Black Orchid (Svatura)

by Abigail Owen

  And maybe that was why she liked it here. This place mirrored Adelaide's frozen state.

  The castle eventually came into sight. Adelaide timed her descent to allow her path to bring her over the top of the wall of the main courtyard. She splayed her wings as she landed and shifted to human at the same moment, gracefully stepping down with feet rather than talons.

  As soon as Adelaide was on the ground, Lila stepped out from behind a nearby archway. Adelaide inwardly groaned. She hadn’t forgotten about how their training exercise had ended, but she’d hoped she wouldn’t have to address it so soon. She crossed her arms over her chest but stayed where she was.

  "I guess Dad was able to heal your arm pretty quickly," she called across to her sister.

  Lila said nothing as she walked over. Instead she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

  Adelaide frowned. "For what?"

  "What I did to you. For what I made you."

  She tilted her head. "What's going on?"

  "I want to try to fix this," Lila said.

  Adelaide’s entire body stilled. "Fix this," she said slowly. "Fix me, you mean."

  "Don't look at it that way. We’re going to give you your emotions back but take away your memory."

  "And in the process I’ll become… what? I’m finally able to help. You’re going to take the only thing I have left away from me.” Adelaide got right in Lila’s face, her voice eerily soft. “What other way should I look at it? You want to fix me, but I'm not broken." She slashed her arm through the air in her agitation.

  Lila put her hands on her hips. "Really? You could’ve killed me today, but I bet you don't feel a damn thing about it. You even tried to justify it. That's not the Adelaide I grew up with. That's not my sister."

  "So you want the weak, sniveling little girl back, huh? The one you could push around and tell what to do? I finally have a backbone and a say in things, and you don't like it.” She poked Lila in the chest with her finger and sneered. “Why don’t you turn that overly anxious little mind on yourselves instead of me? Selene barely has control of the Vyusher wolf pack. They question her leadership daily. You definitely have no control over the Louisiana tribe of Svatura you now claim to lead. And Ellie? Has anyone else noticed that her powers don’t quite work the way they used to?”

  Lila rocked back on her feet and frowned.

  Adelaide smiled grimly. “Yeah. Work on yourselves if you must, but I'm not letting you fix anything about me. Not again."

  At that moment Adelaide’s mind discovered the silent hole where no sounds or thoughts existed. And then she knew…. Griffin was blocking her telepathy. Which meant they were close by. All of her family.

  Before she could defend herself, she felt every part of her body freeze into place, completely immobile.

  Alex.

  A cold determination burned deep inside her. It felt like bile rising up through her system. She pinned Lila with a malevolent stare. "What do you think you're doing, Sister?"

  Lila wrapped her arms around her stomach and regarded Adelaide only with sadness. Selene, Ellie, Alex, Ramsey, and even Griffin moved into view and came to stand beside her.

  "What I should’ve done months ago," Lila said quietly.

  The little band of traitorous friends joined hands, and Adelaide felt them pressing into her mind. She pushed back, hard. When Lila had turned off all Adelaide’s softer emotions, the sudden lack of fear that came with that change had unlocked a strength within her that she'd never known existed. And she used every ounce of that strength now.

  "I'm not going to let you do this."

  Chapter 5

  No one said anything in return. But she felt the force of their collective effort surge. They pushed back and forth mentally for some time. Suddenly, Adelaide felt something snap inside. All of the rage and despair and hopelessness that had been held at bay for all these months flooded through her like a dam breaking. And despite Alex's ability to hold her, the violent trembling throughout her body escalated.

  Something within her, something colossal, was demanding to be let out.

  Adelaide's vision suddenly went completely black, although she was still conscious of her surroundings. She heard Ellie say, "Lila, you’ve got to get her to calm down or—"

  Then, a pinpoint of light appeared. It moved nearer and nearer, like headlights in the dark, until it became blinding. Adelaide wanted to put her hands up to block it out, but this was happening in her mind. And Alex held her immobile anyway.

