On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (3 page)

Every detail matched what Nicole had dreamed. As it replayed in her mind, she sent mental images to her mate, Gunnar, whose chest was pressed to her back.
It’s the exact same dream!

Gin’s eyes were huge. “Could she really be…alive?”

“How, Gin?” Nicole asked with as much gentleness as she could, though she couldn’t suppress a shiver of excitement that defied rational explanation. “She died. We buried her.”

“I know, but this felt so real. And we all saw her.” Gin toyed with the belt on her robe.

Gin’s mate, Mathias, wrapped his brawny arms around her. “Strange things have been happening all over Torth, and we saw how it spilled over to Earth.” Just last week, Gin and Brooke had discovered a supernatural biological contaminant in the local water supply, put there by the henchman of the deranged vampire they were trying to locate.

“But Alina was never on Torth,” Brooke said and sighed.

“That may be true. But I think it’s clear that someone was trying to send you three a message,” Mathias said.

“What do you mean,
that may be true
?” Nicole narrowed her eyes at Mathias. “She died. She was here with us, in Illinois, her whole little life.”

Mathias appeared unfazed by her questions. As the Lash demons’ Hunter, he was a skilled tracker and part of their leader’s inner circle. He was used to tough questions and equally tough jobs. “Yet, two Elders have confirmed that the fourth Solsti is out there, somewhere.”

Nicole released a shaky breath and sagged into Gunnar’s brute strength. “That’s true,” she murmured. “I just figured we probably had a distant relative somewhere. I never thought that-that…” 

Gunnar kissed the top of her head. “You just said that in dreams, you know certain things to be true. Even if they make no sense in real life.”

Nicole nodded. Alina’s presence had been so strong, she’d wanted to reach into her dream and touch her. Chills ran down her arms because she’d had no doubt that Alina was alive. Now, crowded with her sisters and their grandparents in this familiar hallway, concrete facts and logical questions reared up. But try as they might, the dream-sparked ember of possibility refused to dim.

“I feel her.” Gin placed a hand over her heart, and her words fanned that ember into a tiny flame. “I always have, in a way. Like she’s near, but never in the same building with me.” She sighed. “Guess that’s a crazy thing for a scientist to say.”

“I think the definition of crazy has changed,” Brooke said.

“But where would she be? Who took care of her?” Nicole shook her head. “I want to believe it but my brain can’t make sense of it.” She turned her head and breathed in the comforting scent of her man, whose love embraced her through their psychic bond as surely as his arms held her body.
I don’t even know what to think
, she told him through their connection.

Then don’t think, love. What do your heart and instincts tell you? 
He stroked her hair as she nuzzled his chest, drawing on his essence to settle her.

Tears brimmed as she lifted her head to meet Gunnar’s crystal blue eyes.
That she’s alive
. One tiny droplet spilled over to trickle down her cheek, triggered by the words she could only form in her mind.

Gunnar dipped his head to kiss her gently.
That’s what your heart tells me too.

“Let’s go downstairs and talk where we can all sit comfortably.” Ashina spoke above the chatter, her healer’s voice carrying a note of authority. “You girls all look pale.”

Nicole nodded and let Gunnar tuck her close to his side. On autopilot, she made her way down the steps, heart pounding and hands shaking.
Where is she? How is she alive? What happened to her?
The questions ricocheted in her mind on a repeating loop, competing for space with memories that only Nicole had. Age five when Alina died, she was old enough to remember her tiny sister. She remembered Alina’s long stays in the hospital and seeing pictures of her lying in a child size bed with safety bars.

The group filed down the stairs to the great room of the large brick mansion. Nicole bee-lined for her favorite spot on the leather sectional, but Gunnar picked her up and set her on his lap. “I need to hold you, baby. Your heart rate and your emotions are trying to out-hurdle each other.”

Trembling, she melted against his six-and-a-half-foot frame while her sisters and their mates found places to sit. Ashina and her mate, Raniero, entered the room a second later with Rilan, the group’s Elder.

“We told him you all had the same dream, but we didn’t go into detail,” Ashina said as she sat next to Raniero on one of the couches.

“Tell me everything you saw.” Rilan perched on a leather armchair.

Nicole, Brooke, and Gin all exchanged glances, then Brooke took a deep breath and narrated the images that would be forever burned in Nicole’s mind.

