Finders Keepers (30 page)

Taylor was busy batting her eyelashes, so Ellie exited the car first.
 
She motioned with her hand for them to follow her.
 
The gentle hum of the engine cut immediately and Luke slammed his door shut and hurried to her side.
 
He placed his arm under hers for support.
 
Taylor did the same.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” she muttered, but didn’t move to push them away either.
 
The park was large—three or four acres—and it felt as if time were dragging at the rate of growing seeds.
 
There were tons of oak trees and after only a few days of freezing temperatures, nothing looked the way it had when Gibbs’ abducted her.
 
The branches were stripped bare and the ground was covered with crunchy, brown leaves.
 
She scanned each and every tree and its root system.
 
A skinny, half-starved squirrel darted up one of the trees startling her.
 
Whether it was from all the activity, or the despair descending on her, the pain in her stomach increased from a dull ache to terrible throbbing.
 
Her face twisted and she pretended it was because she was concentrating so hard.
 
Taylor’s grip on her arm tightened.
 

Ellie stopped abruptly and shook her companions off of her.
 
She turned a full circle.
 
And then she saw it.
 
It was darker and larger than most of the other trees, but its distinguishing feature was the large upraised root at its base.
 
Instead of ground beneath it, there appeared to be a dark hole.
 
It could have been a ground hog hole, or a rabbit’s den, but what it really was, was the entrance to the underground.
 
She stood still, letting her breath crystallize in front of her.
 
Then she scampered forward, somewhat awkwardly, and before Luke could object, she was on the ground.
 
She turned around, put her weight on her elbows instead of her stomach, and then slid her feet into the hole.
 

A dog barked and she froze.
 
Taylor stepped in front of Ellie, blocking her from sight.
 
Startled, Luke recovered quickly and moved around the tree to see where the noise had come from.
 
An elderly gentleman and his chocolate lab were walking down one of the paths.
 
Luke waved and the man nodded.
 
Having seen Luke, the dog leaped against his leash, pulling his owner along behind him with an outstretched arm.
 
Luke crossed himself, muttering a prayer of forgiveness, and then jogged up to the two before they could reach them.

The hole was small, but as soon as you shimmied past the roots, it opened up into a relatively large earthen tunnel.
 
It’d been large enough for Gibbs to carry her over his shoulder once they’d both gone underground.
 
Ellie was shoulder deep into the opening when she heard Luke’s returning footsteps.
 
He was as red-faced as a schoolgirl.
 
Ellie had heard him rather haltingly tell the man that his girlfriend and kid sister were afraid of dogs.
 
She snickered.
 
It was one thing to lie and another to lie about relations with underage teenagers.
 
He turned an even brighter shade of
fuscia
.
 
Tough, strong Taylor, on the other hand, swooned.
 
She must have just figured out which one she was in the story.
 

Ellie refocused on her position and then let go of the roots, letting her head drop below ground, into the darkness.

17

She’d promised herself at least a hundred times, between the first abduction by
Xaneth
and the second that she would never go below ground again.
 
Ever.
 
Yet, here she was, treading through the underground tunnel toward the door that would lead them to Goblin City.
 
At least Luke’s tall strong presence behind her along with Taylor eased a little of her anxiety.
 

The way seemed to take longer than it should, although she couldn’t be sure how long it really had taken with Gibbs.
 
She’d been out of her head trying to claw her way out, not in.
 
Ignoring the hammering in her chest and the throb in her stomach, she moved steadily forward.
 
Their only light was from a small pen light Luke had snatched from his white coat before he left it in the car.
 
Each step Ellie prayed she wouldn’t meet someone, or something, coming the other direction.
 
Technically, it was the middle of the night for the goblins, but still.
 
It hadn’t stopped Dodge.

When Taylor broke the eerie silence and asked about the plan, Ellie said, “We can’t take Lola and her father down alone.
 
We’re going to need every ally we can get.
 
We’re going to find Zak and he’s going to help us raise an army.”

“Why would Zak help us?
 
He was the one tipping off Sarah.
 
