Black Orchid (10 page)

Nate
whistled as he strolled through the underground tunnels of Maddox’s base. He
was headed to the dining room. Dinnertime usually put him in a good mood,
though lately even food hadn’t made a dent in his ho-hum state. But today…
today he felt good. An image of blonde hair and green eyes and the sounds of a
delighted laugh popped into his head briefly. Followed by the memory of soft
lips beneath his.

Damn!
Why the hell did I help her anyway?
he asked himself for the thousandth
time. Helping her relearn her powers was not part of the plan. Sure, it helped
establish trust. And there wasn’t a ton she could do as a falcon. Still… bad
idea.

Nate
frowned. And his good mood had
nothing
to do with
her
.

If
anything, he had cause to worry. He wrestled with hazy memories of his previous
life with her every time they touched. Layered under that kiss were memories of
other kisses and shared moments. Those moments, once grey and lifeless and
unreal, were getting clearer, more colorful, gaining detail in his mind. But it
had to be Adelaide. She was unconsciously manipulating him again. Or maybe consciously.
Maybe her memory loss and inability to work her powers were all part of some
elaborate ruse.

Either
way he was having more and more trouble distinguishing truth from lies.

Nate
pushed all those thoughts from his mind. He was in a good mood because his
mission was going well. He’d gained Adelaide’s trust. She physically desired
him, giving him an added advantage. He had her right where he wanted her. That
was all. He wouldn’t let her get her hooks into him again. Ever.

Nate
rounded a corner in the hallway and collided with Talia, He hadn’t seen her in
a while. Not
that
that was unusual, as she kept to herself a lot.

 “Hey,
Talia. You okay?” he asked as he reached out to steady her.

“Fine,”
she muttered as she stepped out of his grasp with a little twitch.

He
nodded and made to move around her, only to be stopped by her hand on his arm.
“Um. You seem to be in a… good… mood?” she asked. She glanced behind him as
though expecting someone else to be there and then returned her gaze to his, a
small frown puckering her lips.

Nate
raised his eyebrows at the odd question. “Yeah.”

“Your
mission must be going well?”

Nate
stared at her, confused. How would she know about that? “It is.”

Talia
said nothing for a moment. She searched his face with an intent look. “Good,”
she finally said.

He
waited for more, but it didn’t come. Suddenly, Nate felt like a saggy pool
raft. Any positive feelings he’d had before bumping into Talia deflated, and
the world became colorless again.

He
pulled his arm out from under her touch and felt slightly better. “Well, I’m
going to get some food. I’m starved.”

Talia
let him go, but he felt her gaze following him. Reaching the dining hall, he
slumped into the room and over to the sideboard. Meals were always provided,
but it was a self-serve affair. Nate grabbed a dish and then swore when it snapped
in half. He frowned. It’d been decades since his supernatural strength had
slipped out of his control like that when he wasn’t upset or angry. He tossed
the two halves of the plate into a nearby trash can and then, very gingerly
this time, picked up another one.

He’d
been hungry earlier, but now he wasn’t too interested in food. He dished up
anyway, since he was here. Grabbing a Coke, he sat alone at the end of the
table. It suddenly occurred to him that he barely knew most of the people in
the room. Sure, he’d trained beside them. But he hadn’t really befriended
anyone.

“Hi,”
a female voice said, almost on cue.

Nate
glanced up to see a girl that he sort of recognized but had never spoken to.
“Hi?”

“Mind
if I sit here?”

Nate
shrugged. “Help yourself.”

She
took the seat directly across from him and took a moment to arrange her plate
and silverware. She glanced around and then leaned forward and murmured, “May I
ask you a random question?”

Nate
raised his eyebrows. “I guess.”

“Do
you recognize me?” she asked, even more softly.

Nate
frowned. Was this some sort of test? “Sure. You’re Sheila. With the
intelligence group, right?”

