chapter 34
Once the room was cleared, Selene, Ellie, Lila, and Adelaide sat on the floor in a circle and held hands. Closing their eyes, Ellie and Lila started immediately. First Ellie pulled some of Lila’s ice-blue light into herself. Rather than either of them having control, they both worked together, giving the power a strengthened effect.
“You see it?” Lila asked.
“Whoa!” Ellie exclaimed. “You’re right. A deep black scar slashing across her. Selene, I am so sorry for whatever put this here. Whatever it was must have been terrible.”
“Yeah…” Selene murmured, a blush staining her cheeks. She disliked sharing anything about herself. “Can you fix it?”
“In the short amount of time we have, probably not. I think this will take a lot of sessions to work through.”
Selene deflated a little. She’d hoped…
“But we can do a little something tonight to help you with the Council,” Ellie continued. “I suspect that your personality is naturally strong-willed, given all you’ve survived. Even if we can heal just a little of that wound, I think that would give you the boost you’re looking for.”
Selene smiled, surprised at how pleased she was with the idea. “I’d appreciate anything you can do.”
“All right,” Ellie agreed. “Hold on because this is going to hurt.”
Ellie closed her eyes. She centered first on the ice-blue light inside Lila. Rather than pulling it into herself to control it, instead she enhanced it inside Lila, making it glow white-hot. Together Lila and Ellie pushed that intense light into Selene. Right into the heart of that scar. Selene grunted, but otherwise remained still and silent. At first the light was consumed, the black hole inside her swallowing it up. But Lila and Ellie worked together and waited patiently.
A small whimper escaped Selene’s lips. “It burns.”
“If I take away that emotional pain, it’ll keep me from fixing anything,” Lila said.
Ellie gasped. “You feel that, Lila? Right there?”
“Yup. Delia, we’re going to need you on this. Part of the issue is that something’s broken inside her when it comes to relationships,” Lila said.
Ellie split her concentration, focusing now on the sunny yellow light inside Adelaide, strengthening it and then working to push that light inside Selene as well. It, too, vanished inside the darkness.
The four women sat in concentrated silence. Selene started rocking a little as she fought the pain searing through her.
“Ellie!” A note of panic entered Lila’s voice. “It feels as if we’re getting sucked inside her.”
Adelaide hissed through her teeth. “Why am I starting to feel the burning?”
“Hold on!” Ellie took her own violet-blue glow and pushed it into Selene as well. “Selene? Can you break through the pain and use your ability to enhance powers?” she asked.
Selene gritted her teeth. With Ellie’s guidance the fuchsia-red glow inside her lit and together they pushed that inside the blackness, too.
Abruptly a small crack appeared within the ebony scar, Lila’s ice-blue light shining out of it. A few moments later the black streak inside Selene splintered like shattered glass, and the blue, violet, yellow, and red glows from all four girls pierced the darkness.
Without warning there was an explosion of light as the black gave way. The brightness became blindingly intense. All four girls screamed as the force of it burned into all of them, physically slamming them back. They just barely managed to hold their contact with each other.
Selene opened her eyes to see the other three staring back at her.
“Holy smokes, look at your eyes,” Lila muttered.
“Yours too,” Selene said. Lila’s eyes, instead of their usual green, were a kaleidoscope of their four combined colors – bright yellow, ice-blue, violet-blue, and fuchsia-red – swirling and mixing together in an endless combination of hues. Looking around, she saw that Ellie’s and Adelaide’s eyes were the same.
“Keep going,” Adelaide said.
They closed their eyes again and focused on Selene. The brilliance of the lights inside her gradually died down. Suddenly they could all see that all four of their glows were intertwined, shining inside Selene in rays and ribbons of intense color.
Carefully, Ellie helped Lila and Adelaide pull their powers out of Selene. It was like pulling apart strings of Christmas lights. The colored strands didn’t want to separate. But they managed to unravel them gradually. Once Lila and Adelaide were out, Ellie pulled her own light out of Selene, leaving only Selene’s own glow of power behind. A few streaks of black remained where the deep scar had been, but only small remnants. It was as if her soul was a little toasted around the edges.