Can he be trusted?”

Ellie nodded even though no one could see her head shake in the dark.
 
“He’s a little misguided, but he has a good heart.”
 
She turned back to look at Taylor’s silhouette.
 
“He’ll help us because we have something he can’t resist.”

They continued down the tunnel using the dim light and feeling the walls to guide them.
 
There were several tunnels that branched off, and a few of them were guarded by doors, but none of them were the great door with the iron hinges and carvings that she’d memorized that night with Gibbs.
 
Luke tripped and took the light down with him.
 
Taylor stopped and Ellie looked over her shoulder.
 
Her shoulder smashed into a wall.
 
A rough, wooden wall.
 
A door.
 
Temporarily forgetting about Luke, she spun around and felt the massive door in front of her that formed a wall.
 
The smell of old musty wood and earth brought her memory of the door back to life.
 
If she could have, she would have hopped and whooped with joy.
 
As it was, she whirled back around a huge, unseen, grin on her face.

“We made it you guys.
 
Beyond this door… Goblin City.”

“You can’t go to the mansion alone,” Taylor said reading Ellie’s mind.
 

“It’s what they’re expecting.
 
And if they get what they’re expecting, they won’t be watching out for the unexpected.”
 
Ellie spoke to Taylor because Luke was currently lost in his own oblivious world.
 
There hadn’t been much to see because the city was sleeping and there were no fires or lights illuminating the homes.
 
However, they were close enough to the ceiling that even his little light had been able to detect the closest of hive dwellings above them.
 
Ellie, very concisely, explained what he was seeing.
 
After a moment, he abruptly sat down and started talking to himself.
 

“You have to find Zak,” Ellie said to Taylor.
 
“Go to the hideout where Lola took us before.
 
He will be there or someone who knows how to find him will.”
 
I hope.
 
Without Gibbs maybe the whole gang had disbanded and the hideout would be deserted.
 
Ellie tried to swallow but couldn’t.
 
So she hugged Taylor hard instead.
 
“Then, come storm the castle.”
 

Ellie ushered Luke and Taylor on down the stairs ahead of her.
 
Being the athlete Taylor was, she took off flying down the stairs as if it were no more than a training exercise.
 
Even without the light to see the drop on the other side of her, Ellie’s hands and legs trembled.
 
She hugged the wall and took slow, careful steps and resisted the urge to shut her eyes.

           
The mansion was just as magnificent and terrifying as it’d been the first time she’d seen it.
 
Ellie stared up at the three story turrets, moved her eyes over the wrought iron balconies that adorned the second floor, and then landed on one of the windows which was lit from the inside.
 
The light showed off an intricate wooded area surrounding a pond, all done in stained glass.
 
She couldn’t know for sure, but the pond looked a lot like the one in the city park must have before it’d been commercialized and the trees traded for playgrounds and pavilions.
 

           
Ellie climbed the last few steps to the front door and raised the brass door knocker and let it drop three times.
 
Her heart, which had been yammering in her chest like a shoe in the dryer, finally started to relent in its abuse of her chest.
 
Calm settled over her and she breathed in the cold, moist air.
 

           
The door groaned open and she was greeted by one of
Jalx’s
men.
 
He grunted, reached forward, grabbed her arm, and dragged her in.
 
Ellie didn’t struggle.
 
Instead, she followed obediently, only using her free hand to reach under her two shirts and check her bandage.
 
A small corner of her resolve began to unravel.
 
When she pulled her hand back out, her eyes confirmed what her fingers felt—blood.

           
Halfway down the first corridor, they passed a double set of doors.
 
As they walked by, Ellie heard voices, and she recognized those voices.
 
Surprising her guard, she yanked her arm free and lunged for the door.
 
She wrenched open the handle, shoved hard, and fell into the room.
 

           
Her first vision was of the thick orange and black Persian carpet she nearly face-planted into.
 
She must have fallen a lot as a child if she were always noticing floor coverings.
 
Her second was of Sky and Lola.
 
She sat on the couch while he laid out the length of it with his head in her lap.
 
