Linda’s hushed voice carried almost as much as the children’s had. “We don’t have a choice, girls. We’re going.”
Rhune leaned back into his chair and watched the hologram of the trio as they exited the manor, trotted across the lawns, down the street, and then climbed into a waiting transport. He chuckled to himself. “My dear Terran firefly.”
Chapter Nineteen
Apricot leaves swirled on the front porch of Shilo Manor and then into the foyer as the door flung wide. Cole led the way over the threshold, toward the study, and barely caught sight of Mianna as she met them at a run. How did she know we would be home early?
She followed as they darted down the hall and through the laurel-framed door.
As they formed beyond the ingress, Mianna slipped inside, and Vincent closed the door. Rhune propped his feet on the cherry-wood desk and opened his mouth, poised to speak. Cole held up his hand to halt him and headed for the Master station. “Eko silyst.”
Catching his error mid-stride, he stepped to the side to allow James his rightful place as Head of Sentinels. “Apologies,” he murmured and cocked the unoccupied counselor’s chair to the side.
James grinned and took his seat. “No need.”
With a grunt, Rhune kicked his heels to the floor and leaned his elbows on his knees. “We have a little situation that came to light while you boys were away.”
Mianna nodded, over exuberance in her agreement. “I’ve discovered something too.”
James rested into the back cushion of his chair. “It seems we all have urgent information.”
A scoff came from beside the door, and Vincent folded his arms with his signature lean on the jam. “Why is it things all seem to happen at once around here?”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry too much at this point over my news,” said Rhune.
Shoving aside his curiosity, Cole looked at James. “But I believe your information may be more time sensitive. What’s this about the noblemen wanting to breach the portal?”
A chorus of baritone and soprano sounded as Rhune and Mianna questioned at the same time. “What?”
James nodded. “Lord Standish informed me as soon as we got to the event. He’s very concerned, and as he’s one of the most faithful in the courts, I’m inclined to believe him. If anything intends to harm the righteous, he’ll stand against it. He and Dressen clashed on many occasions. Right now it’s mostly talk, though some want to act fast to throw us off. The majority say not to attempt a breach until they have a plan in place.”
“That’s right.” Vincent chuckled. “News of me fighting off Dressen is a highly noted conversation. Not many want to face a ribbon of power without big backup.”
“Or a whirlwind of rubble,” added James. “Cole, I’m calling for you to prepare a seal for the door to the realms. I won’t have a situation that will call for the need of a life’s essence to complete the task.”
Cole’s gaze dropped as he recalled the image of his father doing just that. The nightmares haunted him still. He sat in his chair, stretched one leg forward, and bent the other as he leaned back. “I’ll get started on that.”
With a nod, James looked at Vincent. “I’ll call on you to stay in close touch with Lord Standish. He’ll keep us informed.”
“Will do.”
Mianna’s fingers tapped her thighs, and her gaze jumped among them as they spoke. “I really think I should tell you my news next.”
Rhune waved his hand through the air. “By all means, my Terran angel. Mine can wait. They won’t get so far as to not be tracked.”
This time, all voices joined in the chord. “What?”
“Oh, James’s lovely firefly took the little ones and grabbed a transport, bags in hand. I can only assume she is trying to run from the inevitable.” He motioned toward the Utopian. “I can pull them up when you’re ready. I have them on scry.”
James dragged his hand down his face and heaved a sigh. “Leenja.”
“But, as I have said, it can wait. What is your urgent news, sweet angel?”
Mianna’s fingers grasped each other. “I’ve noticed since I experienced the book that I’m more sensitive. Like I can understand so much more. It might be to help me learn how people feel going through things so I don’t have to experience them first hand, I’m not sure. But I ran into Elaina last night, before she went for a walk in the topiary to clear her mind.”
She walked the length of the study and then turned. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I felt so many strong feelings of reverence and…determination coming from her. And it was in connection with the Goddess Venus from Midway Summit.”
Vincent’s arms dropped to his sides. “I knew something was up.”
