Houston snickered. “Thanks.”
Kathy blushed, but grinned.
“Come on. Let’s go have some tea or something,” Lily offered.
Laney nodded. “I think I’d like that. I can sleep after they get here and we all powwow. It’s more fun when I’m coherent to watch Diego’s fireworks, anyway.”
Kathy and Lily chuckled while Amy shook her head, although the petite blonde smiled with a silly happiness that almost made Lily think everything was going to be all right. Maybe for a few moments, she could even let herself believe it.
* * * *
Roughly forty-five minutes after sundown, the front door opened and Titania entered with Diego closing the door behind. Not ten seconds later, Joaquin came down the stairs to meet with everyone and hear the report about their visit to one of Tenorio’s compounds.
Lily cradled her mug, the steam rising lazily from her tea as she settled into one of the overstuffed chairs, tucking her legs beneath her. Like always, Joaquin took up the sentinel position behind her chair, holding up the wall with that formidably solid body of his. The same body that had held her with surprising gentleness and understanding the night before.
She blinked, her cup freezing on its rise to her lips. Solid body?
Moving the cup the rest of the way to hide her expressions, Lily took a few minutes while Diego and Houston talked between themselves to dissect the previous night before sitting to address everyone.
The moments at the clearing. The shared conversations and the fact she’d so openly bared her nightmare with Joaquin, and he hadn’t been repulsed, hadn’t reacted in any of the ways she would have expected. No disgust, no anger at any perceived weakness in her. Only an endless wealth of support and kindness. Warmth suffused her when those facts rose up, inarguable. There was no anger at her for what she’d suffered, no sneering belittlement. She hadn’t known what to expect, long ago giving up on any crumb of compassion to be offered to her from such an unexpected source. Lily was getting used to those around her, but a week ago, Joaquin had been an unknown. Last night, that fact had been obliterated, and in a way she never would have dreamed.
She smiled, remembering the tender and equally explosive kiss he’d given her before he’d left her at the front door. More than once she thought she’d only dreamed it, but knew even her wildest dreams weren’t that…tender. Even exhaustion couldn’t have created that kind of hallucination.
“It was no dream, lovely.”
She blinked, gulping down the sudden rock that seemed to have materialized out of the chamomile tea in her mug. Just how long had he been lurking in her thoughts? She felt the need to groan, or even to demand he stop doing it, but knew, somehow, his deeper needs weren’t to invade her privacy, but to ensure her happiness and peace of mind. Minutely, she shook her head, wondering, when had she become so important to him? Or better yet, when had she begun to care either way? Lack of an answer made her reply abrupt.
“You’re in my head again,” she scolded him.
She sensed an impudent shrug. “I like the way you see me.” Surprisingly, there was no male vanity in his thought, only a simple pleasure in the factual truth. Having him shadowing her thoughts should have made her nervous, edgy, but she discovered she wasn’t. It was like having her protector with her always. It was comforting in a way she never would have dreamed only a few short months ago. Not invasive, not restrictive, not even intrusive, only there if she needed. The truth of his desires to help her in any way he was able struck her as one of the most considerate efforts she’d ever experienced.
Glancing up, she noticed Diego had stopped talking to Houston. His features were fierce and Lily waited for the shoe to drop. A blanket of warmth, of tenderness, wrapped her up in a cocoon and she rolled her shoulders to let it fill her, cover her in its invisible gentle touch. The silent promise within it—she was safe. The same promise he’d offered the night she’d heard his voice, a promise strengthened and held unquestioningly every moment.
“Tenorio has hired reinforcements. A man by the name of Ron Hawthorne, an ex-militia man with exceptional expertise.” Diego didn’t pull any punches as he explained what they’d discovered. “There was little left of the compound we uncovered from the information taken from the force that attacked the cabin. We believe he was the person who planned the attack. Tenorio has sunk into hiding for the moment.” His silvery eyes glittered, a heavy pause filling the room as he touched on each of the three women present. “We also believe he has more prisoners like you four.”
Lily’s knuckles tightened on her mug and her stomach twisted, picturing what any prisoner of his would suffer through. A soothing touch flowed down her hair to caress her neck, but she knew without looking, he hadn’t moved.
“Any idea where?” Kathy asked.
“Not right now,” Tani replied, a worried frown knitting her brow. “There was nothing at the holding compound we found this time. We think whatever was going on there was stripped before the attack on the cabin happened.”
“How many places can he have?” Kathy said with a low snarl. Amy rested a hand on her shoulder and Kathy let out a slow breath, gathering her calm around her, then asking, “So now what?”
“Nathan is searching for Hawthorne, and following any sign of Tenorio. We need to find out who has the chip.” Diego’s eyes settled on all of them. “We have no choice. We must find out who has it and remove it. As quickly as possible.”
