by Amy Patrick
As we walked side-by-side I cleared my throat. “Um… Culley… I want to… I’d like to apologize. For being so... unwelcoming. Or maybe ‘unforgiving’ is the right word. I think I might have been able to get over the theft of the raw saol residue fairly quickly. But after what you did to Ryann the last night you were here… well, I admit I’ve had some lingering bad feelings toward you.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” he quipped, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Then his demeanor sobered. “No, I understand. Now that I have a bond-mate of my own, now that I know what it is to actually love someone… well, I’m truly ashamed of my past behavior. And your distrust was completely justified. But I really have changed. And I have the ultimate sympathy for what you’re going through now. After I fell in love with her in L.A., Laney disappeared. I had no idea what had happened to her or where she’d gone. I was losing it. I feel sorry for anyone who had to be around me during those months. Of course, I found out later she’d come back here—to her hometown. Thank the gods I found her again, or I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever been through,” I admitted. “And I’ve been through some pretty bad things. So… what I’m trying to say is thank you for coming. If there’s anything you can do…”
“Actually, I’ve already contacted my mum in Australia. Well, I left a message. Haven’t heard back yet. I haven’t actually spoken with her in ages. She’s a bit peeved with me over the whole bonding-with-a-human thing.”
He chuckled and blew out a breath, brows raised to his hairline. “If I have to, I’ll fly over there and use my glamour to sneak into the throne room and demand an audience with her. She might know of someone in the Dark Court there who’s gone noticeably missing or maybe has a special interest in your family for some reason.”
“You think Linnea might be a Dark Elf?”
“Could be. If she lied about where she’s from, she could have lied about that as well. Do you think you could tell the difference?”
“I thought I could. But then, Nox lived here for years and blended in pretty well. I hope you hear back from her soon. Even if you don’t, I’m open to any ideas you may have.”
“Well, if it turns out the Australian Dark Court angle is a no-go, I can check with the Light Court there, too. I met most of the leaders at the last Assemblage there. Even if they don’t remember me, they all know who my mum is. They’ve got about the same amount of love for the Dark Court as the Light Elves anywhere do, but they’ll talk to me. We’ll figure out if this Australian accent thing is for real.”
“I appreciate it.”
We arrived at the dining room, where a lively discussion was taking place, led by Nox. Everyone was making suggestions, and the small amount of evidence we’d managed to gather, including Ryann’s phone, was placed in the center of the table.
Culley strolled in and picked it up, glancing to me. “Mind if I take a look?”
“Not at all. You’ll see our last text messages there as well as the photo that’s been circulating.”
He read the messages then swiped upward to bring the photo onscreen. And he gasped.
“Culley?” Nox said, his expression alert. “What is it? Do you recognize the girl?”
Culley looked up, his eyes meeting Nox’s then mine. He looked like he was about to be sick.
“Yeah. I do. And she’s not a girl.”
10
Chapter Ten
RYANN
Linnea returned a couple hours later, knocking on the bedroom door before speaking.
“Go into the bathroom,” she instructed. “I’ll bring in your food and leave it for you. Don’t come out until I’ve left and re-locked the door, and don’t even think of trying anything. I’m stronger than I look. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
I slid from the bed, hesitating before moving toward the bathroom. It was physically impossible for me to break out of this room, and I couldn’t engage in hand-to-hand combat with Linnea, no matter how strong or weak she might be. I couldn’t put the baby at risk like that.
All I had to work with was the powerful Sway I’d inherited from my biological father, Davis. If there was ever a time or place to use it, it was here and now. It worked better on humans than other Elves, but Linnea was young, her strength and abilities not as fully developed as that of older Elves. She might be susceptible.
I tiptoed to the doorway. “Linnea… you don’t have to do anything, you know. It’s not too late to turn this around. I know you have your reasons for what you’re doing, but just think about it—you’re not going to get away with it. This can’t end well for you. Stop now, let me go… before you lose everything.”
There was a sharp laugh. She definitely did not sound swayed. “I’ve already lost everything. I lost my only child. My son.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, and I was. Linnea was clearly a disturbed person, and now I knew why. She was motivated by grief and loss. She was in pain and emotionally unstable.
Maybe there was still hope of getting through to her. At least that was what I was thinking before she spoke again.
This time there was venom in her voice—as well as a distinct accent that hadn’t been there before.
“You should be sorry. If it weren’t for the influence of your people, I’d never have lost him. You took my heir from me. So, I’m going to take yours from you.”
“Your heir?” I said, stepping back from the door. My head was spinning, and the tips of my fingers and toes felt cold.
I’d thought Linnea was a young Light Elf from the Oregon clan. She said she’d been training to be a guard before she became an apprentice healer. Now she was acting as if she was some kind of royalty.
Was she delusional? Or maybe what I’d seen before had been the act. Maybe this was the real Linnea.
“Who are you?” I asked. “Who was your son?”
