by Abigail Owen
Lila bit her lip. So could she.
Chapter 34
“Lila… Lila, wake up.”
Lila pulled herself out of the depths of sleep with difficulty. She and Ramsey had been up well into the early hours of the morning going through everything he’d already researched, and she was still exhausted.
"Lila," Ramsey's deep voice repeated.
Without opening her eyes, Lila moaned, "What?"
"Wake up."
"Go away. I'm sleeping," she slurred. She still hadn't opened her eyes. Maybe if he went away now, she could fall right back asleep.
A rough hand cruelly shook her. "Seriously. Wake up."
"Ugh. All right." Lila struggled to sit up. She drew her legs up, rested her elbows on her knees, and rubbed her tired eyes. "This had better be good."
"It's good. I think I've figured out where Maddox is hiding."
Lila flopped back down into bed, yanking the sleeping bag back up over her shoulders. And then his words penetrated her foggy brain. "Seriously? Where?"
"He's just outside of Austin, Texas."
Despite the almost impossible likelihood of finding Maddox, Lila was intrigued. She cracked open one eye. Just as she guessed, Ramsey stood over her cot, arms crossed as he watched her.
Lila sighed as she unzipped the sleeping bag and swung her feet down to the chilly stone floor. "Okay. Okay. Show me what you’ve got."
She followed Ramsey into his cell and plopped down on his cot, folding her legs crisscross to get comfy. Ramsey sat down beside her with his laptop propped on his knees. She looked over his shoulder at the screen.
"After we realized that the list of potential places was still too long, even after we had narrowed down the possibilities, I got the idea to cross-reference our shorter list with unusual wolf sightings."
Lila felt the stirrings of excitement. "Smart. They've gotta come out for provisions, and I seriously doubt they can do much training inside. Did you find anything?"
"There are some caves just north of Austin called Inner Space Caverns. It's a natural system formed in the limestone. There's a portion open to the public that has been well explored. And it's fairly well guarded, though Maddox's people can get around that easily enough. There are other parts that have been blocked by natural cave-ins that have yet to be explored."
Ramsey flipped through a few different webpages showing pictures of stalactites and stalagmites glistening in various shades of browns and whites.
"Okay. Sounds like a potential place... What makes you think he's there?" Lila asked.
Ramsey flipped to another website. This one looked like a personal blog. "There's a large limestone quarry not too far from the public entrance to the caves. Just recently a foreman cited a large gray wolf prowling the edge of the quarry."
Ramsey pointed out the somewhat blurry picture of an animal standing at the edge of what looked to be a stark white cliff. It had clearly been taken by a cell phone from far away. But Lila could tell with one glance that it was an oversized wolf in the picture.
"Are wolves common in that area?" She didn't want to get too excited.
Ramsey shook his head and flipped to yet another website. "The Texas Gray Wolf was common in the area a hundred years ago or so. They’ve been extinct since 1942. That's the only reference I can find to wolves that might be around there."
Lila leaned back, thinking through any other possibilities. "When was this wolf spotted?"
"Only two days ago," Ramsey said. He went back to the blog and pointed out the date posted.
Excitement pumped through Lila. She looked at Ramsey and saw her own eagerness reflected back at her. "I think you're right. I think you've found him."
Ramsey gave her his rare grin that took her breath away. It transformed his face from ruggedly handsome into something a little softer… and sexier, if that were possible. "It means that for the first time since we joined Selene and the Vyusher and started fighting Maddox, we might actually have an advantage."
Lila grinned back. “So, Austin… didn’t Ellie and Griffin live there just before moving to Estes Park?”
“I think they did. Maybe their knowledge of the area will give us an extra advantage.”
"We have to tell Selene," Lila said. "She'll need to talk to the clans. They need to revise their strategy and take the fight to Maddox's door."
"I agree," Ramsey said.
Lila gave a mental frown. She could have sworn that she had just heard Ramsey’s agreement in stereo. She rubbed at her ears.
