Hyacinth (13 page)

“Fight your way
out of it, Selene. Listen to my voice.”
Griffin seemed to be getting closer to
her. But she still couldn’t see through the dark. “
You enter and leave dreams.
Use that power now, and shut him out of your mind.”

Selene furrowed
her brow. “
Shut who out of my mind?”

“Thank God you
can hear me
.”
Griffin gave a relieved sigh.
“Someone named Maddox is manipulating you.
Fight him, Selene. Use your power and push him out of your head.”

At the sound of
Maddox’s name, everything fell into horrible, awful place. Selene knew
exactly
what was going on. She’d been convinced of her guilt until that very moment.
With a concerted effort, Selene tried to turn off the power that Maddox was
using on her now but still couldn’t dig her way out of the dark pit.

“Tell Ellie that
she needs to amplify my power-blocking ability,”
she instructed
Griffin. Concentrating harder, Selene could tell the second that Ellie added
her boost to the power pool. Suddenly, the oppressive dark started to shift. Selene
pushed harder against the walls in her mind and felt the pressure lift, lightening
further and further.

“
Keep going,
Selene
,” she heard Griffin in her mind.
“Almost there.”
And with one
final push and with Ellie’s help, Selene opened her eyes.

She was still on
the couch in Lucy and Hugh’s living room. Griffin knelt beside her and was rubbing
her hands.

“Welcome back to
the land of the conscious,” he said with a grin.

Confusion
clouded her silver eyes.
Was that all really just a dream?
“What
happened?”

“I don’t usually
say ‘I told you so’—”

“Yes, you do,”
Ellie interrupted him.

Griffin ignored
her. “— but I have to say that I’m extremely happy to be right in this
instance.”

“I didn’t kill
those people?” Selene held back the tears of relief. She sat up and held a hand
to her throbbing head. Kicking Maddox out of her mind was going to leave quite
a nasty psychic hangover.

“No.” Griffin’s eyes
hardened as he leaned back to give her some space. “Another Vyusher did,
though.”

“Maddox?” A grim
foreboding settled in the pit of Selene’s stomach.

“Do you know who
that is?” Hugh asked.

Suddenly, Selene
was aware of an extra person in the room. Someone who hadn’t been there before.

“Zara,” Selene
addressed the lanky blond huddled in the corner, surrounded by rings of flame
that Selene assumed Ramsey had placed about her. “I should have realized. How
the hell did you get here?”

“You know her?”
Griffin asked.

Selene swung her
legs to the floor as he moved to sit beside her on the couch. “She’s Maddox’s
mate. Maddox was one of my brother’s four lieutenants. Our High Council of Elders
and I decided to allow any Vyusher who wanted to leave the pack to go. Only a
few left, maybe about twenty or so. That group included all four of Gideon’s
lieutenants and their mates, including Maddox and Zara.” She nodded toward
their captive. “How’d she get here?” she repeated.

Ellie offered
the explanation. “Charlotte teleported us to the place in your dream. Zara over
there was the white wolf impersonating you. Alex managed to freeze her just as
she started to attack an old man. We brought her back with us so you could
decide what to do next.”

Selene looked at
Zara. “Were you controlling my dreams?”

“You thought you
were so clever, keeping your abilities from Gideon,” Zara hissed. “But I
figured you out, Princess. Maddox told me not to say anything years ago. I was
keeping his own secret about dream control after all. And he knew exactly what
to do with both of us when the time came.” Zara gave Selene a smug smile,
malice shining from her eyes.

“What’d I ever
do to you, Zara?” Selene asked quietly. The other girl just smirked.

“So this Maddox
guy, is he dangerous?” Ramsey asked.