She didn’t answer, but neither did she walk away. She just stood there, her breathing audible on the other side of the door.
“Answer me,” I demanded. “Who are you? Where are you from? What did my people have to do with the death of your son?”
When she still didn’t answer, I pounded the door once. “Linnea!”
Finally, she spoke. “I didn’t say my son was dead. I said I lost him.”
There was a pause.
“And my name is not Linnea.”
11
Chapter Eleven
LAD
“Falene?” I nearly choked on the word after hearing Culley’s claim. “Your mother?”
He nodded, biting his lower lip and breathing audibly through his nose as he stared at the image on the phone. “Unfortunately, that’s her. No doubt about it.”
“But…” Wes said, clearly confused. “That girl doesn’t look any more than twenty. I know your kind stop aging physically at around thirty-five or forty years old, but she’s nowhere near that. She can’t possibly be your mother.”
Ava answered him. “Culley and his mother share the same glamour. Their appearance changes.”
“Shapeshifters?” Wes asked.
“Not exactly,” Culley told him. “And our glamours aren’t exactly the same either. Mine’s a variation of hers. When people look at me, no matter who they are, they see what they want to see. When they look at her, they see whatever she wants them to see.”
Understanding dawned across the room. “So then, Falene could mimic anyone’s appearance,” Ava said.
“Exactly. Which makes me think something very bad happened to the real Linnea—either sometime after she got here or before she ever reached Altum,” Culley said.
“Your Highness.” It was Wickthorne. He’d been sitting in one corner quietly while the discussion raged in the room.
“What is it?” I asked him.
“What they’re saying makes sense. When Linnea first arrived, she seemed to have great potential as a healer. But in the past few days I noticed her having difficulty wit
h the most basic tasks, things we’d gone over before. I thought maybe she was under some kind of stress, that perhaps she was homesick and feeling depressed. But now I believe…”
“You think it wasn’t Linnea anymore,” It was all so clear now. “Falene must have taken on the appearance of someone else, maybe one of the guards near the door and then made her way inside the palace, figuring out how best to get close to Ryann. At some point she mimicked Linnea’s appearance and took her place.”
A chill worked its way down my spine. I had stood face to face with the woman and hadn’t recognized her as the leader of the Dark Court in Australia. I’d thought I could identify an enemy on sight, but here was proof positive you couldn’t know someone just by looking at them.
This was bad. Falene had no love for humans—or the Light Court’s tolerance of them. Like the Ancient Court leaders, she would rather have seen them in a position of servitude to the Elven race. That, or wiped out entirely. But was she in league with the antagonistic European leaders like Vincenzo or acting alone?
“What do you think your mother could want with Ryann?” I asked Culley. “Do you think she’s working with the European Ancient Court? Or maybe holding her as a hostage in order to get something from us?”
He shook his head, his brows pulled together. “I truly don’t know. I’m as shocked as you are. I’m still trying to process this.”
In a departure from my past attitude toward Culley, I believed him. He apparently wanted to make sure of that because he spoke to me silently.
Lad, I swear I don’t know anything about it, and I can’t imagine what she’d want with your bond-mate. Mum’s done some messed up things in the past, but this is daft, even for her.
It’s okay, I assured him. I know you’re not at fault here. But we do need to figure out our next move. All suggestions are welcome.
Out loud I asked, “Anybody have any thoughts on this?”
“Has your mother ever had a problem with the American Light Court?” Asher asked.
Culley shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of. She never seemed to care too much about what was happening here—had enough to worry about with all the clans in Australia. She was happy to leave this continent to my father.”
“But now he’s gone,” Nox said. “And I’m the Dark King here instead of him—or you. Maybe she holds a grudge against me, thinking I took the throne that should have gone to you.”
“That still doesn’t explain why she’d target Ryann,” Asher said. “Why not target Vancia? That would hit closer to home for you.”
Ava raised a hand. “I have a thought.”
“What is it?” I prompted.
“Well, Culley said Falene doesn’t have a problem with Lad personally or the Light Court here.”
She turned to her old friend. “But Culley… you said she does have a problem with you. And with the humans. She’s angry with you for marrying Laney instead of making a ‘useful’ alliance by bonding with some Elven princess somewhere.”
“‘Angry’ is putting it mildly. The last time I spoke to her, she said she’d made a big mistake sending me away to boarding school in England or ever letting me visit my father here in America. She told me as far as she was concerned, she didn’t even have a son and heir anymore.”
“Right,” Ava said, nodding gravely. “Maybe she wants a new one.”
Jaws dropped around the room.
Culley nodded, picking up her meaning. He spoke quickly. “It’s impossible for her to bond again with someone and have another baby of her own… so maybe she is after a replacement.”
“Oh my goodness.” Grandma Neena’s hands came up to cover her mouth. “That’s horrible.”
It was more than horrible. It was insane. It was evil. And I was terrified. Because if Falene’s interest was in the baby rather than in Ryann… my bond-mate would become disposable to her the instant the baby was born.
