Chapter 14

Ellie could hear the men shouting but she wouldn’t dare take time to look back over her shoulder. She had to make it to the yard of the secret house. She was running as fast as her legs would go, praying that she didn’t trip or fall. Her heart was pounding so hard it was like a big drum in her ears.

She raced around the side of the lake and headed for the yard. She was almost there when she heard the footsteps behind her. Fear had an added dose of adrenaline shooting through her and she ran even faster.

Oh god, she wasn’t going to make it. She could hear someone getting closer. Just a few more yards, she was almost there. With a last burst of desperation-fueled speed, she made it to the back yard and kept going for several more feet before she tripped and fell flat on her face.

Ellie scrambled to her feet and looked in the direction of her pursuers. What the hell? She gaped at what met her eyes. Rat Face was standing at the edge of the yard with a look of bewilderment stamped on his face. Ellie started edging back slowly, ready to make a run for the house. Her hand worked into her bag and closed on her keys.

Rat Face looked one direction then the other, then turned and shouted behind him to Tank and Dansforth. As she watched, Dansforth and Tank joined Rat Face. She straightened and crept closer. Was she protected by the darkness or was it like before and they just couldn’t see her?

Simon stepped up ahead of Rat Face and looked right at her. Ellie jumped about three feet back, nearly falling again. When Simon made a motion with his arms as if he was trying to move something out of the way in front of him, she went still. What was he doing?

“Did she go through here?” he asked.

“She just disappeared.” Rat Face replied.

“Into this…bramble?”

Ellie’s mouth literally fell open in shock. What was he talking about? Tank joined them and started pushing his arms this way and that as if trying to move branches aside. When he reached out, made fists with both hands, and pulled back she squeaked in surprise. There were palmetto fronds in both hands all tangled with moss and vines.

“Oh my god.” It was impossible but she was seeing it with her own eyes. Screwing up her courage, she moved closer, one-step at a time, ready to turn and flee.

But no matter how close she got they didn’t see here. They argued among themselves about how she could have gotten through “that tangle” and finally Simon shouted for them to be quiet.

“You,” he pointed at Rat Face. “Go that way. You.” He indicated Tank. “Take the opposite direction. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

“What about you, boss?” Rat Face asked.

Simon reached inside his coat and withdrew a gun. “I’ll wait here. Make a hundred-yard circle and work your way back to me.”

The men headed off into the darkness and Simon stood very still, looking one direction and then the other. “Where are you, you bitch?”

“Right here,” Ellie whispered. What did she do now? Why couldn’t he see her and how did she get past him?

She pulled out her phone. No service. Damn, she couldn’t call or text Cam. What should she do? With Simon standing not ten feet from her with a gun and his men out looking there didn’t seem to be much she could do but wait so she sat down and did just that.

*****

Colton tapped Cam on the shoulder and when Cam turned Colton motioned for silence then pointed to his right. Cam listened. It sounded like someone walking. They remained motionless until Colton nodded.

Lily followed behind Colton with Clint bringing up the rear. When they reached the stream, Cam turned west. “You sure you know where you’re going?” Lily whispered.

“Yeah. Positive.”

No one else spoke. Cam looked over his shoulder at Colton. “Last time we followed the stream for about twenty-six minutes before we reached the lake.”

Colton nodded. Cam wondered if his brother could mentally keep track of time, counting seconds, or some trick he learned in the rangers. To him, every minute was feeling very long.

Several times Colton tapped his shoulder to get him to stop. Twice they heard voices. Once they heard a man grumbling about “finding that damn bitch.”

That gave Cam a sense of relief. Maybe Ellie had lost them in the woods and made it to the secret house.

It seemed they’d been walking through the dark woods forever when Colton tapped his shoulder again. Cam stopped and followed Colton’s actions, squatting down. Lily and Clint did the same.

“You’re sure you know where you’re headed?” Colton asked.

“Yes. I told you, twenty-six—”

“By my count, it’s been thirty-five. Factoring in the dark, stopping and moving slow we should either be there or be damn close.”

“We’re almost there,” Cam insisted. “We have to be.”

“Then let’s go.”

They started again. A few minutes later Cam saw the glint of moonlight on water. He pointed and stopped. Colton stepped up beside him. “Whoever is out here has been working a circular pattern, and unless I’m wrong, they’re headed pretty much in the same direction we are.”

“The house is just on the other side of the lake. If we’re quiet, we should be able to reach it. We have to get to Ellie. That’s where she’d go.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

They had gone no more than twenty yards before they reached the lake. Cam increased his pace and was just at the turn of the lake bank when Colton’s hand clamped down on his shoulder.

