by Abigail Owen
“Griffin … kiss me,” Selene moaned.
She’d barely finished uttering her plea when his arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly into his body, and his lips were crushing hers. Selene hungrily opened her mouth, allowing him to slide his tongue inside. A small whimper escaped her at the sensation. At the sound, Griffin suddenly moved, and Selene found herself flat on her back, pressed into the bed by the weight of his body as his lips traced a path down her neck and across her collarbone. Selene hummed deep in her throat and rubbed her legs on his.
But as quickly as it started, it was over. Griffin suddenly pulled away and sat up. He leaned against the headboard and ran his hands over his face, his breathing ragged. “I think you should go to your room, Selene,” he said, looking at the ceiling rather than at her.
“I—”
“Please. Just go.”
Embarrassed and rejected and more than a little bit frustrated, Selene rolled off the bed and left the room. As she closed the door, she glanced back over her shoulder. Griffin was still sitting on the bed. His knees were drawn up and his head was bowed.
Selene quietly closed the door behind her, tears trickling silently down her cheeks. She’d learned long ago how to hold in the sound of her sobs. The skill came in handy now as she made her way through the darkened house back to her own room.
Chapter 23
“Explain yourself, Princess!”
Selene stood straight and proud and refused to flinch at Xavier’s tone and choice of words. He’d never been one to hold back ire.
“What could you possibly have been thinking?” he continued.
Selene folded her hands in front of her, patiently waiting for the head of the Vyusher High Council to finish everything he wanted to say. She’d known this was going to happen. She could also practically feel the anger coming off Griffin.
Just that morning, Charlotte had teleported everyone to the Vyusher castle – Zara included. As they had decided the night before, it was time to warn Selene’s people.
Selene had Oren convene the High Council so that she could inform them of the treachery being plotted against them. She’d brought Griffin and Ellie to help her show her people the danger they faced. Xavier was going ballistic without all the facts, which was typical of him. Predictable, but annoying nonetheless.
She caught Lila’s gaze and then motioned toward Griffin, hoping Lila would catch the subtle hint to calm him down a bit.
“Are you going to say something?” Griffin’s voice sounded in her head.
“Let him burn himself out first,” she answered calmly.
Eventually, when she saw that Xavier was winding down his argument, Selene held up her hand and he fell silent. She rarely played the Princess card. Too many years of not making any of the decisions, she supposed.
Selene stepped to the center of the room and looked at each Council member in turn. When she was absolutely sure she had their undivided attention, she spoke.
“I have come here in good faith. I bring with me the ones responsible for ending my brother’s terrible reign over our people and our minds, and you berate me for it?” She looked directly at Xavier, who had the good sense to look at the ground.
“These people are our honored guests and will be treated as such,” she continued. “We’ve uncovered a plot against me and against the Vyusher.”
A small gasp whispered around the room.
“What plot?” Xavier demanded.
“Maddox and other ex-lieutenants are attempting to discredit me by framing me for the murder of several innocent humans.”
A low murmuring passed through the group.
“To what end, Princess?” Mireilla, one of the elders and a friend to her mother asked.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Selene answered.
Another round of mumbling swirled. “What proof do you have?” Xavier demanded.
Selene narrowed her eyes. At her mental request, Griffin summoned Charlotte and the rest of the family, who had Zara with them.
“Zara?” Mireilla spoke as they entered the room. “What are you doing with Selene?”
“We captured her,” Selene answered. “Right in the middle of trying to manipulate me. Frame me. You all know that she and I look a lot alike as wolves. Maddox had her using that against me.”
“Lies!” Xavier slammed down his fist.
Selene raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with his theatrics. “We can show you,” she replied coolly.
“Show us how?” Mireilla asked.
“This family has several powers among them. Used together, they can show us what they’ve experienced, as well as the truth of what you see. Will you allow them to—?”
“You expect us to trust these people?” Xavier interrupted, pointing to Ellie and Griffin. “Gideon forced us to destroy their family. You don’t think they want revenge?”
“I think that if they’d wanted revenge, Ellie would’ve killed us when she was a dragon. But they let us all leave in peace.”
A few of the Council members nodded their agreement, but most appeared unconvinced.
“Maddox is trying to frame me. Will you let Ellie show you—?”
“NO!” Xavier bellowed. “You are showing your true colors, Selene.”
Selene blinked in confusion.
“You are just like your brother, and now you intend to continue what he’d started. I, for one, will not allow you to take this pack down that path again!” He practically spat the words at her, his face turning purple in his agitation.
“How dare you!” Selene felt tension knot in her stomach. Something was going on here that she didn’t understand, but she knew that she was losing control of this situation. “If I were in any way interested in ruining this pack, I would’ve removed every power by now.”
Xavier stormed over to her and glared. “But look at how that turned out for your parents. You wouldn’t have a pack if you did that.”
Selene blanched. “Gideon controlled me just like he did all of us,” she murmured in a low voice.
