The Complete Lost Children Series

by Krista Street

  Similar to the twins and Di, my ability was within my mind. Everything I did was invisible to others.

  Using my ball, I pushed at the back of the four wheeler. It didn’t move. Cocking my head, I moved the ball to the front and pushed from that side.

  The machine moved an inch.

  Edgar’s mouth dropped. He twirled in a circle. “How’d she do that?”

  “You haven’t seen the half of it, my friend.” Jet chuckled.

  Knowing I needed more power, I called on the energy fields around the trees and forest creatures. My energy ball quadrupled in size. It practically crackled in its intensity. If I’d wanted, I could have called upon the entire forest. There were so many life forces out here.

  Sticking with the ball I had, I widened my stance. “This might be messy.”

  The four stepped back.

  I slammed my ball into the front of Edgar’s four wheeler. The sound of twisting metal and splintering wood filled the forest. The four wheeler popped free as if an invisible hand wrestled it out.

  Edgar’s eyes turned to saucers. “Blimey!”

  “I told you.” Jet smirked.

  Deep grooves cut into the pines where it had been stuck. A moment of remorse for the damage I’d caused stung me. Hopefully, the grooves in the trees would heal.

  Jacinda plucked her hands on her hips and surveyed the machine. “Do you think it’ll start?”

  I eyed the bent handle bars and dispersed my ball, letting the energy return to its owners. “Only one way to find out.”

  Edgar climbed aboard and turned the key. Luckily, it started. “Me finks drivin’ might be funny.” He turned the twisted handlebars.

  Amber giggled. “You’ll manage.”

  Edgar turned the four wheeler off again and swung his leg over it. He gazed above at the towering trees while sitting on the seat, his legs dangling down one side. “Pretty here, in’ it?”

  “Very,” I agreed.

  “Does it make you miss home too?” Amber asked.

  I thought about the hidden cabin in the Forbidden Hills. The cabin we’d all grown up in. It had been surrounded by forest too. “Yeah.”

  She stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Me too.”

  The wind wasn’t quite as strong in the dense trees, and as the minutes passed, the anxiety in everyone’s clouds grew.

  Jet paced a few times.

  Jacinda kept glancing anxiously in the direction the others had gone. A few times, we heard a distant howl. Each time, an eager look formed on Jacinda’s face.

  “It could be a coyote,” Jet said, a teasing lilt in his voice. “Not necessarily your werewolf.”

  Jacinda glared at him. “He’s not my werewolf.”

  “Oh no?” Jet’s eyebrows rose. “From how you two are acting, I’m expecting some wolf pups in a few months.”

  Jacinda crossed her arms.

  Amber muffled a giggle.

  “What you two on about?” From Edgar’s confused expression, I guessed he still didn’t comprehend the twins’ humor. Of course, being locked away in an underground prison for most of one’s life probably didn’t help with one’s social skills.

  “Just ignore him,” I said. “That’s what most of us do.”

  Jacinda laughed and gave me a wink.

  We continued waiting for everyone to come back, and the energy in our group kept growing. I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to return when the screech of an eagle tore through the sky. A gigantic bald eagle flew directly above the tree line.

  “Susannah!” Edgar shouted. “There you are, love!”

  I stared in awe at her huge form, but she quickly disappeared from view. Scanning our surroundings, I searched for the others. “Where are they? We can’t let her out of sight!”

  Jacinda’s brow puckered. “There’s no sign of them.”

  I jumped on my four wheeler. “Come on! This may be our only chance.”

  Everyone else climbed aboard their vehicles. Edgar hopped on Mica’s, leaving his twisted four wheeler behind.

  I revved my engine. The scent of pine again filled the air as needles kicked up from the dirt. Everyone else followed. I waved Edgar to my side as we raced down the hill. Susannah became visible again, but she was gaining ground quickly.

  “Do you think you can convince her to descend?” I yelled.

  Edgar ducked his head to avoid a tree branch. “If I get close enough, probably!”

  “She’s flying too fast!” Jet pulled his four wheeler to my side. Our engines whined.