“How?” Lily sat up. “Nathan said it could be any of us, and pinpoint small.” Silence fell throughout the room as anxiety colored the air.
“I think if we join our strengths, we can do it,” Tani said. “We discussed the possibility of at least trying before returning. Something that doesn’t feel right, or that sounds off in our bodies.” Diego held her hand tightly when she sent him a glance, his devotion immediate and apparent. “You weren’t the only ones who had injections.” Her voice turned brittle and her shoulders sagged, but Diego held her close. “I had forgotten, but he had knocked me out with a tranquilizer that almost killed me. It could have been the only one. It was just as likely not.”
“Too bad Nathan destroyed both the trackers finding out what they were following,” Kathy muttered without rancor at the situation. “Would have saved a lot of guess work.”
“Will it work?” Lily lifted her mug only to find her tea had cooled to a tepid sourness when she sipped at it.
“We can try,” Tani answered, her resolute tone hiding her obvious uncertainty. “If we find it, it will have worked. There really is no other option but to try.”
“Then let’s start.” Lily placed her cooled tea to the side. “I can go first. Should I lay down somewhere?”
“Let’s try the couch.” Tani motioned to the couch opposite where Amy and Kathy sat. Everyone stood and Lily strode to one of the long couches. Meeting Joaquin’s gaze and seeing his unshakeable calm, she sat, then stretched out. He came and knelt right at her side. Without an ounce of fear, she reached for his hand.
“Relax. I think I know what they have in mind,” he whispered to her in comfort while he twined their fingers together. She forced the tension out of her body.
“I’m ready.”
“Make a circle around her.” Tani joined them when everyone took up their positions.
Diego explained. “Envision your inner energy as a source outside of yourself, a part of you that you can control to the smallest detail. Focus until it is sharp, an exact point of energy. It will move outside of you, but will never truly desert you. Stay relaxed, Lily. Nothing should hurt.”
She nodded and waited. Grounding herself with those mysterious, swirling midnight eyes, she held herself still. The lights in the room seemed to dim around the peripheral of her vision as she focused only on the man next to her.
“Do you feel anything?”
“Not yet, but I can feel the energy building.”
“This is new. Diego explained to me what they were wanting to do. I know it is saf
e, just unknown to you.”
“I trust you.”
The slightest rise of pleasure warmed his watchful gaze, but he stayed silent. She hardly blinked, never releasing his hold, even when the warmth invaded. She almost giggled at the sudden touch, something so light, so feathery, it did startle her, except it was on the inside.
It took several stretched moments until she felt it recede. The miniscule point of something had traced her entire body.
“Whew!” Kathy said with a sharp cry. “That was incredible!”
“Was it hard for you?” Lily asked, turning for the first time since they’d begun to look at the others surrounding her.
Both Amy and Kathy shook their heads. “Once we got the vibe, Diego controlled it.”
Tani nodded. “If you can do it to yourself, it’s a good thing to learn to do.”
Lily sat up with Joaquin’s attentive help.
“It helps us to heal,” Tani said.
“Really?”
Tani blushed and Lily caught the scowl Diego shot her. She didn’t look up at him before she nodded with a guilty jerk.
“Next,” Diego ordered before Lily could ask any other questions about what Tani meant with her healing comment. It took her a moment to get the ‘vibe’ Kathy had said she’d felt, but she wasn’t kidding when she’d said Diego controlled it.
Floating within her thoughts, she sensed in a way that almost made it visual as she coursed within Kathy’s body. She felt Joaquin, Diego and Tani acutely. Amy was there, but more like herself. There was even strength from Houston and Laney. It was an indescribable stream of power that fluctuated between and through them.
“Remarkable,” she breathed when they were done. It took time, but with each gathering of their energies, it became more natural to feel the sensations, to feel her way, to meld it all together.
Tani was the last, and immediately, she felt Diego’s attention, devotion and worry deepen. She also noticed Tani had no real heartbeat and didn’t seem to be breathing. Little facts lodged in her mind, but under the pull of the gathered focus, she couldn’t deviate from their intent to examine any of it.
Together, they released their focus. Tani sat up, brushing her length of hair behind her. “Nothing?” A darkening frown appeared when Diego shook his head.
“Does that mean it’s none of us, or that this isn’t working?” Kathy wrapped her arms around her middle and leaned a hip against the edge of the couch as Tani rose to stand with Diego.
“If that wasn’t strong enough, I’d be surprised,” Lily retorted. Joaquin stood behind her and she almost leaned into him, seeking a comfort from him that still caught her off guard. She shook herself mentally to clear her thoughts.
“That only leaves Tabitha and David then.” Amy frowned. “She may fight it.”
“I think she’ll listen to me if she’s awake enough to hear what I say. I can reach her inside. I can at least try, and maybe it will keep her calm.” Lily found drawn expressions on everyone, their worry right on the surface.
“Where is David?” Kathy asked.
