Ruthless Fae - Ingrid Seymour Page 0,29

“I’m getting something.”

I stepped back, allowing her to focus her power.

“She’s hard to hear. Not like Vaughn. It’s almost as if she’s talking to me from somewhere far away…” Becca trailed off, her lips pursing as her eyes remained closed. “She says… she says she misses you, Tally.”

I smiled, wiping the stray tears off my cheeks. “I missed you, too, Daniella. I’m glad you’re back.”

Becca continued. “She says she thought she was dead, but when she woke up, she wasn’t herself. She says she feels trapped inside this other… creature. She can’t stop herself when the directions come. She just has to act.”

Squeezing Daniella’s hand, I brushed a strand of thick, vine-like hair off her face. “We know. We know you never want to hurt anyone. We know they’re making you.”

The dean, who’d been standing behind us silently this whole time, stepped forward. “Becca, ask her if she knows anything about how they made her this way. Does she have any memory of what they did?”

“She says she can hear you, dean. She doesn’t know. But she does remember one thing.”

We all leaned forward as Becca focused.

“She says… She says she remembers them taking her into a cave. In it, there was a fountain.”

“A fountain?” My heart lurched. “The fountain we used to heal our bodies?”

That night in the cave had only been a few days ago but it felt like a lifetime had passed since I’d submerged myself in that glowing water and came out with a new power to glamour my whole body.

Becca shook her head. “She’s showing me something different. This cave is much larger and darker than the one where we fought Crescent.”

“Another fountain,” the dean said contemplatively, stroking her chin. “Does she know where?”

Becca shook her head. “She was asleep for that part, but she knows that they put her in this fountain and did something to the water, but the water was also doing something to her. It was as if the water was magic, and the Habermanns were tainting it with something.” Becca’s eyes fluttered open. “I don’t know. It’s all a kind of jumbled mess in her head. Some words. Some pictures. That’s the best I can do.”

The dean was nodding slowly, realization stealing over her face. “Thank you, Daniella. Thank you, Becca.”

She turned and stalked out of the room.

“Thank you, Daniella. I’ll be back soon.” Then I followed the dean down the hall.

She was a bit ahead of me, so I flew forward, dropping back to my feet as I caught up to her. “Dean, excuse me. What does this all mean? Can we help them?”

“We know more than we knew before. We know enough to get started.” She stopped striding and put a watch similar to the one Vaughn wore to her mouth. I wondered why I didn’t have one as she began to speak. “Call the others. Meeting room. Five minutes.”

I was going to ask more questions, but she put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Good work back there, Tally.”

Then she made an elaborate gesture and disappeared.

I stared at the spot where she’d been, blinking. Magic like that was something I’d ever get used to.

Footsteps sounded behind me. Vaughn walked up, concern darkening his features. “Tally, what’s going on? How’s Daniella?”

“She’s still out, but Becca could hear her. We think we’ve learned something. The dean called a meeting and then disappeared.”

“Tricky witch,” Vaughn said. “Come on. Let’s head to the meeting room. I can’t wait to find out what the plan is.”

By the time we got to the meeting room, half the team was already around the table. Vinya sat beside the silent twins and Antonio and Regina beside them. I noted the empty chairs that belonged to Disha, Bridget, Rowan, and Charlie, wishing they’d make it back soon, but, knowing if they were away, whatever they were doing was important.

“Is Kiana coming?” I asked, but Vinya shook her head.

“The dean thought it would be better if it were just us.”

I bit my cheek, realizing how upset my aunt would be if she knew they were excluding her from an important strategy session. I also knew how little the dean, and likely all these other people, trusted my aunt. The question was, did I trust her? I hadn’t, but now? Maybe. Maybe was the best I could do.

“Where’s the dean?” I asked Vinya again since she seemed the most likely candidate to know where she’d gone.

“She’s out on a mission with Tyler, but