Crimson Dahlia (Book #3 of the Svatura Series)

by Abigail Owen

  “Any tricky powers at the beginning that we should be on guard for?” Lila asked. “Like the loud voices in our heads with the telepathy apparently? Adelaide’s and my abilities were subtle enough that it wasn’t dangerous or scary when they started up.”

  Adelaide nodded her agreement.

  “Watch out for my shifting. If you touch another shifter, you might morph suddenly,” Ellie said.

  “Mine all snuck up on me pretty mildly. If you get my ability to turn off others’ powers, it doesn’t get to a hazardous point until much later,” Selene added.

  “All right, so we watch for each other’s powers. Look out for the shifting one and the telepathy. Got it,” Lila said.

  “And let each other know if it happens,” Ellie added. The girls all nodded. “You said you had a couple of things?” she asked Lila.

  “Yeah. So this is for Selene mainly. It’s about her brother.”

  Selene leaned forward. “About Gideon?

  Lila nodded. “While I was held, I learned some things from another prisoner who’d been there quite some time.” She went on to detail Gideon’s initial inability to shift and his mentor relationship with Maddox.

  Selene took a moment to digest Lila’s words, “I never knew that. Are you sure it’s true?”

  Lila shrugged. “I was told by an anonymous prisoner on the other side of a wall. I had no access to my powers. But it sounded true.”

  Selene nodded slowly, her eyes unfocused. “And that part about Maddox… Maybe I was so focused on Gideon that I didn’t notice. But I never saw Maddox in that light. He was brilliant, but always in the background.”

  “That’s not all,” Lila continued. “You know that Gideon eventually could morph to a wolf. We all saw him. Selene, do you remember when he came into that skill?”

  Selene wrinkled her brow in thought. They waited as she sifted through memories. “I guess it was around the same time he took over. I remember him standing in the courtyard one day shifting back and forth and laughing like crazy. My parents were so proud.”

  Lila nodded. “My cellmate also said that Gideon found a Svatura that could give him the ability to morph into a wolf.”

  Selene gasped. She jumped up and started pacing the room in agitation.

  “Jeez,” Ellie muttered under her breath. “No wonder you have so many wolves.”

  Selene stopped and spun around. “I don’t believe it.”

  “But think about it, Selene. It makes sense,” Lila argued.

  Selene closed her eyes and then resumed pacing. “But no one has ever talked about being turned. Wouldn’t they say something?”

  “What if they don’t remember?” Alex asked quietly.

  Selene looked up at the ceiling and then made a decision. “Well, I know something we can do about it right now. Follow me,” she said. And walked out the door.

  Everyone else scrambled to follow her.

  Chapter 24

  “Wait,” Lila called as everyone rushed out of sight. “What about us?”

  Alex popped his head back into view. “Call my cell.”

  Ramsey already had the phone out and was dialing. As soon as Alex picked up, he put it on speaker.

  “What’s going on?” Lila asked.

  “I’m not sure. We’re still following Selene,” Alex replied.

  Ramsey muted the phone. “Do you think this wolf-maker thing is true?”

  Lila shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. But I think Ellie’s right.”

  “About?”

  Lila leaned back in her chair. “Think about it. There’s no way there could be that many wolf meta-morphs naturally. Have you ever seen more than a handful of any other shifters of the same type together? Especially ones not always connected by a blood relationship of some sort?”

  Ramsey frowned. “No.”

  “Okay, we’re going down some levels now,” Alex said. “Actually, let me switch you to video conference. He hung up. A few moments later, Ramsey’s phone pinged with a request. He clicked 'accept’, and Alex’s face came into view on the small screen.

  “Where are you?” Ramsey asked.

  Alex turned the phone so they could see. They were walking in a long stretch of hallway that had no windows… just door after door. “We’re down quite a few levels now. I’ve never been to this part of the castle before.”

  After several more minutes of watching them walk through hallways that became more and more devoid of other people, the group stopped walking. Lila could see Selene talking to two men standing on either side of a door.