  And then, abruptly, images beat at Adelaide’s mind. They flipped so quickly through her thoughts that the blur of motion was almost sickening in its speed. She couldn’t really comprehend what she was seeing. Colors and faces and moments. Emotions seemed to pulse through her in waves in time with the images. Fear. Anger. Despair. Rage. Heartbreak.

  Can’t breathe.

  Everything slowed and then centered on that one debilitating thought.

  Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe.

  “Her heart’s going a mile a minute. How much longer?”

  The comment didn’t quite break through Adelaide’s panic.

  Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe.

  “Almost done.” Who was that talking? The fact that she suddenly didn’t recognize any of the voices around her sent her panic even higher.

  Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe.

  “Adelaide? Can you hear me?”

  The question snagged a small part of her attention. She knew that voice. Lila?

  She tried to call her sister, but she couldn’t open her mouth. In her mind she started screaming.

  “Lila! Lila!”

  “I’m here. I’m here, Adelaide.”

  But she wasn’t there. Adelaide couldn’t see anything, anyone. She felt tears on her lashes as they squeezed out of eyes jammed tightly shut. Her entire body was wracked with a shuddering so awful her teeth hurt from the rattling.

  “What’s happening to me?”

  She heard an unrecognizable voice say, "Lila, you’ve got to get her to calm down."

  “I can’t contain her,” another grunted.

  Adelaide felt her body start to change. A force that had been buried inside her felt as though it were tearing her apart… as if her flesh were being shred off her bones as the pressure pushed outward.

  Voices filled Adelaide’s ears, so many she couldn’t keep track, and nothing they were saying made any sense to her. But she heard the alarm in their words, and it fed her own.

  “Hold her, Alex!” someone shouted.

  “I can’t!”

  “Griffin, get your shield over her. Help Alex pin her down.”

  “I’m still working on her memory. I can’t do both.”

  “Ellie, help her shut it down!”

  “I’m trying. She’s blocking me.”

  “When the hell did she get that power?”

  “LILA, FLOOD HER EMOTIONS!!”

  “They’re already flooded. There’s no room for anything other than panic inside her.”

  “Selene, turn her off. We can’t let her morph.”

  “She’s not letting me.”

  “Together then. Everyone hold onto me and Adelaide. On three… One. Two. Three.”

  Adelaide felt her body bow up and twist. Intense, blinding light flooded her vision, and air filled her lungs. She sucked in a long breath that burned her throat. Her eyes flew open, and she saw the brilliance of the blue sky. With the return of her senses, she was able to release some of the terror that seemed to hold her in its claws.

  She collapsed, her body going completely limp like a wrung-out rag doll. But at least she could breathe.

  What just happened to me?

  Adelaide forced herself to sit up. She glanced down, slightly shocked to see that her skin was still in place and she wasn’t lying in a pool of blood.

  “Adelaide?”

  She looked up and felt a small bit of relief. “Lila?” But then she frowned. The girl sitting beside her was h
er sister. But something was different. She looked… older.

  Lila reached out, but Adelaide jerked away. “What’s going on?”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” Lila asked.

  Adelaide’s gaze swung from her sister to look at another face - an unfamiliar girl with violet-blue eyes and long black hair who was kneeling on the ground beside her.

  Adelaide scooted backward. “Who are you?”

  The girl held out her hands. “I’m Ellie.”

  When Adelaide said nothing, but stayed where she was, Ellie quickly introduced the others around them: another woman with pale blond hair named Selene, a man with dark hair and bright blue eyes named Alex, and a red-haired man named Ramsey. And incredibly, a massive golden-colored wolf they called Griffin.

  Overwhelmed, Adelaide struggled to her feet. She took a moment to steady herself on wobbly legs. When everyone surrounding her stood as well, she held out her hands. “Don’t come any closer.”

  “Look at her eyes. They’re glowing yellow.”

