Hyacinth - By Abigail Owen Page 0,59

on her arm and fixed her gaze on Marcus. “If you change your mind about my offer, just think my name. I will find you.”

He frowned.

Another explosion rocked the castle, and Selene smiled.

“Now.”

Selene barely blinked, when suddenly she was sitting in a large field, still bound. In front of her stood the three leaders of the attacking clan, and surrounding them were the other fifty members of their tribe. Desmond was still grasping her arm, though now he was visible. And behind her were about twenty of her Vyusher brethren and their Svatura allies.

The castle now was about two hundred yards away. Hopefully, Charlotte had moved the rest of the Vyusher back inside the safety of its walls by now.

I’ll have to remember to thank Xavier, Selene thought. The Council leader had agreed to lend his ability. She had to give it to him, as much of a pain as he was in the Council, he did love the Vyusher and would fight to protect them. He’d been moving their castle to new locations for centuries. Handy skill that. Though she suspected Desmond had had a strong influence over Xavier’s agreement to help.

“What the—? She tricked us!” Stephen yelled.

Selene turned her own power on Stephen, weakening him enough so that the steel bands loosened and slid off of her.

“Remember what I said,” she said to Marcus.

Selene rose to her feet, resisting the urge to rub the spots that were raw from her constraints. She signaled Charlotte, who appeared instantly beside her. Another blink later and Selene was standing in the midst of her friends and family, facing the other tribe.

“All right, Ellie,” she said as she clasped hands with Ellie and Oren. “We’re all yours.”

Chapter 37

The Louisiana clan stood fifty strong just across the field. The start of the attack came in the form of balls of lava. They were launched over the field like cannonballs, headed directly at the castle walls. But before they reached the Vyusher, the flames were suddenly doused.

Selene glanced at Ellie.

“Ramsey,” Ellie explained in one word.

Selene smiled. Ramsey was watching from inside the castle walls. They’d decided his power could be perceived as too offensive to have him in active battle. He hadn’t liked it but was happy he could still use his power when needed.

The Louisiana tribe didn’t wait. A terrible sound arose from behind them. Birds flew out of the surrounding woods. Suddenly trees and rocks were hurtling through the air, launched by a telekinetic. The projectiles weren’t even halfway across the field when Ellie thought, “Jason, you’re up.”

Jason, a young Vyusher whom Selene had known since he was a cub, crushed them into dust with a flick of his thoughts. Selene paused, impressed with the young man’s power and control.

She was just returning her attention back to the fight when her body was wracked by a horrible itching. It felt as though thousands of bugs were crawling beneath her skin, leaving a burning, tingling sensation in their wake. It took every ounce of her self-control to keep from doubling over at the sensation. At the same time, she was vaguely aware of a large mass of something large and gooey-looking heading their way.

The mass, which almost looked like a huge bubble of pink chewing gum, was almost upon them when it appeared to slam into something. Selene could barely focus, but it appeared as though the blob had hit an invisible unseen wall. It smeared out and upward, smoothing along whatever unseen force it’d encountered.

Griffin’s shield, Selene thought with relief as she saw the mass halted in its tracks. But her satisfaction was short lived. The urge to dig under her skin was becoming unbearable. She could see others around her scratching madly, drawing blood even. Somewhere in the recesses of her consciousness, she heard a sound like yelling, but the sensations consuming her body had her full attention.

Selene was just about the reach out with her power to turn it off at the source when she heard Ellie’s voice in her head.

“Resume your formations. Aid is here.”

A cooling sensation washed through her, calming her twitching nerves and leaving only blessed relief in its wake. A collective groan whipped through their ranks.

“What happened?” she thought to Ellie. At the same time, she searched for the mysterious blob, but it was gone.

“Hugh and Lila. I had to send Charlotte for them first. Someone over there has nerve control.”

As the Svatura and Vyusher collectively calmed, steadied themselves and regrouped, they turned their attention back