Authors: Elaine Lowe
For Daron, magic was his birthright. Sophia wanted to give their children that. Daron’s face relaxed completely, losing the edges of tension and becoming almost the face of a boy.
This must be how he looks when he’s asleep
. But he was most definitely not asleep. Her hands grew warm as pure power flowed from him and into her, sharpening her vision, filling her with energy. Not that she needed much more. She was already filled almost to the brim with power from their lovemaking and her body was still not completely certain that it would not resume their passion as soon as possible. Her mind though was torn up with worry and guilt and energy swirled around her, diving in and out of her skin, making her sweat from the heat of containing so much undirected force.
Sophia tried to push down her own sense of panic and fear and clung to Daron’s solid determination, only she wasn’t entirely certain which emotion was whose or whether it really mattered. There was a scared little girl and a terrified woman somewhere out in New York and they had to be found before they were snuffed out like candles.
Daron’s presence in front of her was unyielding, an anchor for the journey she was about to attempt. The last time she had done this, she was still a girl, fresh and full of her talents as she searched through a dark forest for a lost little boy on a stormy night. The Younges never forgot that she’d found their little Robbie and she had received homemade toffee every Christmas after that, ’til she left for New York.
But it was easier to track a soul through the wind and rain and the stern presence of birch trees than through the throngs of New York. Still, she had to try.
She tried to bring up the flavor of Hester, the quiet, joyful innocence that threaded throughout her essence. The strong, resilient gold of June, facing her battles and winning. She would win this one too. Sophia would use every drop of her abilities to see that it was so.
She found the incandescent bond that stretched between her and Daron. Flowing her awareness into him was easy but both comfortable and disconcerting all at the same time. The dregs of their arousal called to each other, remembering the interrupted tryst. She tasted him again on her lips but tried to force her mind back to her task and away from the drugging memory of the feel of his hard thighs under her hands, the shape of his ass and the sounds of his pleasure in her ears as he emptied himself into her.
But those memories did help to overcome her tension and with relaxation came the opening of her vision to the countless other bonds her
ashava
felt. There was a strong bond, colored in a shade of the strong copper of her lover, extending far, far away. She was sure that was his sister, whom she knew he missed more than anything else from his old way of life. It was amazing how much they had both talked on that long carriage ride and how much there was still to learn. There were bonds to all the people he’d befriended in the city, the people in his building, people he knew on the street. It was remarkable how many lives he had touched and who he had been touched by. She wondered if she herself had affected half so many lives, though she’d been in New York more than twice as long. Sorting through them all, she found two linked tightly together that were clearly mirrors of June and little Hester.
Taking a deep breath and trying to forget the hardness of concrete floor, the flickering light of the streetlamps outside the window and her own fear, she pulled herself along the glowing bonds, following in her mind’s eye out the window and down the street. Other bonds, weaving the City of New York together as one coherent whole became almost impenetrable. It was a mass of light, of feeling and emotion that she never would have suspected in the cold cruel world of the city. It was ironic that bonds of connection, of love and affection, should end up impeding her search for those who needed help so desperately!
She heard a grunt of frustration and the sound pulled her back to her own body. It wasn’t Daron who had made the noise though. He was as lost in trance as she should be, giving all of his abilities to her for the search. Alan had made the sound, in his impatient frustration to be of some use and in having to trust something his scientific training said was impossible.
She should be angry and tell him to shut up and let her work but when she turned to face him, he held the answer that she’d been searching for.
Alan, sweet, amiable and all-around quirky guy, had a bond that glowed brightly enough that it seemed impossible that she had never noticed it before.
How had it come to be? When?
Had she truly been so low in the last few weeks that she hadn’t bothered much at all about the people closest to her?
But the bond was there and it was undeniable. Alan’s face was intense, desperation evident in his eyes as they flickered back and forth between her and Daron. Sophia knew what she should do but couldn’t help second-guessing herself. It was Daron who grunted in exasperation, letting go of one of her hands and with his eyes still half closed in concentration gripped Alan’s forearm none too gently and pulled him in an awkward heap to the floor.
Sophia took Alan’s hand, preventing him from lashing out in confused fury at Daron. “Help me Alan. Help us find them.”
Alan furrowed his brow but left his hand in hers, muttering under his breath when Daron gripped his other hand. “What could I do? I don’t know anything about magic. I’m only half-believing this mumbo-jumbo will do a lick of good because I don’t have any other options!”
Daron snorted, “Being as silent as possible would certainly help.”
Sophia repressed a laugh. Perhaps they were too closely linked—Daron was starting to sound more and more like she did. “Alan, honey, just try to relax. Think about June and Hester being safe. Imagine that they are close to you. Almost like, if you call, they’d come.”
Daron opened his eyes fully and smiled at her. She felt his admiration, his pride in her simple instructions. She had simply trusted her instincts but the words felt right. This time, when she closed her eyes, it was a simple matter to ride on a ribbon of white light that streamed from Alan’s heart out into the ether. His love for June was remarkably strong and she was happy for her friend. But when she felt the bond with Hester, the true affection he felt for the little girl, she was proud to know such a man. Alan would be a marvelous father. But first she had to find the girl and her mother.
