by Abigail Owen
Lucy glanced back at Hugh, and they exchanged fond smiles.
“It truly was fate,” Hugh answered, giving Lucy a squeeze. “We knew each other as children in England. This is… what now… almost six hundred and fifty some-odd years ago? I was born in 1347 and Lucy is only two years younger. We just barely missed the Black Death, which happened only about two years before I was born.”
Lucy nodded with a grimace.
“Let’s see…. Who was King then?” Hugh rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
“Edward III, I think.” Lucy answered. “But I remember Richard II better.” She turned back to Selene. “We grew up in the same small village close to York. Hugh’s father was the local butcher. My family moved there when I was only five… too young to remember much. We were bakers.”
Lucy took a sip of her hot chocolate. “We didn’t have anything as wonderful as this for decades. Back then, chocolate was an expensive luxury only for the rich. A treat discovered in the Americas.”
Lila and Adelaide exchanged smiles. Their mother’s family’s baker’s roots shone through these many years later.
“I don’t remember meeting Lucy,” Hugh continued. “She was just always there, a part of the village. One of the children we all played with on occasions.” He scratched at the stubble on his chin again. “Actually, it was a bit of an accident that we discovered we both had powers. I was about twelve when my abilities first manifested. My father sometimes acted as a doctor for the village, and one day someone brought him a baby. It was blue… unable to breath. My father asked for my help to hold it, and as soon as I touched it, I felt this warmth pass from my hands, and the baby started breathing.”
“Who did you inherit from? Your father?” Selene leaned her cheek on her hand.
Hugh nodded. “I believe so. Though his ability was very subtle. In fact, I don’t think he ever realized that he was ‘gifted.’ I was old enough to know what they would do to a suspected witch back then, so I kept my secret to myself.”
“So how’d you discover each other?” Selene asked.
“Well, first of all, I knew long before I came into my abilities that it was possible,” Lucy answered, her green eyes clouded. “My mother was burned at the stake for witchcraft. It’s why we moved to Hugh’s village – to get away from that. She claimed she could see people’s souls. According to my father, it was very black and white for her. From his descriptions, I think that she saw evil or good, but nothing more.”
“I’m sorry,” Selene murmured. Having lost her own mother fairly young, she felt a small connection with Lucy.
Lucy smiled, the corners around her eyes crinkling. “It was a very long time ago, sweetie. And my father was kind and supportive. Although I do think that he was relieved that my ability was a subtler version of hers. Less apt to get me into trouble.”
“How did you find out about each other then, if you were both hiding your gifts from those around you?”
Hugh gave Lucy’s shoulders a quick squeeze. “I fell in love with Lucy when we were only twelve years old. I felt drawn to her warmth. She took care of everyone around her. I know now, of course, that it was the te’sorthene bond growing between us. But we were too isolated to be aware of such things back then.”
“He basically stalked me. Everywhere I went, there was Hugh,” Lucy laughed.
“One day, when I was about eighteen and she was around sixteen, I was making sure she got home safely. It was mid-winter and storming. She slipped on some ice and cut her hands up pretty badly on some rocks,” Hugh said.
“He ran right up to me. The only reason I wasn’t frightened was that I could see that his intentions were helpful.”
“Without even thinking about it, I healed her hands. Where anyone could see us.”
“And that’s when I saw into the heart of who he was. Someone so kind and honest and true. And who loved me entirely. How could a girl resist that? I leaned over and kissed him right there in the street!”
Hugh smiled. “We were married a year later.”
“That’s lovely,” Selene sighed. “What a beautiful story. And you’re so clearly still in love.”
The wistfulness in Selene’s voice caused Griffin to give her a curious glance. But she ignored him and snuggled deeper into her blankets. “Time to sleep, I think. Usually I have no problem crashing right out.”
“No kidding,” Ramsey muttered. Catching a couple of looks he said, “What? She goes out like a light. I’m jealous.”
“Well, I’m afraid tonight I’m just too strung up,” Selene admitted ruefully.