Cam’s first reaction was annoyance but that was quickly followed by gratitude when he looked in the direction Colton pointed.

Three men. One of them Simon Dansforth. They were standing at what should be the edge of the yard to the secret house.

Only there was no yard and no house. There was only a thick wall of undergrowth.

“What the hell?” Cam whispered.

Colton dropped down and pulled Cam with him. Lily and Clint followed suit.

“The house was right there. Just around the turn of the lake.”

“Well, it’s not there now,” Clint, commented. “You sure we’re in the right place?”

“Yes!”

“Well, you’re obviously wrong,” Clint argued.

“I’m not.”

“Then where’s this damn house?”

“Enough,” Colton said. “Those men obviously think she’s around here or they wouldn’t be looking here, so house or no, we’re probably in the right vicinity. The question is do we take out those guys so we can keep looking, or try and work around them?”

Cam looked at Colton and then at Clint. “I’m not keen on the idea of killing,” Clint said.

“Me either,” Lily added and then a smile appeared on her face. “But I can provide a distraction.”

“No.” Clint said quickly. “There’s too much dry wood out here. We can’t risk starting a fire.”

“You’re right,” she said. “Sorry, just trying to help.”

“So, we try and work around them,” Colton said. “I’ll take the lead. Keep it quiet.”

They all stood, but before they could take two steps, a voice behind them had them all freezing.

“Stop right there. Throw down your weapons.”

*****

Ellie saw Tank and Rat Face return to Dansforth. They were clearly angry, and all three men were arguing about what to do. Dansforth said he’d called for backup, which should be arriving any moment.

“Like they’d fucking find us,” Tank argued.

Simon held up his phone. “GPS idiot.”

Tank fell silent but didn’t look happy.

From the corner of her eye, Ellie saw movement. She was on her feet in a blink. It was Cam. Colton, Clint, and Lily were with him.

As she watched, they all ducked down. She waited, watching. If Dansforth had called for reinforcements, Cam and his family could be sandwiched between the two groups.

She saw Cam and his family appear again. Just as they started forward, three men appeared behind them. A voice yelled out. “Sir! We’ve apprehended four people.”

Dansforth called back. “Bring them up!” He then began a slow turn, calling out loudly. “I know you can hear me. No one has to get hurt. Come out and I’ll let them go.”

Ellie felt sick to her stomach. She was terrified and didn’t trust Dansforth, but she couldn’t let Cam and his family get hurt. As Cam, Colton, Clint, and Lily were herded toward Dansforth, she started to him as well. All of a sudden, Rat Face yelled out “Holy fuck!” She knew they could see her again.

Her eyes went to Dansforth. “Let them go.”

“When I get what I came for.”

“You have to let them go”

“My dear, I don’t have to do anything. Deavers!”

One of the men behind Cam’s family grabbed Lily and shoved a gun against the side of her head. The other three men leveled their weapons at Cam and his brothers.

“No!” Ellie screamed. This couldn’t happen. Cam and his family had been so good to her, had taken her in and cared for her. She couldn’t take it if something happened to them because of her.

If only Dansforth had never known about her father, about her, none of this would have happened.

But he did, and now he threatened the people she loved, and terror filled her. She had to stop him, but how?

At that moment, the gem from her necklace sent a shock into her chest that jolted her nearly off the ground. It arced through her body and down to the tips of her fingers. It was no more than a split second. Just enough time for her to scream “No!” and raise her hands, palms out toward the men.

Blinding light shot from her hands, like twin beams, splitting the darkness, and making the air sizzle. One beam separated into three writhing tendrils, striking Dansforth, Tank, and Rat Face. The other did the same, slamming into the men holding weapons on her friends. Upon impact, there was an enormous flare and then an instant later, darkness.

Dansforth and his men were gone. “Cam!” she screamed.

He raced to her, followed by his brothers and Lily. Cam swept her off her feet in a tight hug and she clung to him.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. Oh god, I was so scared.”

“What the hell was that?” He asked when he put her down. “That light?”

“I don’t know.”

“And how the hell did this get here?” Colton asked, gesturing to the house.

“It’s always been here. It’s just…hidden.”

“Hidden? Honey, I’ve seen a lot of cloaking technology, and this is definitely some next level shit.”

“Seriously.” Clint agreed. “I know that house wasn’t here before. What the hell’s going on, Ellie? Cam?”

Ellie looked at Cam. “Tell them,” he said.

