The Witch's Dream - A Paranormal Romance (The Order of the Black Swan, BOOK TWO)

by Victoria Danann

  She shook her head and looked at Kay like she was offering condolences. "She's been taken by someone no'..." She seemed to be struggling for the right words. "...no' like us. And he has taken her to a... reality outside this."

  "You mean another dimension?" asked Elora.

  "Aye." Song nodded at Elora, grateful to be understood.

  The room went dead silent while each individual contemplated the implications of that in his or her own way. A few months ago there was no evidence that multiple dimensions, or alternate realities, share common physical space or are anything more than fantasy or science fiction. But that, of course, was before Elora materialized out of thin air. If her arrival alone was not sufficient evidence, she had brought with her scientific documentation in the form of encoded data that proved the premise beyond refutation. With an alien from another dimension standing in the room, it would be hard to use impossibility as an argument.

  Kay was first to speak. His normally quiet and assured, easy-going, Texas drawl was tinged with anxiety and his volume was several notches above his norm. "What does he want with her?" Song looked like she was searching for the right thing to say. "Out with it, girl. Just spit it out!"

  Kay had risen, walked toward Aelsong's chair, and was now looming over her. Normally he would be cognizant of the intimidation factor, but he was too preoccupied to think about it. Seated, with Kay's giant figure towering over her, she had to lean her head way back to look him in the face. With a tone full of apology and sorrow at being the message bearer she said, "He wants to punish you."

  Kay looked like he'd been slapped. Gaping at Aelsong, he backed up two steps until the back of his legs caught the sofa facing her. Looking stunned, he more fell into sitting position than sat.

  Elora wanted to rush in and put her arms around him, but somehow thought that might make things worse. So she kept her full weight glued to the chair.

  "Punish him for what?" Storm demanded.

  "The abductor believes Kay is responsible for the death of someone... Father maybe?"

  "What else can you tell us?" Ram asked. "We need to know everythin' you saw. Do no' think that any detail is insignifi...."

  "Alright," Storm interrupted, "If nobody else is going to say it, I don't mind being the one to ask. Why were you looking at the witch like that?"

  "Like what?" Song looked completely confused.

  "Like you thought she did it. Or had something to do with it."

  "What?" Song frowned, looked Litha square in the face and then shook her head. "No. I did no'."

  "That's bullshit! What are you hiding?"

  Elora read her new sister-in-law's body language. The effect of having so many larger-than-life men standing over her making demands was showing. Her arms were crossed in front of her and she had pulled her legs up into a defensive posture that made her look so much smaller. It was disconcerting to watch someone with Song's normal self-confidence and lustful personality reduced to looking victimized.

  Storm was coming dangerously close to browbeating and Elora was on the verge of intervening when two things happened. Peripherally she saw Baka rise out of his chair in the corner, clearly with the same idea in mind, but, before either of them acted on their protective impulses, Ram passed in front of Elora like a flash and was standing between Storm and Song.

  "'Tis my sister you're speakin' to, lunker."

  Storm held out a finger pointing at Kay. "That's my partner sitting on the couch looking like he's been stabbed in the gut!"

  Ram gaped at Storm like he had lost his mind. "And now you're thinkin' you're the only one in the room who cares about Kay, are you? My sister is no' the enemy. She's here, voluntarily, to help our teammate find and recover his female."

  Storm and Ram, with faces only a foot apart, stared at each other for a few beats at impasse. Finally, Storm blinked twice and looked at Song.

  "I'm sorry, Song. I shouldn't be taking this out on you."

  He shot a brief, but dangerous glare at Litha then turned away.

  "I have impressions I can share. I do no' know if they'll be helpful," Song told Ram.

  Ram knelt beside her chair and said softly, "Tell us what you saw. How do you know they're no' in our reality?"

