Foretold

  “It is quite amazing how much you look like Olivia,” he said, his red eyes roving from her hair to her feet. “I imagine Amber looks just like you, as well. Perhaps it was nature’s way to distinguish each of you that you have the different eye colors and markings. Quite fascinating.”

  She wanted to speak, to respond in some way. But her body wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Ah, yes.” He stopped less than a foot from her. Reaching up, he stroked the light blue streak in her hair, seemingly enthralled. “Layla is having a try at controlling your dreams so that I can enter them. We were not at all certain how successful we would be. The protections in place at your location are quite prohibitive. But it appears we managed to succeed tonight.” He caught her gaze. “I imagine Layla wants you to feel as helpless as possible. She does not particularly care for you.”

  Her heart raced. She understood then that this was no simple dream. Struggling against panic, she turned her thoughts inward, drawing on skills Knorbis and Malukali had taught her and her sisters to guard her thoughts. As she did so, she found herself reducing Layla’s hold over her. When Grolkinei reached out again, this time to touch her face, she staggered back.

  “Caleb!” she shouted when her vocal chords were free.

  Her cry echoed strangely in the dream landscape. She tried to bring forth her power to protect herself, but couldn’t. Layla’s influence strengthened again over her mind. It was like a vise tightening over her entire body. This time, when Grolkinei approached and reached out to touch her, she couldn’t move away.

  “How interesting,” he murmured.

  His fingers caressed the side of her face. He traced the three markings around her left eye, then down along her cheek. It felt as real as if they were actually standing beside each other. She could even smell whatever cleanser he had used on his skin. Her heart vaulted into her throat as his touch moved to the side of her neck and then along her shoulder. The comfortable but thin sleep tank and shorts she wore suddenly felt indecent. Terror threatened to overpower her.

  Then he reached back up and ran his thumb over her bottom lip, his gaze focused on her mouth. “You shouted for your Gloresti,” he said, his tone intrigued. “Not for your sisters. Not for the powerful elder Gabriel. But for a young, untried Gloresti. I wonder what that signifies?”

  His words stunned her. Determined not to give him any more than he had already managed to pull from her mind in her dream state, she closed her eyes tightly to concentrate on repelling Layla. She felt the moisture of tears trickle down her cheeks and trembled in disgust and fear when he wiped them away.

  “Don’t touch me,” she managed as her efforts to free herself loosened her jaw and her voice.

  He chuckled, obviously pleased with her refusal. She kept her eyes shut, trying hard to ignore the fact that he continued to caress her wherever he pleased. Then air touched her waist.

  It’s just a dream. Just a dream!

  The thought echoed frantically through her mind. She started reciting music lyrics to herself, doing a mental dance routine. As she moved to the music in her head, she managed to reclaim control of her limbs. The sensation was like tightly coiled ropes coming loose from around her. As soon as she was free to move, she whipped her arm to the side to shove Grolkinei’s groping hand away and swiftly tugged her pajamas back into place.

  He jolted with a bit of surprise, then smiled as she backed away. “Well, it appears you have more strength and courage than I was willing to credit you.”

  When he advanced, she stepped away. She still couldn’t use her power of holy light and she wasn’t sure that she could take him on physically, but she could evade him like a champion.

  And while she did, she had to figure out how to wake herself up.

  “Hello, Grolkinei.”

  Caleb came awake the instant he heard Skye speak. Rather than surge to his feet, he remained perfectly motionless, gauging his surroundings and attempting to evaluate any threats. Although her voice had been little more than a whisper, there had been surprise and fear in it. That combined with the words themselves had his instincts flaring.

  But now he didn’t sense a thing. The room was still. Easing to his feet from the mattress on the floor, he swept the room with his gaze as he moved toward the bed. Even in the darkness, his heightened senses allowed him to verify there were no other presences in the room besides him and Skye.

  He realized then that her breathing had grown more erratic, and understood she must be dreaming. Tossing a soft ball of light toward the ceiling, he took the couple of remaining steps between him and her bed.