  One of the men turned and Lila heard the click of the lock, followed by the sound of a heavy door creaking open.

  “Zara,” Alex muttered into the phone just before Maddox’s te’sorthene came into their view. The previous year, when they’d captured Zara, they’d turned her over to the Vyusher Council. Oren had imprisoned the white-wolf metamorph and she was still in the castle. Lila was surprised that Maddox hadn’t come for her yet, especially that he hadn’t tried to rescue Zara during his attack on the castle.

  Lila moved to sit beside Ramsey at the kitchen table so they could watch the little screen together more easily. They could see Zara sitting on the bed. The girl regarded them all with hate in her eyes and a scowl curling her lips.

  “To what do I owe the honor?” Zara asked.

  Selene calmly folded her hands in front of her. “I have a few questions for you.”

  “You won’t get any answers,” Zara sneered.

  “I don’t need your cooperation for this, Zara,” Selene said. Lila shivered at her cold smile.

  Selene turned to Alex. “Is that Lila watching?”

  “Yes.”

  Selene looked into the phone. “Tell me if anything said in here is a lie,” she said.

  Lila frowned. “I’ve never done it over video before, but I’ll try.”

  Ellie took Griffin’s hand and stepped forward. Lila realized Griffin’s telepathy would eventually allow him to control others’ thoughts. But he couldn’t do that yet. Ellie’s gift to access the full potential of anyone’s powers through touch meant she could. They’d tried doing this on Zara before to figure out Maddox’s next move. But apparently Maddox had kept a lot of secrets from the woman he supposedly loved.

  Zara watched the twins warily.

  “Is there a wolf-morph maker?” Selene asked.

  Zara just glared. “Like I’d answ—” Her sentence was cut off, and her face assumed a trancelike blankness. “Yes. He’s made many of the wolves in this pack,” she replied in a monotone.

  Lila saw a golden aura of light surrounding Zara as she spoke – an indication of the truth. When Lila was a little girl and had first started seeing this effect, she’d thought she was seeing angels. She hadn’t known that glow was one of her powers.

  “It’s the truth,” she confirmed.

  “Did the wolf-maker give my brother his ability to morph?” Selene continued.

  “Yes.”

  “Where is the wolf-maker now?”

  Zara blinked in slow motion. “I don’t know. Karin is a prisoner. I don’t know where Maddox keeps her.”

  Lila stiffened. She’d suspected that her informative friend in the prison might have been a woman.

  “Did Maddox mentor my brother?” Selene asked.

  “Mentor. Manipulate. Maneuver.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maddox led Gideon by the nose. He told him whom to hate, whom to kill, whom to fight, and where, and when. He took out their family,” Zara nodded at Ellie and Griffin. “Some kind of vendetta, though he never talked about it. And I think Gideon was happy to fulfill that particular plan.”

  “Why?”

  “Their family – William Aubrey – he’s the one who told the King and Queen that their precious son would never morph. Apparently Selene inherited all the gifts.”

  “Not all of them,” Selene murmured.

  “The only one that counts to the Vyusher,” Zara replied.<
br />
  “Why would that make a difference?” Lila asked.

  “We don’t follow non-wolves,” Zara said. Lila had a feeling that if the other girl hadn’t been in a trance, she would’ve rolled her eyes at the obvious answer.

  Selene glanced around the room. “I’ll explain later,” she murmured. “Was Maddox controlling my brother?”

  Zara smirked “Not in the way you think. Maddox doesn’t have any kind of special power like that. He’s just very, very good at getting his way.”

  “If that’s the case, why would he bother with Gideon? Why not take the crown himself?”

  “You’ll have to ask Maddox.”

  “Anything else I should know about Maddox and Gideon?”

  “They both believed that only wolf metamorphs were fit to live. They wanted to exterminate all other Svatura. Although some were given the option to be made into wolves.”

  Selene paled, her eyes wide with horror.

  “And how are they given the option?” Ellie asked when it appeared Selene was too shocked to speak.