“Want me to help speed things up?” Ellie offered.
“Really? How?”
“I can’t. But Lila will be able to eventually, by making you relax to the point of sleep.” Lila waggled her eyebrows at Selene over Ellie’s shoulder.
“You ever get tired of finding out what you can’t do yet?” Selene wondered aloud.
“All the time,” Lila responded, followed by a round of “Yeah!” and “Seriously!” from Adelaide, Nate, and Ramsey. Alex wisely kept his own council.
“Hey!” Ellie protested with a good natured grin.
“We love you, Elle!” Lila teased, reaching over and squeezing Ellie’s shoulder affectionately.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ellie grumbled. She turned back to Selene. “So, you interested?”
“Yes. The sooner I fall asleep, hopefully, the sooner we get this over with.”
Ellie knelt down and Selene held out her hand. Ellie, using the full potential of Lila’s power, created a sense of such peace and serenity in Selene that she quickly fell asleep.
The nightmare started almost immediately. Selene knew she was already a wolf since she could see her pale front legs and paws as she trotted through a darkened forest. She tried her best to look around and notice any landmarks. Although she tried to follow Ellie’s advice and act the same as always, she really didn’t have to pretend… she was truly bewildered and terrified.
Just as Selene was about give up on seeing any recognizable landmark, she spotted a sign for a motorhome park. She looked directly at it, knowing Griffin and Ellie could see it too. Selene continued on, winding her way through several homes until she reached one on the far outskirts of the community. There were two Chinese lion statues on either side of the front entrance. Selene briefly paused, giving Ellie and Griffin a chance to memorize their distinctive features.
As Selene trotted around the back side of the home, she saw an old man sitting in a lawn chair smoking a pipe. A growl ripped from her throat, one that she couldn’t control. She saw the terror in the man’s eyes as he dropped his pipe and scrambled away from her. Just as she was about to lunge for him, her body was suddenly completely frozen still. And then everything went dark.
Chapter 21
“Selene, can you hear me?” Griffin’s voice sounded as if it were coming from far away. All she could see was blackness.
“Fight your way out of it, Selene. Listen to my voice.” Griffin seemed to be getting closer to her. But she still couldn’t see through the dark. “You enter and leave dreams. Use that power now, and shut him out of your mind.”
Selene furrowed her brow. “Shut who out of my mind?”
“Thank God you can hear me.” Griffin gave a relieved sigh. “Someone named Maddox is manipulating you. Fight him, Selene. Use your power and push him out of your head.”
At the sound of Maddox’s name, everything fell into horrible, awful place. Selene knew exactly what was going on. She’d been convinced of her guilt until that very moment. With a concerted effort, Selene tried to turn off the power that Maddox was using on her now but still couldn’t dig her way out of the dark pit.
“Tell Ellie that she needs to amplify my power-blocking ability,” she instructed Griffin. Concentrating harder, Selene could tell the second that Ellie added her boost to the power pool. Suddenly, the oppressive dark started to shift. Selene pushed harder against the walls in her mind and felt the pressure lift, li
ghtening further and further.
“Keep going, Selene,” she heard Griffin in her mind. “Almost there.” And with one final push and with Ellie’s help, Selene opened her eyes.
She was still on the couch in Lucy and Hugh’s living room. Griffin knelt beside her and was rubbing her hands.
“Welcome back to the land of the conscious,” he said with a grin.
Confusion clouded her silver eyes. Was that all really just a dream? “What happened?”
“I don’t usually say ‘I told you so’—”
“Yes, you do,” Ellie interrupted him.
Griffin ignored her. “— but I have to say that I’m extremely happy to be right in this instance.”
“I didn’t kill those people?” Selene held back the tears of relief. She sat up and held a hand to her throbbing head. Kicking Maddox out of her mind was going to leave quite a nasty psychic hangover.
“No.” Griffin’s eyes hardened as he leaned back to give her some space. “Another Vyusher did, though.”
“Maddox?” A grim foreboding settled in the pit of Selene’s stomach.