Her long graceful fingers combed through his silky black hair.

Ellie wasn’t sure what she’d planned on saying, but all possible
words
flew out of her head at the scene in front of her.
 
She gaped.

Sky jumped free of Lola, clearly uncomfortable.
 
“Ellie!
 
What are you doing here?”

Still, Ellie couldn’t find words.
 
How could he not know?
 

His face turned a tinge lighter, making him more pale gray than green.
 
“I thought you were with Gibbs.”

She could see Pinstripe clearly in him now—his mannerisms, his bright eyes, the way his hair looked like glossy black feathers.
 
It melted her paralysis.
 
“Gibbs is in trouble.”

Not even the slightest concern flicked across Sky’s face.
 
Instead, he actually stiffened at the mention of his brother.
 
All of Ellie’s fears boiled down to frustration and anger.
 
She took a step toward Sky.
 
“All he has ever done for you is protect you.
 
He’s given up his entire life to be your bodyguard and you could care less than two bits about his own safety.
 
You’re his brother!”

“Protecting me was a farce and he took the only thing I ever wanted.”

“A farce?
 
You call this a farce?”
 
Ellie removed her hand from her shirt.
 
A large black stain spread across the side and front of herself, just slightly bigger than the palm of her hand.
 
Sky’s mouth dropped open and he stepped toward her.
 
She held up her bloody hand to stop him from coming any closer.
 
“This is what he took for you.
 
After he ran away he was stabbed, not by a meth addict, but by
Xaneth
.
 
In the hospital he found out his blood was passable for human.
 
He could have stayed aboveground and lived a completely normal life.
 
Being your family made him just as much of a target as you.
 
But he returned to protect you because he knew the threat against you was real.
 
Because he feared for your life.
 
Because he loved you.
 
Loves you still.”

She could see Lola smiling.
 
She was probably hoping Ellie would drop dead right on the spot.
 
Lola’s father,
Jalx
, stormed through the door.
 
Ellie backed up until both Sky and Lola and
Jalx
were equidistant from her, forming a triangle.
 
His eyes glittered in the low lamplight.
 
Behind him were at least three of his henchmen.

“I’m sorry that I fell in love with your brother and not you, but Gibbs would have done anything for you, including giving me up.”
 
Her voice was quieter.
 
“He tried, several times.”

Lola abruptly stood up.
 
“Blah, blah, blah.
 
Why should we care?”

Ellie bristled.
 
“I know exactly why you care, Lola.”
 
She turned her eyes on
Jalx
.
 
“And you.”
 
She used the back of her blood-stained hand to push her bangs away from her forehead.
 
“And I know it’s the reason you want me dead.
 
The same reason you’ve taken Gibbs.”

On her forehead was a small star-like scar.
 
She’d received it from Pinstripe on accident, at least that’s what she thought at the time.
 
It bled very little and had healed quickly.
 
But when it caught the light like it was doing now it glowed like a reflective strip on a bike helmet.
 
It was her mark.
 
The
mark.

“Try as he might, Sky can’t mark Lola.
 
He has to mark a princess, a human princess.
 
And this is America, my friends, where every girl is born a princess.”
 

Even though she knew Lola half-expected, half-feared it, the strangled croak that came out of Lola’s mouth was still very satisfying.
 
Ellie glanced at
Jalx
.
 
The struggle was apparent on his face.
 
He wanted her dead, but he was weighing the consequences in his mind of doing the deed right in front of Sky.
 

Sky slowly turned to look at Lola, then her father, and then back at Ellie.
 
Instead of looking into her face, he lowered his eyes and stared at the blood stain on her shirt.
 
It was spreading.
 
She could no longer pretend she’d torn a stitch or two.
 
Thinking about it made her head feel light and the edges of her vision wavered like heat off of asphalt.
 
Her knees wobbled and she reached out to brace herself against a nearby chair.
 
It was Sky who caught her.
 
No longer able to stand, he helped lower her onto the floor.
 
He pressed his own hand against the wound and applied pressure.