“So you say, but how do we know that for sure? You could’ve been acting in league with your brother. For all we know, you could’ve been controlling him yourself!” Xavier turned to address the room. “Council members, I put it to you. Selene was Gideon’s greatest weapon, and we have no way of knowing for sure that she was not just as responsible for the actions of this pack as he was. At her earliest opportunity, she left us and joined with the family that destroyed him. And now she comes to us with lies about former pack members, ones who left in peace, to incite paranoia and turn us over to her rule and that of the Svatura.”
Oren rose to his feet. “If Selene had wished to harm the Vyusher, she would have acted before now.”
Selene shot her beloved guardian a grateful look. Xavier’s accusations had paralyzed her in her own fear and sorrow and fury. After all she had sacrificed for her people, this was they showed their appreciation?
“Not if she wanted these Svatura to rule with her.” Xavier waved an angry hand at Ellie and Griffin and the others. “She would need a catalyst, and so she has made one.”
“We have absolutely no interest in ruling your people,” Griffin declared. “We are only here to protect you from a threat.”
“You expect us to believe that? After what we did to your family?” Xavier scoffed. Griffin moved to answer but stopped when Xavier held up his hand. “Council, I request a vote. Let us determine now that the rule of Selene and her lineage be ended, and we declare her no longer Vyusher, no longer a part of this pack.”
“I will NOT participate in this farce—” Oren began. But Selene laid a hand on his arm, halting his words.
Raising her head, she faced the Council and spoke in a clear, proud voice. “If my people truly want me evicted from rule, I will not stop you.”
The vote happened quickly. Xavier’s words of fear had swayed many of the Council members. Selene closed her eyes for a brief moment and willed herself to remain strong.
“I will abide by this Council’s decision,” she said quietly. “But I implore you to investigate the threat I have brought before you. We’ll leave Zara in your hands. You decide what to do with her. And whatever you do, do not allow Maddox to gain power over the Vyusher.”
Selene stepped back and allowed Ellie to slip her hand around her elbow. Keeping her gaze on Oren, she mouthed, “Goodbye.”
And then, thanks to Charlotte, she was standing in Hugh and Lucy’s living room. Selene crumpled onto the couch as her whole world came crashing down around her.
Chapter 24
Griffin glanced at Selene again, but she still hadn’t moved. As soon as they’d arrived home, she’d sat down on the couch, pale as ghost. And there she had remained. Staring unseeingly into space. Not moving. Not speaking. Not reacting. Just sitting.
They got no response from their initial attempts to talk to her, and she strongly blocked any attempts Lila made to help her emotions. Eventually, they all just decided what she needed was space and time to process what had happened, so they left her alone. They’d wait to discuss what to do next after Selene had pulled herself together.
They ate dinner, and afterwards Ellie, Griffin, and Alex went upstairs to study, while the others hung out and watched some TV. Soon it was time for bed, and Selene still had not moved. Ellie tried once more to connect with her but received no response.
Ellie shot Griffin a concerned look. “You’ve got to reach her.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Don’t be snarky.”
Griffin stared at his sister for a second and then gave a brief nod. He waited until everyone had left, and then he sat down on the couch beside Selene.
“Selene.”
No answer.
“Talk to me, please,” he tried again. He reached to brush a strand of hair from her face, but she jerked away.
Griffin ignored the painful emotions that shot through him at her reaction and instead focused on the fact that she’d showed some kind of response… even if it was rejecting his affections. Holding up his hands in surrender, he said, “I won’t touch you. But I’m not moving from this spot until you talk to me.”
No reaction.
Griffin settled himself more comfortably in his seat, never moving his gaze from her. It was no hardship to stare at Selene. When she’d visited him in his dreams, he’d come to memorize every line, every curve of her face. Of course, that was before he’d known she was real. He’d thought she was beautiful in his dreams, but that was nothing compared to seeing her in the flesh.
Finally, after several long minutes of silence, Selene stirred.
“Go away, Griffin.” Her voice was dull, colorless.
“Not until you talk to me.”
“About what exactly?”
“You pick. What just happened with the Vyusher? How you’re feeling? Whether you’re okay?”
“I don’t want to talk to you. Don’t you understand that?”
“You need to talk to someone.”
She gave as short, sharp laugh. “And you’re the best candidate? You pick then, I guess.”
Griffin thought for a moment. If he could just get her started talking… “What did Xavier mean about your parents?”
“I’ve already showed you what Gideon made me do to them.”
Griffin shook his head. “No, there’s more to it.”
“Couldn’t you read our minds?”
“You were blocking me.”
“There’s a reason for that.” Selene looked down at her hands, which were clenched in her lap. Griffin thought she was going to leave it at that, but after a few moments, she let out a deep sigh.
“When I removed their powers, it apparently drove them insane.” Selene’s voice was cold, almost robotic. “Gideon didn’t kill them right away and took great pleasure in sharing that fact with me. To test me, of course. See if I’d react. I didn’t.”
“Jeez,” Griffin breathed. This girl had been through more than even he and Ellie had known. His heart ached for her. He reached out without thinking about it, wanting to offer her some kind of comfort. But she jerked away from him again.