Selene thought
about that for a moment. “He didn’t seem to have any particular skill beyond an
impressive tactical mind. Maddox coordinated our army of fighters. I’ve shown
you before how when Gideon was killed, all the Vyusher minds were released.
Until that moment, none of them knew what they were doing. We assumed that was
true for every wolf in our pack except me. I thought I was the only one aware
of what was truly happening. We honestly didn’t consider those who decided to
leave to be any kind of threat or danger to others.” Selene focused an intense
look on their captive.

“
You
betrayed us, and
she
killed Maddox’s brother,” Zara pointed at Ellie.
She almost spat in her fury, though she was careful not to move an inch,
clearly afraid of the flames surrounding her.

“Huh?” Ellie was
confused.

“Maddox’s
brother was in the group sent to kill the Jenners and the Pierces. He was one
of the wolves you fought and killed.”

“Oh.” Ellie
grimaced.

“But how did I
betray the Vyusher?” Selene asked.

Zara regarded
her with a stubborn look despite her burning cage and refused to answer.

“We need more
information. What’s Maddox’s play here?” Alex said.

“Griffin, are
you able to read Zara’s mind?” Hugh asked.

Griffin trained
his gaze on the girl. But he was silent so long that Ellie and Selene exchanged
concerned glances.

“Well?” Ellie
prompted.

Griffin held up
one finger. After another few minutes he blinked and looked away from Zara.

“Sorry that took
a little while. Her mind is a bit of a jumble. From what I could gather, Maddox
and the other three lieutenants are trying to discredit Selene in some way.
Take away her right to rule.” He turned to Selene. “Can that be right? Rule what?”

She bit her lip.
“Rule the Vyusher,” she said quietly. “I’m technically their Queen now that
Gideon is gone.”

“Awesome!” Nate
gave a fist pump while the others groaned. “What? I’m just sayin’… we’ve got
Svatura
gypsy royalty over there—” He waved a hand at Ellie and Griffin, “And now we’ve
got the Vyusher wolf Queen over there. It’s pretty cool, if you ask me.”

“Um, no one is
asking you,” Lila said, as the others looked at him with incredulous
expressions.

Nate shrugged,
unfazed. “Okay, so maybe now wasn’t the best time. I’m just sayin’ it’s awesome
is all,” he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Adelaide shook her head
but snuggled into him and ran a hand over his sandy brown hair, receiving a hug
in return.

“As far as I can
tell, Maddox wants to overthrow you,” Griffin continued.

Selene chewed on
her lower lip as she thought through her options. Her people couldn’t afford to
be deceived by yet another homicidal, power-hungry monster.

“You have proof
of his plan, Selene,” Alex reminded her. He was standing beside Ellie with one
arm wrapped around her waist. “Take Zara to your Council. Charlotte can take
you there. Bring Ellie, Griffin, Lucy, and Lila, and they can help you convince
the Council of the truth.”

Selene saw the logic
in Alex’s suggestion. “All right.” She glanced at Griffin and was saddened to
see hesitation in his face. With a nod, she added, “We’ll go first thing
tomorrow.”

“Let’s all try
and get some sleep tonight,” Hugh suggested. “Those of us who are able to
contain her can take turns keeping tabs on Zara.”

“She has the
wolf and the dream control but no other abilities,” Ellie said. “Shouldn’t be
too hard to keep her locked up.”

Selene couldn’t
sleep. At least finals were over. She’d studied darn hard and was more than
pleased with her perfect grade average. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry
about school right now on top of everything else. But still, too many thoughts ran
around in her head like a dog chasing its tail. And even though she now felt
confident she’d be able to keep Maddox out of her dreams, she was still wary.

After an hour of
tossing and turning, Selene slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hallway.
She paused outside Griffin’s door, and then after a few moments hesitation,
knocked softly. There was no answer. She tapped a little harder.

“Yeah?” Griffin called
out.

Selene opened the
door and poked her head inside. “You awake?”

“Am now.” He
rubbed a hand over his jaw. Selene tried to ignore how sexy the stubble made him
look.

“Can I talk to
you a moment?”

“What about?”