Laney rolled a hand toward the stairs where the basement door was hidden. “He’s been in the basement a lot. I think he misses his drums.”
“I’ll go get him,” Tani offered, but was stopped with a halting hand on her shoulder.
Diego’s voice was flat. “He’s not in the house.”
“Where would he go? I haven’t seen him, but he wouldn’t take off. I’ll be right back.” Houston turned to march up the stairs.
“I haven’t seen him either,” Lily interjected. “But I rarely do because I do the night shift.”
Kathy and Amy looked at each other then shook their heads collectively.
Lily immediately knew this was not a good thing, feeling the flare of worry and fear like a slide of ice down her skin. When Joaquin stepped up behind her and put a comforting hand on her spine, she welcomed his touch before she could consider why she shouldn’t, why she should be wary. Or why she longed for his comfort when she could barely stand anyone else’s physical touch. When only a moment before she’d been unsure, she wasn’t, needing the stability emanating from Joaquin. Tani barely raised an eyebrow, but both Amy and Kathy looked at her oddly, both confused at her open acceptance of not only a male, but of his touch. She didn’t avoid their stunned stares, but didn’t owe anyone any explanations for her actions either.
Houston jogged down the stairs with a sparking glare popping in his eyes. “Half his stuff is gone.”
“Crap!” Titania exclaimed.
Diego tugged her closer, soothingly. “You have a way with words, cara.”
“Now what?” Tani asked.
“Wait.” Lily blinked, wondering if it was possible. Of course it could be. “What if it’s him and he knows it, or even suspects it? He wasn’t treated any better in the two days he was there.” Everyone knew what Nathan had confirmed through the two trackers, that someone was indeed carrying nothing less than a tracking device to bring hell down on them.
“Show me.”
She did without a qualm, letting Joaquin see the horror she, herself, had witnessed, and had endured. The flash of whips, the thud of hard-hitting fists. Cruel words, and crueler abuses.
He never moved, but she felt the protective charge of his will envelop her, embrace her. “Never again.”
“I know.” She returned with a wash of her faith in his word. Belief, faith and trust had to start somewhere.
“We have to find him,” Laney said, openly trying not to cry. “The dork did it on purpose. I know him.” Tani nodded in agreement.
Houston raked a hand through his wavy hair, muttering a curse under his breath. “We’ll have to spread out.”
“I will help,” Joaquin said without hesitation.
“So will I.” Lily quickly offered her help in any way she could.
“Lily,” Joaquin said with an immediate bitten disapproval.
Tani held up her hands to stop any further bickering. “Look.” She rubbed her eyes. “This is turning into one big steaming mess. We can’t have everyone flying out of here on a manhunt. If it was David, then we’re not going to be the only ones looking for him.”
There was silent agreement and several disturbed nods.
“Laney, I love you like my sister. You and Houston stay here. You can’t afford to get roughed up now anyway.”
Laney gaped, then laughed at Tani. “How long have you known?”
She smirked, but with love said, “That doesn’t matter. It would tear Houston apart to be separated from you with you carrying.”
Houston didn’t deny it, instead pulling her a little closer into his body.
“I think I see what you’re getting at.” Kathy dropped her arms from around her middle, avoiding looking at Lily, or more likely, Joaquin. Lily couldn’t help in any way to encourage their trust of him. They all had walls to surmount when it came to their past and moving forward. “Amy and I can take care of Tabitha. Between us and Laney, we can.”
Lily felt Joaquin’s displeasure growing behind her as her determination firmed, and Amy and Kathy gave her the opportunity to join in the hunt. There was some kind of argument happening between Diego and Joaquin. It was something she could almost hear, but it was like listening through two walls.
And it drove her insane.
“If you’re going to argue about me, do it where I can hear it!” she snapped.
Three sets of eyes turned to her, but she didn’t back down. Diego’s frown deepened. “My apologies, Lily. I was not aware.”
She snorted, and as a statement, stepped away from Joaquin in rebuff. “I got that.”
“We only mean to keep you safe,” Tani explained.
“But I can help.” Lily let out a breath. “I couldn’t hear you two clearly because you have walls up. Most don’t. I can hear voices as well as I can talk telepathically. I chose not to. I’d go nuts in a heartbeat if I let it all filter in.”
“It’s not that we don’t wan
t your help,” Tani said with an evasive tone, her blue eyes meeting hers, then sliding away.
“Then what is it?”
“We’re not human, Lily.”
“What?” She shook her head at the lyrical sound of Titania’s voice between her ears. “I know I didn’t hear you right.” Diego’s ever present scowl deepened at Tani’s explanation.
Without a glance, Amy and Kathy left the room, walking up the stairs. A moment later, their bedroom doors were heard opening and closing.
“Why’d they leave?” she immediately demanded.
“I sent them to bed,” Diego said without apology. “There is no need for them to hear this.”
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