  Adelaide searched frantically among the group standing before her. No one’s mouth had opened, but she was sure she’d heard someone speaking.

  “The dragon is still close the surface.”

  Adelaide slammed her hands over her ears. “Who’s saying that? Who’s talking?”

  Desperately, she focused on the one person she knew she could always depend on. “What’s happening?” she whispered brokenly to Lila.

  Lila started to move toward her, but so did the others. Adelaide stumbled back. “No. Just Lila. I… I don’t know who any of you are.”

  Her sister looked over her shoulder at the guy named Ramsey, who shook his head as if he didn’t want her to go. Adelaide frowned as her ability to see relationships kicked in. The line she saw connecting Ramsey to Lila was the same one she’d seen between her own parents. But that made no sense. Lila didn’t have a te’sorthene.

  “She’s my sister,” Lila said to Ramsey, interrupting Adelaide’s thoughts.

  He pinned Adelaide with an unsmiling gaze. “We don’t know who she is right now.”

  “Stop it. Can’t you see you’re scaring her to death?” Ellie broke in, earning a glare from Ramsey.

  “I’ll be fine,” Lila assured him quietly.

  Adelaide’s soft heart constricted. Why would he think she’d ever harm her own sister?

  Lila turned back to her and took a step forward but stopped when Adelaide held up a hand. “Wait. Am I dangerous?”

  Lila’s mouth drooped, and her brow furrowed. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  Adelaide took a deep breath, and then another. “Don’t come any closer. Just… just… please tell me what’s going on.”

  Chapter 6

  Nate stood in front of the fridge and stared blankly at its contents. With a distracted sigh, he ran a hand through his sandy brown hair. Coming down to the kitchen had really just been an excuse to do something… anything. He’d been having a disturbing dream lately. One from which he woke feeling both frustrated and guilty. And tonight had been no exception.

  Always the dream involved Adelaide Jenner. He’d been delusional about her, duped into thinking that she was his te’sorthene at one time. Man, what a fool!

  Talia, his true te’sorthene, had shown him just how wrong he’d been. She’d shown him how Adelaide, with her ability to see and manipulate relationships, had forced him to believe in something that didn’t really exist. And Adelaide’s sister, Lila, had screwed with his emotions to add to their deception.

  Adelaide was, in a word, evil.

  They all were – her and her entire family. They were like snakes, slithering on their bellies and into his life. Taking over his entire being. At least now he knew that none of it had been real. These days, his life with the Jenners and the Pierces seemed like a blurry version of an old movie he had once watched. All grey and washed out.

  But this damn dream still left him shaken. In it, Adelaide stood facing him, tears spilling from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. There was so much devastation in her expression that he wanted to look away. But he couldn’t. She didn’t say anything, just reached out to him. Finally, he would summon the strength to turn from her. And then he’d hear her sobbing. That’s when he’d wake up.

  He would lie in bed, his heart dull with pain and guilt. And then he’d turn his head and look at Talia sleeping beside him, looking so frail and sweet, and a different guilt would swamp him. How the hell could he dream about Adelaide when his true te’sorthene slept at his side?

  A low rumble of murmured voices just outside in the hallway pulled him out his thoughts. He softly shut the fridge and moved closer to the kitchen doorway. Nate recognized his leader’s deep tones as he neared.

  Maddox. Enigmatic and powerful. They all followed him with a blind loyalty that Nate sometimes thought bordered on fanaticism, though nothing had shown him yet that the sentiment was not deserved.

  “Of course. I’m almost finished.”

  Nate froze as he recognized Talia’s voice. What was she doing talking to Maddox? Talia rarely came out of their room because her power restricted her too much. She could feel every emotion of the people around her, only amplified. In fact, if she got around too many people, it became downright debilitating. And he’d never seen Maddox go anywhere near her.

  Probably just bumped into him in the hallway, Nate thought. At a guess, she must’ve woken up to find Nate gone and come looking for him.

