“Okay.”
“Here’s the thing… with the tracking part of it, I can actually reach her and listen in to what’s going on. Jewel can track her and as we get close enough, I’ll be able to sneak into her mind and hear everything. She said she wanted to be done with Jeremy once and for all. I know it’s crazy and dangerous and there could be some bad side effects, but I think it’s worth it.” Elizabeth rambled on as she drove. Nervous about telling Wesley they whole story but knowing at the same time she can’t hide anything from him and make their relationship work.
“Side effects? What do you mean?”
“Well, if anything funky happens I could get stuck there, in her mind.”
“Nope! Not happening. You have to find a better way! Why you? There are so many other witches out there who can put themselves in danger…why you?” Wesley usually didn’t voice his opinion so much but with the recent events in their lives, he didn’t want to take any chances of losing her again. He laid a hand on her leg as she drove, “Look, I know your powerful and smart and all, but do you have to do that?”
“I’ve already thought about it all. If we can’t get close enough, then yes. But…if we can get someone in on the inside who understands magic then we will have a better chance of this all getting sorted out. Sara said Jeremy knew someone,” she gave some air quotes around the word knew briefly before replacing her hands on the steering wheel, “who could get his magic back. Now don’t get me wrong, his powers are fun, and I enjoy them. I don’t care if I have them though, but I can’t have him getting them back. Personally, I think this has to do with the Charles’ sisters,” she looked left to right as she turned on her blinker and went left towards the cafe, “and if so, then we need all the advantages we can get.”
“Have you considered The Veil again?”
“Nope. We want to do this in-house. They helped a lot last time, but Tara said they were only to be called when absolutely necessary. I spoke to her about Edom and she said that until there is no other choice than we are to handle it. So, this is me handling it!”
Wesley dropped his head back on the headrest and let out a long sigh, “The fairies and elves can help, you’ve already made it clear we can work together. So, tell me what you need!”
Elizabeth pulled into the cafe, turned off the car and looked at him, “I need a lot,” she said playfully, “but for now let’s brainstorm with Jewel on what all we can do to make sure Jeremy isn’t any trouble.”
The couple got out and walked into the cafe hand-in-hand, whispering to themselves deep in conversation when the chimes of the doorbell rang out overhead and the entire cafe went silent. All heads turned to see the two standing there with eyes wide open as they were being stared out. It took him a moment, but Wesley realized that that was the first time the two of them walked into anywhere in town together holding hands. He looked down at their hands and lifted them just a bit to get Elizabeth to understand. She smiled and they found their favorite booth in the back and waited for Jewel.
After a few moments, the noise in the cafe went back to normal and a new waitress came and took their order. Once the gum-popping waitress was done, Elizabeth asked, “Where’s Jewel?”
Pointing with her pen towards the back, “Back there,” pop pop pop, “she’s on the grill today. Want me to get her for you?”
Rolling her eyes at the continuous popping, Elizabeth nodded affirmatively. It was a few moments later when the waitress brought over their drinks without a word or pop. Elizabeth was starting to get nervous when Jewel didn’t come out after their food was delivered. She played with her food and kept watching the back for a peek at her friend. “She’ll come out. She just finished cooking this and there are a few other orders that went up after ours,” Wesley said reassuringly.
“Yeah, I know. I guess I’m just a bit worried and nervous about everything.”
Picking up some fries, Wesley dipped the wad in ketchup and then shoved them in his mouth. Quickly chewing before responding, he calmly said, “She is a good cook! Maybe better than the regular one! I wonder if this was a promotion for her?”
Elizabeth nodded, she decided to go ahead and eat and took a large bit of the burger, “You’re right she did an amazing job!” Looking around, the young witch realized her waitress was now missing as well. Much of the cafe had emptied out and her head began to spin. Her vision started to blur. She turned to Wesley to see his head on the table, apparently asleep.
Everything went black and her last thought was help!
