Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (32 page)

Lisa had been gone for about thirty minute
s when Melissa fell back, sinking into
the couch.  Robert jumped up and ran over to her, putting his arm around her and laying her head against his shoulde
r.  He could tell she had gone into a trance.
  They all stood, gathering around her.

“Is she alright?” asked Rafe.

“I think she’s having a vision.  We’ll have to wait until she comes out of it,” Robert said.

They all stared at Melissa, watching her eyes flutter behind closed lids. 
She wasn’t making any
sound.
If
they hadn’t
seen it, they would have thought
she’d fallen asleep.
 

Suddenly, she started thrashing around, flailing her arms.  Robert slid her into his lap, holding her arms so
she wouldn’t hurt herself. 
He tried to enter her mind
, intending
to
help calm her down. 
She relaxed, slumping in
to
his
arms
.

Melissa slowly opened her eyes.  She looked around, confused as to why everyone was standing around staring at her.  Realizing she was sitting in Robert’s lap, she squirmed for him to loosen his arms so she could move.  He took his time letting her go, not wanting to release her.

   
Realizing
she
’d
had a vision
, she told them all she was all right
.  It always took a litt
le time for her to recall and process her visions. 

Knowing they were all waiting to hear what she’d seen, she told them they’d have to give her a moment.

“It
takes me a little while to understand what I’ve seen,” Melissa told them while rubbing her forehead. 

Liz ran to get her something for her headache and a glass of water.  Thanking her, Melissa downed the pills. 
Once she finished drinking, she started to tell them what she’d seen.

“My vision started out at the pond again.  I was the only person there, I think.  But I could feel another presence
shortly thereafter
.  I kept searching the area, looking across the water to the woods on the other side.  I suddenly felt someone behind me and when I turned to look, it was you,” she said to Robert. 

“I was trying to enter your mind to help calm you down.  You were thrashing around on the couch,” Robert told her. 

Nodding, she continued, not admitting to him that he had helped her. 
“Next thing I know, I was in the house going up the stairs.  I could feel that presence again.  I felt I needed to hurry and get to Lisa,” she said looking at Rafe.

Rafe grimly asked her to continue, clenching his fist.

“When I entered her room, she was asleep with Ciar standing over her.  I don’t know what he was doing.  That’s when the vision left me,” she said. 

Rafe was already standing and going towards the stairs.  “That vision will not happen.  She’ll be in my
room
from now on
and he won’
t
find her sleeping alone, ever.”

Watching him leave, Robert tried to probe for more details.  “I need you to concentrate on the vision again.  Try and see his face.  Was
he saying a spell
? Was
he
moving his hands around
in any kind of pattern
?”

Concentrating, Melissa brought
Ciar’s
image to mind.  When the vision had first come to her, she had been looking at Lisa.  Now she switched her focus to him.  She saw his lips moving, but couldn’t quite make out his words.  Looking down at his hands, he had something clinched in his fist. 

“He was
talking, and holding something.  I’m going to go back into the vision and try to hear his words.  It’s like meditation, so please be silent
so I’m not distracted,” Melissa said as she relaxed back on the couch. 

“Wait a
moment,
lass.  If you’ll all
ow me to, I’d like to enter
yer
mind so I can see
yer
vision.  I may understand what he’s saying.  Also, if I don’t recognize
whatever’s in his hand, I would be able to describe it to our Queen so she could tell us what it is,” Robert said. 

Melissa
did not want him in her head, but knew she had no choice.  She didn’t have a good reason to refuse him and knowing he was right just annoyed her.

“Alright, but only examine the vision.  Do not enter any other part of
my mind,” she told him firmly
. 

Robert knew better than to smile.  He was lucky she was allowing this much.  Of course, now he was c
urious as to what she was trying to hide
from him. 

Sitting beside her, he reached for her hands.  She tussled with him a moment then huffed out a breath and allowed him to take her hands.
 

Closing her eyes again, Melissa centered herself and started her breathing exercises.  Starting to slip into her trance, she could feel Robert’s subtle probing. 
She imagined a doorway and allowed him to enter. 

Slowly,
the vision took shape before her.  She knew she was controlling it this time and it could not hurt her. 
First focusing on Lisa, she saw once again that she was
sleeping soundly.  She then moved on to Ciar standing beside the bed.  She watched his face, trying to make out his words.  Finally, she understood.  Sh
e could hear his harsh voice, whispering to Lisa
. 

She had no conc
eption of Robert being with her now.
  Totally focused on the vision,
she did not feel his presence.

Looking down, she tried to make out what he was clenching in his fists.  It was a dirk!  She was finally able to see that he was holding it backwards so
his palm hid the blade
.
  She could see the hilt
of the knife barely sticking out from his huge hand.

Melissa was afraid his plan was to stab Lisa in her sleep.  She kept watching, waiting for him to move.  Feeling the vision slipping away, she desperately tried to hold on to it.  As the mist thickened, she noticed
as she was pulled back that
he was using his thu
mb to caress a gem on the hilt.  Over and over he rubbed the gem.  Right before the vision was completely
gone;
she thought she saw the stone
s
glow.

