cut her hands up pretty badly on some rocks,” Hugh said.
“He ran right up to me. The only reason I wasn’t frightened was that I could see that his intentions were helpful.”
“Without even thinking about it, I healed her hands. Where anyone could see us.”
“And that’s when I saw into the heart of who he was. Someone so kind and honest and true. And who loved me entirely. How could a girl resist that? I leaned over and kissed him right there in the street!”
Hugh smiled. “We were married a year later.”
“That’s lovely,” Selene sighed. “What a beautiful story. And you’re so clearly still in love.”
The wistfulness in Selene’s voice caused Griffin to give her a curious glance. But she ignored him and snuggled deeper into her blankets. “Time to sleep, I think. Usually I have no problem crashing right out.”
“No kidding,” Ramsey muttered. Catching a couple of looks he said, “What? She goes out like a light. I’m jealous.”
“Well, I’m afraid tonight I’m just too strung up,” Selene admitted ruefully.
“Want me to help speed things up?” Ellie offered.
“Really? How?”
“I can’t. But Lila will be able to eventually, by making you relax to the point of sleep.” Lila waggled her eyebrows at Selene over Ellie’s shoulder.
“You ever get tired of finding out what you can’t do yet?” Selene wondered aloud.
“All the time,” Lila responded, followed by a round of “Yeah!” and “Seriously!” from Adelaide, Nate, and Ramsey. Alex wisely kept his own council.
“Hey!” Ellie protested with a good natured grin.
“We love you, Elle!” Lila teased, reaching over and squeezing Ellie’s shoulder affectionately.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ellie grumbled. She turned back to Selene. “So, you interested?”
“Yes. The sooner I fall asleep, hopefully, the sooner we get this over with.”
Ellie knelt down and Selene held out her hand. Ellie, using the full potential of Lila’s power, created a sense of such peace and serenity in Selene that she quickly fell asleep.
The nightmare started almost immediately. Selene knew she was already a wolf since she could see her pale front legs and paws as she trotted through a darkened forest. She tried her best to look around and notice any landmarks. Although she tried to follow Ellie’s advice and act the same as always, she really didn’t have to pretend… she was truly bewildered and terrified.
Just as Selene was about give up on seeing any recognizable landmark, she spotted a sign for a motorhome park. She looked directly at it, knowing Griffin and Ellie could see it too. Selene continued on, winding her way through several homes until she reached one on the far outskirts of the community. There were two Chinese lion statues on either side of the front entrance. Selene briefly paused, giving Ellie and Griffin a chance to memorize their distinctive features.
As Selene trotted around the back side of the home, she saw an old man sitting in a lawn chair smoking a pipe. A growl ripped from her throat, one that she couldn’t control. She saw the terror in the man’s eyes as he dropped his pipe and scrambled away from her. Just as she was about to lunge for him, her body was suddenly completely frozen still. And then everything went dark.
Chapter 21
“Selene, can you hear me?” Griffin’s voice sounded as if it were coming from far away. All she could see was blackness.
“Fight your way out of it, Selene. Listen to my voice.” Griffin seemed to be getting closer to her. But she still couldn’t see through the dark. “You enter and leave dreams. Use that power now, and shut him out of your mind.”
Selene furrowed her brow. “Shut who out of my mind?”
“Thank God you can hear me.” Griffin gave a relieved sigh. “Someone named Maddox is manipulating you. Fight him, Selene. Use your power and push him out of your head.”
At the sound of Maddox’s name, everything fell into horrible, awful place. Selene knew exactly what was going on. She’d been convinced of her guilt until that very moment. With a concerted effort, Selene tried to turn off the power that Maddox was using on her now but still couldn’t dig her way out of the dark pit.
“Tell Ellie that she needs to amplify my power-blocking ability,” she instructed Griffin. Concentrating harder, Selene could tell the second that Ellie added her boost to the power pool. Suddenly, the oppressive dark started to shift. Selene pushed harder against the walls in her mind and felt the pressure lift, lightening further and further.
“Keep going, Selene,” she heard Griffin in