"Do you want to call Griffin? Or do you want me to?" she asked Ramsey.
"He's already gathering Selene, Ellie, and Charlotte. They'll be down here in a second," he said.
She didn’t hear the double voice again, so Lila figured whatever was messed up with her ears had fixed itself. “Okay.”
"Sooner than that," Griffin's voice sounded from the cell doorway.
Ellie looked around as she walked into the room. "It looks even more depressing in here that when we first got you set up. We really need to get you new digs," she said with a teasing smile.
"We need to get rid of Maddox and his followers," Ramsey replied. "And we might be able to help with that."
That got their attention.
"How?" Selene demanded.
Ramsey walked them all through his original theory, the research both he and Lila had done, and finally what he’d turned up in Austin.
As soon as he finished, Griffin gave a low whistle. He looked at Selene. "Time for a change of plan, perhaps.”
"You may be right," Selene said.
Ellie and Charlotte both nodded. "Is it worth getting Darius out there to try to figure out where the caves reach and where Maddox might be?” Charlotte asked. “Those caves could be extensive, and he could have built them out with underground buildings as he did in California.”
“Good call,” Selene said. “Too bad we don’t have Sheila though.”
“Maybe I can help with what you’re thinking,” Griffin said.
They all looked at him expectantly. “I should be able to hear their thoughts. Based on that, I can get us pretty close.”
“We can’t have too many of us roaming those woods, or they’ll find out and our advantage will be lost,” Ramsey warned.
“Just Charlotte, Darius, and Griffin then,” Selene said. “And I need to go gather the clan leaders to discuss a new strategy.”
“We should attack him soon, in case he decides to move locations,” Lila said.
Selene nodded. She gave Ramsey and Lila an apologetic look. “You two get to stay down here until then, unfortunately.”
“We figured,” Lila said with a shrug. “You go do what you’ve got to do. Just let us know what the decisions are so we can be ready when you call.”
“Of course,” Selene replied.
Griffin, Ellie, Selene, and Charlotte disappeared back to the upper levels of the castle. Lila could almost immediately feel the amped up emotions in the castle as Selene got all the various balls rolling. God I hope this works, she thought.
Chapter 35
Ramsey held back a smile as he watched Lila tilt her face up to the sun. After being cooped up underground, they were both enjoying the freedom of finally being outside for a change.
Well… relative freedom, he thought with a grimace. They were invisible at the moment, thanks to Griffin’s shield. They could see each other, but no one else was aware of their presence.
Only a day had passed since Ramsey had figured out where Maddox was located. Selene and the clan leaders had quickly shifted their plans. Any moment now they would begin their attack. They’d used the last twenty-four hours to demonstrate to each other their various strengths and worked to combine powers that would help each other in different ways. Lila and Ramsey were still technically hiding but had come out to watch and learn and mentally prepare.
“Can you even feel that?” Ramsey whispered to Lila as she basked in the sunlight.
She didn’t
move or open her eyes. “Not exactly,” she said dryly. “Something to do with the shield. But it’s closer than we’ve been to sun in weeks. I intend to enjoy it.”
Ramsey knew what she meant. He stopped talking and just watched her, taking the opportunity to observe her uninterruptedly and without her really being aware of his close attention. He let his eyes wander the planes of her face. He knew every curve, every small freckle, even the barely-visible scar above her lip she’d gotten when she was ten and fell out of a tree.
“Do me a favor?” he asked her.
“Hmmm?”
“Stick close to me when this happens, huh?”
That caught her attention. She looked directly at him. “You tryin’ to keep me from fighting?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Now that would just be a waste of my time.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Then you’re trying to protect me.”
Ramsey looked down and knocked a rock over with the toe of his boot. “Maybe. And maybe I need your help to keep a lid on the fire.”
“That’s not the real reason. I can see it.”
