“Losing one of
us is just as bad as losing all of us,” Lucy insisted, a fierce look on her
normally mild face. Everyone else nodded their agreement.
Ellie’s eyes
welled. For the first time, it truly sank in that she had a family again. And
knowing they loved her enough to put their own lives in danger was beyond
moving—it was heart wrenching. Glancing at Griffin, she saw her tears reflected
in his own eyes.
“Thank you,”
she whispered. Alex put his arms around her from behind, enfolding her in a
strong and comforting embrace.
Suddenly he
stood up straight. Ellie turned her head to look up at him. “How were you going
to join the wolves when you left us?” he asked.
She explained
Gideon’s directions of where and when to meet, and a slow grin spread over
Alex’s face. Griffin smirked as well. Looking at each other, the two boys started
to nod, obviously enjoying some secret, silent communication.
Ellie did her
best to stay out of Alex’s head, partly out of respect and partly on the
assumption that he’d tell her anything important. She and the others looked
back and forth, like at a tennis match, totally lost.
“That’s a lot
more annoying from the outside than I realized,” Ellie burst out, arms akimbo.
Alex raised
his eyebrows and smiled. “Shoe’s on the other foot, huh? Now you know how the
rest of us feel… but I think I have an idea that might work,” he added smugly.
“Please feel
free to let the rest of us in on it,” Hugh said.
“We’re all
aware that our biggest weakness is centered on their attacking when we’re
scattered. Until Charlotte can gather us all together, we’re all at risk,
right?”
Everyone
nodded.
“What if we
attack them first? I think it could give us an edge. Especially if we attack
Gideon first.” Alex grew excited. “Based on what Ellie’s said, he seems to be
their leader and motivator. If we take him out first, maybe they won’t want to
keep fighting.”
Hugh slowly
nodded, his expression thoughtful. “I see where you’re going with this.”
“Explain it to
those of us who are a little slower,” Charlotte murmured as she tucked her hair
behind her ear.
“I suggest
Ellie goes to her meeting with Gideon…” He paused, looking from face to face.
“She’ll just happen to bring
all
of us along with her.”
Ellie worked
through this scenario in her mind. “What if it’s a trap and they’re already
waiting for us?”
“You said that
Griffin can block Gideon’s power of sight, right?” Alex asked.
“Yeah.”
“So he won’t
know about Griffin’s defensive shield, first of all.”
Griffin joined
in. “Maybe. He knows about my telepathy. But even if it is a trap, if we arrive
with my shield up, they won’t be able to do anything. That should give you
enough time to organize, Ellie.”
“It’s better
that we do this on our time, on our terms,” Alex insisted.
“And on our
own ground,” Hugh added. “Gideon picked our home for you to meet at, you said?”
She nodded.
Everyone remained quiet for a while, each caught up in their own thoughts.
Ellie tapped a
fingernail on her teeth, a bad habit when she was thinking. “We should try to
appear as we normally would had I not told you about this. Any ideas?”
Alex dragged his
hand through his hair. “We should keep to our routine like usual,” he decided.
Lucy, who had been making coffee in the kitchen, brought out a tray and offered
him a cup. With a grateful glance, he readily accepted.
Griffin nodded
his agreement and also grabbed a steaming mug, “But we should take more
precautions since Lila would’ve told us about your talking with Gideon at the
very least.”
“So let’s only
work on the things we have been while outside. Once indoors, we can discuss a
more specific plan,” Alex said.
Agreements
given by all, they decided to go ahead and train for a little while. They also
decided to teleport into the clearing with Griffin’s shield up just in case the
wolves thought to ambush them there.
But no attack
happened that night or any other night that week. They practiced just like
normal. They went to school like normal. They ate dinner and did homework and
played games like normal. Late at night, they orchestrated their plans for the
impending attack.
Ellie’s
tension level grew exponentially as the agreed on date and time grew closer.
She and Griffin had just found their new family. What if they lost them again?
What if she lost Alex? Every night she fell asleep in his arms thinking about
this, knowing that she couldn’t live with herself if anything happened to any
of them.