She
grimaced slightly and shook her head. “No. I mean, do you have any memories of
me?” Before he could deny anything, she held up a hand. “Sort of like looking
at me through a dense fog bank?”

Nate’s
jaw clenched, and he abruptly stood up. He did remember something, although it
was more like looking at an old, faded black and white picture. “Is this some
sort of test?” he asked, vocalizing his earlier thought.

“No.
I—”

“Because
I’m devoted to my mission, if that’s what Maddox has sent you to find out.”

“That’s
not—”

But
before she could say any more, eight fighters in various states suddenly
appeared in the room along with Corin. Nate recognized several from his squad,
including his commanding officer and one of Maddox’s lieutenants, Evan. Three
of the fighters were supported between their comrades, unconscious and with
blood seeping from their ears, eyes, and noses. Corin herself had a bloody
trail leading from one ear down her neck.

“Get
Maddox!” Evan shouted. He helped to lay one of the unconscious men on the floor,
as three men scrambled to do his bidding.

Nate
leapt from his seat, grabbed a wad of cloth napkins off the sideboard, and
rushed over.

“What
happened?” he asked as he applied pressure to one man’s gushing nose while
checking his pulse at the same time.

Evan
didn’t answer him. Before Nate could repeat his question, Maddox swept into the
room. He assessed the scene in a single glance.

“Explain!”
he barked. He turned to Corin. “Why bring them here?”

She
pointed at her bloody ear. “It was the only place inside the base that I could
get them. Whatever she did, it messed with me too.”

Maddox’s
jaw hardened as he whipped his attention back to Evan. “How did this happen?”
Before Evan could answer, Maddox’s gaze honed in on the girl seated in front of
Nate. “Sheila? You said there were only supposed to be two of them.”

Evan
stepped forward. “There were only two, sir. We found them in the clearing. They
were practicing, just as Sheila said.”

Maddox
seemed to calm suddenly. “Only two of them did this?” Maddox mused. He ran his
hand thoughtfully over his jaw. “Who?”

“Ellie
Jenner and…” Evan paused. “Adelaide Jenner.”

Adelaide!
Nate almost choked
on the fear welling up inside him. Fear for Adelaide’s life that went bone
deep.

What
the hell is wrong with me?
She’s the enemy.
His only concern should be
the fact that he hadn’t been informed of this plan.

“And
what happened to these men?” Maddox asked.

“She
used some kind of telepathic maneuver on us. Not even our telepath, Marta,
could block her. It was one of the most painful things I’ve ever felt, sir.
Like knives being shoved into my head. These three were closest to her and got
hit hardest.”

“Was
Griffin there?”

“No,
sir.”

Maddox
clasped his hands behind his back. “Ellie’s telepathic abilities have grown
then.”

Evan
shook his head. “Marta doesn’t think Ellie was the one doing it, sir.”

Maddox
didn’t react. His cold gaze swept the room, briefly pausing on Nate. “I sent
ten men. Where are the other two?”

“Ellie
shifted and took them while we were incapacitated,” Evan said.

Everyone,
including Nate, held their collective breath, waiting for Maddox
to
go Darth Vader
on them. But Maddox simply nodded. “Take care of your wounded. I expect a full
report in the morning.”

“Yes,
sir.”

Maddox
zeroed in on Nate. “Come with me.”

Nate
followed Maddox out of the room. He said nothing, even when Zara, Maddox’s
pitiful shadow, laid her hand on Maddox’s arm as he hurried by her. She stood
for a moment, a dejected slump to her shoulders. Nate sent her a sympathetic
glance as he passed.

As
soon as they reached his office and the door closed behind them, Maddox turned
around. “Can you explain this?”

Nate
shook his head. “No, sir. She doesn’t use her telepathy on me. And she can
barely fly in her falcon form. I have no idea how she suddenly has this
ability.”

“Your
mission could be critical to our success. You understand that she and her
sisters can’t be allowed to live?”

Nate
knew what Maddox was getting at. “They’re dangerous. And more than that, what
Adelaide did to me deserves payback.” The words came out dutifully, but they
felt… off. Nate kept that to himself.