  She was curled on her side, facing him. That was when he realized that her eyes were open and staring, their color nearly ice blue, the pupils barely pinpricks.

  Alarmed, he sent out a thought to James and Gabriel. Something’s wrong.

  “Skye?” he said as he sent out the thought, leaning over to grip her shoulders.

  The sense of foreign power enveloping her was strong enough that even he could sense it. And as the door to her room flew open to allow James, Olivia, Gabriel and Amber to hurry in, Skye suddenly jerked in his grasp.

  “Caleb!”

  The terror in her cry had him releasing her shoulders as if he was the cause. Then he realized with a combination of relief and dread that it wasn’t him she was afraid of—it was him she was calling out to.

  But he had no idea what to do to help her.

  “What’s wrong with her?” James asked urgently as they gathered around the bed.

  “I sense…” Gabriel held a hand out, hovering less than an inch from her head. He looked shocked. Then his brows drew together into furious lines. “Damn the bastard to hell!”

  Caleb didn’t think he had ever heard Gabriel curse before. Somehow, the uncharacteristic and vehement words amplified his fear for Skye. When Gabriel’s eyes glowed briefly, Caleb knew he was sending out a thought to the other elders. Then he looked down at Skye’s still form and noticed her tears. They seeped from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

  He wanted to rip someone’s head off. But there was no one to attack.

  “I can’t sense her at all,” Olivia said quietly. She reached out and took Skye’s hand. “She feels cold.”

  “Don’t touch me,” Skye demanded then. She sounded as though it pained her to talk.

  Olivia started, quickly dropping her sister’s hand. Amber immediately reached out and picked it back up.

  “She isn’t talking to us,” she explained, focusing intently. “And this isn’t something I can heal. He’s in her mind.”

  “What?” James looked disbelieving. “Someone is in Skye’s mind right now?”

  Gabriel nodded. “Grolkinei. Whatever he’s doing, it’s powerful. Malukali is on her way.”

  “I’m not standing here doing nothing while he violates her this way,” Caleb argued fiercely. He couldn’t tear his gaze from her weeping, sightless eyes.

  Grabbing her right hand with his left, he placed his palm over the mark on her wrist. Wordlessly, he reached for Amber’s left hand since she was standing right beside him. She grasped his wrist, understanding. Then they all joined hands, making sure their palms touched the inside of each other’s wrists against their shared marks. Thanks to Skye’s instincts, they had done exactly this when Olivia had been captured. It had allowed them to enter her mind and experience what she was experiencing.

  “Let’s ease into this,” Gabriel cautioned them. “We don’t want to all get sucked into whatever this is without being able to escape and get Skye back safely.”

  They all nodded. Then they exchanged resolute glances and closed their eyes.

  “You are certainly making this quite entertaining,” Grolkinei said, slowly pacing her.

  Skye didn’t answer. It was all she could do to keep her mind free of Layla’s pressing attempts to bind her. The resulting pressure was giving her an incredible headache. It amazed her that she could feel so much considering this was a dream. The grass brushed
her bare skin. She felt pebbles pressing against the soles of her bare feet. Insects buzzed near her face, making her want to swat them away. Nervous sweat trickled along the back of her neck, causing her sleep tank to stick to her skin. And hot tears continued to fall from her eyes. She had too much else to concentrate on to try and hold that particular emotion back.

  “I have decided you would make an acceptable mate,” he said suddenly.

  She froze, not certain she had heard him correctly. Then there was a scream from seemingly all around. She realized vaguely that it was Layla making the horrible sound even as Grolkinei took advantage of her surprise and confusion. The force in her head suddenly felt like an explosion. The scream that ripped from her throat mirrored Layla’s, but rather than anger, it was filled with agony. Even as she brought her hands up to her temples in a futile effort to ward off the pain, she felt him grab her around the waist and fall with her to the ground, covering her with his weight. Her sleep tank tore at her left shoulder with an audible rip.

