Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (67 page)
“So, did the Colvin girl do as we planned?” councilman Rhys Darby asked Blanche in a whisper as they stood in an isolated office chamber during the recess.
“Yes, the guards informed me she has indeed entered the Void. Catherine Colvin will no longer be a nuisance to this council,” she replied.
“Good, and what of our betrayer?”
“Andrei will answer for what he has done. He has deceived the wrong Varulv,” Blanche Caulder whispered angrily. Rhys grinned menacingly.
“He will be hard to reach, being so high up in the Parliament,” he stated.
“Leave that to me, Rhys. You underestimate the pull I have,” she said. Hearing the call back to order by Reynard, Blanche and Rhys returned to the great hall.
“Thank you, Matthew, that will be all. Aldon, you may take him to be with Catherine,” Reynard ordered.
Blanche Caulder sat at the end of the table smiling inwardly.
Oh how I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Aldon reaches the room and realizes his beloved Catherine has flown the coop
.
Yes, today is a good day
, she thought, as she sat back and waited for the fireworks.
The door to the council chamber flew open and Aldon rushed in. “Catherine is gone!” he yelled at Reynard.
“What do you mean gone?” Reynard looked up worriedly at his frantic brother.
“I mean, the room is empty. I specifically told her to stay put, and I know she wouldn’t disobey me. Somebody has taken her!”
“Only the guilty run!” a voice yelled out from the crowd down below, causing rumblings to run through the assembly.
“She’s not guilty, we have someone in here that is a traitor and planned on her death too, but it backfired. We must send out a search party.” Aldon’s face turned red with anger.
“Wait! We want to testify on behalf of Catherine Colvin,” A voice rang out from behind him. Turning, Aldon recognized them as two of Cat’s friends, Duffie and Leif.
“Who are you?” Reynard bellowed over the voices mumbling below him.
“The name’s Duffie Gibbs. I’m a hunter from the Upper Echelon Academy. And this is Leif Edwards. He’s a seeker from the same academy. Our keeper, Gerard McNeil, sent us to speak before your council. We witnessed Cat’s, I mean Catherine’s, accidental killing of Edgar Girven. It was in self-defense. The Varulv councilman seemed to be in a crazed and wild state.”
“Well, there you have it. These two cannot lie when speaking before this council. It is forbidden by their creed. Catherine Colvin is not guilty! You have your proof! Now let us go find her!” Aldon yelled. Reynard turned to his right, and then to his left, whispering to his fellow councilmen. He stood, looking out at the crowd below.
“The council recognizes that Catherine Colvin is proven innocent of all charges. We grant you the use of our guards to form a search party, Aldon,” Reynard announced.
“Thank you, brother,” Aldon replied and then hurried back to the holding area as the crowd quickly dispersed. Rachel, Taylor, and Sam looked up as Aldon ran into the room. “We must make haste. Cat is missing!” Aldon stated.
“What? Cat’s missing?” Rachel exclaimed.
“What are we waiting for? We need to find her,” Sam yelled.
“Duffie, you and Leif must come with us. You two will be our only hope for finding her,” Aldon said as Rachel, Sam and Taylor noticed their neighbors standing behind him.
“We’ll explain later. For now, we must find Cat!” Duffie replied, looking at their puzzled faces. Moving past them, she made her way to the door Cat had left from. The others quickly followed.
“I hope she’s not hurt,” whispered Leif as he caught up to Duffie.
“We must hurry,” Duffie replied in a no-nonsense tone. The group followed the pair across the open field until they reached the frozen river. A dark black foreboding forest stood on the opposite bank.
“She went across there,” Leif said pointing to the river.
Rachel stopped as did Sam, both with grim expressions on their faces. Aldon knelt in the snow shaking his head.
“What’s wrong? Let’s go get her!” Matt asked, puzzled by their actions.
“Mom, Dad, Uncle Aldon? Don’t just stand there! We have to go get Cat!” Taylor yelled. Sam looked to his son with tearful eyes.
“We can’t. The Void is a place very few have survived. Besides, there’s a barrier of dark magics set in place by an evil coven of witches,” Aldon explained. “The barrier prevents Varulvs and vampires from crossing through. It must have let Cat cross over because she is still half-human.”
“Rachel, no, you can’t help her now,” Sam said, trying to sooth his wife as she began to tremble in his arms. Rachel ripped away from him abruptly and snarled, staring into the Void. Her bones began re-shifting and her body mass grew, shredding her clothes. Letting out a loud howl, Rachel charged toward the river. She hit the barrier and let out a small whimper as she was hurled back into the snow. Slowly climbing back on all fours and shaking her fur, Rachel howled. “Rachel! Stop!” Sam choked out. Ignoring him, she charged once more toward the barrier with the same result.
