It didn’t pass Alex’s attention that she looked pretty disappointed. But, she nodded her head.
“We’ll be out here,” she murmured.
He took his time to get to the door; although he could have been there in a couple of seconds, he let it be a matter of minutes. He wondered if she had felt the same intensity of the moment as he had. He did know she liked him a lot but he loved her.
What am I thinking? No, no, no! I promised myself I wouldn’t do this.
He opened the door to find Chris on the other side. As soon as he had let Chris in and closed the door, the bell rang again. That time, it was Victoria, with Deanna right behind her.
“Come in.” He held the door open for them.
“Where do we sit?” Victoria snapped, and then plowed her way past him.
Alex caught Deanna’s gaze and rolled his eyes. It never failed that the first words out of Victoria’s mouth were always rude.
“How are you, Deanna?”
“I’m doing really well, Alex. Hello, Chris.” She went to Chris and gave him a hug.
Alex knew they went dancing together sometimes but that seemed a tad more emotional than the normal friend hug.
Alex couldn’t help but give Deanna a good glance over. She looked great; vibrant was the only word he could find to describe her. She was sporting a short red and black plaid skirt and black tank top. The skirt looked like a catholic school girl uniform, only she had on black combat boots.
He waited until Deanna and Chris released each other before he led the way into the dining room. Victoria was already seated at the head of the table so Deanna and Chris sat down beside each other on her left side. Alex chose to sit all the way at the other end of the table, as far from Victoria as he could get.
Just as he was seated, the doorbell rang again.
“I’ll get it,” Isabella called from the entryway. A moment later, she entered with Jaiden sleeping in her arms and Jeremiah, Danielle and Damion in tow. As soon as Deanna saw Isabella with Jaiden, she jumped up.
“Isabella! How are you? Oh, look at her.” Deanna gazed down at Jaiden with sincere awe. Her hand rose to finger Jaiden’s red locks. “Good color,” she murmured.
Deanna’s own red hair was twisted back into braids. Isabella and Deanna giggled for a bit. Then, Isabella seemed to notice an entire room full of eyes settled on her. Alex saw her tense up and hug Jaiden a little tighter to her chest.
“Well, I should leave you all to your business. I’ll see you later, Deanna.”
Deanna gave Isabella a side hug and told her, “I’ll come and talk if I have time when we’re done.”
“Ok.” Isabella nodded at everyone and left the dining room.
Alex scooted his chair forward so he could lean on the table. “All right, let’s get started. I suppose we need to come up with a plan of action for Stewart and catch up with each other. First of all, as you can see, Christopher is here today and will be from now on. Second of all, I think you all know about Jaiden. I have been informed that I cannot take my usual part in any attack on Malcolm or Stewart’s rescue because of my obligations to Jaiden.”
He threw a slight glare at Danielle as he spoke. It didn’t surprise him that she didn’t look one bit guilty about forcing him to stay. She stared right back at him with nothing but innocence in her dark eyes.
He continued, “Although, I normally would take part, unfortunately, this time, I cannot. Now, let’s come up with a plan to get Stewart home!” He focused on Damion. “Does anyone know if the search parties have found anything at all?”
Damion shook his head. “Nothing, no one has anything.”
Victoria snorted.
“What is it now?” Damion asked her impatiently.
“Have any of you geniuses tried using telepathy?”
“Malcolm wouldn’t let us into his mind even if we all tried,” Danielle said.
Victoria rolled her eyes. “Not with Malcolm, you twit, with Stewart.”
Danielle recoiled at Victoria’s snide comment. “Victoria, do not speak to me that way.”
“Well, what do you expect? You’re supposed to be an angel, in league with god. One would think you could talk the big guy into telling you.”
Alex could see Danielle getting frustrated with Victoria’s sarcasm. Luckily, Damion came to her defense. “Have you tried telepathy, Victoria?”
“Of course I tried. I only asked because sometimes it takes someone who knows him better.”
Damion nodded. “That’s true. Who here has tried telepathy?”
All hands but Chris’s and Alex’s rose into the air.
“Hmmm.” Damion thoughtfully looked at the raised hands.
Jeremiah finally spoke up. “Could that mean that he’s…”
“Dead?” Victoria asked bluntly. “Of course it could mean that.”
“Wait! Stop it… all of you!” Deanna hollered as she rose from her chair. “Shhhhh. I’m getting an idea. I’ll be right back.” With that, she ran out of the dining room.
“What in the world was that all about?” Jeremiah grumbled.
Alex thought it totally weird how everyone of them actually sat in silence while they waited for her to come back. When she did return, she held Isabella by the hand and pulled her into the room.
“Deanna,” Victoria chastised. “This is a meeting!”
“No, it’s ok,” Deanna explained. “Isabella, she can find him.” She waved her free hand toward Isabella.
“What?” Isabella stared at Deanna a wide eyed look, indicating she thought Deanna had lost her mind.
“Why does everyone always look at me like that? Look, Isabella can teleport large objects, she is very good at it.”
“Find who?” Isabella asked. “Wait. Wait a minute, do you want me to try to move a person who I have never met?”
