Crimson Dahlia (21 page)

Many
hours later the worst cases had been dealt with, and everyone had found a place
to sleep. But there was still too much that had to be discussed. And the sooner
the better.

Lila
had yet to tell anyone what she’d seen in Maddox’s memories. So, one foot in
front of the other, she managed to make her way to Selene’s room. The rest of
the family, minus Nate and Ellie, were there. Even Alex had felt this
discussion was important enough to leave his
te’sorthene’s
side for a
short while.

They
didn’t dissect the battle. Not yet. The devastation was still too fresh. But
Lila did need to tell them what she’d learned about Maddox.

“Ellie
and Griffin’s great-grandfather, William, killed Maddox’s entire family,” she
began. She ignored the collective gasp of shock and continued. “When Ellie is
all better, I’ll have her help show you what I saw. But here are the
highlights… There weren’t many dragons in existence. Ever. But Maddox, his wife,
and their two sons all had the gift. Together they were able to control it. But
they preferred being dragons. People were just food to them. They’d go on
rampages, massacring whole villages. I’m guessing that’s why your
great-grandfather killed them, Griffin.”

She
glanced to where he stood beside Selene. “Maddox survived, but hasn’t brought
out the dragon since then. Not until today.”

“Jeez,”
whispered Griffin. “That explains a lot.”

There
were murmurs and nods from the group.

Lila
nodded. “That’s why he needs me. To help him control it. He can’t without his
family around. And he saw how I helped Ellie when she killed Gideon.”

“I
thought Ellie killed his brother though,” Ramsey said. “When she defended us
against that first wolf attack on our homes? Isn’t that what Zara said?”

“Adoptive
brother,” Selene said. “Maddox met Kyle when he joined the Vyusher.”

 “There’s
more,” Lila continued. “He’s completely insane. He’s determined to wipe out the
entire race of Svatura-like people.”

“But
he surrounds himself with wolves?” Ramsey asked.

“He’s
building them to be his army and his slaves. He was behind Gideon’s madness. He
slowly built the Vyusher from behind the scenes. And now that he can’t control
them, he’s going to destroy them… and everyone else who doesn’t join him. He
uses the pack’s hive-mind against them. We all saw how powerful he is. He’s
just been biding his time.”

“Did
you see any way to defeat him?” Selene asked.

Lila
shook her head. “No. But we did manage to do something today that will slow him
down at least,” she said.

“What’s
that?” Griffin asked.

“Do
you remember how we discovered that Maddox has a person who can make
wolf-metamorphs?” Lila asked.

“Yeah?”

Lila
grinned. “We brought her back with us.”

*****

Earlier
in the day, Lila had been taking a short break. She’d just helped an
overwrought young Vyusher whose new husband had been killed, and she needed to
collect herself.

“Lila?”
a vaguely familiar voice had interrupted her thoughts.

She
looked up to find a woman with dark hair and eyes standing in front of her.
“Yes… do I know you?”

The
woman had smiled. “Sort of. We’ve talked.”

Lila
frowned. “Are you…?”

The
woman nodded. “I was on the other side of that wall. I managed to hitch a ride
back with you. I’ve been trying to escape Maddox for ages. Literally.” She held
out her hand. “My name is Karin.”

Lila
grinned. “You’re some of the best news I’ve had all day. I’m so happy you got
out.”

“I
need your help. I need sanctuary here,” Karin said.

“I
think I can help you with that,” Lila had told her.

*****

Now,
in Selene’s room, Lila shared that meeting with her family. They looked
thunderstruck. “She’s waiting to meet you. She wants to request asylum with the
Vyusher personally. I’ve already given it with my clan.”

“By
all means, show her in,” Selene said.

Lila
opened the door to find Karin waiting on the other side. She gave the woman a
reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”

Karin
stayed close to Lila as she tentatively entered the room. Selene approached her
with a welcoming smile. “Lila has told us of you. You are most welcome here.”

Karin’s
shoulders relaxed slightly. “I would like to ask for asylum with your people –
the Vyusher – personally.”

“Granted,”
Selene said without hesitation. “Can you tell us a little about your gift?”

Karin’s
shoulders tensed back up and her face darkened. “He made me use it to build him
an army. I won’t do the same for you.”

Selene
nodded in understanding. “We would never ask you to.”

Karin
relaxed a little. “I can only change someone to a wolf, because that’s what I
am already. But it only works if the person is willing.”

“Oh!”
Lila exclaimed. “That’s why Maddox asked me if I would join him. I had to be
willing to be turned into a wolf metamorph.”

Karin
nodded. “He only asks those who possess gifts he wants to recruit for his army.
Anyone else he kills.”

“And
if they’re not willing?” Griffin asked.

Karin
hugged herself, clearly unhappy about these memories. “It’s a dangerous
procedure. Essentially what I’m doing is changing their genetic code. Even if
someone is willing, there’s a fifty-fifty chance they won’t make it.”