Maddox’s
lips thinned. “Find out about this new power of hers.”

“Yes,
sir.” Nate moved to leave but turned back suddenly. “If I may ask, why was I
not informed of this attack, sir?”

Maddox
slapped his hands down on his desk. “Excuse me?”

Nate
held his ground. “If I’m to do the job you assigned me with Adelaide, I need to
be fully informed of any actions against her.”

“Are
you questioning your mission, son?”

Nate
ignored the warning growl in Maddox’s voice. “No, sir. I’m questioning my not
having been informed. I can’t prep properly without full knowledge.”

Maddox
sat down behind his desk. It must’ve been a trick of the light, because he
suddenly looked old. He
was
old, the grey hair and silver temples
testified to that, though no one knew quite when he was born. But, for a
moment, he seemed truly decrepit, his face taking on an ashen, craggy look that
Nate had never noticed before.

“I
don’t have to explain myself to you,” Maddox finally said. “But in the interest
of having your mission succeed, I’ll say this…. We didn’t know that Adelaide was
the one out there. Sheila only knew two Svatura were in the field regularly but
not who they were. Although we should’ve guessed, since your visits home
coincided with these two Svatura showing up in Colorado.”

Nate
had a feeling Sheila would be explaining herself to their commander soon. “I
assume Adelaide’s new ability will move her up on our target list?”

Maddox
compressed his lips. “Lila, Selene, and Ellie will always be the primary
targets, and Lila is the only one we want taken alive. Adelaide’s our bait –
which is why we are so dependent on
your
success. But that entire family
needs to be taken out. No matter the cost.” He rubbed his eyes. “They’re too
powerful to let live.”

Nate
nodded as though he understood and agreed. But he couldn’t ignore the image of
Adelaide’s face in his mind or shake the feeling that he was being deceived.
Adelaide was the most likely culprit, but that just didn’t feel right to him
either.

Not
any longer.

He
turned to leave.

“Wait.”
Maddox stopped him with a word. “Just one more thing.”

Nate
frowned when Maddox pushed a button on the intercom to the woman seated in the outer
office.

“Send
Talia in.”

Alex
forced himself to calmly open the door that led outside to the courtyard. He
doubted that anyone had seen him running like a madman through the hallways,
but if they had, then so what? For the thousandth time in the last twenty
minutes, he kicked himself for staying at the castle tonight rather than going
with Ellie to Estes Park.

Lila,
Ramsey, and her crew of Louisiana Svatura had invited him to join them in a
game of pool. True, they were in the middle of a war, but that didn’t mean
people stopped living their lives. Besides, Maddox hadn’t stuck his head out of
the ground in ages, and a periodic distraction was necessary in order to help
alleviate the tension they constantly lived with. Otherwise they’d all go
crazy.

Alex
often hung out with the Louisiana group given his family history with them. His
grandfather, Rene Robichaux, had once belonged to that tribe. But tonight… Alex
just knew that staying behind had been a bad idea. He hadn’t wanted Ellie to go
tonight. She’d had such a hard time waking up from her nap, both of those acts
– napping at all and then struggling to wake - were unusual for his energetic
te’sorthene
.
But Ellie had urged him to go have fun with his new friends, and, God save him,
he’d listened.

In
the middle of his game against Beau, Lila’s alligator metamorph, Alex was
suddenly flooded with the panicked thought that his wife was in serious
trouble. He caught flashes of her plummeting through a dark sky, as though he
were falling with her, toppling end over end. The next moment she’d been in
horrible agony, and there was nothing he could do about it. Then, as fast as it’d
started, everything had stopped, and he couldn’t feel her any more.

“What
the hell? Was that Ellie?” Lila asked. She’d apparently tuned into his thoughts
when she’d seen his body jerk up suddenly.

Ignoring
her questions, Alex made a break for the door, engulfed in his own terror at
the thought that his wife may have just died.