“I’ve taken rejection and isolation and exclusion all my life. So much that I no longer allow it to affect me.” Finally she looked him, her gaze direct. “And I’m done with it. I won’t give you the chance to reject me again.”
Selene stood up abruptly. Griffin had no idea what to say to her. He’d thought his reasons to stop what they’d been doing the night before had been good ones. But she’d shown who she was today, and he knew with every fiber of his being that his fears had been unfounded.
“I’d hoped for something more between us,” she said, and he quickly masked his astonishment. “I never expected you to ever accept me. I was a part of the worst horror of your life. But I guess I was holding on to some small amount of… well…it doesn’t matter now.” She moved toward the doorway.
“Selene –” He had to tell her. Explain.
“No.” She halted him with one word. “Just leave me alone.” She turned and walked away from him, disappearing into the darkness of the hallway.
Griffin let her go. He’d thought that nothing could ever hurt as much as losing his family in such a terrible way. But now he knew that he’d been wrong.
This was worse.
*****
Selene wrapped herself in numbness like a protective cloak. She knew that the devastation buried deep inside her would make its way to the surface eventually. She was dreading that moment. She made her way to her room in search of some much needed privacy. She undressed and got ready for bed in a zombie-like trance and then climbed between the cool sheets. She lay there a second before she turned over on her side and curled up in a pathetic little ball of frozen misery.
The first sound came out almost like a hiccup. Just a tiny squeak which swiftly turned into a keening wail. And then her body was wracked in heart-wrenching, full-body sobs. They came so hard and fast that she couldn’t catch her breath.
As her body squeezed tighter and she started to worry that she was getting hysterical, Selene felt the bed dip. And then a strong arm banded around her waist and her body was pulled up against a solid wall of male muscle.
Selene knew it was Griffin without looking. And despite how angry she was with him, the comfort she received in his arms overrode her need to stay angry right now. His warm scent surrounded her. He said nothing, just held her tightly as emotions washed through her in waves. Gradually, his heat seeped into her, spreading through her and over her. Her sobs slowed until her body could relax just the tiniest amount, and then further still, until the only sounds she made were stuttering indrawn breaths.
“I … I’m all right. You can go now,” she eventually sputtered between sniffles.
“Are you sure?”
“Uh-huh. Yeah.”
His arms tightened around her briefly and then slipped from her body, leaving her chilled where his skin had been warming hers. Hearing the bedroom door open, she looked over her shoulder at him.
“Why?” she asked. She couldn’t read his expression in the half-light of the hallway, but saw him hunch one shoulder.
“I…care for you,” he replied softly. And then he closed the door behind him.
Selene didn’t know how long she lay there, no longer crying, not moving, not seeing… just being. She heard no sound, felt no familiar pulse of power, felt no stirring in the room to warn her.
By the time she felt a large hand clamped mercilessly over her mouth, and another squeezing her throat, it was already too late.
“Scream and I’ll snap your neck,” a male voice growled warningly in her ear.
Maddox… oh hell!
Selene desperately reached for her power to disable his, but it wasn’t there. She couldn’t feel her powers, and her entire body tensed in terror. And then, suddenly and silently, they were instantly transported somewhere else. Selene had just enough time to feel panic wa
sh through her before a sickly sweet-smelling rag was placed over her mouth and nose and oblivion claimed her.
Chapter 25
“Something’s wrong!” Lucy rushed into the kitchen, Hugh following close behind. “I feel it!”
Griffin quickly searched the minds of everyone in the house. All were present and healthy. Except he couldn’t hear Selene, but that was nothing unusual. She was a black hole as far as he was concerned.
“You’re positive?” he asked Lucy.
“Absolutely.”
Using his telepathy, Griffin roused the still-sleeping household and summoned them to him, while simultaneously contacting Charlotte and Dexter and the rest of the family. People started to gather in the kitchen within minutes, all in various forms of dress.
“What’s going on?” Ellie asked, alarmed. Charlotte had interrupted their morning run in order to teleport her and Alex home immediately.
“Something is happening or has already happened. Something bad. I can feel it.” Lucy spoke up from her seat at the dining room table. She was shredding a napkin into tiny pieces in her anxiety. Hugh stood behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder as sign of support.
“It practically woke her from a dead sleep,” Hugh confirmed.
“Where’s Selene?” Adelaide asked, glancing around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed her somehow.
Ellie glanced at Griffin. “I can’t hear her, but that’s pretty typical.”
Charlotte teleported out of the room, only to reappear a few moments later. “She’s not anywhere in the house,” she said with a worried frown.
Suddenly, a form appeared in their midst. It started almost like a mirage… a wavy, misty figure. Gradually it took on the appearance of a man but was somehow transparent. Then it became apparent that the image was that of Oren, one of the High Council members of the Vyusher. Griffin recognized him from their disastrous experience yesterday. Oren had been the only Council member to try to speak on Selene’s behalf. And now that he thought about it, this was the same apparition with whom Selene was talking in her apartment that night a few months ago.