  “Only those who had another power worthy to be added to the Vyusher pack were asked. They had to volunteer,” Zara replied.

  A memory struck Lila… one of Maddox offering her a place in his ranks if she volunteered for the transformation. He must have been talking about changing her into a wolf.

  “Why?” Lila asked.

  “The change alters a person’s genetic code. Even when they’re willing, it still can kill them. But if it’s done against their will, for whatever reason, it definitely kills them,” Zara explained.

  “That’s enough,” Selene whispered.

  Taking their cue, Ellie and Griffin released Zara from her trance. They all filed out of her room, locking it behind them.

  “We’ll call you on the laptop when we get back up there,” Alex said.

  Ramsey clicked the button to end the call, and they waited in silence until the computer pinged them. Once the video conferencing was set back up, no one said anything for a minute.

  “You’ll have to tell the High Council,” Alex advised Selene.

  Selene nodded and gazed out the window. “I know.” She closed her eyes and moaned. “Oh my God. How could I have been so blind? No wonder he’s been able to build his new army so fast. He didn’t have that many wolves to begin with.”

  “It’s a safe bet that most of Marcus’s tribe are either dead or wolves by now,” Lila said.

  “Not necessarily,” Griffin said. He glanced at Selene as if gauging her reaction. “I caught a memory of Zara’s. It seems that Maddox and Gideon kept people who rejected their offer in that stasis indefinitely instead of killing them. They wanted that person’s power under their control and were willing to wait to get it.”

  “Will someone please go get Marcus?” Lila said. “He needs to hear this too.”

  After they all filed back up to the conference room, they found Marcus and brought him up to speed.

  Marcus slammed a fist down onto the table. “Damn!”

  “What are you going to do?” Lila asked him.

  “I’m going to find my tribesmen, and then we’re going to rip that bastard’s heart out,” he gritted through his teeth.

  “Okay. I’m coming with you,” Lila said.

  That got his attention – and everyone else’s. He looked directly at the monitor. “No, you’re not.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “No. You’re not,” Ramsey’s voice sounded behind her.

  Lila glared over her shoulder at him. “You stay out of this.”

  She turned back to the computer. Marcus’s face softened just a little. “I know why you want to help, Lila. But you might put me in more danger if you’re with me.”

  Lila bit her lip. “It’s my fault they were captured.”

  “It’s no one’s fault but Maddox’s,” Marcus insisted. “I’ll keep you in the loop, peanut. But you need to stay hidden. Stay safe.”

  Lila plopped down into the seat, completely deflated. “You’ll ask if you need help?”

  “Yeah.” He gave her what passed for a reassuring smile from him.

  Marcus exited the room, and Lila’s gut tightened. She had the strangest feeling that something horrible was going to happen to her friend. But, of course that was silly. She didn’t have her mother’s premonition ability.

  But still…

  They ended the call pretty quickly after that. There wasn’t much else to say, really. Ramsey watched as Lila turned the computer off and swiveled in the chair, her mind miles away.

  Glancing up, she caught Ramsey’s speculative look. “What?”

  He shook his head and wandered into the kitchen. “Nothing.”

  “That wasn’t a ‘nothing’ look,” Lila said as she followed him.

  “Don’t worry about it, Lily.”

  Ramsey busied himself by opening some cabinets while he ignored the hole she was trying to burn in his back with her stare. He’d been wondering about her relationship with the leader of the Louisiana tribe. They seemed pretty close. But she didn’t need to know that’s what he’d been thinking. “Pretty bare pantry – just the basics. Looks like we need to go shopping for some food. Fancy a trip into town?”

  A lengthy paused followed his question.

  “Yeah,” Lila finally replied. “I’ll go get some money. Mom sent a wad of British pounds with me.”

  Ramsey grinned to himself. He’d always been able wait her out. He had yet to respond to a question of Lila’s that he didn’t want to answer. The smile fell from his mouth. If last night was anything to go by, they were going to need some activities to occupy their time. He rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. He hadn’t slept a wink but instead had wrestled with the desire… the need… to go to Lila, all night long.