Ramsey cursed silently. He often forgot about Lila’s ability to see if someone was telling the truth or not.
“I won’t get in your way,” he said. “Or stop you. But I won’t lose you again, Lily. Not if I can help it anyway.”
Lila looked away. She pretended to watch the practicing going on around them as she thought about his words. The scene was an impressive display of the abilities gathered in this castle. Wolves ran in small packs, some sparring, their lips drawn back over their teeth in snarls as they circled each other. In a far corner of the yard, earth moved and shifted as Darius played with it. Further away still, Jason crushed rocks with his telekinesis. They were ready.
“Okay,” she said softly.
Ramsey blinked. She never caved like that. He was tempted for a second to tease her, but no way would he mess up her agreeing with him about something so important. So instead he nodded.
“Look over there,” Lila pointed across the courtyard where they were all gathered.
Ramsey turned in the direction she indicated. "Nate.”
Lila glanced at Griffin, who stood underneath his shield with them. "Is Talia here too?"
Griffin shook his head. "No. That's part of the plan. We’re leaving a few guards here to watch her. Besides, she can’t handle being around so many people."
"Who's watching Nate?" Ramsey asked.
Griffin looked suddenly grim. “Adelaide."
Lila and Ramsey both frowned. "Is that a good idea?" Lila asked.
Griffin shrugged. "She insisted. After that first night, it's as if she shut off all her emotions. She's been walking around like some kind of robot. She’s even been around Nate a couple of times since then. He has no clue what she knows."
Ramsey didn't say anything. Neither did Lila. But he could tell by her expression that they were both thinking the same thing. I hope she didn't shut Delia's emotions off entirely, he thought.
"Me too," Lila muttered aside.
Ramsey gave her a startled look. He took her arm and turned her face him. “Can you hear me?” he thought.
"Yes," Lila said.
“Since when?”
She made a face. "It's been coming on gradually. Not like Adelaide. At first I wasn't even sure it was happening. But over the last day or so I've heard more and more."
“Five powers. Well, you didn’t blow up or turn insane. So I guess that’s good.”
Lila chuckled. “Yeah. I feel stretched, though. As if I can barely contain what’s inside me.”
“We should probably talk about that when we get back," Griffin said.
Lila looked over Ramsey’s shoulder with a small smile. "Good idea."
Another thought occurred to Ramsey, and he let Lila go and turned back to Griffin. “Why’s Adelaide coming at all? She can’t defend herself.”
“Well actually…” Griffin glanced over to where Adelaide was now standing beside Nate.
“She got another power?” Lila asked.
Griffin nodded. “The falcon shift. Selene has it now too, actually. Plus, Adelaide can help with the telepathy.”
“Wow. All four of us can shift into falcons. That’s incredible,” Lila said. Ramsey mentally echoed that sentiment.
Suddenly Griffin looked over the crowd. “Time to go,” he said.
Lila and Ramsey both looked at him, though neither spoke. Griffin lifted the shield and heard an angry growl from the wolves.
“It’s us, Maggie,” Ramsey said as he recognized the little brown wolf.
Maggie shifted and stood before them in her human form. “Sorry. You startled me.”
"No worries," Lila said. "You take care of yourself out there."
"I'll be watching this one's back," Desmond said as he walked up to stand beside them.
"That goes for you, too, you know," Lila told him.
Desmond ran his hand through his shaggy, sandy blond hair. "Thanks.”
Griffin, his attention obviously elsewhere, suddenly left them and made his way over to Selene. A hush fell over the gathered group as she stepped up on a raised platform. With a nod, she summoned Maggie to her side. Maggie was able to project thoughts and voices, almost like a one-woman PA system.
Selene's voice rang out over the courtyard. "First, to the various clans and tribes who have agreed to fight beside us, despite our history, I thank you. With the element of surprise on our side, I think we have the best opportunity to finally put an end to an evil that has been among us for too long. May we be successful."