“Do you know who that is?” Hugh asked.
Suddenly, Selene was aware of an extra person in the room. Someone who hadn’t been there before.
“Zara,” Selene addressed the lanky blond huddled in the corner, surrounded by rings of flame that Selene assumed Ramsey had placed about her. “I should have realized. How the hell did you get here?”
“You know her?” Griffin asked.
Selene swung her legs to the floor as he moved to sit beside her on the couch. “She’s Maddox’s mate. Maddox was one of my brother’s four lieutenants. Our High Council of Elders and I decided to allow any Vyusher who wanted to leave the pack to go. Only a few left, maybe about twenty or so. That group included all four of Gideon’s lieutenants and their mates, including Maddox and Zara.” She nodded toward their captive. “How’d she get here?” she repeated.
Ellie offered the explanation. “Charlotte teleported us to the place in your dream. Zara over there was the white wolf impersonating you. Alex managed to freeze her just as she started to attack an old man. We brought her back with us so you could decide what to do next.”
Selene looked at Zara. “Were you controlling my dreams?”
“You thought you were so clever, keeping your abilities from Gideon,” Zara hissed. “But I figured you out, Princess. Maddox told me not to say anything years ago. I was keeping his own secret about dream control after all. And he knew exactly what to do with both of us when the time came.” Zara gave Selene a smug smile, malice shining from her eyes.
“What’d I ever do to you, Zara?” Selene asked quietly. The other girl just smirked.
“So this Maddox guy, is he dangerous?” Ramsey asked.
Selene thought about that for a moment. “He didn’t seem to have any particular skill beyond an impressive tactical mind. Maddox coordinated our army of fighters. I’ve shown you before how when Gideon was killed, all the Vyusher minds were released. Until that moment, none of them knew what they were doing. We assumed that was true for every wolf in our pack except me. I thought I was the only one aware of what was truly happening. We honestly didn’t consider those who decided to leave to be any kind of threat or danger to others.” Selene focused an intense look on their captive.
“You betrayed us, and she killed Maddox’s brother,” Zara pointed at Ellie. She almost spat in her fury, though she was careful not to move an inch, clearly afraid of the flames surrounding her.
“Huh?” Ellie was confused.
“Maddox’s brother was in the group sent to kill the Jenners and the Pierces. He was one of the wolves you fought and killed.”
“Oh.” Ellie grimaced.
“But how did I betray the Vyusher?” Selene asked.
Zara regarded her with a stubborn look despite her burning cage and refused to answer.
“We need more information. What’s Maddox’s play here?” Alex said.
“Griffin, are you able to read Zara’s mind?” Hugh asked.
Griffin trained his gaze on the girl. But he was silent so long that Ellie and Selene exchanged concerned glances.
“Well?” Ellie prompted.
Griffin held up one finger. After another few minutes he blinked and looked away from Zara.
“Sorry that took a little while. Her mind is a bit of a jumble. From what I could gather, Maddox and the other three lieutenants are trying to discredit Selene in some way. Take away her right to rule.” He turned to Selene. “Can that be right? Rule what?”
She bit her lip. “Rule the Vyusher,” she said quietly. “I’m technically their Queen now that Gideon is gone.”
“Awesome!” Nate gave a fist pump while the others groaned. “What? I’m just sayin’… we’ve got Svatura gypsy royalty over there—” He waved a hand at Ellie and Griffin, “And now we’ve got the Vyusher wolf Queen over there. It’s pretty cool, if you ask me.”
“Um, no one is asking you,” Lila said, as the others looked at him with incredulous expressions.
Nate shrugged, unfazed. “Okay, so maybe now wasn’t the best time. I’m just sayin’ it’s awesome is all,” he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Adelaide shook her head but snuggled into him and ran a hand over his sandy brown hair, receiving a hug in return.
“As far as I can tell, Maddox wants to overthrow you,” Griffin continued.
Selene chewed on her lower lip as she thought through her options. Her people couldn’t afford to be deceived by yet another homicidal, power-hungry monster.