****
Finally the
day arrived. It seemed so strange because at first glance the day appeared just
like any other, and like no other at the same time. Ellie went to school. She
chatted with friends. She took notes in class. She ate lunch. She drove home.
They practiced in the clearing as usual. But it all seemed to go in slow
motion, in sort of a numb haze. Today she would meet her fate, once and for
all. Today, she might die.
And then the
time had arrived.
They gathered
in the living room. Lucy and Hugh grabbed Lila and Adelaide up in a giant bear
hug. “We love you girls,” Lucy choked out.
Their action
started a long round of hugging. Ellie moved from person to person. Her heart
felt like it got more and more full with every hug. “We will always be grateful
for your joining our family,” Hugh told her quietly when she came to him.
Holding back her tears, Ellie threw her arms around his neck, squeezing tight.
Releasing
Hugh, she turned to Nate, Lila, and Adelaide. Nate chucked her on the arm. “Who
knew that the new girl in school would end up here?” he teased gently.
“And I for one
couldn’t be happier to have you as my soon-to-be sister,” Adelaide added. The
four friends shared a group hug.
Ellie turned
toward Griffin. They wrapped their arms tightly around one another. They spent
some time walking through memories of childhood and their life together thus
far in their minds. Not talking, no words, just the images and understanding
each other perfectly.
Finally she
turned to Alex, who pulled her onto his lap while he sat on the couch. Placing
her forehead against his, they sat there. Not speaking. Just absorbing each
other. They’d only just begun to explore their love for each other. Now
potentially losing each other was happening too fast, too soon. Ellie lifted
her head and just looked at him, at this man who had become as essential to her
existence as breathing.
“Alex…” Ellie
gave a deep sigh, unable to express the depth of her feelings with mere words.
He gave her
that sexy half smile she adored so much and cupped her chin in his hand. “I
know, baby.”
With a long,
lingering kiss, they sat wrapped in each other’s arms, neither wanting to ever
let the other go. With one last kiss and a deep breath, in unison they stood.
Everyone else
took this as a signal. Without talking, they gathered in a formation resembling
a wagon wheel with those with active powers on the outside, and those with more
passive powers on the inside. Each person on the inside of the circle stood
slightly sideways, hands linked, forming the spokes of the wheel.
The idea was
for Griffin to shield all of them as they made their appearance in the
clearing. Then, when the time seemed right, he would move his shield to the
inner circle, leaving those on the outer circle free to fight without having to
remove his protection entirely. He would expand the shield around individuals
in the outer circle as necessary, and Ellie would tap into all the skills
available to her as needed.
“Ready?” she
asked.
With general murmurs
all around which she took as “yes,” she tapped into Charlotte’s teleportation.
Instantly, they were all standing in the clearing where Ellie had had her fight
with the Vyusher wolves.
Empty?
Ellie felt herself deflate a little. She wasn’t quite sure what she’d been
expecting. At best, she’d thought Gideon would be standing there waiting for
her. At worst, she’d thought she’d appear in the midst of a pack of wolves
prepared to attack immediately.
Not dropping
their guard, they all stood still and listened intently. Each person scanned
the surrounding area, and Ellie’s gaze swiftly darted towards the woods.
Darkness had settled in, but a glorious full moon beamed its bright, white
light down upon them, illuminating the clearing with an eerie glow. The
surrounding woods, however, were another matter. If anything or anyone hid
among the trees, Ellie certainly couldn’t see them.
Should I
morph into the falcon?
Ellie briefly considered, but just as quickly she
discarded the idea.
Can’t, need to stay connected to everyone.
She was
the key to their plan, but the disadvantages were far outweighed by the
advantages. Their training and sparring night after night had proved that to
her.
Ellie moved
her focus from what she couldn’t see -- and therefore couldn’t know — to what
she
could
know. Using Griffin’s telepathy, she started to catalog what
all of the others were sensing. She took only a split second to check on Hugh,
Ramsey, Nate, Dexter, Charlotte, and Lila. Each had a power that wouldn’t lend
toward sensing the wolves. Ellie spent a little more time checking on the
others, although she limited herself to only their thoughts, not yet accessing
their powers herself.
