Blaize and the Maven: The Energetics Book 1 (30 page)

“They’ve tracked her to a clearing where it looks like her trail ends. They think she’s been kidnapped.”

Cuinn wouldn’t accept that. He opened the car door. Fintan had created a bobbing light with Manipura energy for them to follow. It led them to where Fintan and Tierra waited. A grave Tierra showed him the tracks they’d followed from Blaize’s car to an overgrown area at the edge of a clearing where it looked as if someone had waited. The four of them then walked the tracks of someone heavy who’d left the clearing—possibly someone carrying another person. Those tracks went to a dirt track road, where Tierra thought a car had parked, before turning and leaving.
 

“Cuinn, I think we should call Adam. He can get us what we need to help us find her. Most of his work is tracking down Rogues,” Tierra said. Her brother, Adam, Cuinn’s cousin, was in a security team that worked across the Guilds to protect them from internal and external threats. He had access to tracking resources as well as being a powerful energetic tracker in his own right.

Cuinn felt sick. All his worst fears had come to pass. “They could be anywhere by now. They have hours of lead on us.”

They would never find her.

Fintan nodded at Tierra, and she went to the side of the clearing to phone Adam.

“We’ll find her Cuinn. If it’s the same Rogue who leeched in the dreamscape, there are more of us, and we’re smarter. We’ll find her.”

Cuinn punched a fist into the nearest tree. “I knew that the vision wasn’t fulfilled by what happened on the astral plane. But I didn’t want to believe it.”

Slam. Slam.

“I wanted to believe it was over. I should have said something. Guarded her. Stayed with her. I’ve failed her, just as I failed Sophea.”
 

Slam. The pain felt good. He deserved it.
 

Fintan grabbed his arm and gave it a shake, forcing Cuinn to give him his attention. “We’ll find her. But you have to stay focused and present. We need you.”

“Okay.” It was easier to agree. He’d do what he could to help. The nausea in his stomach had stopped and everything felt numb. Switched off.
 

He couldn’t bear it if he lost Blaize too.

Blaize woke up, groggy and nauseated. Where was she? She tried to stretch her aching joints but found herself shackled, unable to move more than a few inches. That woke her more quickly. What had happened? She remembered the clearing. A haze. Rosa. Cuinn.

Oh, Source. Cuinn.
He wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. She refused to accept it as a possibility. She needed to find out what had happened, and now. But before that, she needed to get out of here.

She looked around her. She lay on a dirty bare mattress, in a small, dark room. It seemed like a basement, as there was only one window, high up in the wall, and a rickety metal staircase on the other side of the room, leading up to a solid looking door.

 
She had no sense of where she was, whether she was still in the woods or if she’d been moved.

She tried to use the power she had stored. But as she drew on it, she felt nauseous again and stopped. She gasped, and leaned her head to the side, not wanting to be sick while she was lying down. The nausea receded after a few minutes, leaving her shaky as well as tired.

After an indeterminable amount of time, the door opened. Blaize shifted, ready to defend herself as much as the shackles allowed.
 

It was the Rogue.

Now thin to the point of emaciation, she had a hollow look around her eyes.

She sneered at Blaize.

“Good morning. For me, anyway. For you, not so much. And for Cuinn?” She laughed.

Blaize strained against the metal chains. She needed to get free. But how the hell could she do that without access to her energies?

Indigo laughed and ignored her struggles. She checked the bonds that held Blaize. “Didn’t try to burn your way out yet? Shame. As soon as you pulled power, you’d have been sick. I was looking forward to seeing what you’d look like after you’d tried to call Warrior fire."
 

Blaize twisted her wrists as far as they'd go, trying to find some give in the chains. The sick feeling she'd had when she'd tried to pull energy earlier suggested Indigo wasn't lying about that, so Blaize would need to get free physically.
 

"Still, seeing you lying here surrounded by your own vomit would have been fun, you stuck-up bitch.”

“Why are you doing this? And what did you do to Cuinn?” Blaize's body was no longer aching, the adrenaline energising her. Her heart tripped in her chest as she tried to understand what was going on. She was shocked by the poisonous ire that Indigo was directing at her.

“Cuinn?" Indigo shrugged. "He was nothing. To me, anyway. Others might say different. But I need what you have. Your energy. Tasty energy. You’re just … well, food basically.”

The woman stepped away from the bed and closed her eyes. Energy swept over Blaize and her gut roiled. “Hmmm. Yes, you’re still ready. Charged —you seem to have even more power than when we last met.”

Indigo shook her head.
 

“I nearly took you then, in the dreamscape rather than here, but we—I—wasn't ready. I tried to get you to pull power in your dreams so I could tie you to me. But persistent thing you are, I couldn't make you though I had fun killing you over and over.” She smiled.
 

“But that’s in the past. I enjoyed our little game with Rosa and Cuinn. That made up for it a little. And now,” she clapped her hands together, "now we’re going to take a trip back to the dreamscape together where I can taste you properly, and I'm going to have me another snack. And that’s really what life’s going to be like for you for the next little while.”

“Don’t do this.” Blaize tried to make her voice firm though she wanted to be sick. “We can help you, rehabilitate you. My friend works at the Rehab centre on the West Coast; she can get you over this addiction. There’s no need to hurt me.”
 

Fear mounted inside her as the woman talked. Indigo wasn't in her right mind.
How am I going to get out of this?
All her muscles were tight as she heaved against the chains at her hands and feet. Could she loosen any of them? Or was there enough give for her to strike Indigo when she came close again? Even a few inches might be enough to stun Indigo if Blaize was fast enough and put enough physical power into it.

