Turbulent Waves, page 23
Vivien felt the warmth of Marsha’s hand when she reached for hers, and she threaded their fingers together. “What do you want? Kai’s already beaten your family once. Why take the chance of it happening again?”
“I’m not my brother, Princess, and stop thinking I’m taking you somewhere she’ll never be able to find you. I want her to show herself. Once I kill her, Galen will have no choice but to surrender her throne to me, and we’ll finally take our rightful place here.” Daria’s laugh was grating, so the family resemblance went further than looks. Steve always had the same effect on her.
“Your rightful place? You have no place here.”
“Say anything like that again, and I’ll make sure Kai’s last glimpse of you will sicken her.” Daria came over to the seat and grabbed her face in a tight grip.
She closed her eyes and sent her thoughts out to Kai. She wanted Kai to remember, above anything else, I’ll always love you. I’m sorry if I fail you and our child. The possibility of losing her baby brought tears to her eyes. She loved the little girl as much as she did Kai. How could she be so close to happiness, only to lose everything?
Chapter Eighteen
What the fuck?” Kai yelled as she drove her trident into the ground. “What’s going on?” she asked Edil. The call from Vivien was short, and she sounded terrified.
“One of the guards called before we lost communications and said a force overtook them, and they were headed to Etta’s office.” Edil was running to keep up with Kai and Frankie. “She didn’t know who they were, but she thought she recognized Bella Riverstone, who appeared beaten and bruised.”
“Whoever Bella’s working for is lucky if that’s all I do to her if something happens to Vivien and the others. The only way she knew about Etta and got Vivien there was if Bella told them.” Her heart felt as if it was trying to make its way out of her chest. She’d feared very few things in her life, but losing Vivien was about to send her into a black hole of rage.
“This isn’t the time to lose your head, sister,” Frankie said as they piled into his SUV. “She’s going to need you to keep calm to get her back.”
“She’s going to need me to help her keep her head, don’t you mean? I’m sure whoever has her is going to kill her, if only to make me suffer.” Yelling at Frankie wasn’t going to help anything, and she took a deep breath. “Sorry, it was my plan all along to draw Bella and whoever is with her out, but putting Viv in the middle of it damn well didn’t figure in. It was a stupid oversight, and I can’t believe I didn’t consider it. Don’t worry, I remember what needs to be done to win.”
“No one knows better than me how much you love my sister, so both those things are true. I watched you almost sacrifice yourself to keep us safe when you faced Pontos. This time you’d better show no mercy and finish this. Vivien’s expecting no less.” Frankie placed his hand around her bicep, and she nodded before parking close to Etta’s office.
Agents and officers from a multitude of different law enforcement agencies assembled in front of the building, and her people got out and closed their eyes, working as one. What needed doing didn’t require a lot of input from her. It took her team a few minutes, but all the humans who’d been running around trying to figure out what had killed the two men on the ground stopped and took a deep breath. Confusing them was the only way for her to get in and find who the hell had done this. She kept trying to reach Viv through their connection, but she couldn’t sense or hear her. More than anything else, that made her panic.
She ran up to Etta’s office and noticed Vivien’s broken phone on the floor. The office was messy, but that was Etta’s state of being. The only thing out of the ordinary was the small medallion close to the only available visitor chair. She stared at it, her stomach turning, and Frankie pressed against her shoulder to get a glimpse of it.
“What is that?” Frankie pointed to the design on one side.
“The Oberon royal crest. This is from planet Atlantis.” She came close to sitting down when her legs got weak. Bella and her mother weren’t the only ones who’d followed Francesca Yelter, but their forces on Earth weren’t large enough to overthrow her mother. The coin meant forces had again arrived from planet Atlantis without their knowledge. Now that they had Vivien and figured out she was carrying the heir to their throne, this problem would have no easy solution. All her planning might be for nothing if she couldn’t fight the battle she wanted because it would endanger Vivien. “Who the hell left this?” In her gut she knew they hadn’t dropped it by accident. The clue was too deliberate to be a mistake.
Kai’s phone rang, and she almost ripped her pocket to get to it. “Mom,” she said to her mother Galen. They were on their way and were probably close by now. She should’ve called and warned them off, but her only thought had been getting to Vivien.
“What’s happening? We talked to your guards, but they didn’t have a lot of information yet.”
“Someone took Vivien and left a mess behind. If you want to see what a trident will do to the average human, I’ll send you pictures. They also left an Atlantean coin behind.” She handed the coin to Frankie and motioned for everyone to move out. The mind warp they had in place downstairs wouldn’t last forever, and the coin was the only thing meant to be left behind. She was sure of that.
“Okay, we’re an hour from our landing spot,” her mom Hadley said. “Send a helicopter, and we’ll make arrangements to muster the rest of the troops we have in the area. I’m not deploying anyone until I have a place to aim them.”
