The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) (24 page)

Two days after
Maya showed James the Legend of Beginnings, Director Upton called. Her voice
was terse and to the point. “We have a serious problem, Maya. Do you know where
Dr. Terhune is?”

“He should be on
the compound. Why?”

“We can’t find
him. The guards don’t remember him leaving, and he’s not in his office, his
lab, or his apartment.”

Uneasiness
pinched at Maya. Surely James wouldn’t have left the IECS, not after her
warning. “Have you tried the gym? Or maybe the running paths. He likes to run.”

“I’ll send
someone out to check. It’s of vital importance that I speak with him as soon as
possible.”

Dread joined the
uneasiness, mixing queasily in Maya’s stomach. She placed a hand there and
inhaled a shaky breath. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Dr.
Terhune’s daughter. She’s been kidnapped.”

“Blessed Ki,”
Maya breathed. “I’ll be right there.”

She hung up and
yelled for Dierdre, racing through the house searching for her daughter.

Dierdre poked
her head over the rail at the top of the stairs. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

Maya took the
stairs two at a time and bustled her daughter into her bedroom. “Amelia’s been
kidnapped.”

“Oh, no.” The
color leached from Dierdre’s face. She staggered to her bed and dropped onto
its edge. “When? Who?
Why?
”

“I don’t know,
Squiggles. I don’t know anything yet.” Maya brushed her hair back, tugging on
the strands. “I want you to pack, enough for a week at least. I may have to
leave and I want you safe while I’m gone.”

“Ok. I…”
Dierdre’s expression crumpled. “You’ll get her back, won’t you? I mean, she’s
just a mortal and she’s a girly girl and she doesn’t know how to protect
herself.”

Maya sat down
beside Dierdre and draped an arm around the teen’s shoulders. “Don’t worry.
We’ll get her back.”

And Maya would,
no matter what it took.

She helped
Dierdre pack and half an hour later, dropped her daughter off at her dorm. As
soon as her daughter disappeared up the stairwell to her room, she jogged to Director
Upton’s office. The director’s receptionist waved her through. Maya shoved open
the door and came to a full stop. Rebecca was alone in her office.

Maya shut the
door and strode to the director’s desk. “Have you found James?”

“He’s being
brought up now.”

The door opened
and James was pushed inside, an irritated scowl fixed on his face. He wore
running shorts and a ragged t-shirt with the arms and neck cut out, both soaked
with sweat. His gaze zeroed in on Maya. “What the hell? Can’t a man enjoy a damn
run without being man-handled? I was still on campus.”

“That was my
doing, Dr. Terhune,” Rebecca said, “and I apologize for the rough treatment. A
matter of some urgency requires your presence, and I’m afraid security got a
little carried away bringing you here.”

“Next time, just
ask,” he grouched.

“Of course.
Would you like to sit?”

“I’d rather get
back to running, if you don’t mind. It helps me think, and suddenly, I find
myself with a lot on my mind.”

Maya glanced
away and crossed her arms over the ding in her heart.

Rebecca sighed
and sank gracefully into the chair behind her desk. “All right, then, to the
point. Dani called in a couple of hours ago. Your ex-wife was found dead in her
home. I’m sorry to have to break the news to you like this. ”

“Oh, my God. What
happened?”

“The police are
still investigating, but she may have been murdered.”

James’ skin
paled. “Where’s Amelia? She wasn’t home, was she? Is she all right?”

“We don’t know
exactly where she is, but we’re certain she’s alive. We’ve received a ransom
demand.”

“A ransom…” He
staggered to a chair and sank down, his elbows on his knees, his head hanging.
“For what? I don’t have the kind of money a kidnapper would demand.”

“Not money,”
Maya said. “Artifacts. Specifically, the artifacts from the Sandby borg grave.”

“You’re
kidding.”

“We believe the
person behind this is the same one who had the other artifacts stolen in the
first place,” Rebecca said. “It seems he’d like the complete set.”