  Before, when he’d thought he would endanger her life, he’d had the willpower to resist acting on his feelings, to protect her. But now… now he had control. And when he didn’t, she did with her emotional healing ability. That reason to stay away no longer applied. Except now Lila had changed. She held him at a distance that she hadn’t before. Maybe she’d even fallen in love with that Marcus guy. But Ramsey wasn’t giving up. All those days in the woods searching for her when she’d been missing, he’d learned that he needed Lila in his life. She was the most important thing in the world to him, and he’d fight for them, even if she’d given up.

  “All right. I’m ready,” Lila said as descended the narrow staircase. “Is there a car?”

  Ramsey grabbed a set of keys hanging on a hook on the wall and shook them. “Let’s go find out.”

  Chapter 25

  Lila’s eyes lit up as they drove into the town of Keswick and parked the car. The town was a lovely place nestled on the shores of Derwentwater in the Lake District in England. The views were breathtaking and the town charming. It had the feel of a small English village but was still large enough, and touristy enough, for strangers to blend in easily.

  “Let’s explore a little first,” Lila suggested.

  He cast her a sideways glance, but didn’t say ‘no,’ so Lila took that to mean ‘yes.’ First they headed down to the lake near the boat launch. Seeing a sign, they walked to the Friar’s Crag and enjoyed the spectacular views of the lake. Then they wandered into the heart of Keswick, where the Market Place centered on Moot Hall, and explored all the little shops and vendors along the street.

  Finally, Lila, an impish smile on her lips, tried to drag Ramsey into a tea room.

  Ramsey balked. “Tea? Seriously?” He looked at the cozy restaurant with a skeptical grimace.

  “Please? I’ve always wanted to try a traditional English tea. You know… scones, and clotted cream, and little cucumber sandwiches, and…”

  “Tea?”

  Lila narrowed her eyes. “Was that sarcasm?”

  “No, ma’am. I wouldn’t dare.” Ramsey looked around again and then heaved a sigh. “Didn’t you drink tea when you lived in Europe before?”

 
Lila shook her head. “That was France. Very different food in France, especially over a hundred years ago.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “Pretty please with sugar on top? I’ve been stuck in a hole in the ground eating only gruel for almost two months.”

  “Oh, fine. Let’s get this over with. But you laugh, and I’m outta here.”

  “No sir. I wouldn’t dare.” She grinned.

  Once they'd finished their tea and gotten some grocery shopping done, Ramsey drove them home to their little cottage on the other side of the lake. They had to make multiple trips from the car to the house to bring in all their loot, and every time Lila brushed the hair from her eyes or flashed him a smile, Ramsey’s pulse raced. How the hell was he going to make it through the night without jumping her?

  He’d really enjoyed these past several hours with Lila. They’d fallen back into the easy camaraderie of their early days together…almost as if the walls she’d put up between them had come down, if only for a while. But other times, the wariness would fill her eyes again and her walls would go right back up. And what really killed him was that he knew it was all his fault. He’d pushed her away for too long. Made her believe he didn’t care. What did he expect?

  So win her back, some part of him argued. Break down those walls and then see if she’s really as closed to you as she seems.

  "I told you we got too much," Lila called from the kitchen, interrupting his thoughts.

  "What? It won't fit?"

  "Not without quite a bit of creativity. It'll be like doing a jigsaw puzzle every time we need to get something out."

  "I'll handle that," Ramsey said as he entered the kitchen. "Why don’t you go set up a movie."

  "Sure. Do you want to cook dinner tonight or do you want me to?"

  "My turn, I think. I know you want to dig into some of those books you bought."

  Lila wrinkled her nose. "Am I that obvious?"

  "Only to those who love you," he said. He almost laughed when her eyes widened and then quickly narrowed with suspicion. Ramsey turned his back on her and started smashing things in the fridge. That’s right, Lily. I’m not giving up on you, and I’m not going to back down this time.