apartment in the palace. Fear knotted his stomach. Outside, it was growing dark, and his youngest daughter still had not returned home. He stopped pacing and turned to his oldest twin daughter.
“Spring, when was the last time you saw Phoenix?” Creon asked.
He kept the worry out of his voice as much as he could. Spring wiped a tear from her cheek, sniffed, and twisted her hands in distress. He walked over to her and gave her a comforting hug.
“Late this morning. We were in the gardens working on a fresh flower bed. She—she said she was going for a flight and would search for some more seeds for my garden,” she said.
They both turned when Carmen strode into the living room. “Stardust is gone, too. Nothing else is missing,” she said in a strained voice.
Creon knelt to be eye-level with his daughter. “Spring, it is important that you remember. Did your sister say where she was going?” Creon gently coaxed.
Spring shook her head. “No,” she replied as she wiped another tear from her cheek.
Carmen walked over and wrapped her arms around her daughter’s thin shoulders. Creon’s heart melted at the sight of his mate and their oldest daughter. They looked so much alike with their blonde hair and delicate features. He covered Carmen’s hand with his own when she looked at him with fear and worry on her face.
“We’ll find her,” he promised.
“There was something else,” Spring suddenly remembered, looking at him with a troubled expression.
Carmen stepped around Spring and stood next to Creon. She still clung to his hand, and they both looked at Spring with the wild, desperate hope of parents with a missing child. Spring was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. The uncertainty on her face tore at him. She was always very protective of Phoenix.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Carmen encouraged.
“For the last few days, Phoenix has been acting different,” she confessed.
Creon frowned. “What do you mean, honey?” he asked.
Spring clasped her hands together and held them to her chest. “She’s been really distracted. I kept asking her what was wrong, but she always said that everything was alright—but, I know that isn’t true. Sometimes… sometimes I can see what she sees, what she does—when I’m not actually there with her,” she admitted, bowing her head.
Carmen’s soft gasp of surprise echoed his own. They had wondered if their twin daughters would have the same type of connection that the fabled Valdier Twin Dragons did. Now they knew.
“What did you see?” Carmen asked.
Tears coursed down Spring’s cheeks. “I heard a voice—begging for help. I didn’t think it was real. It woke me up last night. I thought it was Phoenix. She…. Phoenix was muttering in her sleep. She kept telling whoever it was that she would help them,” Spring said in a barely audible voice.
“Who needs help? Where was this person?” Creon urgently demanded.
Spring shook her head. “I don’t know. The voice was so faint, and I only saw a glimpse of the cave before Phoenix woke up,” she said.
Carmen gently gripped Spring’s arms. “What did the cave look like? Try to remember, honey. Any little detail can help us find your sister,” she encouraged.
Spring closed her eyes. A tiny frown furrowed her dainty brow as she concentrated on the memory. She licked her lips before she spoke in a halting voice.
“It… it’s on an island with lots of rocks. The… the cave is dark… and cold. I saw… there were stairs leading up to a doorway, but… but there was nothing on the other side. It was a doorway to nowhere.”
“What else did you see, Spring?” Creon murmured.
Spring opened her eyes and stared into his. “A river. There was a river, only it wasn’t like any river I’ve ever seen before,” she whispered.
Creon got a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He took a deep breath, lifted his hand and cupped Spring’s cheek while Carmen tenderly stroked her hair.
“What was different about the river?” he asked.
Spring stared at him with wide, confused eyes. “It was made of gold—just like Little Bit, Stardust, and Harvey,” she answered.
“Creon,” Carmen whispered, her own eyes filling with tears.
He shook his head and stood. “Stay with Spring,” he said.
“What are you going to do?” Carmen asked in a tight, emotion-filled voice.
He caressed Carmen’s cheek with one hand and Spring’s with the other. A sense of resolve filled him. He wouldn’t let anything happen to his family.
“I’m going to bring her home,” he promised.
Isle of the Monsters:
Lake of the