me help you. An extra set of eyes and ears couldn’t hurt. But you have to promise me if we find them, we let the Highlands agents handle it.”
I pried my hair out of his hands. This was the problem with having it down - it became too easy of a leash. “Fine, but I make no promises.” I would have to somehow lose him in this endeavor. I did not want him to get hurt. This was my fight.
Chapter 14
Come morning, my family had taken off again. Mother left a note saying she had a meeting with some manager and Kitteren returned to Joanna’s house. Father went up to Don’s to finish the repairs.
A knock on the door to the suite kept me from giving it much more thought. Fixing the strap on my top, I peeked through the small lens to see who it could be. Silver stood there, his arms crossed.
Opening the door, I commented, “You’re up early.” I still wore my night clothes and I had hit the point of I did not care how I looked in front of him.
“Paladin of the Holy Church of the Sun - kind of means I’m up before dawn,” Silver replied sarcastically. “Did I wake you?”
I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. “I probably would have been up a while ago, but I couldn’t calm my mind enough to rest.”
“Well, get dressed. There’s breakfast downstairs and I’m famished,” Silver gently directed me toward my room.
“Pushy,” I commented before closing the door. Thinking about it, I could get used to this. Having a partner might not be so bad. It was a comfortable, but not too close of a relationship.
Too bad it would end before it really started. I felt guilty about my plans to ditch Silver at some point so I could move freely. I supposed I could see how the morning went and maybe reconsider. There might be a small chance this could end much more peacefully.
I started to think maybe my biggest problem right now had become finding something comfortable to wear.
As I pulled up my short jeans I frowned at the length or rather lack thereof. Silver called through the door, “Where is the rest of your family?”
“They already went their separate ways this morning. It has been like this most of the time I’ve been here.” I did not know why I told Silver so much, but I felt like I needed to explain.
“And here I was thinking it was going to be hard spending time with you,” Silver said and I rolled my eyes.
Once I finished, I opened the door so I would not have to speak loudly to be heard. Sitting down on the bed, I started brushing my mass of hair.
“Here, let me,” Silver said, sitting on the bed behind me and taking my brush.
“I’m quite capable of doing my hair,” I argued, twisting to take it back.
Silver hid my brush behind him and turned me back around. “Humor me.”
Crossing my arms I sat still. What was his thing with my hair anyway? Or anyone’s this trip I wondered. Why did Kitteren insist on having me wear it down?
“I noticed you haven’t been wearing your hair in a bun lately. Trying something new?” Silver asked.
I sighed and told him, “No, Kitteren took my hair pins and anything else to tie it back. I haven’t been anywhere to pick up more.”
“Seems a bit excessive.” His fingers were sure but gentle. “Mind if I try something? It’ll help keep it out of your face.”
I waved my hand for him to do whatever. I was not overly picky and if it contained the mass, the happier I would be. I again briefly entertained the idea of cutting it.
Silver started a weave at the top of my head, pulling more hair into it with each twist until he ran out of hair to gather and then braided it down. He dug a hair elastic out of his pocket.
“Not too bad considering it has been a long time since I’ve done one of these,” Silver said. He tapped me on the shoulder with my brush and I took it.
I paused a moment to process his comment. “You used to do hair for other people?”
Silver waved the end of his own braid at me. “When there were more families at the church, we’d rotate who cared for the children. I found myself doing hair a lot when I wasn’t teaching classes. And getting my own hair done.”
I smiled at the mental image, though I had a hard time imagining Silver sitting still while children played with his hair. “I’m sorry you left that.”
Silver stood up and guided me toward the bathroom so I could better see what he had done. “There haven’t been many families there for almost a decade and most insisted on teaching their own children. Besides, if it wasn’t for the request from the TIO, we likely wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
I paused to consider what he said and wondered if he meant when we requested a divine consultant. A little morbid to think about this early.
“Still, you could have stayed and helped them rebuild.” I picked up the hand mirror Mother kept and turned my back to the large mirror so I could see. The braid was pretty and it worked well to keep my mass of hair contained. Maybe he would let me keep the elastic afterward - at least until I retrieved my own items.