  The pressure in her head eased enough once they hit the ground that she gasped desperately to try and recapture the breath stolen from her lungs. She looked up and saw the mocking laughter in his red gaze as he tugged at her tank top. Outrage swiftly overtook fear.

  “Get off me!” she cried, shoving against him.

  And suddenly it seemed she had the strength of fifty. Her shove appeared to send him soaring backwards more than ten feet. Only when at least four hands reached down to help her up did she realize what had happened. Her family suddenly surrounded her. They were all wearing pajamas and looked like they had been sleeping only minutes ago. All of their eyes were glowing with the power of their connection.

  Caleb wasn’t behind her or beside her, though. He had obviously been the one to tear Grolkinei off of her, as he was now standing only a few feet from the Mercesti elder wearing the most violent expression that she had ever seen.

  “So this is how you did it,” Grolkinei said, his dangerous gaze sweeping over all of them. “I see.” He gave Caleb a considering look. “You are the one she called for.”

  “You’re outnumbered and overpowered here, Grolkinei,” Gabriel growled in response. He and James moved forward to flank Caleb.

  Grolkinei’s gaze flickered to Gabriel, then filled with distain. “You have undergone a few changes, Gabriel,” he observed blandly. “New eye color, new accent, new avowed. And, I hear, a new child on the way. My congratulations.”

  And with those words, the Mercesti lifted a careless hand. Amber suddenly cried out, staggering backward.

  When Gabriel and his Gloresti charged, Grolkinei vanished with a lingering echo of laughter.

  Skye and Olivia had reached out to steady Amber, who looked a bit pale but otherwise okay. When Gabriel rushed over to her, she allowed him to gather her into his arms without a word, a testament to how much Grolkinei had shaken her.

  James and Caleb also hurried back to the sisters. “Are you okay?” Caleb asked Skye.

  Doing her best to reign in her emotions, she nodded and took a deep, steadying breath. “Thanks for coming, you guys.”

  “Of course,” James said, giving her a smile she knew was meant to comfort.

  “I think he’s actually gone,” Olivia hazarded, looking around carefully.

  Skye nodded again. “They’re both gone now. I can sense it.”

  “Both?” Gabriel asked.

  “Yes. Grolkinei and Layla.” She wrung her hands, struggling not to let her fear resurface. Then she blurted, “I think if we join hands, we can get out of…whatever this is.”

  Although they exchanged concerned looks over her obvious distress, they all reached out to grab each other’s hands. Further words were unnecessary. They all simply closed their eyes and focused. And brought Skye back home.

  Chapter Six

  Skye opened her eyes.

  With a bit of lingering disorientation, she noted that she was back in her bed. Caleb held one of her hands and Olivia the other. Everyone else was standing around her in an extended circle. They all slowly blinked back to awareness.

  She realized that they were all dressed exactly as they had been while in her dream with her. Even the details such as their unbrushed hair and the pillow lines on their faces were exactly the same. It almost seemed as if the scent of the meadow had followed them into the room.

  Her stomach suddenly lurched. Yanking her hands away from Caleb and Olivia, she surged into an upright position and swallowed bile. And when blood started flowing from her nose, the salty liquid seeping between her lips when she gasped, she leaped from the bed and ran for the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before getting violently ill.

  Tremors shook her as her stomach emptied. Someone—Olivia, she realized—held her hair and murmured words of comfort while Amber gently touched the sides of her head. The gold glow of her eldest sister’s healing power mercifully eased the seizing cramps in her stomach.

  Olivia got a wet cloth. She used it to wipe the blood from Skye’s face as soon as she was steady enough to raise her head. The tremors in her arms didn’t cease after Amber’s efforts, and she knew she was suffering from the after-effects of what Grolkinei and Layla had done to her. She noted with a great deal of relief that her sisters were the only ones in the bathroom with her, especially when the emotion she had managed as best she could truly surfaced.

  “I want a shower,” she said before her throat closed against speech.

