“What happened?” Sam asked.
Before I could answer, Isabelle spoke up.
“I couldn’t kick open the door without help. She’s not hurt. Just the opposite. She’s floating so high, it’ll be awhile before she’s back. As long as she’s still breathing, she should be fine.”
Fine? I didn’t like Isabelle’s attitude, or the fact that she was walking toward us. She’d knocked Gabby down twice now. It was hard to be mad at her, though, when I knew she’d saved Gabby by also knocking out the men who’d taken them.
“She’ll be okay. I promise. I accidently did this to my parents a ton of times while growing up.” She absently swiped at her bleeding nose, watching me with her pain-filled in her eyes.
I nodded, realizing she felt guilty about what had happened to Gabby.
“We need to go,” her friend said.
“Clay, put Gabby in the back with you,” Sam said. “Bethi and Luke, there’s room for you, too.”
While the rest figured out a new seating arrangement since we were down a vehicle, I climbed into the SUV. Cradling Gabby in my arms, I waited for the rest to join us.
We drove for an hour before pulling over.
“What’s going on?” Bethi asked.
“Ethan is saying Isabelle needs to stop.”
Bethi quickly exited with Luke right behind her. I stayed where I was, watching Gabby’s peaceful face. I couldn’t feel anything over our link. If she was “floating high” shouldn’t I feel something? Gently, I brushed a piece of hair back from her cheek.
“I need you, Gabby. You need to wake up.”
She continued as she was. Unaware and unreachable.
Several minutes later, everyone was moving back to the vehicles.
“We need to listen to him,” Bethi said. “I know Carlos is thinking he knows best for her, but in this case, he doesn’t. Ethan is her friend. When it comes to her ability, he obviously knows how to help her. Carlos needs to chill out and start paying attention or she will die.”
I lifted my head to glance at Bethi. She was talking with her hands and Luke was doing his best to contain most of the wild gestures.
“We understand,” Sam said from the front. “Carlos is trying to be patient.”
“No, he’s not. He’s going all caveman on her. He can’t do that. This Mate crap isn’t what’s important here. Hasn’t anyone been listening to me?”
“Luv, of course we have. Come here.” Luke wrapped his arms around her, and she started to cry.
Turning away from them, I went back to watching Gabby, looking for any sign that she was ready to wake up.
We are in trouble and need a place to stay for the night in North Carolina. If anyone is willing to help us, please reach out to an Elder.
Winnifred’s message to all of our kind surprised me. Joshua hadn’t been the only Urbat to infiltrate the pack.
“Isn’t that a big risk?” I asked, glancing at Sam.
Bethi, who’d been quietly resting her head on Luke’s shoulder, popped up.
“What’s a risk? What’s going on?”
Grey turned to look at Bethi.
“Winnifred sent a message asking for a place to hole up in North Carolina.”
“No! Why would she do that?”
“We need a place to stay that’s out of the way. Gabby’s out and Isabelle and Ethan don’t look so good.”
“Joshua wasn’t the only one who—”
“We know,” Grey said kindly. “That’s why we’re saying yes to each person who is offering. Only we’ll know which one we’ll take.”
Bethi calmed a little. I did too. It didn’t feel any safer. But with Gabby still out, nothing really did.
The place they chose was an old farm in the country. As soon as the car stopped, I was out and carrying Gabby to the door. Sam helped me with the lock and held the door for me. The scents of the family still lingered faintly. Most families had gone into hiding when the Elders had sent out the warning weeks ago.
I followed a hall to a set of steps leading up. There I found a bed in the middle of an open room.
Kicking off my shoes, I settled on the bed, keeping her in my lap. I hated the waiting, the worry. It was twice as hard because I knew this wasn’t like the last time. It wasn’t a simple twelve to fourteen hour wait for her to wake up and ask for water. She’d be out until whatever Isabelle did to her wore off. If it wore off.
As the sun faded in the sky, my worry grew.
At some point, the rest came inside and I could hear their quiet conversation in the kitchen. Bethi introduced everyone to Isabelle and gave a rundown of each of the girls’ abilities.
Then the conversation quieted when Isabelle went to shower. Downstairs, I heard Carlos asking if any of the girls had something Isabelle could wear. Michelle offered up some her clothes.
Each second that ticked by, each word that Gabby missed of the conversation downstairs, crawled under my skin. Why was she still unconscious? How long had Isabelle knocked her parents out?