Sam hurried over to her as she lay in the snow, slowly transforming back into her human form. “Someone get me something to cover her up with, please!” Sam ordered, tears in his eyes as he brushed Rachel’s hair from in front of her face. The crunching of snow made Sam look up to see Reynard and his search party running toward them.
“What’s wrong? Please tell me Catherine is not in the Void!” Reynard looked at Aldon’s face, receiving his answer. Removing his robe, Reynard handed it to Sam to wrap Rachel up in. Rachel moaned in pain as she lay shivering in the cold snow.
She began to sob, “My baby, please someone help my baby.” Taylor knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her bare shoulder at a loss of words.
“There might be a way we can get her back,” Reynard started to say.
“No, there isn’t! We can’t go in! And now she can’t come back out this way! She has to make it through the Void to get out! And how many have survived that? How many, Reynard?” Aldon yelled, his voice growing hoarse.
“Please, brother, listen to me. There is someone among us who can go in after her,” Reynard stated looking over at Matt. “A human can cross over.”
“What? Me? In there? I mean, how will I find her?” he asked worriedly.
“There’s no way we can risk Matt’s life! His parents are our friends, and they think he’s at camp,” Sam interjected angrily.
“He won’t be alone. We’ll be with him,” Duffie stated with Leif nodding next to her.
“This may be the only way to save Catherine. I can’t order you three to go in, but if I am right, you need no convincing,” Reynard said, and then watched as Matt walked over to the Colvins and bent down.
“We’ll find Cat and bring her back. Omfffph,” was the only sound that could escape his mouth as Sam drew him down into a tight hug.
“I know you will. Be careful, Matt,” Sam muttered as he squeezed him once more. Another’s arms wrapped around them, it was Taylor.
“You better bring back my sister in one piece.”
“I will,” Matt replied.
“We need to get going,” Duffie stated, tugging on Matt’s jacket. “There’s no telling how far she is now.” Without another word the three teens stood on the banks of the frozen river holding hands.
“Be safe, young ones,” Aldon called out as he watched the three walk across the frozen surface and get swallowed up by the darkened tree line.
“Dad? Dad? What’s that heading toward the barrier?” Taylor asked, pointing to a trail of purple smoke soaring through the sky and making a beeline for the Void. Sam looked up just in time to see the smoke disperse as it slammed into the invisible wall. There was no mistaking the woman with the bright red curly hair or green leather trench coat that was tumbling to the ground. Taylor was the first to react, running over to help Ròs to her feet.
“What was that?” Ròs asked, rubbing her forehead. “Taylor, what are you doing here? And where the devil are we? This is not Astoria! Where is Catherine? She called me. Is she in trouble?” Ròs asked in a panic.
“Uh Dad? Uncle Aldon? Some help here please,” Taylor called out, steadying Ròs as she swayed a little bit.
“Cat called you? From her phone?” Sam asked as he left his wife’s side.
“No, from the locket I gave her,” Ròs began and then stopped as everyone looked at her confused. “Oh, never mind. Where is she? I sense she is in trouble.” No one said anything. “Why is no one answering me? Where is Catherine?
“She’s in there,” Taylor answered, drawing her attention to the wall of foreboding trees just beyond the frozen river.
“The Void…you let her go into the Void? What were you lot thinking?!”
“Now Ròs, calm yourself,” Reynard said coolly.
“Will someone please explain what’s going on?” Ròs asked in frustration. Reynard quietly explained the events leading up to the point where Cat entered the Void. Ròs bit her lip to stop herself from screaming at the group in front of her. She was furious that no one had told her about what Cat had been going through. After he finished, Ròs focused her gaze back to the Void. “So, your idea was to send in three teenagers? A Class C hunter, a Class C seeker, and a mortal? The hunter and seeker are not even allowed to slay at their level. They can only trap because of their class limitation. Do you really feel that these three will be able to handle what they’re sure to face inside?”
“We must all trust that these youngsters will bring her out safely. They are our, and Cat’s, only hope,” Reynard said, placing his hand on Ròs’ shoulder.
Carol
and
Adam Kunz
are the mother and son author duo behind
The Childe
series. Their combined love of the supernatural and things that go bump in the night was what inspired them to write Cat’s story.
Dark Days
is book two in this five book YA Paranormal/Fantasy series. The author pair currently reside forty-five minutes away from each other in the sunny state of Florida. If you would like to find out more about this duo and The Childe series, please visit these links:
Author Website
-
http://www.cakunz.blogspot.com