Alex, who
might be able to sense beings that he could freeze, felt nothing. Lucy, who
potentially could sense the Vyushers’ intentions, picked up nothing from the
surrounding area. Adelaide, who might be able to see the relationships between
the wolves despite not being able to see the wolves themselves, saw only
blackness in the trees. Finally, Ellie checked on Griffin.
Silence.
He’s definitely searching, but not a sound.
Ellie could practically feel
Griffin’s frustration. She tapped into his thoughts to see what was bothering
him and realized that he also couldn’t hear anything.
Nothing.
Not even
the natural sounds of the forest around them. It was dead silent.
Tension seized
Ellie’s body. Her fists clenched so tightly that Alex gave her hand a little
shake.
“They’re
here
.” She spoke only through thought and the connection of their hands to
everyone in the circle. “
Get ready…”
“I’m not often
surprised,” Gideon’s deep voice broke the silence. The direction he spoke from
was not immediately apparent, although they all heard him clearly.
“…But I am
disappointed, Ellie. A bride should willingly come to her new family.”
Ellie gasped.
Gideon had never said anything about marriage as part of his offer. Beside
her, Alex clenched his jaw. “She has a family already. And you are looking at
her
te’sorthene.”
Ellie was
impressed that Alex sounded so calm. If some other chick had claimed Alex as
her future husband that way, Ellie would have set her straight in no uncertain
terms. And maybe even with some pulled hair or a black eye.
A brief
silence descended, and then Gideon appeared before them at the edge of the
clearing. He had assumed the form of a giant black wolf, massive and
intimidating and gave what appeared to be a grin. Beside him stood a smaller
brown wolf. His voice sounded again, although his mouth did not move. The sound
seemed to come from the animal at his side. A tiny, distracted part of Ellie’s
mind decided that the brown wolf must be able to project the pack’s thoughts
into sound. Then his words registered… “You really think that you can fight
us… let alone win?”
As he spoke,
the bright gleam of eyes appeared in the blackness of the trees. First she
could only see a few, golden and glowing, though Ellie couldn’t see the forms
of the wolves themselves. But looking through everyone’s eyes, she could see
that they were outnumbered about ten-to-one and that they were completely
surrounded.
A low growl
sounded in unison from the pack.
For some
strange reason, the noise reminded Ellie of the rebel yell. During the Civil
War, the Confederate troops used to scream in battle in unison, and it’d been a
very effective means of instilling fear in the hearts of the enemy. The pack’s
growl was like that. Such a sinister sound, Ellie felt it crawl over her skin
and into her mind. She determinedly squashed the fear that welled up inside
her.
Focus, Ellie,
she instructed herself.
Keep your family safe.
“I think
perhaps you underestimate us,” Alex called out, his confidence absolute.
“I doubt it.”
Gideon’s amusement was obvious.
A rumble of
agreement sounded from the surrounding pack, almost like they were
laughing
with their leader. Ellie felt the circle shift, fear running through them all.
“It’s your
pack that is at risk here,” Alex maintained, “not us.”
“You insist on
fighting? Knowing what we did to Ellie’s very powerful tribe?”
“Well, if
you’re that worried, we will happily negotiate a truce,” Alex offered with a
cocky smirk.
“What are
you doing
?” Ellie thought at him.
“Trust me,”
he thought back.
She simply
nodded and used the time he was buying her to furiously search through her
options.
“You have two choices…”
Gideon appeared to be growing bored with the back and forth banter. She guessed
that the Vyusher had never paused to negotiate with their intended victims before.
“…Ellie can leave your family and join us as my wife and queen. Or you can all
die here tonight.”
Griffin
flashed a thought into Ellie’s mind. Whatever had been blocking him had pulled
back. He continued to have trouble accessing the wolves’ thoughts because of
the dynamic of the pack mind, but he was starting to pick up bits and pieces.