  Without a word, Amber started the water. Olivia moved swiftly out of the room and returned with a pile of fresh clothing. Their caring ministrations served to weaken Skye’s already fragile grasp on her feelings. She started to undress robotically, staring intently at the hot spray coming from the shower head as though it could possibly help center her.

  Then she realized that the left shoulder of her tank top was torn. Where he had torn it.

  The shock was just too much. With a jagged sob, she yanked the tank top over her head and threw it as far from her as she could.

  And then she sank to the floor and wept.

  Caleb stared at his hand for a few seconds after Skye pulled her grip from his. He watched in numb disbelief as blood started pouring from her nose, took two steps after her when she ran for the bathroom. But Gabriel and James held him back, watching their wives hurry into the bathroom behind their sister.

  The door closed on the wretched sound of her vomiting. Such a physical ailment was unknown to Estilorians, but Caleb had experienced the horrible nausea that accompanied it when he had mentally connected with Olivia a few weeks ago. He knew a bit of what Skye was experiencing just then.

  Gripping the hand she had held into a tight fist, he turned blazing eyes to Gabriel.

  I know, his leader thought with a fury nearly as dark as Caleb’s own.

  You know what he was going to do to her, Caleb thought back. It was a taut statement more than a question.

  The tightening of Gabriel’s jaw was his response. James, on the other hand, nodded. His hands were also clenched into fists.

  The main door to Skye’s room suddenly burst open. Malukali and Knorbis both entered, the Orculesti and Wymzesti elders looking sleep-rumpled and worried. Caleb realized then that Gabriel had sent his call for aid out to the two elders with the strongest mental powers. Malukali’s dark green eyes swept the room. They paused briefly on the mattress lying on the floor.

  “Where is Skye?” she asked at last, catching Gabriel’s gaze.

  “She’s in the bathroom,” he responded. “Amber and Olivia are taking care of her. We were able to help her wake up. We used our connection.”

  “What happened?” Knorbis asked. The Wymzesti elder’s light blond hair stood up in tufts. His concerned, deep purple eyes flashed from one male to the next.

  Caleb wondered if he was trying to read their thoughts. There were very few beings who could repel an attempt at thought perception from the highly capable elders in the room, but Knorbis would consider such an action
rude if not granted permission. Still, after what they had just experienced, Caleb was suddenly highly suspicious of any being who could wield mental weapons.

  Unable to stop his nearly irrational anger from entering his voice, he replied, “Skye was just attacked, that’s what happened. Her mind was held prisoner by Grolkinei and Layla.”

  Gasping, Malukali whirled from where she stood near the bathroom door, gaping at Caleb as if she couldn’t register what he was saying. Then Olivia hurried out of the bathroom. The sound of the shower running floated out after her. Her face was pale and drawn. It was obvious she was barely clinging to her emotional control. After glancing briefly at Malukali and Knorbis and giving them each an acknowledging nod, she progressed straight to Skye’s bureau, took out a few items of clothing and then went swiftly back into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

  Caleb noted that whatever James read in his avowed’s thoughts had him pursing his lips and looking down at the ground.

  “But I felt nothing,” Malukali whispered. She had her long, straight, dark hair pulled back in a loose and messy ponytail. Her sleeping gown was light pink and long-sleeved but loose and flowing, giving her a deceptively delicate and vulnerable appearance.

  Knorbis walked over to her and touched her shoulder. Caleb saw a considering look enter Gabriel’s eyes as he looked from one elder to the other, but couldn’t imagine what his leader was thinking.

  “You cannot possibly guard all of our society twenty-four hours a day, every day,” Knorbis argued. “No one of us can.”

  Although the logical part of Caleb wanted to agree with the Wymzesti elder, he couldn’t stop the flare of fury and emotion that surged through him as Skye’s sobs reached them from beyond the bathroom door. He had to blame someone for her distress. Malukali was supposed to be seeing to the sisters’ safety when it came to their mental status. She had failed them.