Ryann’s mother began weeping quietly. Her father slipped his arm around his wife and pulled her close, whispering to her and patting her shoulder. “We’ll find her. We’ll find her.”
“Well, I’ve heard all I need to hear. I say we board a plane for Australia,” Nox said. “I’ll notify the pilot. We’ll have to stop for a quick refueling layover on the West Coast before flying to Australia then probably have to gas up again in Brisbane, but I’ll bet we can be in Sydney by tomorrow night.”
“I’ll call Alessia,” Wes offered, standing and moving toward the door, phone in hand. “She and Stefano might be able to get there even sooner if they board the first available flight. He can start tracking as soon as they land.”
I nodded my agreement, and he left the room at a near-run.
Culley seemed to like the plan. “The good news is I know where all Mum’s properties in Australia are. If grooming a new heir really is her motive, she’ll hole up somewhere remote and attempt to raise the child in isolation at one of them. And this time she’ll never let the kid out of her sight, poor little bugger.”
Asher stood. “Want me to come along? Ryann could be in need of medical care when you find her.”
I looked from his ready posture to the rest of the eager faces lining the room. I had no doubt every one of those gathered here would go along if I asked.
Nodding to Asher, I said, “Yes. Good idea. Pack a bag and meet us at the tunnel entrance.”
As we all surfaced in the woods above Altum, a buzzing noise came from my pocket. Ryann’s phone. Someone was calling her. Snatching the device, I looked at the screen.
“I don’t recognize the number.”
Nox looked over my shoulder and shook his head to indicate he didn’t know the number either.
I almost put it away again without answering—I certainly didn’t have time to chat or explain to an acquaintance of Ryann’s what was going on. But Culley held out his hand.
“Give us a look, yeah?”
I handed it to him and watched as he checked the screen then raised his shocked gaze back to mine.
“What? Do you recognize the number?”
“No, mate. But I do know where it’s from. It’s Australian.”
12
Chapter Twelve
RYANN
Numb with shock, I followed the woman’s instructions, going into the bathroom and shutting the door.
At this point, I had no way to think of her other than “the woman.” She hadn’t told me her real name. Obviously, she wasn’t the girl I thought I knew. She was someone else entirely. Someone who was capable of kidnapping—who might be capable of far worse.
Hearing the clink of silverware against dishes, my pulse raced, and my mind scrambled for a solution. I had to do something. I had to get out of here. Sooner rather than later.
The woman had said we’d be here for a while. I wasn’t sure how long a “while” was in her mind, but the longer I waited, the nearer the delivery of my baby loomed. There was no way I could stay here until that time arrived. And as long as I stayed locked in this room, there was no chance of escape.
Which meant I had to take action now. I had to make something happen.
She’d warned me not to come out of the bathroom until she’d left the bedroom and locked the door behind her, but I was done being obedient and cooperative. I opened the bathroom door, stepped out, and feigned surprise to see her.
“Oh—you’re still here.”
The woman whipped around. Her appearance stunned me. She looked different, older and more elegant, no longer resembling the young apprentice I’d befriended in Altum but appearing to be another person entirely.
She was clearly Elven. This must have been her glamour—she could morph her face and body—or at least my perception of it. Though I’d been aware of the Elven world a couple of years now, I still never ceased to be amazed by the new things I discovered about its inhabitants and their various glamours.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “I told you to stay in the bathroom.”
I kept moving
toward her. “I know, but I thought I heard you leave, and I’m really, really hungry and thirsty. I haven’t had anything to drink in so long.”
Keeping my eyes trained on the tall glass of water on the tray she carried, I reached for it—and purposely knocked the glass over. Icy water spilled down the front of her clothing, soaking her blouse.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I exclaimed.
“Idiot!”
Scowling, she turned to set the tray down on a small table. The instant her back was turned, I pushed her, causing her to fall forward over the table, taking it and the tray filled with dishes and silverware to the floor with her. Then I ran straight through the open bedroom door and toward the front door of the apartment.
Reaching it, I grabbed the door handle and pulled down. It wouldn’t budge. That was when I realized there was no keyhole. Instead, there was a keypad on the wall just inside the door. An electronic deadbolt. And of course I didn’t know the combination.
There was no time to even take a guess at one—my captor had recovered from her spill and was charging down the hallway toward me. There would be no escape, not right now anyway. I did the only thing I could think to do—grabbed her purse from the hall table and turned my back to her.
“Keys, keys, where are the keys?” I said loudly, digging through the purse.
The woman reached me, spun me around, and snatched the bag from my hands.
“Give me that! The door doesn’t lock with a key, you fool. And you can eat your food off the floor for all I care.”
She grabbed me roughly and marched me back down the hall toward the guest room that served as my cell. Pushing me inside, she slammed and locked the door again.
“There will be no more meal deliveries, so make this one count.”