“Okay,” She unloosed her shoulder bag that she had slung across her body. From it, she took the scroll and the box containing the egg. She tucked the scroll under one arm and opened the box.

“What is that?” Lily asked.

Ellie filled them in with everything she knew, finishing with “remember what Teddy and Alex said? They said I had to read the scroll.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Clint said. “I mean, what the hell was that laser thing you did?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. I didn’t know I could do that. I was just terrified that you were going to get hurt and it just happened.”

“I think she needs to do it,” Colton said in a quiet voice of authority.

Everyone looked at him and finally agreed. “Thank you,” Ellie said gratefully. “Cam, take the scroll and unwind it.”

He did and held it up so she could read it. She removed the egg from the box. Its glow pulsed when she touched it and then flared brightly.

“Oh my,” was all Ellie managed to say before she was catapulted into a realm of light that danced and swayed around her and through her, consuming her. It was, for lack of a better word, bliss.

She heard the song. It floated with the light, sung by a thousand voices. She added her voice to the chorus.

Cam saw Ellie’s eyes glow with the same light as the egg and his heart raced. Should he tear the egg from her hands? “Ellie?” he called to her. “Ellie. Can you hear me?”

Her mouth opened, but what emerged was not just her voice. It was the sound of a multitude of voices, singing in a harmony more beautiful than anything he’d ever heard.

“I call upon magic, upon the powers of light. Dispel the darkness that steals our sight. Restore the magic; bring back our might, so that once more the Fae may dance by night. Beneath the sun, beneath the moon, in forest and stream, give back commune. As daughter of king and the child of mage, I call you now to hear my plea. As I wish, so mote it be.”

A spark of fear caused the hair on the back of Cam’s neck to stand. Fae? Daughter of king and child of mage? It sounded like some beautiful but bizarre magical chant and that was so far out of her purview that he stepped back in fear. What the hell was happening here?

Twice she sang the song. As the final syllable passed her lips on the third time, the egg cupped in her hands literally exploded. He was completely blinded by it and threw his hands up to shield his eyes.

Ellie came back to reality, her hands cupping an orb of light. She turned to look for Cam and saw him lowering his hands from his eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded and smiled. She was more than okay. She’d never felt so good or so alive in her entire life. She turned her gaze to the orb of light. “Ellie, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s wonderful.”

“Wonderful? It’s…it’s…I don’t know what it is, but it’s not natural.”

She heard the concern in his voice and the fear and maybe she should be sharing those feelings, but she couldn’t. For the first time in her life, she felt right. She didn’t know how to explain it.

“It’s okay.” She assured him.

“How can you say—” He paused and turned to look towards the lake. “Did you hear that? I could have sworn I heard a—”

“Horse whinny.” She turned and looked toward the lake.

Suddenly the orb floated up out of her hand and about 20 feet away, hovering. It stayed that way for several seconds before it exploded into a brilliant flare. When the flare subsided there was a ring of light in the middle of the yard with what looked like water that has lights dancing inside its border.

“Oh my god.” Lily breathed.

A white horse emerged from the ring and walked to Ellie.

She started toward it, but Cam took arm to stay her. “It’s okay,” she assured him.

He released her and she approached the horse. It lowered its head and she put her hand on its forehead. Ellie nearly fainted when in the next instant the horse vanished. In its place was a man. And no ordinary man. He was beautiful beyond compare, with long ebony hair, eyes the color of a clear summer sky and features that were so perfect he should have been immortalized as the epitome of masculine perfection. She stepped back in surprise and the man smiled. “Fear not little sister.”

“Who are you?”

“Your brother, silly goose. Elric.”

It all hit Ellie then, all of the impossibility of what was happening and that sent shards of fear stabbing into her mind.

“No,” she stepped back, looking around for Cam. He hurried to her, wrapping his arms around her as she leaned back against him for support.

“No. This isn’t possible. I’m…Cam, this isn’t real. It can’t be real.”

“Afraid it is,” he replied, tightening his arms around her. “Or we’re having the same hallucination.”

The man who called himself Elric stepped closer. “It is real, sister. Here.” He held out his hand.

Ellie looked down at his hand then back at his face. Hesitantly she reached out and touched his hand. His hand clasped hers and she gasped. “You’re real.”

“As real as you or the man who holds you, sister.”

“No.” She shook her head and withdrew her hand. “I’m not your sister. I don’t have a brother.”

“You do. A brother and a sister. I am the eldest, now head of our clan since our father’s death. He was not on this plane when the door between worlds was closed. Neither was I. You and our sister were.”