Head throbbing and his vision starting to clear, Wesley held his head in his hands as he sat up in his seat in the cafe. He looked towards Elizabeth, but her seat was empty. Leaning forward, he saw she was not laying in the booth’s bench either. She was gone! Panic ran through him as he looked around and saw the cafe empty. Not one customer remained, not one member of the staff was seen. He started to get up but quickly fell back in his seat when his head pounded so hard, he could feel his heartbeat in his temples.
Grappled with fear, Wesley pushed through the throbbing and stood up. Clearing his mind, he wiped at his eyes to help them focus again. He stumbled around the front of the cafe checking for any sight of Elizabeth, nothing and no one. Turning his focus on the staff, he slowly made his way behind the counter and into the kitchen. What he found made his heart race even more…under the counter, he could see feet sticking out. Making his way around the counter, he found Jewel laying on the ground with blood pooled around her. He shook her, “Jewel. Wake up.” He checked for a pulse, it was weak, but it was there! Pulling out her phone he quickly dialed 9-1-1. “Hello. Yes. Yes. Come to the cafe on the outside of town. I found one of the staff members on the floor of the kitchen, there’s blood.” He hung up before giving his name, he knew he couldn’t be found here alone with her. He knew they’d not understand how everyone is missing and he alone woke up. He checked her pulse once more and spoke softly, “Help is coming. I have to find her. I’m sorry.” He heard a small groan in response, squeezed her hand and took off out the back door.
He barely got out the door and to the side of the building when he heard the sirens, that was too fast. They already knew to come. He was set up and Jewel was to be his victim. Knowing he couldn’t get to his car he turned towards the woods. Once inside the tree line, he shifted and tore through the forest to get to his home. As he ran through the woods, he thought about the day’s events. I guess it wasn’t Friday he was waiting for after all.
Just outside the castle, Wesley found his stash of clothes and shifted back into his elven form. Quickly dressing, he brushed off the leaves from his clothes, he quickly made his way inside yelling the whole way, “Mother! Father! Hurry!”
He ran into the library to find his mom and dad sitting there with a surprised expression as he quickly spilled out the details of what had just happened with amazing speed. Within seconds, Lady Doreen was on the phone with Sari, then the fairies. They needed to call everyone in on this one. Attacking elves, witches, fairies, and humans was dangerous…finding out who did this was essential.
CHAPTER 18
Day one of Elizabeth Missing: Within one hour of Wesley arriving at home, his family’s home was full of others. Lady Doreen took the lead by calming everyone down and informing them of what was known. It was Reba and Raina who took over when it came to the planning. They would find Elizabeth and whoever did this to their people. They would locate them, find out what the reason was, and make sure it would never happen again. On this day, they would spend the next several hours phoning every other in the area asking what they knew and if they’d help. No one knew anything but none said no.
Day two of Elizabeth Missing: Wesley went to the fairies to check on Jewel. Walking into her father’s home, Wesley could see all the elders were meeting in the kitchen. “Good morning,” he said politely as he entered their home.
There were five elders present, including Jewel’s father. Wesley had never seen so many of the elders of the fairies gathered,
even though he knew many were missing this worried him and made him think that Elizabeth was in worse danger than he initially thought. “Good morning, Wesley,” they replied in unison. Wesley smiled and nodded.
Jewel’s father rose and walked over to him, “Come on, I’ll take you to her.”
“Thank you. How is she?”
“She’ll be fine. It was good you found her and called 9-1-1 when you did,” the elder turned to the elf and placed a thankful hand on his shoulder, “you saved her. We know it was you. She remembered you there, remembered you speaking to her. She has a lot to tell you but when she is done, you’ll have to leave and let her rest. We will help you. You can call me later.”