  “How deep in is he?” Maddox asked.

  “Completely,” Talia replied.

  “But could he handle prolonged exposure?”

  “I believe so. We’d just need to set the stage properly.”

  “Excellent. There’s been a development. I think we may have an opportunity to use your little mistake to our advantage," Maddox said.

  "So what we discussed earlier?"

  “Yes.”

  “That’s good because I’ve just about drained him,” Talia said.

  “Well, if you’d attached to Ellie like you were supposed to—”

  Nate frowned. Attached? Drained?

  “Don’t go into all that again,” Talia said, with a venom in her voice that Nate had never heard her use before. “You knew when you sent me that I don’t have complete control over that. It was a risk you accepted.”

  “Hmmm…. Well, perhaps we can salvage something out of this.”

  “Shall I bring him to you tomorrow?” Talia asked.

  There was only one “him” to whom she could possibly be referring.

  That’s it.

  Unable to let this go, he stepped out into the hallway.

  Talia’s blinked in surprise at his sudden appearance. She glanced nervously at Maddox. But the older man just gave Nate a bland look. Maddox was a great leader partly because he was so strategic. But Nate often felt that made him cold, remote. He shared none of his plans – even with his lieutenants from what Nate heard. And everything in their underground compound was closely monitored and segregated. You only knew your part of the puzzle and nothing else. But there was no denying his methods, because he was always at least one step ahead of their enemies.

  Nate didn’t even bother to apologize for eavesdropping. “Would either of you like to explain what’s going on?”

  “Of course,” Maddox said smoothly. “But it appears the hallway is not the best place for discussions. Let’s go somewhere more private.”

  Nate shrugged and then silently followed Maddox and Talia through a series of narrow corridors. Finally they stopped at a doorway that Nate recognized.

  Command central… interesting.

  Nate was rarely asked to visit this area. The room looked exactly like those in military movies where all the high-powered leaders gathered to assess and strategize. He glanced around at the long conference table and the currently dark monitors and screens all along the walls.

  Nate turned around with raised eyebrows. “So what’s going on?” He glanced to
his right. “Tal?”

  She moved across the room to stand in front of him. “It’s nothing really,” she said.

  Reaching out, she grasped his forearms with her hands. Nate’s vision seemed to blank out on him. He couldn’t look away and couldn’t move, and, moreover, he didn’t want to. He just stared deeply into her mesmerizing eyes. After a moment she nodded, satisfied.

  “Sit,” she said.

  He obeyed. She hooked a chair with her foot to sit directly in front of him, never taking her hands off him.

  “Is he under?” Nate heard Maddox ask. But he never removed his gaze from Talia’s. Whatever Maddox was talking about was unimportant.

  “Yes,” Talia said.

  “Good. You’re sure that he can handle it?”

  “Yes. I’ve almost drained all his positive emotions and memories associated with them, replacing those feelings with a new truth. His family is his enemy to him now. I’ve also slowly been breaking the ties binding him to me. Although necessary at the beginning, he can’t function the way you need him to when we send him back if that’s there. There’s not much linking us anymore. I can finish severing our bond tonight.”

  “You said almost all the positive emotions? Will that be a problem?” Maddox asked.

  “No.”

  Nate, still focused solely on Talia, heard the discussion, but it meant little to him.

  Then Talia spoke directly to him, and Nate felt her words like a physical impact. “No matter what I say, you will feel contentment and calm. Nod if you understand.”

  Nate felt himself nodding but couldn’t think why.

  “Nate, what is our relationship?” she asked.

  “Te’sorthene,” he answered robotically. He felt that bond with Talia, even through his mental haze.

  Talia stared at him and he stayed locked in on her for what was probably a long while, but Nate didn’t mind. Then, without feeling as if anything had changed or altered in any way, the girl sitting in front of him was just a girl. Nothing special.

  A look of satisfaction passed over her face. “Nate, what is our relationship?”