Lila
rushed after him and grabbed his arm. “Wait! I know what you’re thinking, but
she’s still alive.”

He
skidded to a stop and grabbed her by the shoulders with white knuckled hands.
“How do you know?”

“You’re
te’sorthene
. You’d feel it, body and soul, if something fatal happened
to her.”

“You
can’t know that for sure,” he muttered, as gave her a little shake.

“I
saw what breaking that link did to Adelaide…. There’s no way you wouldn’t feel
it. But give me a moment, and we can know for sure.” Lila’s expression glazed
over, and Alex recognized that she was using her telepathy.

Alex
stepped back and ran his hands through his hair. Ramsey stepped in front of him.
“I’m guessing that this is similar to the link I feel to Lila,” he said.

A
small part of Alex’s confusion evaporated. When Lila had been captured by
Maddox, Ramsey had been able to feel her somehow. It wasn’t a gift either
Ramsey or Lila possessed, and yet the connection had seemed to grow stronger
with time. The theory made sense. Maybe it was a
te’sorthene
thing?

Ramsey
continued talking. “I know it seems as if you’ve lost her. But if what you just
felt was as intense as I think, then the subtleness of the link when she’s okay
will be harder for you to sense. Close your eyes.”

When
Alex didn’t immediately comply, Ramsey reached out and gave his shoulder a
little shake. Then he did as asked.

“Now,
you have to be completely calm. Let go of your worries. Think about Ellie, her
face, her smile, her laugh, whatever it is that you associate with her and her
alone. Concentrate on that.”

Alex
focused on the mental picture of Ellie’s face. Those gorgeous violet-blue eyes
that were the window to her soul. If you watched them closely enough, they told
you everything she was thinking and feeling.

He’d
just about given up trying when he felt it. Felt Ellie. The connection was
completely inexplicable. There was absolutely no reasonable explanation for him
to be able to do this. He could feel that she was safe, that she wasn’t hurt,
that she was a bit worried. And…

“She’s
heading back to the castle now,” he and Lila said in unison.

He
blinked and opened his eyes to find Lila staring at him with her mouth wide
open. He glanced at Ramsey and nodded before he waved at Lila to continue.

“Oren
used his astral projection and checked with the house. While they were
practicing in the woods, Ellie and Adelaide were attacked by a group of
Maddox’s wolves.”

She
held up a hand. “Before you explode, remember we all agreed that Adelaide needs
the help and that Ellie has more than enough power to protect both of them. Even
without her memory or gifts, Adelaide can still get away. They proved that
tonight.”

“Where’s
my wife?” Alex came as close to a growl as a non-wolf shifter could.

He
saw Ramsey tense out of the corner of his eye and knew the firestarter hadn’t
appreciated the tone he’d just used with Lila. She might be Alex’s adopted
little sister, but she was Ramsey’s
te’sorthene
.

Alex
cleared his throat. “Sorry, Lils. Where is my wife now?” he asked in a calmer
voice.

She
placed a hand on his arm and squeezed. “I talked to Oren. Charlotte went to get
her and is bringing her back here. They’ll be in the courtyard any second.”

Alex
bolted for the door. Charlotte was fast, but he beat them there. As he waited,
the worry started to mount. Lila, Ramsey, Selene, and Oren showed up and stood
quietly beside him.

Oren
gave his shoulder a fatherly pat. “She’s fine.”

Alex
was just on the verge of asking Lila if something had happened when, without
warning of any kind, a massive black dragon suddenly materialized before their
eyes. Ellie stood up on her hind legs, the giant span of her wings spread out
on either side. If she flapped them now, she’d probably knock down walls.

“Alex,
freeze the wolves so I can let go and shift,”
Ellie’s composed voice sounded
in his head.

He’d
been so grateful to see her alive, even in this form, that he’d missed the two
writhing animals held tightly in her talons. Questions would have to wait. He
froze the squirming creatures in place and then held them still as Ellie placed
them gently on the ground. After a beat of time, her body shimmered as she
morphed into her human form.