Wesley nodded as the man finished his words and turned down the hallway, gave a light tap on a door and pushed it open. As Wesley walked up to the doorway, he could see the soft light trickle out into the hallway. He peeped in and saw Jewel laying on a bed of what looked like flower petals with soft sparkles falling from the air above her. There was a faint glow coming from the petals and fairies skin pulsated as the sparkles fell from above her. He stepped in and knelt beside her. She must’ve known he was there because she began to stir. Turning her head towards him, she smiled and whispered, “thank you for saving me.”
“I wish I could’ve done more.”
Jewel swallowed slowly, her eyes starting to come to life as she looked at him. “Is she safe? Have you found her?” Wesley shook his head no, his face paled with sadness. Reaching out to Wesley, Jewel placed her hand on his, “See what I saw. I hope this helps.”
The room clouded over, and Wesley stood next to Jewel in the cafe, in the furthest corner near the coat rack. They could see the everyone sitting and talking, the staff working steadily to fill coffee cups and even Jewel on the grill in the kitchen through the window. Wesley looked down at her, she nodded to the door. It was that moment that he and Elizabeth walked through the door and took their seats. The waitress came over and left.
Next, a small mist could be seen seeping through the doorway, crawling around the room as each person was tempted to go. They saw Wesley and Elizabeth deep in conversation, not noticing the cafe empty out. The waitress brought them their order and soon they both slumped on the table asleep. Jewel pointed to the door and then the kitchen where she worked.
The door flew open and three women walked in with a man around Wesley's age in tow. Jewel came around the counter to protest and one of the women threw her hand out commanding an unseen force to throw Jewel back. Jewel hit her head and fell to the ground where blood pooled around her. When she woke, Wesley and Elizabeth were gone, and she was in her bed at home. The air in the room cleared.
What they saw next frightened them both. The three women, identical in every way, walked over to Wesley and whispered something amongst themselves. Turning to the man, they called out, "Come on, she's all yours!" Their voices were harmonic and eerie, causing the hairs on Wesley and Jewel to stand on end even though there were reliving a past event.
The young man walked up to Elizabeth and bent down to take her him, licking his lips he spoke maniacally, "All mine?" He turned only his head towards the women, "Are you sure?"
"Like we said, you can do whatever you want...just don't let her survive it!" The one in the middle quipped just before they turned to leave. The man watched them walk out as their hips swayed side to side like a hypnotic beat.
Looking back at the young witch passed out before him, he spoke to Elizabeth as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulders, "Oh, I do love me a red head! We're gonna have lots of fun!"
Jewel looked at Wesley, pulled her hand back as she turned over and balled up and fell back into a deep sleep. Wesley had a place to start looking now. He stood and rushed out of the home, phone to ear as he called Sari.
The next six hours were spent hunting down the triplets. Wesley later learned their names were Lani, Lacy, and Lucy Charles.
CHAPTER 19
Day Three of Elizabeth Missing: Sari rose early to meet Wesley. This would be their second day of searching for the Charles’ sisters. The only people who are known to have seen her daughter last. Sari’s nerves were unraveling quickly as the time ticked away with her daughter’s whereabouts unknown.
Reba and Raina were in the kitchen waiting for her with fresh coffee. “I’m going to the elves today and she is going to call in the coven. It’s been two days. It’s time to include everyone,” Raina said as she handed Sari a full cup of coffee.
Sari took a deep drink from her coffee and nodded to her sister, “Thank you. Wesley should be here soon. We are going to do some tracking with Celeste and Keenan.”
“The young red-headed elf?” Reba asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one. He insisted when he found out what was happening. Wesley said that he has been training as a tracker.”
“Good. He is important to her,” Raina commented.
“How so?” Sari asked.
Raina looked at her sisters, “Do you not remember her original dream? The one Doreen created?”
“And…,” both Reba and Sari replied.
“Keenan was the young shifter who Elizabeth spoke to and helped. Ever since she got here and actually met him in person, she’s been working with him, spending time with him. To Elizabeth, he is very important.”
“Ahhhh, that could help. They’ve spoken to one another through a mental link so maybe with both him and Wesley together they can reach her!” Sari let all the details click together.
