The Vulpirans' Honor: The Soul-Linked Saga (39 page)

Summer closed her eyes with a small sigh.  Loni slid his arms beneath her, ignoring
the tears that streamed down his face as he stood up, holding her close against his
chest.  Maxim and Ran stepped close and, without a word, they turned together and
left the jungle.

***

Honey opened her eyes, smiling when the first thing she saw was Hunt’s face leaning
over her.  Then she frowned.  Where was she?

“We’re in your office,” Hunt said, seeing her confusion.  “You used a bit too much
of your own energy healing the Bearens’ baby.”

“Did it work?” Honey asked, raising up on her elbow. 

“Yes, it worked,” Hunt said, pride shining in his pale yellow eyes.  “You worked a
miracle.”

Honey fell back against the pillows on what she now realized was the narrow sofa in
her office.  “I’m so glad,” she said.  “They’ve tried so hard for so long.”

The door opened and Honey sat up this time and swung her legs around so she could
put her feet on the floor.  “How you feeling, Honey?” Doc asked, entering the office
with Vikter and Lance.

“Just a little tired, but who cares?” Honey said, smiling.  “Hunt said it worked.”

“Yes, it worked,” Doc said, shaking his head slowly but with a huge smile on his face. 
“I’ve never seen happier Bearens in my life.  The only damper on their excitement
was you passing out cold when it was done.  But Jareth insisted you were just exhausted
and needed rest.  I told them to stick around for a couple of days.  I thought you’d
like to check them again tomorrow.”

“Yes, thank you, Doc,” she said, standing up with a hand from Hunt.  “I do want to
check tomorrow, just to be sure everything is perfect.”

“I ran a scan of course,” Doc said.  “Everything looks good to me.  But it won’t hurt
for you to check.  I’m proud of you, young lady.  You just saved more lives than you
know.”

Honey tilted her head as she thought about that.  “How long have they been trying,
Doc?”

“Several decades,” Doc said vaguely.  “I don’t think Lexa can take another disappointment,
and if we lose her, we’ll lose all of them.”

A chill ran down Honey’s spine.  “That’s so sad.” 

Vikter stepped forward and kissed her lightly on the forehead.  “There is much sadness
for our people when it comes to children,
zetia
,” he said.  “It has been so for thousands of years.  You cannot begin to understand
how important you are to us with your talent.  You bring hope where hope has been
lost.”

“I’m not going to be able to save every child,” Honey said.  “The truth is that if
they’d come in a week later, I wouldn’t have been able to save this one.”

“That makes sense,” Doc said.  “You mentioned that before, too. We need to begin doing
more extensive testing earlier.”

“That will help,” Honey said.  “But please understand that I cannot fix everything. 
I cannot work miracles.”

“You do work miracles,” Vikter argued.  “You just can’t do it every time.  Don’t worry,
we won’t forget that, and we’ll be sure that everyone knows that.”

“He’s got that right,” Doc said.  “Right now, your doctor’s telling you to get on
home and get some rest.  Don’t come in until after noon tomorrow.  That’s when the
Bearens will be back.”

“Thanks Doc,” she said, too happy to argue.  Lance gathered up her sweater and her
purse and they all left the clinic together and headed toward the Vulpirans’ big ground-car.

“We’ll bring you down tomorrow and you can drive your ground-car home after you see
your patient,” Vikter said, opening the rear door for her.  She climbed in and slid
across the seat, making room for Vikter.  Hunt started the car and pulled away from
the clinic, then turned right at the bottom of the long driveway.

“Where are we going?” Honey asked.

“Home,” Hunt replied.  “Why?”

“What about Nica?”

“I thought she was staying home today with Sila,” Vikter said.  Honey frowned.  Sila
was the younger of the two nannies who worked for the Bearens.  Hope had offered to
let Sila work for them, looking after Nica, until they found someone else, which had
been a huge favor.  But Honey worried about Nica and Sila alone at River House all
day long, and her worry hadn’t lessened when Adori had come from Berria to help them
either.  Foolish or not, she still feared that the Teriens would try to take Nica
away from her.  So, she’d instructed Sila to call her every couple of hours when they
stayed at the house, just to check in.