Selene and Maggie stepped down. Over one hundred people gathered together in an extended version of Ellie’s wagon wheel formation. Ramsey kept his eyes on Lila, though she closed hers… teleportation always left her a bit disoriented. He barely blinked and they were standing in an open field, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding oak trees provided some shade. The extreme change in humidity felt a little bit like swimming through bath water and breathing soup. And the song of cicadas in the trees set up a constant hum in the background. Something about the sound was soothing.
Ramsey watched as Darius and Charlotte spoke with Selene in low tones. The plan was to do something similar to what they had done when they rescued Lila, but before they could test the waters… before Darius and Charlotte could do their thing… before they could organize at all…
A hush fell over the surrounding area, as though the creatures all around them had gone silent all at once. A chill rushed up Lila’s back.
She wasn’t the only one concerned. Everyone around her searched the fields for signs of danger, their faces grim. The crunch of dried leaves was Lila’s only warning. She spun around and came face to face with not just one wolf, but more than she could count.
They were surrounded by scores of Maddox’s forces, in both wolf and human form, who hadn’t been there a moment before. Looking around, Ramsey guessed that Maddox had at least the same number of fighters as they did, if not more. Ramsey slowly stepped closer to Lila and pressed his chest to her back.
“You move, I move,” he whispered in her ear.
Lila gave a tiny movement of her head, which Ramsey took to be a nod.
A sharp cry pierced the still air.
And suddenly all hell broke loose.
Chapter 36
All of the Vyusher instantly shifted to wolves, growls ripping from their throats. Chaos reigned as Maddox’s forces attacked. And Selene’s carefully crafted plan went right out the window. There was so much going on, Lila couldn’t track the action. She barely knew where to look.
“Lila, down!” Ramsey yelled.
Lila dropped to one knee and covered her head. Balls of fire flew past and landed on the grey wolf that had been running straight for her. The unfortunate creature howled in agony as its entire body went up in flames.
Before Lila could stand back up, pain – that terrible, debilitating pain she had gotten so familiar with
during her stint in Maddox’s prison – wracked through her body. Ariel was here, then, and still under Maddox’s control. She saw Ramsey hit the ground as he experienced it for the first time. She could also hear screams, beyond what the pain would cause. And she knew. Maddox’s wolves were ripping into her friends and their allies, viciously killing them as they lay there immobilized.
Lila gathered her strength… and pulled upon her own powers from some place inside her she hadn’t realized existed. Using her newfound telepathy, she mentally moved through conscious mind after conscious mind, assuming that those were Maddox’s unaffected fighters. And what she saw through their eyes made her sick. Loads of blood and skin that looked as if it’d been through a meat grinder. She was seeing exactly what they were doing to her people. Finally, Lila found what she was searching for - Ariel.
“Selene,” she called mentally.
She knew that Selene heard her when screams of anguish filled her head. She pushed a sense of peace into her friend. Her emotional healing didn’t seem to make the pain go away, but it at least helped them both hang on to some sanity.
As soon as she felt Selene’s screams let up, Lila talked fast. “The person controlling the pain is here.” And she showed Selene where Ariel was.
And then she held her breath and prayed that Selene would have the strength to lock on to the girl and use her powers to stop it - despite the anguish wracking her body. After a few moments, the pain lessened. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was gone.
Lila sucked in a deep breath.
“She won’t be using that power again anytime soon... As in ever,” Selene’s exhausted voice sounded in Lila’s mind.
Lila’s heart broke for her Louisiana friend, but it was better this way. Lila thought back one word to Selene. “Good.”
*****
What the hell was that? Ramsey thought as he struggled to stand. Then he reached down and helped Lila to her feet.
"That was how they controlled us when Maddox had us in that damn cave," she muttered. Without another word they stood back to back and surveyed the situation. They seemed to have recovered a little faster than most of the others. Unfortunately, Maddox's wolves were still attacking at will.