Once
the bulk of the dragon was gone, Alex could see Charlotte standing beside
Ellie. He watched as the two women talked briefly, and then Charlotte
disappeared again, presumably to go get the rest of their family still waiting in
Colorado.

Ellie
turned and walked across the courtyard toward where Alex and the others stood.
He was so relieved and shaken by everything that’d just transpired, he didn’t
know whether he wanted to shake her or kiss her. He compromised by meeting her
halfway and yanking her into his arms.

“Can’t.
Breathe,” Ellie choked out.

He
loosened his hold, just barely. “You’re going to have to give me a minute here.
I thought I’d lost you when I couldn’t feel you anymore.”

Ellie
pulled back slightly, a frown beetling her brow. “Feel me?”

“Let’s
get somewhere more private before we start dissecting everything that just
happened.” Alex grabbed her hand and turned to face the others.

“Ellie
and I are going to talk first. We’ll fill you in on all the important stuff
soon.” Selene looked as though she wanted to protest, but he nodded toward the
immobile wolves. “I trust you can take care of them? I’ll hold them frozen
until I hear that you’ve got guards ready to go.”

Selene
looked back and forth between Ellie and Alex. Taking in his clenched jaw and
tense shoulders, she gave a little nod and turned to the others. Alex
practically dragged Ellie through the castle back to their room, the only place
that would afford them any smidgeon of privacy.

As
soon as the door closed behind them, he had her back in his arms. He propped
his chin on top of her head. “Now, tell me everything that happened tonight.”

“Are
you going to hold me like this the entire time?” Ellie mumbled into his chest.
He could hear the amusement in her voice.

“Yup.
I’m going to hold you like this until I get over the shock of thinking you were
dead. Now talk.”

He
listened without interruption as she went over the details of the night.

“I
don’t know what happened. I couldn’t shift. No matter how hard I tried. I’ll be
honest. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to shift out of the
dragon when I got
here
.”

“You
should have Selene look at you. She can see the light inside you that represents
your power. See if she sees anything odd. Have Hugh check you over too.”

She
nodded.

“And,
in the meantime, no more training Adelaide out on your own.”

“Now
wait a—”

“I
mean it, Ellie. Until we figure out what’s going on with your powers, we can’t
rely on them. It’s not just you at risk. It puts anyone with you at risk, like
Adelaide tonight.”

Ellie
was quiet. Alex pulled back and felt his heart constrict at the sight of the
tears trickling down her face. He kissed them away, but he didn’t back down.

“Okay?”
he asked.

He
breathed a sigh of relief when she nodded.

She
looked up at him with a watery smile. “So what’s this about you feeling me?”

Alex
grinned. “Yeah. Like Ramsey with Lila. If you thought I was overprotective
before…” He whistled.

Ellie
rolled her eyes and groaned. “What exactly do you feel?”

“Right
now? Your presence, your emotions, that you’re okay. But earlier, when I first
felt it, I knew you were falling through the sky. I knew you were frightened. I
felt the pain…. I guess when Adelaide did that telepathic attack thing you
described. And then nothing. And that scared the life out of me. I think I aged
a century.”

She
rubbed her head on his chest. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Yeah.
Let’s not do that again. Okay?”

Ellie
nodded and then took a deep breath. “Guess we better go fill in the others.” She
went very still as she used her telepathy. “The rest of the family is here.
They’re all in the library. Adelaide’s filled them in on most everything.
Selene wants to set up an interrogation, but she wants to talk to her High
Council and the leaders of the other tribes first.”

“Do
they know about your powers being on the fritz? Or my link to you?”

Ellie
shook her head with a grimace. “No. I guess it’s time to tell them.”

Taking
her hand, Alex escorted his wife out the door. He wondered as he held the door
for her if she knew exactly how much she meant to him.

“As
much as you mean to me, I suspect,” she whispered with a smile.