Mianna nodded. “I’m afraid…I’m afraid she went in search of Venus to pray.”
James leaned his head. “Well, it’s not right to pray to gods other than your own, but we can’t stop her from doing it.”
Vincent shook his head. “But all night?”
“The topiary is safe. No strangers or animals will harm her with the charm on the grounds.”
“You don’t understand, James.” Vincent lifted from his lean. “Elaina doesn’t like to be alone for long, especially at night.”
Mianna’s fingers knotted. “And I got the distinct feeling the topiary wasn’t her final destination.”
The void seemed to swallow Elaina as if she had been stuffed into a large white balloon. She lifted her hand to feel the enclosure, and then extended her arm. Nothing. Nothing but bright white. With an apprehensive hitch in her throat, she glanced down to see the platform she stood on. Dizziness whirled her mind as the emptiness extended beneath her feet.
Flaying her arms, she attempted to catch herself from falling into nothingness. A muffled scream ended at her lips, and she stumbled over what wasn’t there. Ripples of light shadows puddled around her and quickly dispersed.
Closing her eyes, she sucked in air to cleanse her lungs. Calm replaced panic with the breath. Slowly lifting her lids, she focused straight ahead. Okay, Elaina. You can do this. It’s a portal to take you where you want to go. So…go.
Her foot trembled as she stepped along the walkway that wasn’t there and felt as if the floor moved with her instead of past her. Her motion warped like apparitions and reminded her of heat waves coming off a hot engine in the wintertime. One, two, three steps. Okay, you did good. Now let’s make sure you’re really moving.
Balancing on the balls of her feet, she turned at one-hundred-eighty degrees and walked three steps the way she came. Then four. And then five. Heat rushed to her cheeks and she quickly strode several more. Where’s the doorway? I know I turned completely to face behind me. She knotted her fingers in her blouse, mimicking the knots in her stomach. Oh, sweet Venus, what did I do?
Elaina spun in every direction, looking for something, anything to anchor herself. Not a speck of dirt floated before her eyes. A hiccup forced its way past her tight throat. Tears brimmed the corners of her lids. She broke into a run. “Oh, somebody, please help me!”
Her voice warbled as if she’d screamed under water. She jarred to a stop and ripples rode the motion behind her feet as if she skidded on an invisible trail within the void. “Venus, my Goddess, hear me!” Her voice came forth in spasms as she directed her call to the scrying watch on her wrist. She gulped as if to swallow the non-existent liquid. “I’m in the portal! I think I’m lost. Please, please hear me.” A squeak ended her plea as a sharp pain thickened her lower abdomen. She sobbed and fell to her knees.
Why hadn’t she listened to Anna? Hadn’t she told her of the settlers from Cornerstone Summit? They barely made it to Midway, and that was with the help of Sylis Shilo, the renowned realm traveler.
Her whisper passed her lips as a prayer. “Oh, I don’t want to die. Great Goddess Venus, please help me get to Midway Summit.”
Chapter Twenty
Vincent folded his arms across his chest, and then glared at his uncle. The results
didn’t make sense, no matter how he looked at it.
Rhune shook his head as he cut a side glance at the empty Utopian mirrors. “I’m telling you, my boy, the Utopian isn’t picking up on your Terran butterfly. Anywhere.”
At times like these, Vincent could do without the charming pet names. “But how can that be? Have you tried the surrounding townships? If she’s not staying at her parents’ home, maybe she took a bus somewhere.”
“I performed an advanced scry to take in all of Cornerstone Deep.” His voice softened. “She doesn’t show.”
“She’d have to be dead to not show. And Elaina is not dead.” Vince raked his fingers through his hair. “I’d know it.”
Cole’s low tone edged Vincent’s nerves and caused the hair on his arms to prickle. “Run an essence trace. If something did happen to her, it’d show a date of death.”
Mianna covered her mouth with her fingertips.
Vincent stepped into a turn and then jolted to a stop. “She’s not dead!”