“Isla can take care of that. I’ll call as soon as we get back to the house. We’ll talk then because the plan we had in place won’t work now.” They went out, and the bodies had been loaded into their vehicles. Their ashes would be sent to their families, but any trace of what had happened to them had been erased with one small pulse that had wiped every cell phone and camera within a two-mile radius. “Be careful.”
The crowd was still around, so she took the moment to get a better look to see if anyone stood out. Two women with military postures dressed identically at the back of the thickest group of spectators caught her eye. “Frankie, Edil,” she said softly. “There.”
She started running right after speaking and was glad that they kept up. The taller of the two women was shaking her head as if trying to clear it, and her eyes went wide when she noticed Kai almost on her. It was easy to see she was trying to regain control of her body and run, but it was too late when Kai clubbed her over the head with her closed trident, before reversing course and hitting the other one, knocking them both out.
“Load them and bring them back to the house we have set up for the guards. I don’t want them in Viv’s place.”
They were headed back to Vivien’s vehicle when she stopped and closed her eyes again and held tightly to her shell. Vivien’s voice in her head made her want to stop the world to hear it. She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and wanted to scream when she heard what sounded like a faint good-bye. Frankie held both her hands and shook his head. She would celebrate the fact that Vivien was still alive and use Frankie as a megaphone for what she had to say to both Vivien and Marsha.
“Ready?” she asked Frankie after she’d sent her message. She didn’t get a response.
“They’ll be okay, won’t they?” Frankie’s face was wet with tears, but he wasn’t hysterical.
“Whoever this is will be sorry they ever came here.”
The house was a hive of activity, and she needed the quiet to think. Earth might as well have been as huge as the universe if you had a short period of time to find three individuals hidden there. If these people were vindictive, she’d never get to Vivien in time.
“Should I call my parents?” Frankie asked. He was breathing hard, his knuckles white on the door. “I don’t want them surprised if we don’t find them right away. I’m surprised they’re not over here already since they have their shells.”
“Get them over here. My parents should be here in a few hours, so they can talk them through this.” They headed inside, and the guards had brought some of their equipment over to monitor their radar. “I give you my word—I’ll find them, and I’m sorry I haven’t asked about Marsha. Have you felt anything or gotten any communication through your shell?”
“I can feel she’s in trouble, but she’s not totally freaking out just yet. I hope whoever has them has a tolerance for sarcasm,” he said and laughed weakly. “I want to have a chance to tell her how I feel. I’ve been an idiot up to now, thinking she’d think I was some sort of stalker.”
She put her arms around him and held him once they were inside. “You’ll have that chance, but try to keep your head clear. Think of the priestess we questioned. If they have someone else talented at reading minds, we don’t want to give anything away.”
“What about the two women you captured?”
“Want to come with me?” She headed next door through the yard. The two were shackled to chairs and were looking around the room like they were trying to find an escape. “You’re never getting away from me, so stop wasting your time.”
“We don’t take orders from you, scum,” the taller one said. Edil slapped her so hard blood sprayed out and hit Edil’s shirt.
So they definitely knew who she was. “Usually, we’d go through this dance of me beating the shit out of you, and you trying to hang on to your sanity, but we don’t have time for that today.” She expanded her trident and motioned for Frankie to do the same. “Today I’m going to surgically remove everything I can without killing you until you tell me what I want to know.”
“I thought your mother didn’t like that kind of thing,” the smaller woman said. “That’s what Bella told our leader.”
“Look around,” she said, swiping her trident across the hair at the side of the woman’s head and slicing it off. “Do you see my mother anywhere?”
“What do you want to know?” the taller woman said, giving in quickly and showing how deeply her devotion went. “All we know is that we were ordered to accompany the team to that place and take your woman. Where they’re going or what’s planned isn’t something we were told.”
“Who are you taking orders from? Tell me, and make this whole process something you’ll survive.”
“Our queen, Daria Oberon.” The name made her blood run cold. Just like Pontos, this woman would aim for the heart without thought or remorse.
“Edil, get what information you can.” Kai left her to it. She knew who she was up against now.
They walked next door, and she went up to their bedroom in an effort to think of what her next step should be. The only things she had to go on were the two visions they’d had, and she tried to decipher anything she hadn’t been able to glean before, but the result was the same—Viv being pulled away into darkness. She’d thought putting enough guards around them would keep them safe and control the scenario, but that illusion had shattered today. She needed her moms to get there so they could figure out their next move.
“Don’t blame yourself, and I have faith that everything will be fine,” Cornelia said, coming in without knocking. Viv’s mother was a nice woman, and she’d been able to break Pontos’s mental game without any help from her. “You know, when Vivien was a little girl, I found her awake late one night staring at the sky as she sat on that window seat.”
“She still does that some nights. We might live in the depths, but we can still see the night sky.” She smiled when Cornelia reached over and wiped her face of the tears she didn’t realize she was shedding.
“I used to tell them old stories about seashells to make them feel better about whatever was bothering them or making them sad.” Cornelia’s smile was full of melancholy. “That night she was still suffering because we hadn’t believed her story about the girl she and Frankie saw who might’ve been eaten by sharks. For the longest time I thought she had imagination enough for all of us.”
