Hyacinth - By Abigail Owen Page 0,15

at Ellie. “And what does Alex say to this plan?”

Ellie gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. “The boys are staying out of it. But they side with us in spirit.”

Selene shook her head. “I won’t be the cause of conflict in your family. I refuse to play a part in causing any family pain ever again.”

Lila rested a comforting hand on Selene’s shoulder, and a feeling of peace slowly started to wash through her. Surprised, Selene could see a small glow coming from Lila slowly fading as Selene’s mental anguish faded. She studied the glow as it went out.

“You can heal emotions? That’s new.” She met Lila’s gaze.

Lila gave a small grin. “I’ve only just started figuring it out. I can only do it if I can touch the person. But Ellie says eventually I’ll be able to do it without touching. And I don’t always sense the emotion. It uh…” Lila seemed a tad unsure of how to word it. “…it has to be a very, mmmm, intense emotion for me to see it. Apparently, I’ll get better at that as well.”

“Well, that’s one I haven’t seen before,” Selene muttered. “And thank you for the help. But my answer is still no.”

“The thing is… if anything… I think you would actually help bring our family closer together,” Adelaide said.

Lila and Ellie glanced at each other. Adelaide rarely shared what she saw. Her gift was the ability to see relationships between people - past, present, and future. But she usually kept her visions a secret so as not to unnaturally influence anyone.

Selene shook her head, unconvinced. “That sounds really nice. But even for that, I can’t risk it.”

“Well, the thing is, sweetie,” Ellie reached out and pulled Selene to her feet, “you don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“I don’t?” Selene could feel herself giving in. Friendship was such an elusive desire. Something she didn’t deserve. And a small spark of hope now burst through the barriers of both her natural reserve and of her fear of putting more lives in danger.

“Nope,” Ellie continued. “I’ve decided that we’re going to be friends. And that, as they say, is the end of it. We’re treating you to a girls’ night out. No dancing. I know I suggested that last time, but I was probably a little ahead of myself with that idea.” She waved her hand as though shooing that idea out of way. “We’ll start small, ease Griffin into it, so to speak. We’re going to take you out to dinner tonight.”

*****

“You did what?” Griffin’s voice was deceptively calm as he confronted his twin and her mischievous cohorts.

“We took Selene out to dinner,” Ellie repeated.

“That was nice of you, girls,” Lucy said. She was sitting in the armchair working on some intricate embroidery on Ellie’s wedding dress. Thanks to the Svatura’s slowed aging, she still looked fairly young, with her lovely blond hair and green eyes like those of her daughters.

Ellie smiled triumphantly at Griffin. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“No, Lucy, it was not nice of them,” he insisted. “It was dangerous.”

“You’ve got to let it go, Griff,” Ellie muttered.

“Her pack killed our family, Ellie,” Griffin said, as if she needed reminding.

Lucy glanced up. “That poor girl has been through heaven knows what, under the thumb of her insane twin brother. If Lila says she is telling the truth, that she did her best to help you and us, then we owe her our lives.”

Griffin shook his head. “Hugh? Alex?” He tried for male solidarity. “You see where I’m coming from, right?”

Alex and Hugh were on the couch watching a Broncos game and trying their darndest to stay out of it.

They glanced at each other. “Ah-hem…” Hugh coughed. “You see, Griffin, it’s…”

Griffin held up his hands. “No, I can see you don’t. So don’t even bother trying.” He grabbed his jacket and stormed to the door. “I’m going out.”

Adelaide laid a small hand on his arm, making him pause. “You have to figure out how to forgive Selene,” she whispered to him.

He jerked away from her touch and felt a momentary pang of regret as rejection darkened the young girl’s eyes. After years growing up with Ellie, he was still getting used to Adelaide’s gentler and more sensitive nature.

“Sorry,” he muttered and turned to the others. “And if you insist on being friends with Selene, I don’t want to hear about it.” With that he banged out