“I got a call from Sila at about ten this morning,” she said.  “She told me that she
and Nica were going down to the Bearens for the rest of the day with Saige Lobo.”

“Oops, sorry about that,” Hunt said easily, swinging the car around.  “We didn’t know
about the change in plans.”

“I’m sorry, I should have voxed and told you guys,” Honey said, frowning.  “We need
to come up with a better system I think, so we all know what’s going on.”

“I don’t think it’s really going to be a problem, Honey,” Vikter said.  “Right now
we’re working long days in an effort to get the Research Center and the infirmary
rebuilt, but after that things will ease up.”

“How’s that going?” Honey asked.

“Very well,” Vikter replied.  “We’ve got the walls up and both of the roofs on.  The
new infirmary is going to be bigger with the new obstetrics wing.  You’re really going
to love it.”

“I can hardly wait,” Honey said, leaning her head over on Vikter’s shoulder.  She
closed her eyes, just for a few moments.  When Hunt turned off the main road she opened
her eyes and lifted her head, looking out the front window expectantly.  Nica usually
watched for them at the end of the day and ran out of the house the moment they drove
up.

“You stay here,” Lance said over the seat.  “I’ll run in and get her.”

Honey nodded, but she was getting a bad feeling about this.  She swallowed hard, determined
not to panic. 

Lance came back a few moments later without Nica, and Honey had to bite her lip to
hold back her rising fear.  “Arima Hope said that Sila and Nica went home just after
lunch,” he said.  “Arima Saige dropped them off.”

Honey sighed with relief.  If Saige took them home, she was sure they were fine. 
Saige lived right next door to the clinic, and if there’d been anything wrong she
was certain Saige would have told her hours ago. 

Hunt backed out of the driveway, then turned toward the River House, driving a little
faster than usual. 

“I can’t say I’m happy that Sila didn’t call me,” Honey said, trying to hide her worry,
though of course they could all feel it.  “I gave her strict instructions to let me
know when they were going to be in the house alone, and to check in regularly.”

“Lance,” Vikter said, “Call Sila so we don’t all have to worry until we get home.”

“Excellent idea,” Honey said, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it herself.  She
was panicking, obviously.

They all waited quietly, the only sounds in the ground-car the distant crunch of the
wheels on the gravel road.  Honey watched the back of Lance’s head as he reached up,
tapped his vox, then tapped it again before murmuring into it again.  He hadn’t gotten
an answer the first time, she realized, so was trying again.  She felt her heart begin
to race as she waited, her fists clenched in her lap.  The silence stretched out until
finally, just before she was ready to start screaming, Lance turned around in his
seat and looked back at them. 

“I can’t get an answer,” he said.  “I tried Sila and Adori both.”

Honey felt Vikter’s tension leap upward, along with Lance’s and Hunt’s.  Suddenly
she was finding it hard to breathe. 

“Drive faster, Hunt,” Vikter ordered.

“Maybe you should get out and shift,” Honey suggested.  “You could get there faster,
right?”

“Maybe, but only by a few seconds,” Vikter replied.  “We’re almost there now, so it
would take longer to stop the car and start again.”

Honey nodded, barely understanding what he was saying.  All she could think of was
Nica.  Little Nica with her sweet, elfish face, her big dark blue eyes, her quick
smile and bright laughter.  If anything happened to Nica, what would she do? 

Hunt pulled up in front of the house, and they all noted that the windows were dark. 
It was still light out, the sun hadn’t set, but it was dusk and there should have
been at least a couple of lit windows.  Lance was out of the car before Hunt brought
it to a full stop, Vikter right behind him, and Honey sliding out as quickly as she
could.  She was nowhere near as fast as the Vulpirans though.  In fact, she hadn’t
even made it all the way to the front door before she heard Vikter and Lance roar. 
She began running, terrified of what she’d see when she entered the house, but needing
to see it anyway.  Needing to know what had happened.