Silver’s face went neutral and I feared I said the wrong thing. “That may be a discussion for another time. The short version is despite the fact we follow the same doctrine, the new members were very different from my family.”
“Why not now?” I asked. Silver had been adamant in knowing about me, why deny me answers?
He took a deep breath, looking at his own reflection in the mirror. “Because I still don’t truly understand it myself. At least not enough to explain it.”
I supposed it was fair enough.
“Why do you call the fairie a monster?” Silver asked. I nearly dropped the mirror. “And you react oddly every time the fairie is brought up.”
I put the mirror down gently. In here with the large mirror, I could not hide from him. I closed my eyes for a moment to try and find a way out of this. Kitteren and Mother, I could tell no all I wanted. For some reason I could not do the same to Silver. What about this Elven man made me feel like I could tell my darkest secrets to him?
My mind answered with because as a paladin he probably often listened to people’s problems.
“I know the full story. It’s not just a myth or legend - time just turned the events into that along with a helpful amount of embellishment. I’d rather not retell it if you don’t mind.” My words sounded hollow to my ears. I knew the odds - I would likely need my full power and end up becoming the monster again to end the girl’s terror. How would I be able to do that while still afraid of my own abilities?
“You were there? Were you one of the rescued children?”
Apparently I now had his full attention and I hoped he would drop it. I looked up at Silver in the mirror and kept my mouth shut. It would be better for him to believe that.
“But the girl seemed to think you were the fairie.”
“Things change over time,” I said and managed to get around him and left the bathroom.
“Ketayl, stop. Which is it?” Silver grabbed my shoulder.
I turned and smiled at him, pushing how uncomfortable our conversation made me feel to the back. “You said you were famished - we should get going.”
~*~
Silver pestered me all the way down to the dining area. There were a couple of tables set up serving various items for breakfast. He stopped when there were others around, but his theories started becoming more wild. He had even asked if it could be another sister or other relation who shared my coloring.
I refused to answer anymore and served myself before sitting down at an open table near the window. It had a nice view out over the harbor.
“Ketayl…” His voice bordered on whining. What intrigued everyone about this story?
Sighing, I signaled him to wait while I finished. “All that matters right now is freeing the girl and any others who may have been taken. That story won’t help us.”
Silver made a face at me. “
Someday will you tell it to me?”
“Not likely,” I answered. I had to be honest with him - it would not be fair otherwise.
He made a face of frustration at me before continuing, “Does your family know?”
I sighed, he was not going to give this up and my hold on not wanting to tell anyone was loosening. “About as much as anyone else does.” I assumed the extent of Mother’s knowledge stopped about there as well.
Silver remained silent. Finally I could eat in peace. But back then I never ate this well. Food like this was a luxury I stole from the open back doors of restaurants. I did it rarely and often something off a plate of someone working. I would not take a lot - just enough to hush my stomach so I could continue to find food and money to care for Kitteren.
“Ketayl?” Silver’s voice startled me and I realized I had been staring at my plate.
I kept seeing the past overlaying the present and it worried me. I could not afford the distraction. “Sorry, just thinking.”
He raised an eyebrow at me and said nothing further.
I knew Silver would not let this go. I just did not want him to know what kind of monster I truly was. The illusion I created over the years had only ever been for the safety of others.
~*~
“Ketayl, we’ve been at this for hours and have nothing. Let’s take a break for dinner. We can compare notes and come back fresh,” Silver said, stretching.
He did have a point. I had not been able to shake him all day. As soon as I started to get a distance away, Silver would close the gap. We started where the children had last been held, which only confused him because I would not explain my reasoning. From there, we searched along the docks, but we could find no sign of the boat or anything else to give some sort of direction.
What confused me was his initial reluctance to go near the warehouses. He caved when I suggested we split up and I would search near the warehouses.
Shattered Illusions (Terra Chronicles Book 2) Page 16