When she finished, Rilan rubbed a hand over his jaw and looked at each sister in turn. After a minute he stood and paced to the tall windows that flanked a large stone fireplace. Hands behind his back, he stared silently out into the darkened yard.

Nicole glanced up at Gunnar and then at Brooke. Her sister returned the gaze with a shrug.

Seconds ticked by, heralded by the soft clicking of a mantle clock. Nicole wanted to jump out of her skin with anticipation. But her mind was still a jumble of conflicting emotions. What if Rilan announced, in his old and wise opinion, that it was simply a dream?

“Was she alone?” he asked abruptly.

“Yes.” Gin picked at her nails, a nervous habit.

Rilan turned to face them, brows furrowed. “Girls, I think someone definitely wanted to contact you. I believe this dream is a message. And I also know, as I discerned before, that the fourth Solsti exists somewhere. She is alive.” He folded his arms. “But is this woman your sister? That isn’t clear. Is this woman real, or a hologram conjured for the purpose of the dream? We don’t know if this woman is the sender.”

“I thought dreams weren’t supposed to make sense,” Brooke muttered.

“What about our feelings?” Gin asked. “We all have this strong sense of knowing her emotion, knowing how desperate she was to find us.”

Rilan sighed. “I want to believe it, child. You know I want to find her as much as you all do. But there’s too much we don’t know.”

“If she is the fourth Solsti, Arawn would want us to follow every lead,” Mathias said.

“Yeah.” Gin sat forward, excitement filtering into her voice. “Can we move forward on the assumption that she’s out there? How do we start our search?”

“Good point, Hunter.” Rilan sat down in his armchair. “Arawn would offer any and all resources for us to pursue this. Even if the woman turns out not to be your sister, she’s a logical starting point.”

Nicole had never met Arawn, the Lash demons’ leader, but knew he hadn’t achieved his powerful position by skipping details. She pulled up images from the dream, trying to remember any subtle components. “All we saw was her sitting on a bed. I don’t remember the color of the room, or if the room was in a house or an apartment.”

“More important than the room is how she was able to contact you,” Rilan said. “To reach three specific people in a simultaneous dream takes a lot of power.”

“Do you think she knows spells?” Brooke asked. “Maybe she’s a witch.”

“Maybe. Or she could have used an object to conduct her message,” Rilan mused.

“Like an amulet?” Gunnar asked.

“That’s one possibility.” Rilan paused. “But an object that can accomplish what she did tonight sometimes has drawbacks.”

“Drawbacks?” Nicole asked.

Rilan rubbed the back of his neck. “Items that have such powerful searching, or maybe scrying capabilities, sometimes come with a counter spell. A…a booby trap, I believe you call it here on Earth.”

“Like what? Will she be hurt?” A note of fear crept into Gin’s voice.

“Possibly. Or pursued…there will be repercussions of some sort, if such a spell is installed on the item.”

Nicole’s heart rate tripled. “We have to find her fast. Before something evil does.”

“What do we do?” Brooke asked.

“Such an item would have released a powerful burst of magic into the air.” Rilan resumed his pacing. “Another Elder, or witch, may have taken note. I’ll contact my colleagues. All of them, here and on Torth.”

Nicole’s head felt too heavy. “She could be anywhere.”

“She could be lost, scared, alone...” Brooke said.

“But, she guessed we’re…” Gin frowned as if looking for the right word. “Out here somewhere. Alive.”

“News traveled fast about you girls.” Mathias sifted his fingers through Gin’s hair. “She could’ve heard about you.”

“If she knew, why would she wait to try to find us?” Nicole asked, as her mind tried unsuccessfully to fit the pieces into the puzzle. “Wait, maybe she didn’t know what she really was until recently. Like us.”

“Maybe, but at least we all had each other.” Brooke cast a glance at Gin and Nicole. “I hate sitting here not knowing what to do, and doing nothing.”

“I’ll get started right away.” Rilan turned to Mathias. “I’m afraid, until I get some leads, I can’t even give you a general area to search.”

Mathias nodded. Though his tracking skills were legendary, he needed some kind of sensory detail to start with. A scent, a footprint, a voice.

“What can we do?” Nicole asked softly. “I can’t go back to sleep. She could be scared or in danger.” Nicole turned in Gunnar’s arms, gazing up into eyes of Caribbean blue. “What if she has a mate? And children?”