“What
do you mean by not make it?” Selene asked.

Karin
grimaced. “They die. He used to have me force it on them. But we learned pretty
quickly that if people weren’t willing, they died one-hundred-percent of the time.”

“So
if they weren’t willing, he put them in a coma instead…” Ramsey scowled and
crossed his arms over his chest.

Karin
nodded, looking miserable.

“Would
you change me if I asked you to?” Griffin asked in a low voice.

“No!”
Selene crossed the room and stood in front of him, hands on her hips. “You
heard what she said. A fifty-fifty chance that you don’t make it. You’re not
doing this!”

Griffin
took her hands in his. “We have so much to deal with right now. We could deal
with it better if I was accepted as your
te’sorthene
and King. I can’t
be that if I’m not a wolf.”

Selene’s
eyes welled with tears. “I’ll leave the Vyusher before I allow you to risk your
life for this.
You
are the center of my world. If you died, I wouldn’t
be fit to lead them anyway. Besides, my parents might wake up…”

Griffin
traced the path of her tears, drying them with the pad of his thumb. “Your
parents may never wake up. We can’t wait for that. It’s worth the risk to me to
be able to connect with you like that, through the pack mind.”

Selene
shook her head, too upset to speak. Griffin looked over her shoulder to Karin.
“I can morph into a falcon through a link with my sister. Does that help at
all?”

Karin
shrugged. “Maybe. I can’t say for sure.”

Griffin
looked back at Selene. “I must,” he whispered.

Despair
filled her eyes. “Then don’t you dare die on me. Or I’ll follow you to the
grave and drag you out.”

Griffin
gave her a small smile. “I believe you.” He looked back at Karin. “Okay. How
does this work.”

Hugh
stood up. “Hold on, son. Why don’t you think about it a little longer? Now
might not be the best time. Don’t you want to wait for your sister to wake up?
And what if Maddox attacks?”

Griffin’s
face clouded with a stubborn look that rivaled Ellie’s. “I’ve been thinking
about this since Lila told us it was even possible. Now is the best time.
Maddox and his forces are as devastated as ours. And Ellie will understand.” He
glanced at Selene for support.

After
a moment she took a deep breath. “I can have Xavier move the castle. I think
our Russian friends might give us some ideas of a good spot.”

Griffin
nodded at Karin. “Ready when you are.”

Karin
had watched the discussion with wide eyes. It had been a long time since she’d
seen an eager volunteer for this procedure. “You’ll need to lie down. You’ll be
unconscious for about a week. If you wake up… well…”

Griffin
looked at Charlotte. “You’d better take me back to my room.”

Selene
grabbed his wrist. “No. If you do this, you stay in my room. Either you’ll be
dead, or you’ll be my King. Either way, this is your room now.”

Griffin
leaned down and placed a tender kiss on her lips. He lay his forehead against
hers. “I love you.”

“I
love you, too,” Selene whispered back.

Griffin
moved across the room, Selene’s hand in his, and lay down on the bed. “Do it.”

Karin
stood next to him and placed both hands at his temples. “This won’t hurt. The
change happens while you’re asleep.”

With
that she closed her eyes to focus. Griffin kept his gaze on Selene’s face.
After a few minutes, his eyes rolled back in his head. A good twenty minutes
later, Karin stepped away from him. She took his wrist to check his pulse and
nodded.

“Now
we wait and see,” she said.

Lila
followed Adelaide back to her room. Lila’s own room was full with her new tribe
members, and she needed some sleep tonight. As they walked, all Lila could
think of was the look on Ramsey’s face as Griffin volunteered to risk his life
for the woman he loved.

Ramsey
hadn’t taken his gaze from Lila the entire time. The intensity of the feelings
she saw there had taken her breath away. But still she held back. She didn’t
even trust her own powers to sense emotion in this case.

Ramsey
had seen the confusion and distrust in her eyes. As soon as Griffin was out,
he’d left the room. A slump of defeat settled over his shoulders as he walked
away. And, just as it had for the last sixty years, Lila’s heart went with him.

Lila
and Adelaide arrived at Adelaide’s room and started getting ready for bed. She
was just pulling up the covers when Adelaide tossed something on the pillow
next to her. It was her cell phone.

 “Here.
I’ve been meaning to return it. We found it in the swamp in Louisiana in your
tribe’s abandoned camp.”

Adelaide
wrinkled her nose, and Lila grinned. “Sounds weird, doesn’t it? I have a
tribe.”

Her
sister smiled and nodded. “Definitely weird. And totally awesome.”

Lila
rolled over and picked up the phone and turned it on. “Holy smokes!” she
exclaimed. “Over two-hundred voicemails and text messages. Who the heck has
been calling and texting me?”

She
checked the caller ID for the messages. Every single one was from Ramsey. Lila
frowned.