  Song shook her head. "I can no' say exactly. 'Tis hard to describe. 'Tis a sensin' that comes to me. She is no' terrified nor hurt, seems more hypnotized. The creature who has her is beautiful enough to be a god. He's no' a god, but he's no' a man either. Long black hair, black eyes, bronze skin. I hear the word..." She paused and frowned while looking down at the carpet in front of her. "Can no' be right."

  "What can no' be right, Song?" Ram urged her to continue.

  She looked him in the face. "Demon?"

  Litha stood up. "What kind, psy?"

  Everyone turned to look at the witch.

  Aelsong closed her eyes to see if she got an impression. "I do no' know if this makes sense."

  Litha could see that Aelsong was showing signs of nerves, growing more reticent and unsure of herself by the second. She approached the young seer, speaking in a tone of calm assurance with a hint of big sister patience.

  "I know you've just arrived and barely unpacked. You haven't had time to prepare for the pressure of reading in a situation like this with emotions so high and so much at stake. I'm sorry you had to jump straight into the fire, but, since you know the subject personally, there's no doubt you're the best bet.

  "You know The Order doesn't recruit just anybody with a little sixth sense. You're special. Trust that. Just say whatever came to mind and let us judge the validity."

  Aelsong looked at her. "Incubus." There was an audible, collective gasp right before they felt a low rumbling, vibration. "But they are no' real are they?" Her entreaty made her sound so young and inexperienced, but Litha couldn't afford to be distracted by sympathetic impulses.

  At first Elora thought the rumbling was a minor earth tremor. Then she heard the growl paired with it and saw that her husband had turned toward Kay and paled.

  Storm lunged for Kay, grabbed him by his impossibly wide shoulders, and began shaking him.

  "Caelian! No! This will not help us get Katrina back. Stay with us. We'll hear from the kidnapper and find out what he wants."

  Seeing the potential crisis, Song seemed to regain some of her self-possessed demeanor she normally wore like skin. She scrambled off her chair toward Kay, knelt in front of him, and took his hand. "Kay, Trina is alive. Alive and unharmed."

  Seeing that she could add nothing to the way her partners were handling the situation Elora took Litha by the arm and pulled her to the far side of the room.

  "What do you know about this?"

  Litha faced Elora, letting her see an open expression showing that she had nothing to hide. "No more than you."

  Elora reached out with her intuition to try to ascertain whether Litha was telling the truth or not. Certainly she saw no wariness or defensiveness. "Why do you think Song looked at you the way she did?"

  "I don't know. Maybe because I'm going to be involved?"

  The rumbling quieted which meant her partners had helped Kay stay in control. For now.

  "How?"

  Elora saw the other woman take on a resolute expression as her mouth set in determination. "I'm going to track the berserker's bride."

  "Bride-to-be," she corrected. "If Song is right, if it is a demon and he has taken her to another dimension, how are you going to track them? It seems..." She glanced over her shoulder at the others and lowered her voice. "...impossible."

  Litha cocked her head to the side. "How long have you worked for The Order?"

  "A few months. Why?"

  "Because we don't like to think the word 'impossible' until we're positive there's nowhere else to go. We have the best resources in the known universe."

  "I know that."

  Litha smiled slightly. "Well. There's knowing and there's knowing."

  "What the hell does that mean, Litha? I'm not in the mood fo
r riddles."

  With a little shake of her head that was charming whether Elora liked it or not, Litha answered. "Sometimes preparation meets opportunity. Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we make magick. And sometimes the result is that we manage the impossible."

  Elora nodded in understanding. Her estimation of the witch was growing and she was starting to feel good about Litha batting for their team. "That berserker over there is family to Ram and Storm and me. Any of us would do anything for him. Just tell us what we can do to help. Anything," she repeated.

  "Just keep the big bastard in his skin until we get this sorted out."

  Litha walked over to Simon Tvelgar and told him they could use a demonologist on the scene. He said she was already on the way.

  When Heaven arrived, Litha asked Aelsong to join them. The three withdrew to a corner where they could talk quietly without upsetting Kay. Litha had Song repeat what she had seen for Heaven's benefit and then asked her to clarify details while the visions were still fresh in her memory. Any information, no matter how meaningless it might seem on the surface, could be the very thing that helped her track.

