Hyacinth - By Abigail Owen Page 0,39

up from her seat at the dining room table. She was shredding a napkin into tiny pieces in her anxiety. Hugh stood behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder as sign of support.

“It practically woke her from a dead sleep,” Hugh confirmed.

“Where’s Selene?” Adelaide asked, glancing around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed her somehow.

Ellie glanced at Griffin. “I can’t hear her, but that’s pretty typical.”

Charlotte teleported out of the room, only to reappear a few moments later. “She’s not anywhere in the house,” she said with a worried frown.

Suddenly, a form appeared in their midst. It started almost like a mirage… a wavy, misty figure. Gradually it took on the appearance of a man but was somehow transparent. Then it became apparent that the image was that of Oren, one of the High Council members of the Vyusher. Griffin recognized him from their disastrous experience yesterday. Oren had been the only Council member to try to speak on Selene’s behalf. And now that he thought about it, this was the same apparition with whom Selene was talking in her apartment that night a few months ago.

“I will not waste time on formalities,” Oren’s shimmering form spoke. “Our tracker, who has been watching over Selene since she left to attend college, can’t see her any more. Please tell me she is there with you.”

Griffin felt his chest constrict. Only Ellie’s hand on his arm kept him from tearing upstairs.

“Oren, do you have any idea where she might’ve gone?” Alex asked.

“None,” Oren let out a deep sigh. “But she’s never cut off contact completely like this before.”

“She’s never been disowned by her people before, either,” Griffin countered, slamming a hand on the counter. “She was distraught.”

Lucy shook her head. “She had no intention of leaving us.”

“She was sad, but I don’t think she was going to leave. Especially without saying anything. That’s not like her,” Lila added.

“You’re getting better at healing emotions, Lily,” Ramsey said. “But you’re still working on recognizing them. And she was blocking your healing. Are you sure she wasn’t just blocking you in general?”

Lila’s pressed her lips in a tight line. “I could see her emotions.”

“Okay. If she didn’t leave, then she was taken,” Ellie concluded. She glanced around the room at the worried faces.

“…Now the question is, what are we going to do about it?”

*****

Selene woke slowly, the drug-induced haze lifting a little at a time. At first she couldn’t remember where she was or even what day it was. Pictures started popping into her mind like watching a still-motion movie. Slowly at first and then faster.

With a gasp she shot straight up and immediately lay back down, putting a weary hand to her aching head, the room spinning woozily around her. She waited for the sickening feeling to pass and then, very slowly, eased herself to a sitting position, doing her best to ignore the rolling in her stomach.

Eventually she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in a small room with only one door, no windows, and no furniture beyond the sink and toilet in the corner and the simple bed she was lying on. She couldn’t see any surveillance cameras, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t being watched. Panic flooded through her, though she refused to let it rule her. Her years with Gideon had provided her with many tools for coping with situations like this.

Focusing on taking deep, calming breaths, Selene mentally ran through what she knew for sure.

She’d been kidnapped by Maddox…but how?

Another memory kicked in, and Selene groaned. Maddox had a teleporter. That meant she could be anywhere in the world right now.

Okay, Selene. Think! What options do I have? I have my wolf morph...

She quickly discarded that option. Her captors could also turn into wolves and ones who were much larger and stronger than she was. So attacking them was out.

Maybe she could use her wolf’s sense to try to figure out the answers she needed. Or the link to the pack.

Selene reached for her wolf and attempted to shift.

Oh my God… I can’t morph!

She tried again, but she still remained in human form. Her hands curled into the sheets on the bed on either side of her. Closing her eyes, she forced her emotions back under her control. Panic never served any good purpose.

Okay. Her wolf morph was apparently not working. What about her other powers? Those would be more difficult to determine. Still, it was worth a try.

Keeping her eyes closed,