“You have proof of his plan, Selene,” Alex reminded her. He was standing beside Ellie with one arm wrapped around her waist. “Take Zara to your Council. Charlotte can take you there. Bring Ellie, Griffin, Lucy, and Lila, and they can help you convince the Council of the truth.”
Selene saw the logic in Alex’s suggestion. “All right.” She glanced at Griffin and was saddened to see hesitation in his face. With a nod, she added, “We’ll go first thing tomorrow.”
“Let’s all try and get some sleep tonight,” Hugh suggested. “Those of us who are able to contain her can take turns keeping tabs on Zara.”
“She has the wolf and the dream control but no other abilities,” Ellie said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to keep her locked up.”
Chapter 22
Selene couldn’t sleep. At least finals were over. She’d studied darn hard and was more than pleased with her perfect grade average. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about school right now on top of everything else. But still, too many thoughts ran around in her head like a dog chasing its tail. And even though she now felt confident she’d be able to keep Maddox out of her dreams, she was still wary.
After an hour of tossing and turning, Selene slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hallway. She paused outside Griffin’s door, and then after a few moments hesitation, knocked softly. There was no answer. She tapped a little harder.
“Yeah?” Griffin called out.
Selene opened the door and poked her head inside. “You awake?”
“Am now.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. Selene tried to ignore how sexy the stubble made him look.
“Can I talk to you a moment?”
“What about?”
Selene ignored his lack of enthusiasm and entered the room. She shut the door behind her and took a seat on his bed, sitting close enough to be physically charged up by his bare torso, but far enough away so that she wouldn’t run her hands over his smooth skin, no matter how incredibly tempting it was.
“Something bothered you tonight about Hugh’s suggestion,” she stated.
Griffin frowned. “Says who?”
“Says me.” She watched as Griffin’s lips compressed. “And now you’re irritated with me for saying that. You get irritated with me a lot.”
Griffin huffed a laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Selene tipped her head to the side. “Was that sarcasm?”
Selene couldn’t resist. She reached out and poked him in the chest with her finger. “I think that it was–”
Suddenly, Griffin’s hand snaked out and grabbed hers. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was up to until he pushed the cuff of her sleeve back and flipped her hand over. Selene tried to jerk her hand away, but he tightened his grip and wouldn’t let her go.
With his free hand, Griffin lightly traced the slightly puckered scar that ran the circumference of her wrist.
“He did this to you,” Griffin said gruffly without looking up. He was referring to her brother, Gideon.
Selene took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“How?”
She closed her eyes, shaking her head, “I can’t. I-I don’t talk about it.”
“Can you show me?” His deep voice washed over her, and the hypnotic feel of his finger tracing her scar soothed Selene and gave her courage.
She nodded, closed her eyes, and pictured it in her mind so Griffin could read her thoughts. It’d happened during the horrific days when Gideon was claiming his rule over the Vyusher. He hadn’t liked how she’d initially resisted his actions against their parents, so he’d tested her to make sure he had her under complete control.
For about a week, he’d hung her by her wrists to a wall using a thick piece of wire with the instructions that it was her idea and nothing was wrong. She’d forced herself to remain there peacefully, knowing he was watching her. She didn’t so much as twitch at the pain or give the slightest indication that she knew what was happening. The incident was branded forever in her mind… and on her body. A permanent reminder of just how dangerous Gideon was.
She pushed the painful memory away – he’d seen enough. “I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened if I’d fought him,” Selene murmured. “But I was young and weak. I knew that he’d win in a battle of powers. He’d already proved that.”
She felt Griffin shift in the bed, and suddenly his warm lips brushed across the scars on her wrists in a whisper of a kiss. With a gasp Selene opened her eyes only to be captured by the golden depths of his. Holding her gaze, Griffin leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers and then once more. His touch was so light, it was like butterfly wings. Wanting more, needing more, Selene tipped forward, placing her hand on his chest, and pressed her lips against his. But Griffin didn’t move. Need overwhelmed her. She reached up and took his face in her hands.