At Cole’s words, Rhune spoke slowly to the Utopian. “Essence trace, Elaina Cantrell Shilo.”
Words hit Vincent’s mind, and he listened closely as they flashed in his understanding. As many times as he’d wished the creator of the instrument had placed a slower tempo to an answered trace, he wanted it to get to the point as soon as possible.
“Crystal Everett McCallister, born Cornerstone Deep, Terra, 1876-1953. Elaina Cantrell Shilo, 1953-untraceable.”
Aside from Vincent being startled that Elaina had lived a previous life—and been married—greater frustration exploded. He tossed his hand toward the Utopian and rouge sparks pocked the cherry-wood desk. “Untraceable? What’s that supposed to mean?”
James blinked with his sigh and waved his hand. The pocks disappeared beneath a new finish.
Cole leaned his elbow on his knee. “Cool it, Kid. It means she’s still alive. Just not within the search’s reach.”
“Which means…” James’s gaze turned to the bookshelf the same time Cole’s and Rhune’s did. The Triad globes glowed softly on the center shelf. “She’s not on Terra.”
Was this yet another thing his father and brothers neglected to tell him as they performed their Sentinel duties? “Wait. Now what does it mean when they glow like that?”
Rhune sighed. “Well, it doesn’t mean their warm and happy sitting there together.”
For once, Cole and Vincent seemed to share James’s irritation with their uncle. They all scowled at him.
“It seems a breach has already taken place,” said James.
Vincent clenched his fingers into fists and a familiar charge heated his knuckles. “She brought up how easy it was to travel the portal after Uncle Rhune told his stories. But I never expected her to try it.”
Cole turned to Vincent. “Haven’t you discussed the dangers of the portal with your woman?”
He glared at Cole as the comment wedged anger in his gut. “Her name is Elaina!”
Mianna stepped forward as if he’d said nothing. “I told her and Linda of those from Cornerstone Summit. That they almost died in their attempt to travel the spectrum.”
“Yet she went?” Cole’s sigh punched from his lungs and sounded more like a growl. “She’s not protected by her connection to us. If she stays in too long, it could kill her! With no definite time within the portal to mature by, she could grasp any of the realm’s timelines. And if she does make it to another plane, it will take hold of the related age and throw her body years ahead to catch up. Do you know what that does to a system?”
Rhune’s voice held a touch of irritation. “You don’t have to tell me. I saw it firsthand. Many of the colonists from Earth entered in their youth and came out geriatric.”
The information set a knot in Vincent’s stomach, and he tried to think of a snarky response. The truth kept him silent. How often had she brought up the fact she was married to a Sentinel, a bearer of magic and wonder? Too often. Could she honestly believe being married to a Meridian would protect her as she walked the gateway to the realms? It was his fault if she did. He should have warned her, as Cole said.
Cole stood and looked at each of them in turn. “James, you go after Linda and the twins. Vincent run down Elaina. Rhune stay close. We’ll need you for the Triad of Purpose if Kid doesn’t make it back in time to close the portal. I’ll prepare the globes for use within it as we leave Cornerstone Deep…”
As James stood, Cole realized his error in taking command and cringed. “I did it again. Apologies, brother. I had no right to place decision.”
“I agree with your assessment.”
Mianna held her hands out to her side. “What can I do to help?”
James heaved a sigh. “Prepare to console two very upset sisters. That is…” He glanced at Vincent. “If we’re able to retrieve Elaina in time.”
As Vincent grasped the edge of his cape, Rhune placed his hand on Vincent’s arm. “She may not be in the portal, my boy. She may have made it to Midway. Find her before she’s too weak and rush her back. Chances are, though, she’s already reached that point.” His cheeks seemed to melt as the man’s countenance mellowed. “I pray she finds help in a server nearby. They have ways of getting her the energy she will need.”
Unwilling to accept a dismal fate, Vincent shook his head. “Elaina is easily distracted. What happens in the gateway will no doubt do just that. I know she’s still in there.”
“Vincent, my boy…”
“No, Rhune. I need to focus on the portal.”
