The Witch's Dream - A Love Letter to Paranormal Romance (Black Swan 2) (18 page)

Ram was pulling on a shirt. He just gave her a look that said, "Hope this works."
Elora took a two-minute shower then pulled on working clothes which, for her, meant stretch pants, riding heel boots, and a long sleeve, silk weave shirt that would be comfortable to wear for days without changing if necessary. She combed out wet hair, dabbed on lip balm in lieu of makeup, and threw a leather bag with jacket and toothbrush over her shoulder while Ram was letting Glen inside.

Simon Tvelgar's outer office was sized like a medium hotel lobby with three seating areas and a large conference table by the windows. It was decorated impeccably and featured some items that were clearly priceless, such as the museum quality tapestries decorating two walls.

Ram, Elora, and Song arrived before Storm and Kay and were surprised to see Litha waiting. Tvelgar had asked for her assistance, anticipating how useful her tracking abilities could be in a situation like this.

Ram asked Aelsong if she wanted anything, before going to the bar to draw a coffee for himself and a hot cocoa for his mate. Elora thanked Litha for getting there so quickly and assured her that they would be grateful for any help they could get. Baka straggled in without saying a word and took a seat out of the way in a far corner. Elora wondered who had called him, but, whoever it was, she was glad for it because she was oddly grounded by his presence.

Kay walked in looking gray as death and anxious as hell. Storm showed a momentary flicker of surprise to see Litha, but said nothing.

Without further exchange, Ram told Aelsong to say what she needed from them.

She looked around, chose a large, overstuffed chair with arms and sat in it. She told the little assembly to choose their places and get comfortable because she was going to need them to be still and quiet.

While everyone was finding a seat, Song said that she had a pretty good chance of picking up something since she had met Katrina and spent time with her recently. She said she was ready to begin and everyone went statue still.

Song closed her eyes, relaxed her shoulders, and started to take three long, deep breaths in preparation. On the second breath her eyelids began to move. When she got mid way through the third inhalation, her breath suddenly caught in a way that looked painful. Her eyelids moved faster and she didn't seem to be breathing at all. Suddenly her head swiveled on her shoulders, coming to rest facing Litha. When her eyes flew open there was accusation plainly written there.

Kay stood. "What is it, Song? Tell me now!"

Song dragged her gaze away from Litha and looked at Kay. "Nothin' can be gained from goin' to London, Kay. She is no' here."

When Song glanced at Litha again, Elora gave Ram a pointed look to say, "What is that about?"

"What do you mean 'not here'? Where the hell is she?" Kay was getting agitated.

Ram caught his sister's eye. "This is no' the time to be cryptic, Song. Please. Spell it out plain."

She shook her head and looked at Kay like she was offering condolences. "She's been taken by someone no'..." She seemed to be struggling for the right words. "...no' like us. And he has taken her to a... reality outside this."

"You mean another dimension?" asked Elora.

"Aye." Song nodded at Elora, grateful to be understood.

The room went dead silent while each individual contemplated the implications of that in his or her own way. A few months ago there was no evidence that multiple dimensions, or alternate realities, shared common physical space or were anything more than fantasy or science fiction. But that, of course, was before Elora materialized out of thin air. If her arrival alone was not sufficient evidence, she had brought with her scientific documentation in the form of encoded data that proved the premise beyond refutation. With an alien from another dimension standing in the room, it would be hard to use impossibility as an argument.

Kay was first to speak. His normally quiet and assured, easy-going, Texas drawl was tinged with anxiety and his volume was several notches above his norm. "What does he want with her?" Song looked like she was searching for the right thing to say. "Out with it, girl. Just spit it out!"

Kay had risen, walked toward Aelsong's chair, and was now looming over her. Normally he would be cognizant of the intimidation factor, but he was too preoccupied to think about it. Seated, with Kay's giant figure towering over her, she had to lean her head way back to look him in the face. With a tone full of apology and sorrow at being the message bearer she said, "He wants to punish you."

Kay looked like he'd been slapped. Gaping at Aelsong, he backed up two steps until the back of his legs caught the sofa facing her. Looking stunned, he more fell into sitting position than sat.

Elora wanted to rush in and put her arms around him, but somehow thought that might make things worse. So she kept her full weight glued to the chair.

"Punish him for what?" Storm demanded.

"The abductor believes Kay is responsible for the death of someone... Father maybe?"

"What else can you tell us?" Ram asked. "We need to know everythin' you saw. Do no' think that any detail is insignifi...."

"Alright," Storm interrupted, "If nobody else is going to say it, I don't mind being the one to ask. Why were you looking at the witch like that?"

"Like what?" Song looked completely confused.

"Like you thought she did it. Or had something to do with it."

"What?" Song frowned, looked Litha square in the face and then shook her head. "No. I did no'."

"That's bullshit! What are you hiding?"

Elora read her new sister-in-law's body language. The effect of having so many larger-than-life men standing over her making demands was showing. Her arms were crossed in front of her and she had pulled her legs up into a defensive posture that made her look so much smaller. It was disconcerting to watch someone with Song's normal self-confidence and lustful personality reduced to looking victimized.

Storm was coming dangerously close to browbeating and Elora was on the verge of intervening when two things happened. Peripherally she saw Baka rise out of his chair in the corner, clearly with the same idea in mind, but before either of them acted on their protective impulses, Ram passed in front of Elora like a flash and was standing between Storm and Song.

"'Tis my sister you're speakin' to, lunker."

Storm held out a finger pointing at Kay. "That's my partner sitting on the couch looking like he's been stabbed in the gut!"

Ram gaped at Storm like he had lost his mind. "And now you're thinkin' you're the only one in the room who cares about Kay, are you? My sister is no' the enemy. She's here, voluntarily, to help
our
teammate find and recover his female."