“We all have a thousand questions, love.” Gunnar held her tightly. “We’ll find her. If Arawn has to send every Lash Watcher out to comb every inch of land and sea, he will.”

Elegia followed a virtual magic compass southwest, with a group of loyal Serus demons at her back, and ended up at a small house near Torth’s southern forest. She inhaled deeply, but her weak vampiric senses couldn’t detect a damn thing. She turned to the closest demon. “Can you tell if it’s occupied?”

His nostrils flared. “No, my queen.”

She figured as much. Sebastian wasn’t stupid enough to stick around, though coming here would reinforce the trail she followed. Like magical breadcrumbs dropped on a path, each location would refine her search for the next one. Muttering a curse, she stalked toward the wood structure. Gray exterior, one story, and so boring it could have melted into the shadows. Again, typical of her brother. But who was that woman?

As Elegia neared, she noted a wide-open door. She stepped inside and her brother’s hickory scent surrounded her, bringing with it memories of home that weren’t happy. Growing up scraping and scrounging for meals, her stealing textbooks to educate herself, while her brother only wanted to follow in their petty thief of a father’s footsteps.

She stalked past couches that looked forty years old, worn and gaudy. The walls were bare, and a rug was crunched up askew on the floor. She nudged it with her boot, checking if it hid a trap door in the floor.

Nope. The smell of fae was strong, especially as she neared the back of the house. There were two bedrooms. Entering the first one, she was hit with a floral scent. Even her nose could detect the delicate note of moonflower in the midst of a fruity shampoo fragrance in what had to be the female’s room.

But more telling were the lingering traces of magic in the air. The mirror had been used in this room.

She crossed to the twin bed and dragged her long nails over the wrinkled red duvet. “Who are you, fae, hmm? And who are those others you were looking for?”

One of the Serus demons stood in the doorway, bowing low. “What are your instructions, my queen?”

“Take anything you like, then burn the place down. My quarry is gone, so we’ll pursue them next.”

“Should we hasten, my lady?”

“Well, don’t dally, idiot. But the ones we’re tracking have left quite a bright trail for me.” Magic breadcrumbs, indeed. She shooed him out and sat on the bed. Drawing a breath, she reached out, tapping into the energy that had led her here. Time to locate the three women.

She closed her eyes and recalled the vision that had kick-started her journey.

Three women.

A crowded hall.

Large men, possibly predatory demons, with them.

Electric lighting.

Elegia’s eyes flew open. The only realm still backward enough to use electricity was Earth. Her lips turned up into a grin. Pity she couldn’t go and kill them herself, but Earth’s air was destructive to her fragile lungs. Of course, once she had a steady stream of humans coming over here, brought like lambs to her dinner table, she’d be stronger. The blood of
homo sapiens
, teeming with its mix of cells and platelets, was infinitely more fortifying than the animal blood she currently consumed.

She got up and paced.
Show me where my three little birds are
. Energy, dark and jagged, flowed through her veins, making the hair on her arms and neck stand up.
Where on Earth realm are they?

Though the mirror was gone, its powerful counter spell swirled in the air, showing her a city with sleek tall buildings at the edge of a large body of water. And just to the north lay an area blanketed by wards. They pulsed with a red glow, indicating they’d been constructed by a strong Elder. That had to be it, but she’d have her men take a closer look at the coordinates that scrolled down one side of the vision.

She cackled with glee. Numbers, she could easily memorize. Numbers never let her down. Science, math, logic. Numbers would lead her henchmen to the women’s door.

She pulled out her phone and called one of her lieutenants, one whom she had sent to Earth before and who could blend in among the feeble minded humans.

The Deserati male picked up on the first ring. ”In what way can I honor you, my queen?”

“Boar, I need you to go to Earth. Take a small team. Recon and get back to me.” She rattled off the coordinates. “Leave within the hour.”

“Yes, my queen.” Boar ended the call.

Elegia grinned as she strode out of the bedroom and through the little house. Those women, whoever they were, would never know what was about to lurk outside their door. She gave a sharp whistle, calling all the Serus demons. “Time to go. Start the fire.” She swept outside into the night, getting thirty feet away from the structure before turning around. Her demons followed her, the last one jogging over after starting the blaze that soon lit the dark sky.