by Ciana Stone
“My hay allergy potion?” Logan asked.
“Yep.”
“I don’t get it,” Logan said. “Why didn’t you want me to know what I am?”
“It wasn’t so much me as your mother. I guess I let her convince me it was for the best.”
“And now?”
“Now I realize I was wrong. About a lot of things.” He looked at Sabine. “Like your eight-hundred-pound gorilla.”
“I know it sounds far-fetched Mr. Leg—”
“Actually, it doesn’t.” His interruption surprised her. “You see, the government has known for some time that other—species of humans—preternaturals we call them—inhabit our planet and that they’re from another dimension. We’ve been in talks with their leaders for some time about how best to make their presence known.”
“Oh.” Sabine was surprised, not just about the revelation that others knew about the Fae but that John trusted her enough to talk about it. “Well, to be honest, I didn’t know all that much about the Numina or Fae until recently. Most of my life, the truth of my ancestry was kept from me, and like Logan James, I was drugged to make sure my cloaking spell was securely in place. No one wanted those wings to escape.”
John nodded. “It’s my fault you were not drugged during that horrible day when those children died. Genevieve and her family were constantly working on the formula to keep you from showing your Angel nature and whatever their concoction was, it made you sick. It made me mad to see a little kid being put through that so I took the bottle and replaced the contents with watered down grape juice. You’d been without their formula for over two weeks when you followed Logan into the forest.”
“Lucky for me.” Logan took Sabine’s hand. “If she hadn’t been able to transform I’d have died just like the others.”
“Something that I will never be able to repay,” John said. “I’m sorry I failed you, Sabine. I should have fought harder to keep you in our home but I let my wife and her family bully me into doing things their way. I failed you then and I failed you ten years ago. I was horrified when Genevieve told me what they—what she and her mother had done to you. It was barbaric and I was furious. She and I fought for days about it and finally she told me that the decree was final. If you contacted Logan again, you would be flayed to death and there was no way to reverse the decree.”
Sabine heard Logan’s intake of breath and looked at him. “Is that true?” he asked. “My mother ordered that to be done to you and threatened you with—with that kind of brutality?”
“It is.”
Logan looked at his father. “And you never saw fit to tell us we have a monster for a mother?”
“Would that I could, son, but my hands were tied.”
“How? What would they have done?”
“They would have killed your father,” Sabine said and looked at John. “Believe me, Mr. Legacy, I understand all too well the futility of trying to fight them. There are too many and they are relentless.”
“Indeed they are, but it’s time their power was placed in check, don’t you think?”
“I do.”
“Then it’s time we worked together.”
“Along with Ravyn and Wayne?”
He looked at Logan who nodded. “I think we should trust them, Dad. Time we trust one another and start being honest.”
“Then that’s the way it will be. But we’ll need more, much more.”
“We may have more,” Sabine said. “The FBI agents we told you about. They were given permission to have Clarissa put under surveillance and tap her phones.”
“And?” John asked.
Sabine wasn’t keen on revealing the next bit of news. “And your chief of staff has been seen leaving her house twice, along with another man they have identified as Barron Payne, a billionaire who doesn’t appear to have any ties to the family other than sitting on the board of a company Clarissa also sits as a board member.”
John leaned forward in his seat, propping his elbows on his knees and staring at the flames in the fireplace. Finally, he looked up. “I’ll deal with Tom, I have people who can keep tabs on him. We need to find out if this Payne character is involved and we need to prove Bannon’s involvement with Clarissa.”
“And then what?” Logan James asked
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“What’s the end goal here?” He looked around at everyone. “It seems pretty obvious that we’re not equipped to fight these beings if they are, in fact, rogue Numina from another dimension trapped here. Their power exceeds ours so in order to stand a chance of defeating them, we’d need the help of the Numina. And”—he held up his hand as Sabine opened her mouth to speak—“we’d need to be able to send them back where they came from and everything we’ve learned indicates that the doorway is closed and inaccessible. So, again, I ask. What’s our goal?”
Sabine was the one to answer. “To connect with other Numina and build our forces. At least in part. Your father has resources in the government he can tap into to try and figure out if the Council is, in fact, in league with the Numina.”
“So how do we make contact with other Numina?” Elijah asked.
Sabine looked at John. “Can you tell us?”
“I can, but how you came to be in possession of the information must be kept secret.”
“It will.”
“Then you need to go to Texas. I can provide you with the coordinates. You’ll need to speak with Augustus Thurinus. He oversees the largest district in this country of his kind.”
“District?” Logan asked.
“Apparently the Seven, as our government has labeled them, is composed of seven races of what we and they call themselves—the Fae. Augustus is one of the most highly respected and is also the son of the Head of their Council of Seven. He lives on a large ranch in Texas. He governs a district. There are seven in this country.”