Raina nodded, “Exactly!”
“Good thinking. Hope it works!” Reba replied as she rinsed her cup, “He’s here.” She looked toward the front door just before they all heard the knocking.
Sari stood up, “That’ll be me then. Keep your phones on.”
Both Reba and Raina called out after their sister, “Good luck!”
*****
Sari, Wesley, and Keenan went back to the cafe to start their search. “What better place to pick up her scent than the place she was taken from!” Sari explained to Keenan. Keenan said nothing as they walked into the cafe. His focus was on finding and saving Elizabeth, he wasn’t big on small talk and this was no exception.
“Take a seat anywhere, be with you shortly,” called out a portly woman of about fifty. Sari didn’t recognize her but with the previous staff recovering from unusual health problems she knew that new faces were to be expected.
“Here,” Wesley pointed to the booth where he and Elizabeth last sat. “There,” he pointed to where Elizabeth sat for Keenan to sit there and see what he could pick up. Motioning to Sari to enter his side of the booth, Wesley slid in next to her. “What do you get?”
Keenan closed his eyes and placed his hands flat on the table, “Sleep. Calm. There was four of them, not three. One man, three women. He touched the table before picking her up.” Wesley watched the young elf work, he was proud of his progress and trusted his instincts. Wesley never tracked while in human form, it was a gift not many elves were given…Keenan was special. Keenan slid out of the booth and headed towards the door. Stopping short of the door he turned and looked back at the cafe, then pushed the door open and took off running.
Knowing Sari wasn’t going to keep up, Wesley tossed the keys for the car towards her, “Follow us!” He turned and within three steps he was no longer human. Keenan and Wesley rushed through the streets causing quite a number of yelps and people running inside in fear. They didn’t care if the public saw them in animal form on this day, they were on a hunt. Sari struggled to keep up as they would twist and turn sharply. Keenan not only followed the scent of the man who had been there, but he was able to sense the emotion of the man as well, this made him frantic and his actions unpredictable.
After two turns the two men cut through some houses, Sari lost them. She pulled over and waited. She had seen Wesley shift and saw he put his phone in a sling that went over his head as he shifted. She knew he’d call. It was ten minutes of agony as she waited. When the phone ra
ng, she jumped for her phone, “Hello.”
“I’m sending you my location, you need to come here,” Wesley said out of breath before hanging up. Keenan and Wesley walked through the home of the man who had picked up and took Elizabeth. He had brought her here, but they were gone, and the scent was confusing. “Can you pick it up?”
“No. It’s like his scent changed. There are about five different ones and the one that brought me here is…gone?” Keenan looked confused and lost.
“It’s okay. Take your time. See what you can do,” Wesley tried to remain calm as the younger elf worked hard. He knew this was their only lead and they just lost it.
Keenan was confused and angry. Never had a fresh scent vanished into thin air, then it hit him. He turned to Wesley, “Someone used magic to cover the scents, the two scents.”
****
Raina called Lady Doreen and set up a time to go over and talk with the elves, three hours later she stood in their library with all the leaders of the families in the tri-state area. A few younger elven women came in with drinks and snacks as the heads of the families along with one witch spoke about the threat against their people and the humans.
“Should we call in Haven?” One elven man questioned.
“I’d rather not. They helped once and I’d like to not have to involve them again so soon,” Raina spoke confidently. “If we can get a lead on where the sisters are, we can take care of this! I believe my nephew is behind most of this. He didn’t handle his father’s death so well.”
Another elven man stood, “Do you blame him?” He was from a northern family who had hidden themselves away and rarely interacted with the world much less attend elven events. He wasn’t much liked by many of his people.
Lady Doreen hissed, “How dare you! You hide from the world and then come here to judge. This young witch helped our people, her people! You will not judge her! You did nothing to help.”
Awakening Fate (The Chronicles of Elizabeth Fairbairn Book 4) Page 8