“Yes,” Deanna said simply.
“I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Deanna, I have no idea what this guy looks like, I don’t know where he’s at and, most importantly, it can be very dangerous when it comes to moving people.”
“So what.” Deanna threw her hands in the air. “He’s in danger now.”
Isabella sighed. “I am not telepathic. There is simply no way I can do this.”
Jeremiah stood while everyone else watched the conversation intently. “Yes,” he said, “I think it can be done.”
“What?” Isabella was shocked.
“Tell us how,” Deanna ordered.
“Well, those of us who know Stewart can think of him, anything about him. Then, we would channel it to Isabella through touch and when she gets it into her own mind, she can try to teleport him.”
“Look.” Isabella looked really worried. “Depending on how far he has to go, even if this does work, it could kill him.”
“Malcolm could kill him,” Damion stated flatly.
Deanna nodded in agreement. “It’s worth a shot.”
Reluctantly, Isabella finally agreed. “All right, I’ll try, but remember, I don’t have a clue if this will work.”
“Everything will be ok,” Deanna assured her.
“I need to get Jaiden; we can’t leave her out there too long.” Isabella left the room and returned a moment later, rolling the basinet in front of her. Jaiden was still asleep. Once Isabella had parked the bassinet in a corner of the room and took the chair Deanna had ready for her, Alex stood.
“Ok then, let’s give this a try.” He moved to the chair beside Isabella. “The first thing we need to do is figure out who is going to channel Stewart.”
“I’ll do it,” Jeremiah volunteered.
“Ok. Then let’s get started.” Deanna rubbed her hands together.
Isabella’s worried expression remained frozen on her face as Jeremiah traded places with Deanna and took Isabella’s soft hand into his callused one. He closed his wrinkled eyes and began to concentrate. She closed her eyes as well.
All were silent while they waited for so
mething to happen, anything, but nothing did. Minutes passed in sluggish silence. Finally, Jeremiah opened his eyes. “I want to try it with all of us together.”
“Let’s all stand over here.” Danielle had moved to an empty part of the room which was large enough for them all to stand. “Everyone join hands.” She extended her arms, hands palm up.
The group rearranged themselves until they had formed a circle.
“Now,” Jeremiah instructed. “Everyone close your eyes and think of Stewart.”
“What do I think of?” Isabella asked.
“You will receive pictures of him mentally through us. When we locate him, you will know it. You will see everything we see.”
She nodded. “Ok.”
Alex shut everyone else out, closed his eyes and thought of Stewart. Of his face, his cold blue eyes and the arrogance which lay inside of them. He thought of the sarcasm in his voice and how he fought when there was no need for a fight.
Other pictures began to filter into Alex’s own. Memories that were not his, but those of the others. He saw Stewart protecting a young girl who had been assaulted on the streets, Stewart helping Jeremiah in his lab, Stewart struggling with his magical self, and Stewart’s big smile flashing brightly against darkness.
Alex suddenly felt like he was the only one who thought of Stewart as a little punk. He had completely missed the part of him of which others had memories. How could he have not seen that part of him, the childlike man who couldn’t control his magic? How had he missed the bravery displayed for no reward but, simply, to be good?
Guilt found its way into Alex, slithering in and almost blocking the slide show of memories which flowed through so many minds at once. He kept trying to think of only Stewart and not himself. It was more challenging to do so than he had originally anticipated. He clung to his own memories of Stewart. The little punk was the only Stewart he knew, and therefore, they were the strongest ones which surfaced.
Suddenly, a very different picture formed within the minds of the council. It was Stewart, clothed only in jeans, chains hanging off his wrists and ankles while he lay slumped against a stone wall.
Jeremiahs harsh voice rose above the swirling wind of magic as a soft whisper. “Now!”
Foreign words spilled from Isabella’s lips and her voice seemed to resound through the room like thunder. Then, real thunder roared in their ears and Isabella whipped her hands out of Alex’s and Jeremiah’s.
Alex’s eyes popped open at the disturbance, as did everyone else’s. Isabella threw her hands into the air, palms facing upward, and then flung them sideways toward the dining room table. Her fingers balled into her fists and then opened again.
The entire room flashed like the blink of the earth’s eye and Jaiden’s tiny screams pierced through the magical atmosphere. Then, the long table broke in half as something came crashing through it, sending splinters of wood flying in every direction.
There, lying amidst the rubble of what used to be Alex’s table, was Stewart.
23
Although Stewart was unconscious, he was a living image of what they had seen in their minds. A glance at the ceiling told Alex that it was still intact but his table was totally demolished.
Damion and Jeremiah rushed to Stewart’s side and Alex immediately turned to Isabella. She had fallen to her knees, arms hanging loosely by her sides, and hyperventilated.
“Are you ok?” Deanna asked Isabella softly while she squatted down in front of Isabella. She reached out to touch her and recoiled as if she had been shocked.
“Isabella?” Alex said to her.
“Leave her be!” Victoria ordered. “She has exerted herself. We should be lucky that it even worked. She shouldn’t have been able to do that, yet; I didn’t think her magic was strong enough.”