Storm and Ram, with faces only a foot apart, stared at each other for a few beats at impasse. Finally, Storm blinked twice and looked at Song.

"I'm sorry, Song. I shouldn't be taking this out on you."

He shot a brief, but dangerous glare at Litha then turned away.

"I have impressions I can share. I do no' know if they'll be helpful," Song told Ram.

Ram knelt beside her chair and said softly: "Tell us what you saw. How do you know they're no' in our reality?"

Song shook her head. "I can no' say exactly. 'Tis hard to describe. 'Tis a sensin' that comes to me. She is no' terrified nor hurt, seems more hypnotized. The creature who has her is beautiful enough to be a god. He's no' a god, but he's no' a man either. Long black hair, black eyes, bronze skin. I hear the word..." She paused and frowned while looking down at the carpet in front of her. "Can no' be right."

"What can no' be right, Song?" Ram urged her to continue.

She looked him in the face. "Demon?"

Litha stood up. "What kind, psy?"

Everyone turned to look at the witch.

Aelsong closed her eyes to see if she got an impression. "I do no' know if this makes sense."

Litha could see that Aelsong was showing signs of nerves, growing more reticent and unsure of herself by the second. She approached the young seer, speaking in a tone of calm assurance with a hint of big sister patience.

"I know you've just arrived and barely unpacked. You haven't had time to prepare for the pressure of reading in a situation like this with emotions so high and so much at stake. I'm sorry you had to jump straight into the fire, but since you know the subject personally, there's no doubt you're the best bet.

"You know The Order doesn't recruit just anybody with a little sixth sense. You're special. Trust that. Just say whatever came to mind and let us judge the validity."

Aelsong looked at her. "Incubus." There was an audible, collective gasp right before they felt a low rumbling, vibration. "But they are no' real are they?" Her entreaty made her sound so young and inexperienced, but Litha couldn't afford to be distracted by sympathetic impulses.

At first Elora thought the rumbling was a minor earth tremor. Then she heard the growl paired with it and saw that her husband had turned toward Kay and paled.

Storm lunged for Kay, grabbed him by his impossibly wide shoulders, and began shaking him.

"Caelian! No! This will not help us get Katrina back. Stay with us. We'll hear from the kidnapper and find out what he wants."

Seeing the potential crisis, Song seemed to regain some of her self-possessed demeanor she normally wore like skin. She scrambled off her chair toward Kay, knelt in front of him, and took his hand. "Kay, Trina is alive. Alive and unharmed."

Seeing that she could add nothing to the way her partners were handling the situation Elora took Litha by the arm and pulled her to the far side of the room.

"What do you know about this?"

Litha faced Elora, letting her see an open expression showing that she had nothing to hide. "No more than you."

Elora reached out with her intuition to try to ascertain whether Litha was telling the truth or not. Certainly she saw no wariness or defensiveness. "Why do you think Song looked at you the way she did?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I'm going to be involved?"

The rumbling quieted, which meant her partners had helped Kay stay in control. For now.

"How?"

Elora saw the other woman take on a resolute expression as her mouth set in determination. "I'm going to track the berserker's bride."

"Bride-to-be," she corrected. "If Song is right, if it is a demon and he has taken her to another dimension, how are you going to track them? It seems..." She glanced over her shoulder at the others and lowered her voice, "...impossible."

Litha cocked her head to the side. "How long have you worked for The Order?"

"A few months. Why?"

"Because we don't like to think the word 'impossible' until we're positive there's nowhere else to go. We have the best resources in the known universe."

"I know that."

Litha smiled slightly. "Well. There's knowing and there's knowing."

"What the hell does that mean, Litha? I'm not in the mood for riddles."

With a little shake of her head that was charming whether Elora liked it or not, Litha answered. "Sometimes preparation meets opportunity. Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we make magick. And sometimes the result is that we manage the impossible."

Elora nodded in understanding. Her estimation of the witch was growing and she was starting to feel good about Litha batting for their team. "That berserker over there is family to Ram and Storm and me. Any of us would do
anything
for him. Just tell us what we can do to help. Anything," she repeated.

"Just keep the big bastard in his skin until we get this sorted out."

Litha walked over to Simon Tvelgar and told him they could use a demonologist on the scene. He said she was already on the way.

When Heaven arrived, Litha asked Aelsong to join them. The three withdrew to a corner where they could talk quietly without upsetting Kay. Litha had Song repeat what she had seen for Heaven's benefit and then asked her to clarify details while the visions were still fresh in her memory. Any information, no matter how meaningless it might seem on the surface, could be the very thing that helped her track.

Litha asked Song to describe the environment, or backdrop, of the scenes she had witnessed. Aelsong had seen Katrina leave the hotel with the black haired man willingly. The next thing she saw was Katrina sitting in a windowless room staring straight ahead.

Kay's phone rang. He was working so hard at controlling his rage that it took him a few seconds to register that it was a call for him. He pulled the phone from his pocket, looked at it, and felt a chill run through his veins when he saw the Caller ID. It said simply, "Got Your Girl."

His hand was shaking badly as he raised the phone. "This is Caelian."

"And this is Deliverance, son of Abraxas, Obizoth, whom you murdered. In lieu of the blood debt you owe me, I have decided to take your female. She is much sweeter retribution than killing you. Every day you will imagine how I enjoy having her in my bed and at my mercy as she pays for your transgression."

Kay stared straight ahead not seeing anything or anyone around him. His gray eyes had glazed over and looked silvered. Only he could see the red streaking across the gray haze in his vision, gradually overtaking it. His voice croaked low, barely more than a whisper. "Please, demon."