Selene ignored
his lack of enthusiasm and entered the room. She shut the door behind her and took
a seat on his bed, sitting close enough to be physically charged up by his bare
torso, but far enough away so that she wouldn’t run her hands over his smooth
skin, no matter how incredibly tempting it was.

“Something
bothered you tonight about Hugh’s suggestion,” she stated.

Griffin frowned.
“Says who?”

“Says me.” She
watched as Griffin’s lips compressed. “And now you’re irritated with me for
saying that. You get irritated with me a lot.”

Griffin huffed a
laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Selene tipped
her head to the side. “Was that sarcasm?”

“No, ma’am. I
wouldn’t dare sass a queen.”

Selene couldn’t
resist. She reached out and poked him in the chest with her finger. “I think
that it was–”

Suddenly, Griffin’s
hand snaked out and grabbed hers. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was up to
until he pushed the cuff of her sleeve back and flipped her hand over. Selene
tried to jerk her hand away, but he tightened his grip and wouldn’t let her go.

With his free
hand, Griffin lightly traced the slightly puckered scar that ran the
circumference of her wrist.

“He did this to
you,” Griffin said gruffly without looking up. He was referring to her brother,
Gideon.

Selene took a
deep breath. “Yes.”

“How?”

She closed her
eyes, shaking her head, “I can’t. I-I don’t talk about it.”

“Can you show
me?” His deep voice washed over her, and the hypnotic feel of his finger
tracing her scar soothed Selene and gave her courage.

She nodded, closed
her eyes, and pictured it in her mind so Griffin could read her thoughts. It’d
happened during the horrific days when Gideon was claiming his rule over the
Vyusher. He hadn’t liked how she’d initially resisted his actions against their
parents, so he’d tested her to make sure he had her under complete control.

For about a
week, he’d hung her by her wrists to a wall using a thick piece of wire with
the instructions that it was her idea and nothing was wrong. She’d forced
herself to remain there peacefully, knowing he was watching her. She didn’t so
much as twitch at the pain or give the slightest indication that she knew what
was happening. The incident was branded forever in her mind… and on her body. A
permanent reminder of just how dangerous Gideon was.

She pushed the
painful memory away – he’d seen enough. “I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened
if I’d fought him,” Selene murmured. “But I was young and weak. I knew that
he’d win in a battle of powers. He’d already proved that.”

She felt Griffin
shift in the bed, and suddenly his warm lips brushed across the scars on her
wrists in a whisper of a kiss. With a gasp Selene opened her eyes only to be
captured by the golden depths of his. Holding her gaze, Griffin leaned forward
and brushed his lips across hers and then once more. His touch was so light, it
was like butterfly wings. Wanting more, needing more, Selene tipped forward,
placing her hand on his chest, and pressed her lips against his. But Griffin
didn’t move. Need overwhelmed her. She reached up and took his face in her
hands.

“Griffin … kiss
me,” Selene moaned.

She’d barely
finished uttering her plea when his arms wrapped around her, pulling her
tightly into his body, and his lips were crushing hers. Selene hungrily opened her
mouth, allowing him to slide his tongue inside. A small whimper escaped her at
the sensation. At the sound, Griffin suddenly moved, and Selene found herself
flat on her back, pressed into the bed by the weight of his body as his lips
traced a path down her neck and across her collarbone. Selene hummed deep in
her throat and rubbed her legs on his.

But as quickly
as it started, it was over. Griffin suddenly pulled away and sat up. He leaned
against the headboard and ran his hands over his face, his breathing ragged. “I
think you should go to your room, Selene,” he said, looking at the ceiling
rather than at her.

“I—”

“Please. Just
go.”

Embarrassed and rejected
and more than a little bit frustrated, Selene rolled off the bed and left the
room. As she closed the door, she glanced back over her shoulder. Griffin was
still sitting on the bed. His knees were drawn up and his head was bowed.