James swiped a
hand through his hair and sat back in the chair. “Why Amelia? I have no
authority over the artifacts.”

“She was
vulnerable,” Maya said flatly. “That’s why we have this compound, James,
because we’re hunted. It helps us protect ourselves and our families.”

James turned
furious eyes on her. “You let her leave knowing she might be in danger.”

Maya returned
his glare. “If I thought she was in danger, I would never have allowed her to
leave. How can you think otherwise?”

Rebecca raised
her hands. “Getting angry won’t help.”

Maya sucked in a
breath, forcing her frustration aside. “Sorry, Director.”

“Our enemy has
been silent for decades, James,” Rebecca said. “We had no reason to believe
Amelia was in any danger. This is simply not something we could’ve predicted.”

He cleared his
throat and fixed his gaze on his knees. “What can we do to get her back?”

“We’re going to
hand over the artifacts. More specifically, you and Maya will hand them over.”
Rebecca placed her hands flat on her desk, her expression as calm and even as
her voice.  “Once you have Amelia and return to the IECS, you may continue
working on the translations using the images we’ve made, just until we can get
the artifacts back. In the meantime, you and your daughter will be protected.
On this, you have my word.”

James ran a hand
over the wet strands of his hair, ruffling them into a tangle of dark spikes.
“Fine.”

Maya breathed a
small sigh of relief. Having his cooperation would smooth their way
considerably, though it wasn’t as necessary as he probably believed. “When do
we leave?”

“As soon as you
can pack. Dani is trying to track Amelia’s location as we speak. We’ve been
given a time and place to meet, but it would be nice to have another option.”

“I’ll call the
airfield and have the plane fueled.”

“No need. I did
that as soon as I tracked the two of you down. I also took the liberty of
having the artifacts in our possession packed for transport. You’ll be escorted
to the airfield. We’re putting security on alert here and sending word out to
as many of the People as we can reach. The Shadow Enemy is back. Best be wary.”

Maya bowed. “Of
course, Director.”

She grasped
James elbow, tugging gently, and he stood, following her without question.
Outside, his steps gradually slowed, then stopped. “Does anything good ever come
from meeting with her?”

“Sometimes.”

“Hunh.” He ran a
hand over his hair, shaking some of the moisture out of it. “What time do you
want to leave?”

“Will forty-five
minutes give you enough time?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He stood there,
staring out into space, his shoulders slumped, dark circles marring the skin
under his eyes. “Will you get her back?”

Maya curled her
fingers into fists. She wanted to touch him, to hold him, to comfort him in any
way she could. He wasn’t ready for that. Maybe he’d never want that from her
again. “I will.”

“Ok.” His gaze
met hers, and the desperate fear burning out of his gray eyes tore at her. “Is
Dierdre safe?”

“She’s on campus
now and won’t leave until we return with Amelia.”

“That’s good,
then.”

He made no move
to leave. As gently as she could, she said, “We need to go soon.”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“I’ll meet you
at your apartment.”

“Sure.”

Still, it took a
moment for him to leave. Maya watched him long enough to make sure he was
headed toward his apartment, then jogged to Dierdre’s dorm and outlined the
plan to her daughter.

Dierdre’s eyes
were red and puffy. She wrapped herself in Maya’s embrace and cried into her
mother’s throat. “You have to get her back, Mom. You just have to.”

Maya smoothed
Dierdre’s hair back and rocked her gently. “We will, Squiggles. I promise.”

She stayed as
long as she dared, then said her goodbyes, promising to call with news as often
as she could. On her way out, she tracked down the dorm mother and filled her
in. Dierdre would need people around her, friends and people who cared about
her, and until Maya returned, that would have to do.

She ran back to
her house, redressed in comfortable travel clothes, and grabbed her bug-out
bags, one holding enough clothing and toiletries for three days, the other
containing a small weapons cache. After a call to check on the plane’s status,
Maya locked her home tight and strode back onto campus, determination marking
every stride she took.