  I swerved around a large rock. “We need to catch her!”

  I dared a glance over my shoulder to see how Amber and Jacinda faired. Amber was only ten feet behind us, but Jacinda was losing ground. Panic covered my sister’s face. Jacinda and excitement did not mix well.

  “Go find the others!” I yelled to her.

  She shot me a thumbs up, looking relieved, as the rest of us raced onward.

  Wind whipped across my face as we barreled down a hill. The bitingly cold sting made my eyes water. Susannah’s flying form grew farther and farther away. “We’re going to have to use our powers! It’s the only way to stop her!” My words carried above the engines.

  “I think you’re right!” Jet inched closer to my side. “Edgar, if we get her down, can you help catch her?”

  Edgar’s dark gaze brightened. Excitement shone in his eyes. It briefly occurred to me that this was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him.

  He nodded. “I ‘tink so.”

  Hair whipped in front of my eyes. I hurriedly pushed it away. “I’ll block her with an energy ball!” My yell barely carried about the loud engines. “Jet, can you persuade her to stay calm?”

  “I’m too far away!” Jet’s swerved just in time to avoid a cactus. We’d broken out of the trees and were back in the desert. “We need to get closer!”

  “Give me a minute!” I welled up the power within me and then called upon the clouds around my family and the surrounding animals. Susannah was at least a half a mile ahead of us. I’d never manipulated a ball that far before, but if we were going to catch her, I’d have to.

  “Here goes nothing,” I muttered.

  I mentally flung my ball while also driving at full speed. It wasn’t easy, but I kept my gaze on Susannah’s departing form. I didn’t want to hurt her but we needed to get her lower.

  However, descending the ball in front of her was harder than I thought it would be. I felt it fall short. “I need to get closer!”

  I revved my engine again. The engine whined in protest as sand kicked up with the tires. Jet, Edgar and Amber followed.

  “Try again!” Jet yelled.

  Calling upon my power, I formed another ball. Keeping my gaze on Susannah, I imagined throwing the ball up in front of her, effectively blocking her path. I switched my vision until the world became a sea of clouds. White clouds bubbled around all of the plants and small desert animals. The colorful clouds surrounding my family’s shoulders pulsed around them. Our adrenaline made them grow. So much energy.

  I gathered our clouds in a large, swirling rainbow. I then pulled the clouds from every plant we passed. Sweat trickled down my temple, creating an icy trail as wind blasted against my face.

  You can do this, Lena. Call upon it all. Form a huge ball, then you don’t have to be so accurate. Make a huge wall that she can’t pass.

  Fatigue grew within me. So much power. So much to control. The sweat on my body grew. It trickled down my back.

  When a swirling ball of energy pulsed above me, I flung it as far as I could and then wrenched it up toward the sky at the last minute.

  An eagle scream reached my ears. Susannah’s giant form plummeted in the distance, her body falling out of control.

  My heart jumped into my throat. “No!”

  But a second later, her wings spread. She soared to the left.

  “Do it again!” Jet called.

  I kept the massive ball in place and m
anipulated it into her path again. Instead of running into it and falling, this time Susannah seemed to sense it. She turned.

  “Again!” Jet commanded.

  Darkness grew around the edge of my vision as I again manipulated my energy ball, effectively pushing Susannah closer to us. Dizziness made my hands falter on the four wheeler’s handles. I gritted my teeth. Stay focused!

  “She’s flying right toward us!” Amber’s gleeful words penetrated the fog that threatened to swallow me.

  Breathing heavily, I gulped in breaths of the winter air as we sailed over the desert. Relief followed when Susannah’s white head grew larger. Amber was right. She flew right at us, only a hundred feet up.

  “Is she close enough now?” I slowed my four-wheeler. My body swayed. If I didn’t stop, I feared I’d fall off.

  Susannah flew even lower and faster. From her panicked flaps, I knew she was scared.

  I stopped, the heavy machine vibrating beneath me. The others halted by my side. Panting heavily, I rested my forearms on the handle bars. “Can you stop her now?”

  Jet closed his eyes. “I think so.”