“Why would I want to get over it?” Indigo’s voice was amused. “It’s such fun. And the taste … the taste of an energy like yours? It’s hard to even put into words. It makes me feel … invincible.”

She leaned over, and Blaize waited until the woman's face was inches away before thrusting her clenched fist towards it, putting every ounce of physical power she could into the movement. But Indigo was too quick and swerved easily to the side. Blaize caught a glimpse of something metal in Indigo's hand. Blaize flinched away, but where could she go?
 

“That’s enough talking. Let’s take a trip.” Indigo grabbed Blaize’s arm and shot something sharp into it.

Blaize winced at the stab of the needle, and then her eyelids became heavy as the drug took her under. Ignoring the nausea, she pulled power to try to burn it away, but the drug was faster than she was, especially in her current condition.

“No … wait.”
 

And then, she went under.

When Blaize opened her eyes again, she was in an ornate room with a grand chandelier. She drew in a breath through her nose. No scent. She was in the dreamscape, though not Cuinn's Haven or her own. Her throat tightened.
Don't think of Cuinn.

She was still tied down, but the chair and the chains were fancier. She shook her head, trying to dislodge some of the fatigue that had come over her. She didn’t feel at all as she normally did on the astral plane. She felt dizzy, and it was hard to focus. Her vision swam.

Indigo appeared in front of her.
 

“No, no, don’t get up.” She laughed. “Really, all you need to do is sit there. I’ll do all the heavy lifting.”
 

Indigo stood behind her, hands on Blaize’s shoulders. Blaize tried to shrug her off, but Indigo’s bony fingers dug unpleasantly into her muscles with a bruising grip.

She felt ripples of power on her shoulders as Indigo leeched from her. At first it was just odd, like someone running her hand the wrong way along velvet. But then the feeling intensified and became painful as Indigo took more and more power.
 

And Blaize felt herself getting weaker, lassitude spilling into her limbs until her head lolled to one side, falling onto her shoulder.

***

Fintan and Tierra stayed in the park to see if there was anything else they could find. They’d agreed to go into Merrow at first light in case anyone had seen Indigo in the last couple of days and they could get a lead that way. Tierra hadn't been able to get through to Adam, who was still somewhere deep in Russia. Cuinn and Cara went home for Cuinn to work in his own environment.

He wanted to dive straight into the dreamscape, but while he was setting up the room, warding it with energetics shields one more time, Cara disappeared and came back with an energy drink. She handed it to him wordlessly, and although he grimaced, he took it and drank it.
 

Cara settled herself in the armchair, her eyes alert and watchful, and Cuinn sank onto his mat, arranging his position so he lay on his back.
 

Cuinn closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before pulling the energy to go into the dreamscape, starting in his own Haven. He strode around the tower quickly in case there was any trace that Blaize had managed to come back here. He saw nothing.

Outside, he looked around before walking over to the green bower that held the portal between their Havens. The grass was soft underfoot and delicate roses had bloomed around the gate. His mouth twisted, and in response to the strong feelings and energy he was putting out, the sky started to boil. Thunder cracked and lighting streaked down. He nodded viciously, satisfied as the rain poured down on him, soaking him to the skin.

He stood in front of the portal for minutes, hoping when he stepped through he might find her there, and terrified that she wouldn’t be.
 

Eventually, he gathered the courage to go through, the moment of disorientation before he stepped into her Haven making him blink. He scanned her garden, but she wasn’t there. He paced over to the bed she had created the last time they were here, and dropped onto it, his hands grabbing the red silk. His breath came in heaves.

He tried to think what to do next. She wasn’t in either of the two safe places for her in the astral plane, that was clear. He would need to go outside and seek her. Just as he had done fifty years earlier, seeking Sophea’s mind.

He took one last look around her Haven and headed to his own to prepare for going out into the wild energies.

Many hours later, he opened his eyes in his own body. He was shaking. He had over-taxed himself on the astral plane, and for nothing. Cara was still sitting opposite him, watching him from the chair. She came over, lifted his head, and put a cushion under it. She offered him some water. He drank and let his body settle.

Cara looked at him questioningly. He shook his head.

“You need to rest. Still a few hours until Fintan and Tierra can go into town, and they’re getting some sleep until they can leave.”

He opened his mouth to protest, wanting just to replenish his physical energy with some food and then go in again. She caught his gaze. “There’s no way you can go back in again straight away. You need sleep first, then food and drink. You can try again first thing in the morning. But you need a few hours of rest or your body will burn itself up.”

Cuinn got to his feet with her help, and realising how exhausted he was, agreed. “But wake me for breakfast with the others. I want to talk strategy and see if there’s anything they found that was unusual in the woods. Four heads are better than two.”

She nodded, and helped him into his bedroom.
 

“I’ll leave a note to ask the others to wake us.”

“Thank you Cara.”

***

“Tell me what you found last night,” Cuinn said, addressing Fintan and Tierra through a mouthful of toast early the next morning.

“Not much,” Fintan said.
 

“We thought we'd go and talk to Rosa again. See if there's anything else she remembers.” Tierra hesitated. “Do you think we should share more with the human police about Indigo? The non-energetic aspects?”

Cuinn shook his head, adamant. “It’s too dangerous. Indigo’s too volatile. She could hurt humans, or expose us. But see if you can find out anything else from the police as to what they have found out about the attack on Rosa. Fintan, you might have more luck there. Get Tierra to introduce you and play on your military background," Cuinn said. "I’ll go back into the dreamscape.”

“I’ll stay with you. I can keep an eye on both you and the house,” said Cara.