Rhune sighed. “You won’t find her in there, Vincentor.”
With a snarl, Vincent turned, dispersing into the Smoke of Night. He barely heard his uncle’s response as he darted out the study door. “Then the best action is to allow energy ripples to guide her. Show her the way. But you must be focused and patient.”
Too much stood between him and the gateway to the realms; woodland, wildlife, the gravel tract to the foot of the granite bluff. Insects nettled him as he threw all of his energy into the flight. Scenarios of the outcome cluttered his attempt to think of a way to help her, since he wouldn’t be able to see her if she stood three paces ahead…
Would she be so lucky as to pass through the portal and not pause? If her pass wasn’t immediate, she could cross over to Midway Summit ten, twenty, fifty years ahead of Cornerstone Summit’s reckoning. Only the moment of thought mattered as to carry the traveler to their destination. She could notice the shadows cast by her expelled energy and become confused, causing her to linger and effecting the time she emerged. What had Rhune said about guiding her with energy?
His disembodied senses picked up on movement, and he glanced toward the far end of the landing. Are those tents in the distance?
Forgoing anything that would keep him from saving his love, he rushed forward. As the portal came into view, Vincent pushed harder, and called upon Midway Summit to open the gate. Bright light encircled the doorway, and as neon beams filled the center, he dashed into the white void.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wisps of clouds dispersed around James as he flew over the east countryside. Lanes of traffic stretch below, and he cursed the fact his scrying lens didn’t work in a disembodied state. He made a pact to work on his mind reading skills when things settled down again. Focusing on cars with beige interiors, like what he saw in the Utopian’s image when he performed the search, proved impossible. Between the speed of the vehicles, and his air born point of view, he could make out very little.
He dipped and weaved among the traffic, opening his senses to catch bits of conversations in the vehicles as he passed over them. This is fruitless!
Giving up on the strategy, he veered into a grove of birch trees on the side of the road and then materialized. He looked at his watch, and his voice punched from his throat. “Scry Jarrett Kilpatrick.”
A scruffy face appeared over the lens of his watch, and James leaned his wrist until he caught sight of the color of the car. Off white? Beige…o
r gray? Did this guy ever clean his vehicle?
The location pulsed across his mind. He dispersed his elements into the Smoke of Night, and then darted toward the instructed destination far ahead. The off-white-beige-gray car of Jarrett Kilpatrick veered onto a side road, and James swooped to the driver’s side. He pulled his essence together from the waist up, enough to enable him to speak, and allowed a tail of black smoke to swirl as the rest of his elements propelled him forward. He rapped on Jarrett’s window.
The man jarred, and the car swerved as screams came from within.
“Oh, man, not you,” yelled Jarrett.
Wind whipped Jarrett’s straggly hair as James waved his hand to encompass the glass and it faded. “Pull this car over, or I’ll do it for you!”
Cole stepped to the globes, took a deep breath to clear his lungs, and released it as he rubbed his hands together. Prepare the globes to seal Cornerstone Deep’s gate to the realms. Forget the fact it was just opened, just released from a four hundred year separation from home. The only thing to sage the thought was that he would be on the other side of the closed door this time. With Mianna.
A grin played on his lips. The Gods had known all along the part Mianna would play in the prophecy. And, being the ethereal beings they were, knew to prepare a backup in case he messed things up. I sent her back to her first lifespan. Caused her to lose the experiences she’d gained to the point of being Anna. Oh the curves life can throw. And oh to the mercy the Gods can show a romantic hearted Meridian Sentinel who would do anything to keep his love.
He looked back at the globes, and his smile faded as he forced his mind to concentrate on the intricate layers needed to prepare the three Triad globes. Another deep breath and he focused. Elements in his mind’s eye fell into place. The power of the image eased into the glowing balls.
If only Father had the time to perform the proper enchantments to seal the portal. He wouldn’t have given his life’s essence to complete the task. How different would life be if he had survived?
Destiny (Cornerstone Deep Book 3) Page 10