  As Jet’s emotional powers strummed in invisible waves from his mind, I watched Susannah slow. Her flapping grew less frantic. Her wings began to cup. I wanted to clap in relief but was worried I’d break Jet’s concentration.

  When Susannah hovered above us, she circled a few times, each time descending more and more. Edgar hopped off his four-wheeler and raced to an open area on our left. He called to her.

  She screamed in return.

  Edgar grinned. “Come on, Suzie love. Land ‘erself, right ‘ere!” With a flourish, he waved at the open patch.

  Susannah’s giant wings nearly brushed against my face when she came into land. A rush of air rustled the red curls flying free from under my hat.

  She screamed again as her talons opened. With a silent whoosh, she settled in the sand.

  “That a girl!” Edgar kneeled down. “We’ve been lookin’ for you, love.”

  Susannah ruffled her feathers. She stepped closer to Edgar.

  Jet’s breath came out in a rush. His eyes snapped open. “She’s here?”

  “Right there.” I hooked a thumb in her direction.

  We both grinned. Jet looked as fatigued as I felt.

  “Now what?” Amber asked.

  Edgar picked up Susannah, awkwardly standing with the giant, docile eagle. “I’ll carry ‘er. Can one of you drive?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Edgar managed to hold Susannah the entire way back to the house. A few times we had to stop so he could rearrange his grip. I could tell that Susannah found his presence comforting. She seemed careful to keep her talons tightly clenched so as not to scratch him.

  Beyond that, I wasn’t sure how much she understood about what was going on around her.

  As soon as we reached the desert fortress, Edgar carried her inside, telling us to give him a minute. We spent that time parking the four wheelers back in the garage.

  A door slammed just as we cut the last engine.

  “She’s in the bathroom. She’ll change and ‘ten probably clean up.” Edgar’s brown eyes shone with excitement. He’d seemed to enjoy our excursion more than any of us.

  Everyone else showed up an hour later.

  Jacinda rode her four wheeler beside Luke, who was still in wolf form. After he transformed back to human, he explained that he’d found Susannah about a mile from where Jet, Amber, Edgar, Jacinda and I had stopped, but he’d approached her too quickly, essentially scaring her back into the air.

  “Nice job on getting her back.” He shook out his shaggy mane of caramel colored hair. A few pine needles fell to the floor. I guessed those had been caught in his fur while he’d been running as a wolf.

  I didn’t know the specifics of how transforming worked, but I assumed Luke, Edgar and Susannah would be naked once they reverted to human form. I didn’t know how they couldn’t be. As for when Susannah would finally come out of the bathroom, I had no idea about that either. We’d been home for over two hours, and she still hadn’t appeared.

  Scents of garlic and roasted chicken floated into the living room as the twins, Mica and Amber cooked an early dinner. Despite the appetizing aromas, I didn’t get up from the couch to investigate. I was too tired.

  Jacinda sauntered into the living room. “Is Susannah still in the shower?”

  “Yep.”

  Jacinda plopped down on the couch beside me, causing the cushion to angle in her direction. The damn sofa was so hard I once again wondered why anyone would buy it. Granted it went with the house’s modern décor, but it was about as comfortable as sitting on a steel plank.

  SUSANNAH FINALLY MADE an appearance as we sat down for supper. Her long, black hair cascaded down her back while blazing, blue eyes peered out of a waifish face. She wore an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants. Both hung on her.

  I stood up from the table as soon as she entered the room and smiled brightly. A part of me worried about what Susannah would think of Jet and me. We’d used our powers to manipulate her. That was something we never did to one another. Well, except for the twins, but they hadn’t done that since being teenagers in the Forbidden Hills.

  I was especially concerned since it was Susannah. Even though she’d been with us for over a week, ever since Chicago, she’d never really talked to or engaged with anybody. Having us use our powers to control her, however necessary it was, wasn’t conducive to growing trust.

  Susannah paused beside the table, eyeing all of us. Her head cocked a few times at unnatural speed.

  “Hi.” I approached her slowly.

  She watched me warily and took a step back.