As soon as Ellie pulled the last piece of her power away, all four girls took a deep breath.
“Jeez. What the heck was that?” Adelaide asked.
Ellie ran a hand over the back of her neck. “I’m not quite sure.”
“Well, one thing’s for certain,” Selene said. “Whatever happened … it worked."
*****
Selene glided into the chamber where all of the Council members were already gathered. She had deliberately changed into her most regal gown, an ice-blue silk concoction, floor length with billowing sleeves gathered with silver trim at the wrists. Her bearing was even more regal, with her head held high and her shoulders thrown back, and confidence oozed from her. She commanded respect the moment she walked into the room. The Council members ceased their discussions in midsentence and afforded her their full attention.
“Samuel has had a premonition that an attack on the Vyusher is imminent. Apparently, they are only waiting for warmer weather. The time for discussion has passed,” she announced.
“What do you suggest we do about it?” Xavier asked.
“I am done with suggesting,” Selene declared.
“Is that so?”
Selene ignored him and looked around the chamber.
“I have lost faith in the ability of this Council to rule our people with any certainty or direction. I am taking, by right of blood, my place as your Queen and ruler. I will, of course, consider your view points before I make decisions.”
Xavier looked as if he were going to burst a blood vessel. “Exactly how do you think you will rule us? You can’t even lead this Council!”
Selene watched with impersonal disdain as he puffed out his chest, his eyes glowing golden as he threatened her with his wolf. Without removing her gaze from him, she brought her own wolf out, her grey eyes taking on an eerie, reddish-pink glow.
Xavier’s face showed a small amount of uncertainty.
“I am the only one here who knows exactly what Gideon made us do. While the rest of you escaped happily into oblivion, I had to live through every single second of his rule. That alone should earn me your respect. The fact that I tried to deter him every step of the way, tried to save other people from him and protect us all from him should earn me your trust, even your loyalty.”
“But you couldn’t defeat him because you are weak,” Xavier argued, still unwilling to cede control.
Selene graced him with a cold smile. The rest of the members shifted uncomfortably in their seats, but Xavier didn’t budge.
“I couldn’t defeat him because I had no help. But my own powers are stronger now. And we have the aid of Ellie Aubrey, possibly one of the most powerful Svatura in history, as well as her family. But what is most important is that I am ready now to lead my people.”
“We will decide who is fit to lead the Vyusher.” Xavier threw his arms out wide. Instantly he shimmered, transforming full into his wolf form.
But before he could lunge at her, Selene reached into him and flipped off the copper colored glow that represented his power. Immediately he morphed back to human and stood before her trembling as she let him feel, just for a moment, that she could take things a step further and strip him of his powers completely if she so desired.
Instead, she let him go and turned to the rest of the Council. “I will not rule as my brother did, by forcing you do something you would not have done otherwise. But I will rule the Vyusher. You can either help me, or you can get out of my way.”
No one objected. No one even spoke. A certain amount of respect that hadn’t been there before began to show.
“Very well,” Selene nodded. “Gather your tribes. We’ll meet in an hour in the main courtyard where I’ll provide instructions on how we will handle the attack that is coming.”
“My Lady,” Thomas called out. “Will you still consider marriage with Dez? As we argued earlier, the match would be a good one, helping to unite our people.”
“Now is not the time. But I will consider the suggestion.”
Thomas gave her a small, respectful bow of his head in acknowledgement.
Receiving no other objections, Selene swept out of the room. She paused momentarily outside the chamber doors where Griffin, Ellie, and the rest of the family had gathered.
She knew they’d heard everything, as she’d deliberately left her mental barriers down so that Griffin and Ellie could follow the discussion. Selene cast a guarded glance in Griffin’s direction and noticed the grim set to his jaw. Beckoning them to follow, she turned and walked slowly back to her chamber.
Whatever it was that Lila, Adelaide, and Ellie had healed in that horribly painful, crazy way had certainly had an effect, Selene acknowledged, a little giddy with the results. In the past, a similar confrontation would’ve left her stuttering and shaking. But she felt none of that now. While she still wasn’t sure what the best decision might be for her people, she was absolutely confident that she was the best person to lead them through it.