“He’s a rancher?” Logan James asked.
“And a Vampire.” John added.
Logan James looked at his father and then shook his head. “This just gets weirder by the minute, doesn’t it?”
Sabine put her hand on his arm. “I can go along to speak with him if you’re uncomfortable.”
“No. I’ll go with you but we need to make a stop at Legacy Ranch. My mother has called half a dozen times wanting to know where I am and when I’ll return. I told her I was taking a short vacation to clear my head. If I’m away much longer she’ll be suspicious.”
“Then you should go home.” John agreed. “As should I.”
“In the morning,” Elijah argued. “That’s soon enough. Tonight is the hunter’s moon. It is time to run.”
“Run?” Logan James asked.
“Run,” his father agreed with a smile.
Sabine smiled as well. Tonight, Logan James would learn more about his own nature and she suspected that would change the way he viewed others of the Fae from this point on.
Chapter Fifteen
Wayne checked the time. Five minutes later than the last time he checked. He groaned and continued to pace. The last time he’d spoken with Ravyn, she had been disembarking from the plane. She’d promised to call when she reached her grandmother’s house.
That had been two hours ago.
He’d called a dozen times and each time it went straight to voicemail. Something was wrong and he didn’t know what to do about it. Except to go and find her himself.
He snatched up his phone to call his company’s pilot and it rang before he could access his contact list. Ravyn’s image appeared on the screen. He didn’t bother to say hello when he answered. “Ravyn, thank god I was starting to—”
“Shut up and listen,” a male voice cut him off. “If you want to see your girlfriend again—alive and in one piece that is—you’ll do exactly what I tell you. Are you listening, Wayne?”
Wayne had to sit down. His legs had lost all strength and he felt like he was about to throw up. “I’m listening.”
“Goo
d. Now, we’re going to make a trade. You give me Sabine and I give you Ravyn.”
“But I don’t have Sabine. She isn’t with me and I don’t know—”
“Don’t lie to me, Wayne. That would be very unfortunate and painful for Ravyn. Now, let’s try this again. You bring me Sabine and I give you Ravyn. Do we have a deal?”
There was nothing he could do but agree. He had no clue how he was going to talk Sabine into it, but he had to save Ravyn. “I’ll agree on one condition.”
The man on the other end of the line laughed. “As if you have any bargaining power.”
“You want Sabine, don’t you?” Wayne hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake.
There was a long pause, long enough that Wayne’s hands started to sweat. Please God, don’t let him hurt Ravyn.
“What’s your condition?”
“That you not harm Ravyn and that you let me speak with her every hour until I deliver Sabine.”
The next pause was not quite as long, and when a voice came back on the line, it was Ravyn’s. “Wayne? He said it’s a deal.”
“Are you okay? Has he harmed you?”
“I’m okay. Just scared. Please hurry.”
“I will. I just need to know where—”
“I’ll text you the address.” The man came back on the line. “You’ll hear from us in an hour.”
Wayne stood there looking at the face of the phone for a full minute when the call ended, trying to figure out what to say when he called Sabine. His mind was drawing a blank—all he could think about was what might happen to Ravyn if he failed.
It suddenly occurred to him that he didn’t have to lie. Sabine loved Ravyn, but more importantly, she loved Logan and Logan would never forgive her if she didn’t try to save his sister.
He hurriedly accessed the contact list and placed a call to Logan Legacy. It rang three times before Logan answered. “Logan Legacy.”
“It’s Wayne. I need your help. Actually Sabine’s.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ravyn left this morning to go to her grandmother’s. Your mother is there and Ravyn thought she could get information out of them. She called when her plane landed but sometime after that, someone took her.”
“What do you mean took her?”
“Just that. He called. I think it was Bannon.”
“What does he want?”
“A trade. Sabine for Ravyn.”
Wayne heard Logan curse. “Hold on, Wayne. I’m putting you on speaker. Sabine is here.”
“Tell me,” Sabine said.
“Someone took Ravyn. Said he would trade her for you. I think it’s Bannon. He said he would text me the place to make the trade.”
“Are you sure Ravyn is okay?”
“I am. I spoke with her. He promised to call every hour until I delivered you to him. I don’t know—” He heard a chime indicating he had a text message. “Hold on, I just received a text.” Wayne opened the message. “It’s from him. It says to bring her to the cage. What does that mean?”
“I know,” Sabine answered. “Logan will text you the address.”
“Better yet, the coordinates,” Logan said. “Do you have a helicopter?”
“Yes.”
“Good. It will take you about two and a half hours by air. I’ll send the coordinates and we’ll meet you there in four hours.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Don’t land unless you see my bird,” Logan said. “If you show up without Sabine, he may hurt Ravyn, so stay in touch via phone.”