  Litha asked Song to describe the environment, or backdrop, of the scenes she had witnessed. Aelsong had seen Katrina leave the hotel with the black haired man willingly. The next thing she saw was Katrina sitting in a windowless room staring straight ahead.

  Kay's phone rang. He was working so hard at controlling his rage that it took him a few seconds to register that it was a call for him. He pulled the phone from his pocket, looked at it, and felt a chill run through his veins when he saw the Caller ID. It said simply, "Got Your Girl."

  His hand was shaking badly as he raised the phone. "This is Caelian."

  "And this is Deliverance, son of Abraxas, Obizoth, whom you murdered. In lieu of the blood debt you owe me, I have decided to take your female. She is much sweeter retribution than killing you. Every day you will imagine how I enjoy having her in my bed and at my mercy as she pays for your transgression."

  Kay's stared straight ahead not seeing anything or anyone around him. His gray eyes had glazed over and looked silvered. Only he could see the red streaking across the gray haze in his vision, gradually overtaking it. His voice croaked low, barely more than a whisper. "Please demon."

  Deliverance laughed and ended the connection.

  Kay dropped the phone as he began vibrating visibly. The rumbling they had heard earlier turned into deafening roars of rage and grief and helplessness. When Storm approached, Kay threw him aside then began dismantling furniture.

  Simon called security and told them to bring tranquilizer guns on the double. By the time they arrived, Kay had torn the priceless tapestries from the walls and was ripping them to shreds. Storm was trying to get through to him, but Kay was beyond words.

  Keeping her body between the berserker and the others, Elora steered everyone, including Simon and Baka, out of the room leaving only the four members of B Team.

  Two security guards burst into the room leveling tranq guns on Kay. They fired with amazing speed and precision. When Storm saw that they were shooting Kay with darts, he lunged for them screaming, "No!"

  Ram tackled Storm before he could reach the guards and got him in a chokehold from behind where he could say in his teammate's ear, "They're no' hurtin' him, Stormy. They're helpin' him. Savin' him from the pain. Look at him. Look close. That's no' Kay."

  Storm stopped struggling and, after a few minutes, he nodded. Ram instantly released him.

  Two large orderlies rolled Kay onto a gurney, strapped him in, raised it, and wheeled away. The medical staff had been ordered by the Director to keep him lightly sedated so that he would not harm himself or others while they sorted out this muddle.

  When Elora caught Ram's eye, she motioned for him to step aside with her and talk quietly out of earshot of the others. "We've got to think of a cover story for the Norns."

  Ram exhaled a heavy sigh and ran his hand through his hair. His eyes were so full of sadness she could barely look at him. They worked out the details of what to do about Kay's sisters with Simon.

  The Order had someone situated high enough in the Greater London Metropolitan Police Department, unofficially known as Scotland Yard, to call off the search. Ram took it on himself to call the three sisters. He told them that Kay was beside himself with worry, but that he would be able to deal with the situation better knowing that they were safe at home. Amazing even himself, Ram was able to talk the girls into flying back to Houston and said that a police escort would pick them up and see them onto the plane.

  Elora watched her husband from across the room as he closed his phone. She could see that Ram felt a hundred-years-old. And it wasn't even time for breakfast yet. She remembered Kay once saying that, within the team, group dynamics were always in motion. When she first met the other three members of B Team, Ram was generally thought of as an immature hothead and prankster.

  Today, seven months later, he looked like the foundation that B Team was standing on. Her heart swelled with pride to have witnessed the journey of the man he'd become, but also grieved a little because, each time he shouldered a new burden of responsibility, the gregarious elfin boy she fell in love with retreated a little further and she feared one day he could be lost forever. She wanted so badly to comfort him, but knew there would be no such thing as comfort for any of them so long as one of Bad Company was in crisis. One for all. All for one. It had never been said because it didn't need to be.