“I’m sorry I ever did that.” Her childhood whims had brought her Vivien, albeit years later, but had caused a rift in her family.
“I’m not. The story I told her that night was about a girl who thought there wasn’t a place for her in the world. The girl had no voice and thought no one truly believed in her. Because she felt that way, the girl believed her life would be one of despair. One night, though, a loving sprite visited her, and she knew in time she’d find all the answers she sought in the stars.” Cornelia joined her in her tears.
“That’s a beautiful story.” She held her mother-in-law’s hand and tried her best to comfort her.
“I told her that one day there’d be a place for her in the heavens, and once she found it, she’d be the point by which her love would navigate their way home. That’s what you are to her, Kai. You’ll be her home.” Cornelia hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and bring our girl home. You’re the only one who can find her and do that.”
“She sent me a message, but whoever has her has been able to prevent her from sending another one.”
“With the shell, you mean?” Cornelia stared at her and reached for her own.
“Yes, like this,” Kai said, showing her. “It was her. I know it was.”
“You’ll have to forgive me. All this is so new to me, and I’m still trying to learn the ins and outs of your gift. I could sense Viv’s distress, but I’m way out of my depth when it comes to getting a detailed message.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Galen said, coming in to join them and placing her hand on Kai’s shoulder, “and my kid is a capable teacher when she sets her mind to it. Believe me when I tell you we’ll exhaust everything at our disposal to bring Vivien back.”
“Cornelia, I’d like to introduce you to my mother, Galen Merlin. Mom, this is Vivien’s mom, Cornelia.” She put her arms around her mom for a tight hug. That had always made her feel better from the time she was a child.
Cornelia didn’t seem fazed, which was good. “Your Majesty, it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I wish it had been under better circumstances. I’m trying my best to keep my cool, but you have to find her. If this was a simple kidnapping and demand for ransom, Winston and I would’ve paid it by now.”
“Neither of us have enough to pay what these people want. Our only option is to find her and eliminate whoever took her.” Her mom sounded like she was at the end of patience and was ready to burn whoever stood in their way.
They joined her mother Hadley who was comforting Winston. She sat and Frankie joined her. He stared at the water in the pool and took her hand. The memory of Nessa and Jyri came to her, and she thought of what they’d said. It couldn’t be that easy.
“Laud,” she said. “Have you gotten any updates from the guards working on Tanice? Pontos had to have known if anyone else was coming. Or have you gotten anything new from your search?”
“I think we’ve gotten all the information we’re going to get out of Tanice.” Laud sat with them and had a hard time meeting her eyes. “You’ll be immediately informed if we have anything new.”
“This isn’t your fault, my friend. We put security on Vivien and Marsha, and they were outnumbered. The ones to blame are Bella, her mother, and everyone who followed them against my mother. When I find them, there will be justice.” She’d never been one for revenge or an all-consuming rage, but Bella’s stupidity had gone too far. If it cost her Vivien, she wouldn’t need a trident to deliver the killing blow.
“We’ll do better next time, but I’m sorry the guards failed.”
“Let’s not get into circular conversations about blame, and let’s get back to Tanice. I think she’s the one who holds the key to all this. She was Pontos’s lover and fiancée. That means she has a vast knowledge of planet Atlantis’s court and ruling family.” When Nessa and Jyri talked about the past, maybe it wasn’t just her past they were talking about. “Is there something we can do that’ll open her mind to us?”
“Like the priestess we’re transporting there?” Laud sat back, seeming lost in thought.
“You made progress making her think she was sitting with her lover Pontos, but we need information on more than what he had planned. Pontos is dead and his plan died with him. Whoever Sol has sent now is continuing what Pontos started, only this is someone new and much better organized. According to the guards we captured, the one who captured Vivien and the others is Queen Daria Oberon. Have you had any indication someone landed recently? Is Daria Sol’s wife or daughter? Either way, they have revenge as well as conquest on their mind.”
“I’ve been putting into place everything we talked about as well as tracking down anyone who might’ve helped Bella and Pontos, but I’m afraid I don’t know what relation she is to Sol.”
“Bella and her mother escaped, so there have to be some people in our realm who are still feeding Bella information if they grabbed Vivien so easily. Right now, we need to concentrate on Vivien, Marsha, and Etta. Any traitors within the capital will be dealt with eventually.” She stood and paced as an idea started to take root. “To find the answers, we have to ask Pontos’s girlfriend some different questions. I want to walk into this fight with all the answers.”
“What do you want to ask her?” Laud said, already on her way to the monitors. Frankie and their parents followed.
The cell that held Tanice came on the screen, and she appeared content as the guard sat with her, stroking her hair. Her mother Galen explained, for the benefit of the others in the room, “There’s a new technique we’ve perfected, where, with a little help, the prisoner sees someone other than the guard. In this case Tanice thinks she’s talking to her lover—the man who tried to kill Kai outside your house.”
“Steve, you mean?” Winston asked.
