Chapter 12

When he got to the acclimation chamber, his Uncle Quinton stood beside the door. Trendan was inside, sitting on one of the benches, staring at his phone. Bastian was talking to Abe’s father and looked very annoyed. Before Abe could speak, Bastian pulled out his phone and answered it. His posture immediately changed.

“Have you tried the…” He frowned and then glanced at his brother, “I’ll be right there.” He jammed the phone into his pocket. “Let me out, Emil.”

Quinton straightened.

“Liri is missing.”

Trendan got up, sat back down, and took a deep breath. “Missing?”

Bastian nodded. “Nova went back over. She’s not there, isn’t answering her phone, and none of the Geminis have seen her.”

“Shit.” Quinton pulled out his phone and motioned to the door while looking at Abe’s father.

Abe stepped forward too quickly and almost teetered on the spot, “I’ll come help look for her.” He glanced at the other men, “I know the city well.” He’d seen a lot of it built over the years.

Trendan watched his brother leave the chamber. “I’ll give you an hour before I tell Dad.”

Bastian grimaced. “It’s not him I’m concerned with. If Auntie Bella finds out, it’s not going to be pretty.”

Quinton motioned to Bastian and spoke to Abe’s father, “You take Bastian to Nova’s, and we’ll meet you at the Gemini’s. Maybe they can do a search for her or something.”

Abe could tell by his tone that he meant magic. Hopefully, he didn’t need to be there for it. He’d have enough of ‘special abilities’ today.

“We should talk to the little seer, Emil, and see if she has any insights into this.” Bastian scowled and then glanced at his brother before touching his father’s arm.

“Let’s go.” Uncle Quinton looked at Abe.

Sucking in a breath, he nodded. He wasn’t fond of porting but was lucky it didn’t affect him physically like many of the others. His issues with it were more of a mental block. Should a body be able to leave one place and appear somewhere else magically? He didn’t understand it and had never tried to do it without his porter, as his father suggested. Abe liked walking, but in cases like missing royalty from another realm, he was going to have to port.

***

Abe had heard some talk about the Gemini women, but it couldn’t have prepared him for all of it. He didn’t know how many of them lived in the big building, but the garage housed at least ten different types of motorcycles. He’d never ridden one, but he had to assume it took some skill to do it, and this house full of women did. If that didn’t blow his mind, the five that were present were nothing like what he’d pictured women that rode those machines would look like. His sister would smack him hard if she knew he was stuck on that stereotype.

Ava’s attitude seemed like it belonged to a much larger body. She had vibes similar to his aunt Autumn but scarier. Espy, he thought he heard her say when she introduced herself—he wasn’t one to judge names, having used Ace at one time and other horrible names in the course of his life; she reminded him of a little sprite, the fictional kind, petite with long blonde hair and very bright green eyes. He wasn’t sure of two of the other’s names, but the one with the red hair, Jeri, was eyeballing him, and it was making him a little uncomfortable.

“Crystal, see if a few others will help with a spell. Tell Capri what’s going on.” Ava turned back to listen to what Bastian and Nova were saying.

Abe hadn’t met Liri when she’d been staying over in Alterealm, but the fact that she was missing and part of a royal family from another realm, was enough to set off alarms in his head. It couldn’t be a coincidence that she was gone when they were just hunting down traitors from the same realm.

“Your soul talks to me.”

He looked to see Jeri standing a few feet from him now, assessing him closely. “Oh?” What was he supposed to say to a line like that?

“No, I don’t mean we’re having a conversation,” she played with a stone hanging around her neck, “I mean, it’s an old soul that hasn’t been through the reset of rebirth.”

Abe opened his mouth and then paused for a moment, “Yeah, well, I’m older than I look.” It went with what his uncle had seen inside his head. His soul had been around forever, and Abe lived with the memories.

She just continued to stand there and look at him like she wasn’t really seeing him. He was adding that to his creeped-out list. A lot was added to that lately.

His father tucked his phone in his pocket and turned to look at him.

“What?”

“Crissy said,” he glanced to see the others all pause to listen to him, “that Abe needs to find his well.”

Opening his mouth, Abe didn’t know what to say to that, so he closed it again.

“What does that mean?” Ava was now studying him.

All eyes were on him like he had the answer.

“I—don’t know.” Abe crossed his arms over his chest, not happy with everyone staring at him. “Earlier, she said something about a waterless well being for me.”

“Interesting.” Bastian glanced at Quinton.

“What does that have to do with Liri missing?” Nova hugged her waist.

Espy came over and stood right in front of him; she lifted her chin and looked up at him, her green eyes holding him in place. “Oh, I see it now.” She said softly.

“What do you see, Esp?” Ava stood there with her hands on her hips.

“His mind knows where she is,” Espy whispered. She took a deep breath, huffed it out, turned around, and went to the stairs. “You do need to find the well.” Everyone watched her walk inside.

“What does that mean?” His father looked from the door to him a few times.

Abe lifted his hands, “I don’t know.”

Bastian ran his hands over his head, “The little seer is always right, so,” he waved a hand at him, “what well are you seeing in your mind or—whatever.”

“Do they talk to you?” Nova gave Bastian a wide berth and came over to him. She touched the side of her head, “I can hear all the lives my soul lived before this one,” she put her hand on her stomach, “I can feel when something is familiar or when I should avoid somewhere…”

Abe stopped her with a skeptical look, “I don’t have anyone talking in my head.”

“Okay,” his dad leaned against the door, but Abe wasn’t fooled. His easy-going stance was just a farce, and he was just as wound as Abe was feeling, “do you have memories of a well,” he frowned, “I don’t know what a waterless one means, but anything?”

He didn’t want to talk about what was in his head because he knew that as soon as they got through this and found Liri, his father was going to be all up in his space about not sharing this with him for the last few hundred years. “Kind of,” he looked down, not wanting to see all those eyes staring at him, “a lot of trees, waist-high stones, and something that could be considered a well, but I can’t be sure.”

“Where is it?” Bastian pulled out his phone.

“I can’t be sure.” Abe turned around and looked out of the garage; anywhere was better than a bunch of expectant faces. “It’s not in the city or what the city is now.”

His Uncle Quinton came over and stood where he would be seen, “I remember most of this city being built. There were a lot of temporary shacks and small homes to the east,” he motioned, “most of it is still forest that way.” He paused for a moment like he was remembering, “I don’t recall waist-high rocks anywhere.”

Abe nodded, then closed his eyes, forcing the images to the front of his mind. He was riding a horse, not at a frantic pace, but there were others around him going the same way. He saw the trees but needed to know more. He stiffened, Wait,” there was a void in the scenery, “I think there’s a valley close to it.” He opened his eyes and looked at his uncle.

Quinton nodded, “there’s only one valley near this region. It’s an hour’s drive at least.” He scowled, “Unless—hang on.” He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen, “Vic, have you ever been to the valley outside the city?” He nodded, “yeah, I figured you would.” He glanced back at Bastian, “the Gemini ladies’ place.” He hung up and put the phone in his pocket.

Abe looked to see Nova giving Bastian one of those looks that said there would be a ‘couples’ conversation soon. He saw that particular stance often lately when his uncles were trying to tell his aunts they shouldn’t do something.

“Nova, you should hang back with us and see if we’re able to track her—magically,” Ava suggested.

Nova took a moment to look from Bastian to Ava. “Yes, all right.”

Abe took a deep breath; he was going to where the images in his head kept showing him. Would there be answers there about why he had them?