  After Kay had been subdued and removed, the little group drifted back into the ruined room and stood silently surveying the damage. The mood couldn't have been more solemn.

  Ram took charge and said to the group in general. "Why do we no' move upstairs to the War Room?" Looking at Simon he said, "Perhaps you could ask someone to bring us breakfast while we hear the tracker's thoughts on where to begin?" To Litha he said, "Is there anythin' in particular you will be needin'?"

  "For now, more time with Aelsong and Heaven. I have more questions for both."

  As Litha passed by Storm he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "What do you have to do with this?"

  "I'll tell you what I have to do with this, Sir Storm. So far as I know, I'm the only hope your friend has for ever seeing his fiancé again." She jerked her wrist free and continued on her way once more leaving him standing there watching her go and feeling like a Grade A prick.

  While they waited for some news from the tracker, Storm sought out the infirmary so that he could see for himself that his partner was in good hands. When he opened the door to Kay's hospital room, he found Elora sitting by Kay's bedside with her back to the door. She turned her head to see who was there, but didn't speak. Remembering he wasn't alone in caring for Kay took the edge off some of the pressure Storm had been applying to clenching his teeth together.

  His eyes came to rest on Kay's relaxed features and substantial form covered in white starched sheets with a white cotton weave blanket on top. He looked around the room. The high ceilings made it seem expansive. That was good. He didn't want Kay in small, confined quarters. The feeling was airy and bright – the exact opposite of what was in his heart. Walls were painted pale, pale yellow and there was a nice view of treetops through a tall window with wrought iron panes. Sunlight filtered through the new Spring leaves on those trees, causing light and shadows to dance on the walls and ceiling with an optimism that was welcome even if it was so out of place. He was grateful that the room wasn't gloomy.

  As he stared out the window, a bird landed on a branch and fluttered his wings excitedly.

  Elora had been watching him, following his gaze. She saw that his eyes had glazed over and that he was in a semi state of trance. After some time, she said, simply, "Window."

  His lids flickered, awareness returned and he looked her way, their eyes meeting in acknowledgement of a poignant moment of shared personal history. Both of them were remembering that, when she was new to this world and injured beyond anyone's expectat
ion to recover, she had asked for only one thing: a window. Storm had spent a season of his life coaxing her to rise from helpless and vulnerable lost girl to, perhaps, the most formidable creature in his world. He thought… well, it no longer mattered what he thought.

  No one ever knows where their personal breaking point is until they reach it. Most are never pressed to such a limit that they find out. Storm wasn’t that lucky.

  Suddenly, without warning, Storm reached his. Emotions finally overflowed and culminated in an eruption that looked and sounded a lot like a sob. It surprised him as much as it did her. In an instant, before he could suck in a breath to replace the air that had just gushed from his lungs, she was there with her arms around him.

  In the past ten months Storm had been through several levels of hell and without once succumbing. No tears. No self-pity. Which also meant no blessed release.

  There, at the foot of Kay's bed, with his best friend drugged into oblivion and the only woman he ever loved trying to give him comfort, the dam finally broke open and he let go of some of that tight control; that tight control that kept muscles painfully rigid, temper on edge, laughter and joie de vive always just out of reach.

  He let himself grieve for his late teammate, Lan, the brother-in-arms who had taught him how to hunt vampire and stay alive while doing it. He let himself feel the deep psychic wound of Elora's rejection. He let himself feel fear for a forcefully sedated berserker who was closer to him than any other living person besides Ram. He let himself be comforted by his fourth teammate, the first and only female knight in the history of The Order of the Black Swan; the one who had chosen somebody else.

  Elora tried to stem her own tears of empathy and just be there with Storm while he rode it out. Whatever it took. For as long as it took. She might not want to marry him. She didn't love him in that way, but she did love him, more even than her own two brothers – if they were still alive. She loved him unconditionally and without reservation and there was nothing he could ever do that would change that. Certainly he had done this and much more for her.