“Well, apparently, it is strong enough,” Stewart called out from among the remains of his shattered table.
“Don’t be snotty, Stewart,” Danielle said firmly to him. “We need to talk to you.”
Danielle had gone to Jaiden’s bassinet and picked her up. She strode back and forth and bounced Jaiden up and down in order to sooth her.
“I figured you would,” Stewart said as he picked himself up out of the rubble and dusted himself off.
“Alex,” Isabella whispered. Her eyes were glazed, not focused on anything. She still panted and tried to catch her breath. “Help me up.”
He reached down, grabbed her underneath her arms and lifted her up. She sagged against him because her legs wouldn’t hold her.
“I did it?” she asked?”
“Yes, there he is.” Alex pointed at Stewart.
“Oh. Is he ok?”
“Uh huh, he’s fine.”
“Could someone get me some water?” she asked softly.
Deanna ran out of the room and into the kitchen while Chris picked up one of the chairs out of the pile of what was left of the table.
“Here.” He put the chair down next to Isabella.
“Thanks.”
Alex helped her into the chair just as Deanna returned with a huge glass of water.
Stewart still had the chains attached to his ankles and wrists, only they weren’t attached to a stone wall. It was as if Isabella’s thoughts had actually ripped them right out of the wall.
While Alex held the glass to Isabella’s lips, he eyeballed Stewart from the corner of his eye. His tanned body was covered in dirt and dried, black blood and his skin could barley be seen through the scab which covered his bare feet. His jeans were torn in several places and he had tons of bruises but his eyes were still filled with the defiance of their Stewart.
Stewart scanned the room, taking a survey of who was present.
“Well, let’s talk then.” He flicked his eyes toward Isabella.
Isabella was recovering quickly. “I’ll go.”
She stood up and went to take Jaiden from Danielle.
“Isabella…”
“It’s ok, Alex. I understand.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, not entirely satisfied with her leaving the room.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m fine.”
She made a shhh sound and bounced Jaiden a bit. Jaiden immediately softened her screams down to a dull cry.
Alex nodded and watched her leave with Jaiden. He knew she was still exhausted. A person didn’t look like she did afterward and then just be ok all of a sudden.
Stewart spoke first. “I don’t know what has been going on but we don’t have time to go into it. Malcolm is up to something very bad.”
“What?” Damion asked.
“He’s running a people farm.”
“What?” Damion asked again while everyone else only stared at him with confused expressions.
“Look!” He thrust out his arms, revealing the track marks where they had taken his blood. “They are fattening all those people up like cattle.”
“How many people?” Danielle whispered.
“Too many to count, and I doubt I even saw a portion of them. They keep some of them for their own personal blood banks, and the others, they are feasting on when they are all plump and juicy. And that’s not all! He is breeding them.”
A deep silence fell over the entire group.
“This is bad,” Deanna stated flatly.
Alex stepped forward so he was in front of Stewart. “Stewart, why did Malcolm take you?”
Stewart nodded and raised an eyebrow. “Let’s get it all out in the open, huh.”
Alex mimicked his sarcasm. “Yeah, let’s.”
“It’s not at all what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“You think I was going to betray the council.”
“Yes.”
“Malcolm’s goons came and took me one night…they took me to him and he asked me if I would…I told him no. Then, when I wouldn’t give them information, they beat the hell out of me and chained me to a wall with razor cuffs!” He held up his wrists to emphasize his point.
“No, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t too far. It’s definitely not out of the country. They put me on a plane, a private plane, not an airline, and it didn’t take more than a couple hours by my guess. I was blindfolded at the time, though.”
Alex still wasn’t satisfied with Stewart’s explanations. “How did you make yourself so vulnerable to him?”
“I didn’t! They took me right off the street in front of a whole lot of people. Obviously, I couldn’t use magic right there in the street. It’s like…we put ourselves at risk simply by being around people at all.”
“A people farm,” Chris mumbled under his breath. He still seemed to be recovering from the shock of the news. Alex didn’t blame him one bit; it was yet another mission they had to fulfill.
“We have to take care of this,” Damion stated, his teeth clenched in anger.
“How will we find him?” Deanna, who usually had the good ideas, was all out.
Damion began to pace. “We’ll figure it out soon. Maybe Stewart will remember something.”
Alex watched Chris closely. Chris was one of those where you could tell when something was on his mind. He might as well have had a light bulb above his head.
“What is it, Chris?”
“I was just thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
“No, don’t worry. It’s too dangerous, probably not a good idea.”
Damion rushed over to Chris and smiled wickedly in his face. “I laugh in the face of danger!”
Although a poor attempt at humor, Alex, along with a few of the others, couldn’t help but chuckle.
Chris leaned forward. “What if we lure Malcolm to us?”
Danielle, who had been staring off into space, focused on Chris. “That would work, but how will we get him to come to us?”
“Bait.”
“Bait?” Danielle repeated.
“What…bait?” Jeremiah asked cautiously.
Chris looked at Alex and then at Danielle. “Jaiden.”
“No! Absolutely not!” Alex rose from his chair. “I will not use Jaiden as bait!”
Birth of Jaiden Page 14