“This is insane,” Ellie argued. “I remember my father and mother—well barely, but I remember. And I never had a sister or brother.”

“You do, Elana.” Elric. “Our father took you to your grandmother. Our sister…our sister was placed elsewhere.”

“Why? I mean if this was true then why would he separate us that way?”

“Father allowed you to stay with our mother for she could not bear to be parted with all of her children, but it was not safe for us to be together.”

Elana held up her hand to silence Elric. “Okay, color me in overload here, but this is just…too much. Way too much. I don’t understand what’s happening and I still don’t know if I’m just unconscious, still in the hospital, wigged out on drugs and conjuring this up in my mind.”

“It’s all real,” Elric insisted. “Ask the man you love. Is this real, Cameron Marsh?”

Cam’s arms tightened around Ellie. “Yeah, it’s real. Twilight zone shit, but real.”

Ellie looked at Elric. “So, what does this mean? That…that ring of light. What is it?”

“A way to our realm”

“Are you going back there?”

“Our realm is under attack, and it is no longer safe for us there. The Dark Fae seek to destroy us and then claim dominion in this world. Some escaped before the door was sealed. We do not know what havoc they may have wrought but we have to safeguard humans from their control. We—and our people hoped to be granted permission to cross over and stay here. With you.”

“What exactly do you mean by “your realm?” Colton asked.

“Exactly that,” Elric replied. “Our people have long existed on dual planes. That of the humans and that of the Fae.”

“Fae?” he asked.

“Fairy,” Lily filled in the answer.

“Fairy?” Clint asked. “As in Tinker Bell?”

Elric laughed. “Not entirely. The Fae are a…diverse race. Beings such as I are but one sub race of our kind, capable of changing form and—other things.”

“And Ellie is one of you?” Lily asked.

“Yes.”

“But I’m not.” Ellie insisted. “I can’t change shape or cross into other realms or—”

“Yes, you can,” Elric argued. “You just have never realized it, never been taught.”

Colton walked closer. “Forgive me for being blunt, but if this is true, then what assurance do we have that you mean no harm to us?”

Elric smiled. “Fear not warrior, Fae of the Light have long loved humans. We would no sooner harm you than we would our own.”

“But there are Dark Fae,” Ellie pointed out. “Right?”

“Yes.” Elric said. “Our mother was Dark Fae.”

“Well doesn’t that make us part Dark?” Ellie asked.

“Light and Dark, it is a matter of choice.” Elric said. “Every Fae may choose.”

“Well, why would someone choose Dark?” Colton asked. “Assuming that Dark is evil.”

“It can be. And as with all things, some are drawn to power and control. Harnessing the powers of the Dark can be seductive.”

“And dangerous, I imagine.”

“Yes, very.” Elric said. “But there is time for you to learn all. If you will allow us to stay, to be the emissaries of our people so that we may prove we pose no risk.”

“I’d think you’d need to do that to the leaders of our world,” Colton said.

“Leaders crave power.” Elric said. “And power corrupts. We choose to live without recognition of our true nature…or our abilities.”

Colton shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Ellie disengaged from Cam’s embrace and approached Elric. “Wait. I need to ask something. You said the Fae have long loved humans?”

“Yes.”

“Have Fae ever mated with humans?”

“Yes.”

Ellie cut her eyes toward Lily. “Is she part Fae?”

Elric chuckled. “Very good, little sister. Yes, she has Fae blood.”

“So that’s why she can control fire?”

“Yes.”

“Well cut me off and call me shorty,” Lily murmured.

Ellie turned to look at Cam. “I know this is a lot to take in. I’m still waiting to wake up, but if this isn’t a dream, if it is real, will you please give it a chance? If this is my family, I really want to get to know them.”

She looked at the rest of his family. “Please?”

Cam walked to her. “As long as I know you’re safe, yes, of course.”

“We would not harm our own,” Elric said. “And besides, we are all family now.”

“Oh, how do you figure that?” Clint asked.

Elric put his hand on Ellie’s abdomen and looked at Cam. “She carries your child.”

There was a moment of complete silence, everyone looking at Elric in shock. Ellie’s hand went to her abdomen. “Child?”

“Yes, sister, you are pregnant.”

“Pregnant?” Then it hit her. She hadn’t had a period since the first time she and Cam had sex. She looked at Cam. “Oh my god. Cam. I didn’t…I…oh my god, what are we going to do?”

He looked at her, around at everyone else and then back at her. “We’re gonna have a wedding.”