  I stopped and wrung my hands. “I’m sorry about this afternoon. Jet and I didn’t mean to hurt you. We were worried about you and needed you to return here. I hope you understand.”

  She merely watched me, her bright blue eyes distrustful.

  “Are you hungry?” I waved at the food. “We’ve got a lot. Do you want to join us?”

  Her gaze shifted to the table. Everyone sat silently around it.

  Susannah assessed the dishes, licking her lips. A large plate held marinated steaks and chicken breasts. Various bowls of side dishes sat around it: mashed potatoes, a garden salad, fresh fruit, rice pilaf and a few other items. Condiments were littered in between.

  I stepped toward the empty chair and pulled it out. The scraping sound made her jump. “You must be hungry.”

  Susannah darted a look at me before hurriedly searching for Luke and Edgar. I didn’t blame her. I’d used my balls to manipulate her from the sky. Not exactly the best way to build a friendship.

  Edgar smiled and waved at the chair. “Sit down, love. Have some tea.”

  Edgar’s grinning face seemed to calm her more than mine. I inched back to give her room.

  Susannah tentatively sat, her limbs tensed. It looked as though she would jump up at any moment and run away.

  Luke speared a huge, juicy steak.

  My eyes bulged. It had to be at least ten ounces.

  “Here ya go.” He dumped it on her plate. “I know how you like your meat.”

  Susannah’s pupils dilated. She reached for her fork and knife. Any concerns I had of her leaving, evaporated. Susannah attacked the giant hunk of beef. Attacking was truly how it looked. She cut into it with such ferocity that it looked as if she was killing it.

  At least she used utensils. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she picked it up with her bare hands and transformed her fingers into talons in order to tear the meat apart.

  “Well, then.” Jacinda settled her napkin in her lap. “Would you pass me the salad, Jasper?” Her polite tone and calm manner seemed to help everyone remove their attention from Susannah.

  I returned to my seat. Flint pushed my chair out and then pulled it back into the table once I was seated. For a second, my head spun. He’d done it at his speed.

  He placed a comforting hand on
my thigh. His heat seared through my jeans.

  I took helpings of everything, doing my best not to stare as juice ran down Susannah’s chin. It was hard to look away. She chewed greedily on the steak. I wouldn’t have been surprised if at any second an eagle’s scream pierced the dining room.

  But there was one thing I did know. I no longer had the worst table manners.

  AFTER DINNER WE hung out in the living room. Jasper got a fire going. It was the one thing about the home that wasn’t modern since it actually required wood and matches, not like the gas fireplace in Father’s study. It soon crackled and glowed, sending heat through the room.

  It felt good. Despite the home’s advanced HVAC system, it was still cool. Outside, snow flurries danced against the window, the large flakes floating together.

  I lounged on the couch snuggled against Flint. His heavy, muscled arm kept me close.

  Everyone else lay on the floor or sprawled on the furniture. From the low energy feeling clouds, we were all exhausted.

  “Are we getting a Christmas tree this year?” Amber asked as everyone settled in for a lazy night.

  “We should!” Mica replied. Jasper had an arm draped over Mica’s shoulders.

  I was relieved that Amber didn’t seem bothered. Instead, Amber’s attention was on Edgar as he said something funny in his peculiar accent. Amber giggled.

  “I hardly think we have time for a Christmas tree,” Di muttered. “We have too much going on.”

  “What’s a Christmas tree?” Susannah asked quietly. She stood at the edge of the living room, as if trying to hide in the shadows. Her voice was soft and pleasant sounding, so different from her eagle scream.

  Everyone fell silent after she spoke. It was the first thing she’d said all night.

  I smiled brightly at her. “It’s a pine tree decorated for the Christmas holiday. Have you never seen one?”

  Susannah hesitated and then shook her head.

  “We didn’t celebrate holidays,” Luke explained.

  Jet’s eyebrows rose. “But you know what a Christmas tree is?”

  Luke shrugged. “More or less. I think I saw one in a movie once.”

  Flint and I shared a concerned look. If we had grown up in O’Brien’s research facility, we probably wouldn’t know what a Christmas tree was either.