“Honey, wait,” Hunt said from right behind her, but she ignored him and kept going. 
She shoved the door open all the way and entered the house, stopping abruptly just
a few steps inside.  She swallowed hard and looked away from the still figure lying
on the floor near the fireplace, a puddle of dark blood around it.  It was Sila, the
wild mop of orangey red curls told her that much.  She looked around quickly, avoiding
looking at Sila again, but saw no other signs of violence.  Lance came down the stairs
and shook his head quickly.  Nobody up there.  They all turned toward the kitchen
when Vikter called out, Lance getting there first, Hunt hanging back with Honey, unwilling
to leave her alone for a second.

Honey crossed the dining room and started to enter the kitchen, suddenly afraid. 
What if Nica was in there?  What if she was...but no, they wouldn’t let her in there
if that was the case.  She swallowed hard again and entered the usually bright, cheery
kitchen.  Hunt flipped on the lights, illuminating the scene before her.

Adori lay on the floor, a large lump over one eye, tied up with enough rope for ten
people it seemed.  It was wrapped around and around from her feet to her shoulders,
nearly covering her completely.  Vikter was gently unwinding it as Lance walked to
a corner of the room and voxed someone. 

Honey went to her knees on the floor beside Adori and lifted her head carefully, resting
it on her lap as she studied the injury.  Adori was awake, her eyes watery and shocked,
but aside from the bump, she didn’t appear to be seriously injured. 

“Hunt, would you get me a damp cloth, please?” she asked, surprised at how calm she
sounded when what she really wanted to do was scream at Adori, demand to know what
had happened, who had done this, and most important of all, where the hell was Nica?

She swallowed her panic, pushed down the hysteria that was threatening to overwhelm
her as she took the cloth from Hunt.  She gently cleansed Adori’s face of blood, tears
and dirt.  She handed the towel back to Hunt, who tossed it aside and gave her a fresh
one.  By that time Adori had begun to tremble and shiver, and Honey knew she was going
into shock.

“We need a blanket to keep her warm,” she said. 

“Doc’s on his way, and the Dracons, Bearens, Lobos and Falcorans,” Lance said. 

“That’s a lot of people,” Honey said, stroking Adori’s hair slowly. 

“Give me a knife,” Vikter said.  Lance opened a drawer, pulled out a knife and handed
it to him.  Vikter cut something, Honey thought it was the rope, but after a moment
he stood up without completely removing the rope from Adori.  He gestured to Lance
who took his place and finished the task with as much care as Vikter had used.  Honey
saw no signs of blood or other injury beneath the rope, so she looked up to see what
Vikter was doing.  He held what looked like a small pink satin purse.

Honey frowned as she stared at the object, waiting for her eyes to tell her brain
what she was really seeing, but the longer she looked at it, the more sure she became
that it was a purse.  Vikter knelt down beside her and held it out.

“Do you recognize this?” he asked.

“No,” she replied.  “I’ve never seen it before.”  Up close it was exactly what she’d
thought.  A pink satin evening bag, very small, big enough for a lipstick, a vox,
an identification card and little more.  It had delicate crystals sewn onto it, and
the remains of a long, satin strap.  Honey looked at the rope and saw that the strap
had been tied to the rope against Adori’s body.  That’s what Vikter had cut.

She looked back at the purse, taking it from Vikter’s hands.  This was the type of
bag a young woman wore to a formal dance, in college perhaps, or high school.  She’d
never actually had one herself, but she’d seen them.  She turned the bag over, but
it looked the same from both sides.  It closed with a zipper along the top.  Her fingers
shaking, she unzipped the bag and opened it.  Inside was a single sheet of paper,
folded in half, and nothing else.

She reached in and pulled the paper out, set the bag down on the floor beside Adori’s
head, and unfolded it.  She stared at it for a long moment, unable to decide how exactly
she should react to this.  Should she scream?  Cry?  Swear?  Leap up and race out
the door?  But no, she couldn’t do that.  Adori’s head would hit the floor if she
did that, and the poor woman had been through enough.