“A wedding?”

“Hell yeah!” Lily let out a whoop.

“We’re having a baby,” Cam said and took Ellie’s hand.

“Cam just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean you have to feel like you’re obligated—”

“Ellie, stop,” he interrupted. “I told you. I love you, honey. We’re gonna get married, and have a baby, and another one and another one and—”

“Whoa, hold on there, stud,” she said with a laugh.

“So, you’ll marry me?”

“I’ve loved you my whole life, Cam Marsh. You just try and stop me.”

Cam picked her up and swung her around in a hug. When he finally put her down, she looked around. Everyone was smiling and clapping. Ellie grinned right along with them until she thought of what had happened.

“Oh my god, Cam. Dansforth and those men. I killed them.” Tears welled and quickly spilled from her eyes. “I’m a murderer.”

“No, you’re not,” Elric said.

“Yes. I am. You didn’t see. This lightning stuff shot out of my hands and hit them and they—they vanished.”

“And what were your thoughts when you unleashed your energy upon them, Elana?”

Ellie thought about it. “That none of this would have happened if Dansforth hadn’t found out about…whatever he found that made him think our father had a treasure. That it would have all been prevented if he just didn’t know.”

“Then he and his men still live.”

“How can you know that? They vanished! Poof! Gone.”

Elric took her hand. “Yours is the power of the Light. We kill only when there is no other way. We use our power to save life. If those were your thoughts, then I would guess that you simply changed their reality.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

“That you took all knowledge of you and our father from their minds. It is a power we possess but it requires great energy.”

“But you can’t know that’s what happened.”

“But we can find out,” Cam said and pulled out his phone. “Damn, no signal.”

“I can suspend the enchantment,” Edana said, closed her eyes and a few moments later opened them. “Try your device now.”

Cam looked at Ellie. “Call him. You have the number on your call list.”

Ellie grabbed her bag where she’d tossed it on the ground and took out her phone. She found the number and made the call, putting it on speakerphone. A man answered. “Who is this and how did you get my private number?”

“Mr. Dansforth?”

“Yes.”

“This is Ellie Whitehorse.”

“Who?”

“Ellie Whitehorse.”

“I don’t know you, why are you calling me?”

Ellie looked at Cam. “Uh, I was calling…I represent a Nature Conservancy and wondered if you’d be interested in contributing?”

“I think not. Do not bother me again.”

The call ended. Ellie looked up at Cam in shock. “He didn’t know me!”

“Nor will he remember.” Elric said.

“Okay, this is beyond woo woo weird,” Clint said.

“Amen,” Lily added.

“I have to agree,” Cam said. “I don’t even know how to make sense out of all of this.”

“Just accept it,” Elric said softly. “Magic has always been here. You just have to open your eyes to it. Embrace the possibility.”

Elric looked at Ellie. “Have you anything to add little sister?”

She looked around at everyone. If this was some elaborate dream, then maybe it was one she’d be happy to stay in forever. And if it was real, then life was certainly filled with more wonder and magic than she’d ever dreamed.

As well as more love. Her hand sought Cam’s. “Yes. Actually, I do. I have a million questions and I know everyone else does too. And it might take us some time to come to grips with all of this, so can we just take it a step at a time? And can we start that later because right now I’m starving. And you know I am eating for two.”

Cam laughed and hugged her to his side. “You got it honey. How ‘bout we head up to your dad’s house? I seem to remember it pretty well stocked.”

“You wouldn’t rather go home?” She asked in surprise.

Cam put his arm around her shoulders and turned her to face the house. “I think you’re already there, honey.”

Ellie looked up at him in surprise. “But…but I thought…I mean you love your ranch. I thought that’s where you’d want to call home.”

Cam grinned. “Well, seeing as how you’re soon going to be a Marsh too, I was thinking maybe we could just combine things. Have one big home with lots of room for all the family. Mine, yours…ours.”

“Oh yes! Cam that would be wonderful. I mean, if you’re sure.”

“I am, Elana Whitehorse. More sure than I’ve ever been.”

Ellie forgot about all of the eyes on them when he took her in his arms and kissed her. She forgot all of the pain and sorrow, the loss and loneliness she’d experienced in life, along with the fear and uncertainty. His kiss washed it all away.

Hoots and several “Get a room” comments had her remembering they had an audience. She pulled back and looked at the people assembled. Her family.

She smiled through tears. The impossible had happened. What she’d longed for and wished for her entire life was hers. She had love. She had family.

She was home.