Taking a deep breath, Melissa opened her eyes and found Robert staring at her.  Dropping her
gaze, she glanced
over at Ian
. 

“We have to protect Lisa.  I heard his words this time.  He was saying, ‘you’re mine now’.  When I looked at his hands, he had a knife and kept rubbing a stone in the hilt.  I’m not certain, but right before the vision disappeared, I think the stone g
lowed,” Melissa
told them. 

“We have to figure out how he overpowered Robert’s magic and froze everyone.  If he’s able to come here, then we have no way to keep her safe if everyone is
held
motionless.  We need Niall to get back soon.  I hope the Queen was a
ble to give him something
to break
Ciar’s
hold,” Ian said.

“We know now he wasn’t casting a spell on her at least.  I’m more interested in the dirk.  Seeing it glow tells us it carries some kind of magic.  I think
that’s where he’s gotten his power to control us.  I didn’t pay attention when we were there to notice if he had it on
his person.  I arrogantly thought he couldn’t overpower my magic,” Robert said disgustedly. 

“Don’t beat yourself up.  None of us knew he could do
that
,” Ian said. 

Mack sat contemplating.  “Dunstan, what do you know about the dirk you had?  It seems all of this started with that Stephen fellow getting it at auction.”

“Not much.  My mother told me it was a gift from her family.  I never really thought much about it.  I left it stored in a box in my closet.  Do you think it’s the same one?” asked Dunstan. 

“Does it have a red ruby in the hilt?” asked Robert.

Sighing, Dunstan replied, “Yes, it does.  So it all comes down to my father wanting that dirk.
”

“
Obviously he knows something about it that we don’t.  What I can’t figure out is why put it in an auction?  Why not just hold on to it once he had it?  It had to be him that took it from my house.  Or he veiled someone to enter my place and take it.”

“I remember you saying you took it back from Stephen at your hotel.  Did you bring it here?” asked Ian.

“Yes, I packed it in my bag.  It should still be there,” Dunstan said as he left the room. 

Waiting for Dunstan to return, they thr
ew
ideas around trying to figure out
Ciar’s
plans.  No one had a clear idea. 

The front
door
opened and Niall walked through.  Robert was glad he was back.  He hoped the Queen had been able to give Niall the answer to
Ciar’s
freezing them. 

“About time you showed up.  We’ll discuss what you learned in a moment.  Just listen in and I’ll catch you up later,” Robert told him.

“You know how time differs between here and
Faeiry
.  I came back as soon as I could,” Niall said.

Dunstan came back in holding the dirk. 
“Unbelievable.  This is a copy.  I didn’t even look at
it
closely when Stephen gave it back to me.  I just put it away and forgot about it,” he said bemused. 

Robert examined the copy, looking for anything familiar.  There were ruins etched into the handle.  They were gibberish.  Plainly put there to look like the
original,
but having no meaning. 

They gave Niall a quick synopsis of what they had learned. 

“Was your blood on that dirk?”
Niall questioned
after Devlin had asked about tracking Dunstan. 

“I’m not sure, maybe.  I’ve had it so many years, I’m sure I probably nicked myself when I was a kid.  My mother gave
it to me when I was very young. 
I used to practice throwing it,” Dunstan said. 

“How about a blood ritual?  Any chance you ever did that?” asked Niall.

Dunstan’s face lost all color.  He remembered something.  “There was this kid.  It was so long ago I’d forgotten about it.  We played together.  You have to understand, it was rare
that
I got to play with other children.  I think he was
the son of a guard
that I saw more regularly than any other kids.
  You know how
boys are.  We decided to become blood brothers.  I got my dirk and cut both our palms.  We grasped hands to combine our blood.”

“That’s the answer then.  I don’t know what power the dirk already carried, but with the blood ritual, it would have made it stronger.  More interesting though is this kid.  Do you know what happened to him?” asked Niall.

“I think he became one of my
father’s
guards also.  With the hierarchy system
still
in place, you pretty much follow in your
father’s
footsteps,” Dunstan told him. 

“That’s how he found you.  You have a blood tie to this guard. 
Did you two stay friends?”

“No, you don’t keep friends at my
father’s
castle.  Once he was old enough, he started his training. 
We’d nod in passing, but that was pretty much it.”

“Would your father have known of this blood exchange?” asked Robert.

“I’m tempted to say no, but my father knew everything that went on.  I’m sure he had spies watching
me,
even when I was a
child.
He
trusted no one,” Dunstan said. 

“Here’s what we know.  He found you through the guard.  That would have been a simple spell using the guard’s blood. 
He discovered Lisa through following you. 
He wants Lisa’s power.  He’s using the dirk for control.  Is that right, Niall?” asked Robert.

“Yes, my fa
ther is an authority on ancient
relics.  I learned some things just growing up listening to him talk.  He loved studying these objects.  I can go back and ask him about this if you’d like, but I’m pretty sure of what I’ve told you.  With the dirk already having power, I think he’s learned to direct it
for
his own
control,” Niall told them.

“No, I don’t want you leaving again.  We need to learn if the Queen had a spell to use against
Ciar’s
power,” Robert said.