Hyacinth - By Abigail Owen Page 0,44

girl on the bed, too. Make sure you grab her when we go.”

Without hesitation or question, she could hear Charlotte as she started feeling around for the bed. Ellie dropped to the floor beside Selene and took her hands. Nothing happened.

“I can’t feel my powers,” Ellie gasped.

Selene was shaking with the effort she was expending. Inspiration struck. She backed off on her attack and instead pushed a small amount of her power into Ellie, shielding them both.

Power pulsed between them in electric waves. Pins and needles rushed through her.

“Push against the blocker with me, Ellie,” Selene instructed, feeling stronger by the second.

Together they forced back the light surrounding them until it reached the source and dimmed.

“Keep going,” Selene gritted through her teeth. This was about survival.

Ellie gave her hands a squeeze.

The blocker was becoming weaker. She couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. But Selene could see their growing feebleness by the flickering of the glow inside them, like a light bulb as it blinks though its last moments before finally burning out. Suddenly Selene felt the power extinguish, the pressure giving way completely. By the small grunt she heard, Selene knew that Ellie felt it too.

“Did it work? Are we free?” Ellie asked, gasping for air.

“Not positive. Please, just get us out of here!” Selene begged.

If it hadn’t been so dark in the room, she knew she’d be seeing spots taking over her vision about now. As exhaustion overtook her, she felt her environment shift and knew that Ellie had listened to her.

She was finally free.

Chapter 28

“Oh, thank goodness!” Lucy exclaimed as Ellie and Charlotte reappeared with their two rescues. Selene slumped over on the couch, and on the floor was a young girl, who was also out like a light.

Ellie dropped to her knees beside Selene’s unconscious form. “Hugh!”

Hugh was by her side instantly and quickly started moving his hands over Selene’s body. Meanwhile, Adelaide and Charlotte hovered over the other girl, checking her pulse for any signs of life.

“What happened? I couldn’t hear you! Are you guys okay?” Griffin asked as he rushed in.

“I’ve never felt anything like that!” Ellie pushed a trembling hand through her hair. “They had some kind of… blocker. Someone who could keep you from using your powers.”

“Like Selene?” Griffin asked, staring at the motionless girl on the couch.

Ellie shook her head as she accepted a glass of water from Alex. “No… Selene turns things off, like a switch. This was more like the second we appeared, our abilities, all of them, were gone. Kind of a blanket power remover. And Selene…” She shuddered. “She was fighting them. Fighting against that force, I mean. Jeez…she must have been pushing against that for days. I helped her at the end….”

Ellie paused, and the color leeched from her face. She held a hand to her mouth like she was going to heave.

“You all right?” Alex asked, concerned.

“Here.” Adelaide handed him a cool washcloth, and he gingerly patted Ellie’s forehead. She gave him a grateful smile.

“Thanks…I’ll be ok.” She took another sip of water and continued. “Selene had absolutely no strength left. Only enough to create a little bubble to shield me, let me tap back into my gifts, and then together we pushed against the blocker until we turned off their power. It felt like lifting a ten-ton boulder off us.”

“Wow…crazy,” someone breathed.

Tears trickled down Ellie’s cheeks. “We were only there maybe five or ten minutes. I have no idea how she held on as long as she did without help. Is she going to be okay, Hugh?”

“I don’t know,” Hugh replied quietly.

“What do you mean?” Griffin’s voice resonated with grim fear.

Hugh wiped one hand over his face and shook his head. “Physically, she’s fine… Not a scratch, as far as I can tell.”

“Then what’s wrong with her?” Lucy laid a hand on her husband’s shoulder.

“She’s got to be exhausted,” Ellie murmured. “I battled for only a few minutes and with her help, and I’m a wreck. Maybe she just needs some rest.”

“But if she were merely asleep, I should still be able to hear her thoughts,” Griffin insisted.

“She might be shielding them from you without trying,” Nate suggested. “You’ve said you have trouble hearing her anyway, right?”

Griffin just nodded, his closed expression hiding his thoughts.

“Is there anything you can do, Dad?” Adelaide pleaded.

Hugh glanced at Ellie, who just shook her head. “She’ll just have to rest,” she answered.

“Who’s this?” Hugh asked as he started to examine the young stranger.

“No idea,” Charlotte