* * *

James stepped
into his apartment. The door snicked shut behind him, jerking him out of the
daze he’d slid into. Too much had happened over the past week, too many shocks,
too many surprises. He stood there a minute, sorting through everything, and
settled on the one thing he could do something about. He had to save his
daughter, and then, somehow, he had to find a way to tell her about Linda.

Dear God. How on
earth could he possibly tell Amelia her mother had died, that the woman who’d
given birth to her, sheltered her, loved her in her own absent-minded,
full-hearted way, would no longer be a part of her life?

He flinched away
from it. Maybe by the time they’d found Amelia, he’d have the words she’d need
from him, and if not, at least she’d know she still had him.

He stripped and
stepped into the shower, allowing the water to wash everything away. Amelia
kidnapped, forcibly taken for a purpose beyond his control or doing, her mother
dead, him embroiled in a generations-old struggle between immortal Amazons and
a deadly enemy. He shuddered and stepped out, dried off quickly, and threw on
the first set of clothes his hands fell on.

He dragged out
his suitcase and randomly tossed items inside. Clothes, toiletries, the book on
his nightstand. A knock at the front door interrupted him. He hustled through
the apartment and jerked it open. Dierdre stood on the other side, her
tear-stained face pale. James opened his arms and she stepped into them,
clinging to him.

“Shh, now,” he
murmured. “We’ll get her back.”

“I know, Dr. T.”
Dierdre sniffled into his chest. “Mom’s the best at this kind of thing. You’ll
see.”

James wasn’t so
sure. Maya was all he had, though, so he’d just have to trust her, wouldn’t he?
“Come on back. We can talk while I finish packing.”

Dierdre followed
him to the bedroom, took one look at his suitcase, and managed a shaky laugh.
“Good thing I’m here, Dr. T. You’ll never survive New York like that.”

She repacked his
suitcase, taking out the shorts he’d thrown in, pretty much all he’d packed,
and adding in sturdy jeans, t-shirts, and a couple of sweatshirts. “Ok, undies
and toiletries now. You’re gonna need more than toothpaste and a razor, Dr. T.”

James huffed out
a laugh. “Bossy.”

“Somebody’s
gotta keep you in line.” She waited while he gathered toiletries and stuffed
them into his suitcase, then closed and zipped it. “I heard Mom told you about
the People.”

“Yeah?”

She shrugged.
“We don’t keep many secrets.”

“Right. Well,
that was a pretty damn big secret.”

“You don’t
understand, Dr. T.” The skin around her eyes tightened and her mouth pursed,
and she looked so much like Maya, James’ heart thumped hard against his
sternum. “It’s our way of life, our
whole
way of life. That’s what’s on
the line every time an outsider learns about the People. They got Amelia and
she’s just a mortal, not even blood kin. All they’re doing is holding her for
ransom. What do you think they’d do to us?”

Clearly
something bad, judging by the tone of her voice. He apparently had a lot of
history to learn and no time to absorb it all.

“They took Mom
once, when she was little.” Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper and her hands
curled into fists against her thighs. “The Shadow Enemy killed her parents
while she watched. If the servants hadn’t helped her escape, Mom would’ve died,
too. We’re blood enemies, Dr. T., and they won’t stop until we’re all dead, all
of us.”

The blood
drained out of his face. “Jesus.”

Dierdre’s hand
wrapped around his forearm. Her fingers dug into his skin, bruising him, and
her hard eyes searched his face. “You have to protect her, Dr. T. My Mom. You
have to bring her
and
Amelia back. Promise me.”

He pulled Dierdre
into a hug, rocking her in a futile stab at comforting her. If Maya was in a
danger so great she couldn’t protect herself, what could he possibly do to keep
the promise Dierdre wanted him to make? He couldn’t fight or wield a staff or
shoot a gun, thanks to his parents’ pacifist objections and his own
complacency. By God, if he made it out of this situation in one piece, he was
going to learn how to protect himself and Amelia and the two Daughters he had
somehow grown to love. Never again would he be in this situation, no matter
what he had to do, even if it killed him in the doing.