Pushing
the buttons, she started listening to the messages. As she listened, her heart
started beating faster and faster. Every single message was something along the
lines of, “You’re missing, Lila. But I will find you. I can feel you, and I
know you’re still alive. Hold on. I’m coming. I won’t give up.”

She
didn’t bother to finish listening. With the phone gripped in her hand, she
bolted for the door.

“Where
are you going?” Adelaide called after her.

“To
Ramsey,” she called back.

She
ran all the way to his room, pulling up short right outside the door. Now that
she was here, she was terrified. She looked down at the cell phone still
clutched in her fingers and drew courage from the messages it contained. She
lifted a trembling hand and yanked it back as the door opened before she had a
chance to knock.

Ramsey
was obviously in the middle of dressing for bed. His jeans were still on, but
his shirt was off. Lila’s mouth went dry.

He
raised his eyebrows.

Lila
didn’t even know where to begin. So she just stared at him, her heart in her
eyes.

“Thank
God,” he whispered. He reached out, took her hand, and, with a sharp tug,
jerked her into his room and into his arms. He slammed the door shut behind her
as he crushed his lips down on hers. It was a kiss of desperate wanting and
yearning. And Lila was in heaven.

Every
second of the horror of the last days vanished. Every ache and pain and that
feeling of bone-deep weariness disappeared completely. She could do anything
when she was in his arms.

With
a hard kiss, he pulled back and looked into her eyes. “I felt you coming
through our link. You believe that I love you?”

“Yes.
I think I’ve always believed you. I was just…”

“Scared?”
he asked. She nodded.

He
pulled her tightly into his arms and buried his face in her hair. With a
shuddering breath, he breathed, “Me too.”

“I
love you,” she whispered in his ear. She didn’t think it was possible, but his
grip on her tightened.

And
then he pulled back to look deeply into her eyes. “I’ve loved you since the
first moment I saw you. And I was so angry. At the world, at myself. Because I
couldn’t have you. It was too dangerous.”

Lila
smiled. “I know. And I wouldn’t leave you alone.”

“You
drove me nuts, you crazy girl. I was trying to be so honorable, and you
wouldn’t let me. That night by the pond, when I held you willing and so
gorgeous in my arms…
Torture
. I tried to leave after that, you know. But
I couldn’t. I just couldn’t leave you.”

“So
you forced me to leave you instead,” Lila said.

Ramsey
flinched. But when he looked at Lila, he didn’t see blame or sadness. He saw
acceptance and understanding.

She
leaned in and lay a sweet, solemn kiss on his mouth. “We’ve put each other
through so much over the years. But I think these last weeks have shown both of
us what we could do, what we could be, together.”

Ramsey
tucked her head under his chin and just held her. “If you think I’m ever
letting you out of my sight after this, you’re crazy.”

Lila
grinned. “Ditto.”

And
as they stood there, so completely secure in their love for each other, Lila
felt something snap into place between them. She’d always felt something there,
but until this moment, it had been vague…elusive. Hovering just out of her
reach.

“
Te’sorthene
,”
she whispered, trembling with excitement.

“Did
you ever doubt it? I’ve known since you took my hand and shook it the day we
met,” Ramsey said. “Why do you think I pushed you away so hard? No way was I
going to be responsible for my own
te’sorthene’s
death.”

She
pulled back and gave him a mock scolding look. “No more unilateral decisions.
From now on we decide things together.”

Ramsey
grinned. “Hey, I’m not the one who broke promises today, now am I?”

Lila
bit her lip and looked contrite. But before she could apologize he said, “I
understood then. If I hadn’t agreed, I would’ve found a way to chase you into
the air and bring you down myself.”

Lila
sighed with relief. The old Ramsey would have been royally pissed. But something
in him had changed. She looked up, a question in her eyes.

But
she didn’t have to ask. “I lost you. The day Maddox kidnapped you… I knew I
couldn’t ever go through that again. It changed something inside me, Lila. It
was time to fight for us.” He tweaked her nose. “And boy did you give me a
merry chase. Tonight – witnessing Griffin and Selene - I thought that maybe I’d
destroyed any chance I had with you years ago, despite how you respond in my
arms.”

Lila
shook her head. “I just needed to get past my own fear that you would reject me
again. Or leave me. I thought I’d grown strong and independent. But I was still
a pathetic, scared little girl.”

“Never
pathetic. You endured my rejection for a long time.”

She
held up the cell phone. “And then I listened to these. And I knew. I was the
one keeping us apart now, not you.”

Ramsey
looked at the phone, and understanding lit his eyes. He laughed. “Thank God for
modern technology then.”

Lila
laughed with him and then burrowed back into his arms.

She
felt him kiss the top of her head. “Stay with me tonight?” he asked. “We’re
both exhausted, so I’m only suggesting sleep. For now. But I don’t want to let
you go.”

She
looked up into the green eyes she loved so much. “I don’t want to leave.
Tonight or any other night.”