“Okay. Talk to you soon.” Wayne ended the call and then placed another, this time to his father’s pilot. “Ben? Is the helicopter free? Good. Meet me at the hangar in an hour.”
With that, Wayne turned and headed out of the penthouse. Only one thought was on his mind. Save Ravyn.
Nothing else mattered.
*****
Logan pocketed his phone and looked at Sabine. “Do you think it’s Bannon?”
Sabine turned from where she stood at the window. “Of course, otherwise he wouldn’t have demanded that we meet at my house. Or more specifically, the cage.”
“Sabine, you know I love my sister but I’m not letting him get his hands on you.”
“I know.” She smiled and turned back to the window. They’d spent the night at Logan James’s house after returning from his Uncle Elijah’s and she took joy in realizing where he’d chosen to build his home. The spot where she had whined him into having picnics with her when she was a child.
She wondered if this would be her last chance to look from the window at the rolling hills and deep forests. If so, then she had to be content to have had this moment.
“But we must make him think he’s going to so we can save Ravyn,” she said. “It’s important that he thinks he has the upper hand.”
“I’ll have the bird fueled and ready to take off in an hour. I need to speak with the ranch foreman before we leave. You’ll be okay here?”
“Of course.”
“It shouldn’t take more than half an hour.” He put his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you. Now go.”
Sabine watched him walk outside and get into his pickup. She felt a stab of guilt at her deception. She knew the Umbra was not waiting at her house. It had chosen a setting it hoped would strike fear into her.
It wasn’t wrong, but she’d not let fear stop her. As soon as Logan James drove off, she headed through the house to the back door and let herself out. It was a good two mile walk to the site, but she remembered the way.
The atmosphere still reeked of death. Even after all these years, she could remember the shrieks of pain, the metallic smell of blood and the putrid stench of the Umbra. She stepped into the clearing and turned in a circle.
“I’m here.”
A few seconds passed before Ravyn stumbled into the clearing, followed by Marcus Bannon. Ravyn had a rope around her neck and her hands were lashed behind her back.
“Surely you know Logan will find us here,” Sabine said.
“Then he’ll be looking in the wrong place.” Marcus sneered and pointed to the west, away from the path that led to Logan’s house. “That way.” He gave Ravyn a shove.
Sabine waited until Ravyn reached her. She took Ravyn’s hand and together, they made their way through the forest. She tried to mentally keep track of time, counting the minutes. They walked for a good half hour—to the best of her ability to calculate—and came to a dirt road.
A car was parked on the side of the road. Bannon tied Sabine’s hands behind her back and made her and Ravyn get into the trunk of the car. He then tied their legs and forced them into a fetal position so he could lash their wrists to their ankles. The final step was to gag them with a wad of fabric crammed into their mouths and secured with duct tape.
The ride was cramped and painful with the way the car bumped on the dirt, but they were alive. Sabine refused to focus on the pain or the fear. Instead, she set her mind to thoughts of what she would do when they finally reached their destination.
The Umbra possessing Bannon had to be coaxed out. She didn’t believe that Marcus Bannon deserved to die for what he was doing. Sabine believed that there was a decent man inside him, being controlled for a purpose that was not his own. For that reason, she hoped she could lure the Umbra out of Bannon. But if she couldn’t, then she would have to live with the consequences because come hell or high water, she was going to destroy an Umbra today.
An idea occurred to her and she concentrated every ounce of mental energy she had into reaching out to her father. Her message was simple.
Help.
She could only pray that he heard and would come.
Chapter Sixteen
Logan was taking off his hat and talking as he entered the back door. “I have everything—shit!” Seeing Joe sitting at the kitchen table gave him a start. “Joe. What are you doing here?”
“I came to get you.�
��
“Why?”
“To save Sabine.”
Logan was completely confused but Joe’s words scared him. “Sabine?” he yelled and took off through the house, looking. When he’d called and looked into every room with no success, he returned to the kitchen. “Where is she?”
“She and your sister are tied up in the back of a car, headed into a bayou in Louisiana. They were taken by Marcus Bannon.”
“Then let’s go get them. I have the helicopter fueled and—”
“Whoa, slow down there cowboy. I get the feeling that wherever they’re headed, they won’t be alone, which means we need a bigger cavalry.”
“Like who?”
“Numina.”
“Then call them.”
“I already have. They should be here—well, right now.”
A knock at the door had Logan hurrying to answer. Three men stood on the front porch. The man at the forefront had a commanding presence that was hard to miss. “Logan Legacy?” the man asked.
“Yes.”
The man extended his hand. “Augustus. And my associates, Gabriel and Severin.”
“An honor.” Logan shook each man’s hand and then stepped back and gestured them inside. “Please. Come in.”
