chapter 28
“Oh, thank goodness!” Lucy exclaimed as Ellie and Charlotte reappeared with their two rescues. Selene slumped over on the couch, and on the floor was a young girl, who was also out like a light.
Ellie dropped to her knees beside Selene’s unconscious form. “Hugh!”
Hugh was by her side instantly and quickly started moving his hands over Selene’s body. Meanwhile, Adelaide and Charlotte hovered over the other girl, checking her pulse for any signs of life.
“What happened? I couldn’t hear you! Are you guys okay?” Griffin asked as he rushed in.
“I’ve never felt anything like that!” Ellie pushed a trembling hand through her hair. “They had some kind of… blocker. Someone who could keep you from using your powers.”
“Like Selene?” Griffin asked, staring at the motionless girl on the couch.
Ellie shook her head as she accepted a glass of water from Alex. “No… Selene turns things off, like a switch. This was more like the second we appeared, our abilities, all of them, were gone. Kind of a blanket power remover. And Selene…” She shuddered. “She was fighting them. Fighting against that force, I mean. Jeez…she must have been pushing against that for days. I helped her at the end….”
Ellie paused, and the color leeched from her face. She held a hand to her mouth like she was going to heave.
“You all right?” Alex asked, concerned.
“Here.” Adelaide handed him a cool washcloth, and he gingerly patted Ellie’s forehead. She gave him a grateful smile.
“Thanks…I’ll be ok.” She took another sip of water and continued. “Selene had absolutely no strength left. Only enough to create a little bubble to shield me, let me tap back into my gifts, and then together we pushed against the blocker until we turned off their power. It felt like lifting a ten-ton boulder off us.”
“Wow…crazy,” someone breathed.
Tears trickled down Ellie’s cheeks. “We were only there maybe five or ten minutes. I have no idea how she held on as long as she did without help. Is she going to be okay, Hugh?”
“I don’t know,” Hugh replied quietly.
“What do you mean?” Griffin’s voice resonated with grim fear.
Hugh wiped one hand over his face and shook his head. “Physically, she’s fine… Not a scratch, as far as I can tell.”
“Then what’s wrong with her?” Lucy laid a hand on her husband’s shoulder.
“She’s got to be exhausted,” Ellie murmured. “I battled for only a few minutes and with her help, and I’m a wreck. Maybe she just needs some rest.”
“But if she were merely asleep, I should still be able to hear her thoughts,” Griffin insisted.
“She might be shielding them from you without trying,” Nate suggested. “You’ve said you have trouble hearing her anyway, right?”
Griffin just nodded, his closed expression hiding his thoughts.
“Is there anything you can do, Dad?” Adelaide pleaded.
Hugh glanced at Ellie, who just shook her head. “She’ll just have to rest,” she answered.
“Who’s this?” Hugh asked as he started to examine the young stranger.
“No idea,” Charlotte said. “She was in the room with Selene, and she insisted we bring her with us.”
“Is she okay?” Ellie asked.
Hugh let out a deep sigh. “I can’t tell with her, either. Just like Selene, she’s physically fine. But there appears to be something more than exhaustion keeping her out. Not quite sure what. It’s more as if she’s in a state of hibernation or stasis. I think someone’s tampered with her somehow.” He looked around the room. “Let’s get them both up into a bed. You too, Ellie. You look dead on your feet.”
While Nate picked up the young girl, Griffin scooped Selene’s limp form up into his arms. They headed upstairs, and Lila hurried ahead to turn down the covers in Selene’s room. Gently, Griffin laid her down in bed and then retreated as the girls went about getting her changed into pjs.
After Selene and her young companion were settled, the entire family gathered in the living room, except for Griffin, who remained with Selene. Ellie curled into Alex’s arms as they sat on the couch.
Hugh shook his head at Ellie. “I thought I said you should be in bed, young lady.”
“I will, just as soon as we finish talking,” she answered.
“I’ll make sure of it,” Alex added, running a tender hand over Ellie’s hair.
“What do we do now?” Dexter asked.
“I think we should wait for Selene to wake up.” Adelaide plopped down on the loveseat with Nate. “We need to see what she knows before we do anything else.”
“I think we need to have someone watching over her at all times,” Lucy said. “What if they try to kidnap her again?”
Heads nodded around the room.
“And who knows what condition she’ll be in when she wakes up?” Adelaide added. “She might need a friendly face.”
“We can take it in shifts like last time,” Ramsey said. “I’ll go first.”
Ellie watched Lila surreptitiously squirm in her seat and shoot him an irritated look.
“What’s up, Lila?” she mentally asked her, tapping into Griffin’s telepathy.
Lila’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Was I that obvious?”
“No. I just know that your emotion sensing has been on high alert lately.”
“Ugh! We need to practice some more on my control of it, or Griffin is going to send me ‘round the bend.’”
“That bad?”
“Worse. He’s all over the place when it comes to Selene. And Ramsey’s not making it any easier.”
Ellie released a mental sigh. She suspected Ramsey’s behavior might be bothering Lila even more than Griffin’s swinging emotions, if that were possible.
“Okay. We’ll work on that this week,” Ellie promised.
Alex leaned forward and whispered in Ellie’s ear, “You going to explain to me what that was about?”
She nuzzled into him and nodded. “Tonight.”
*****
Griffin, upstairs with Selene, but listening to the discussion going on downstairs, ignored Lila’s irritation and clamped down on his irrational jealousy. He’d noticed that Ramsey and Selene had become friendly lately.
And why should I let that bother me? I’m glad that she has a friend.
“This one’s practically falling asleep on me,” Alex announced, interrupting Griffin’s internal monologue. “Time for bed, I think.”
“Ellie,” Griffin telepathically called his twin.
“You’re going to leave, right?”
Griffin held back a grimace. “That obvious?”
“Not really. I just know you well.” She paused. “She’s going to think you hate her, you know,” she warned.
“I’m going to have to take that chance. I think it’s more likely that she’s not going to want me anywhere near her. And I won’t be idle, either.”
“I would argue that first point if I thought it would get me anywhere. But it sounds like you have a plan?”
“Maybe. When you found Selene, do you know where you were?”
“I caught just a few flashes when Charlotte teleported us in, before that blocker kicked in. Enough, I think, to get you there.”
“So you couldn’t have been too far away, then, if you were able to use my telepathy.”
“Exactly.” Griffin watched as Ellie showed him what she’d caught.
“Got it. Send Ramsey on up,” he instructed.