Whatever had happened to them, it had happened less than an hour ago. They’d been taken to the opposite side of the island, she was sure of it. The bonds strung out past Harlem and arched over Central Park, down toward Midtown. She had a firm grasp on it, as though it was a tangible thing she could hold in her hands. But she had to get closer before she could pinpoint exactly where they’d been taken.
Her eyes snapped open. “Alan, did you take the subway, or did you bring that damn car?”
* * * * *
If Sophia had thought Alan drove Ol’ Nellie a bit too fast the few times she’d ridden with him in the past, she had been completely wrong. That had been a snail’s pace compared to the race they were running at the moment, the engine whirring and rubber burning as they lurched around turns. She was certain that Daron must have lost circulation to his leg, she was clutching on to his thigh so hard. Wedged between Alan and Daron in the front seat, she was thrown back and forth. Daron’s arm around her shoulders was the only thing keeping her steady and from losing the meager contents of her stomach.
Her eyes were clenched shut and she tried her best to avoid thinking about the hard turns and sickening speed. She had to hold fast in her mind to the trail only she could see to follow and gave terse directions to a frantic Alan at the wheel.
The city spun past her in ghostly transparency, highlighted not by buildings, landmarks and streetlights but by people and the relationship between them. The threads that stretched out over the city formed a giant living tapestry and Sophia was trying to weave her way between the warp and weft to follow two single strands among the multitude.
The density of people became much greater as they entered the blocks of warehouses and tenement slums known as Hell’s Kitchen. Daron tensed beside her, aware of the danger of entering the heart of gang violence in the middle of the night without a weapon to speak of.
“Ah, well, she was a nice car while I had her,” Alan sighed. If he hadn’t still been driving, Sophia would have kicked him. But as they veered down Tenth Avenue and passed deeper and deeper into some of the worse slums of New York, Sophia found she could barely call up the energy to breathe. She held on to the bond she followed only with sheer will, gritting her teeth against the darkness pressing in all around her. She wanted to cry and scream, rant and wail at all the things people were too damn tired to bother with. She didn’t want to think about all the possible horrors that could happen to a woman who looked like June, much less the sweet little girl who shared her remarkable beauty.
When they got to Thirty-Ninth Street, the trail grew crystal clear and icy hot, like holding a broken icicle in her bare hands. She sucked in a breath through her teeth. “I don’t give a damn about Ol’ Nellie Alan, but you’d better find somewhere to park her. Whoever took June and Hester, they are holed up in that alley right there. And something about it seems really really nasty.”
She shrieked as Alan swung the car over, stopping on a dime and leaving the scent of burning rubber in the air. Daron grumbled, before popping out of the car door, dragging her with him into the shadow of a nearby doorwell. Alan seemed to have learned something from all the crime-thriller movies he watched, because when she thought to look around, she couldn’t see him anywhere. It was a lucky thing, because a head emerged from the alleyway, clearly checking the street for any signs of disturbance. And below that silhouette, a gun was clearly visible.
“Fuck,” said Daron, so quietly it was more like a sigh than a word.
“See, you don’t have to worry about making it in America, if that’s the first curse word you think of at a time like this.” It was trite but at the moment she felt close to hysteria and she’d rather laugh then cry. Daron simply turned to her and set a finger against her lips for silence. He caught her hand in his once again and turned back toward the alley.
The hour was late but it wasn’t late enough to explain the eerie quiet that engulfed the street. For a moment, all Sophia could hear was the wind rustling past, carrying paper wrappers and the last of the dry leaves from the autumn long past. Here, the orange glow of the sky was sinister, not striking. Sophia wondered how she could go from the heights of ecstasy to feeling such cold in the depths of her soul. If Daron hadn’t been standing by her, she would have been unable to move, unable to think for the weight of despair she could feel. Suddenly she realized she’d even lost the thread of Alan’s bond to June and she clenched her eyes shut, fighting the need to cry.
“What’s the plan?” Alan whispered behind her and Sophia was so worked up she felt like she would jump out of her skin with surprise. Slapping her hand over his mouth, she jerked her head in the direction of the alley.
There was sound filling the silence now and it wasn’t pretty. It was the sound of weeping mixed with the hard slap of bone on skin that meant someone was being beaten.
“Get in that damn door, girly! And let go a’ the lil’ one. I ain’t decided what I’m goin’ to do with ’er yet. If you’re good, I might let ’er work in the sweatshop and if you’re bad, I’ll just turn her over to a child-pimp for a fat fee. She’s a pretty lil’ thing, ain’t she?”
“She’s your daughter, you scum!” The voice was clearly June’s and the resounding slap that followed her insult rang against the walls. Alan lurched forward, making it halfway to the alley before Daron tackled him soundlessly.
“They have guns. We must have a plan or it does June no good to have you dead.” Daron’s eyes gleamed in the half-light looking deadly serious but Alan did not cower in front of the larger man.
Alan pushed Daron away, then began looking up at the decrepit warehouse they were standing in front of.
“Maybe we can get above them? Drop down on them or something?”
Daron nodded joining the inspection. Sophia closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath and trying to fight the instinct to just sit down and give up. A door slammed down the alleyway and Sophia realized they must have gone in a doorway at the end of the alley. Listening intently for a moment while the men were occupied, she heard no further echo from the alleyway. Creeping along the side of the building, she then knelt on the filthy ground and peered around the corner, praying there wasn’t some flunky with a gun waiting to shoot her head off.
The alley was empty except for a panel truck, open at the back. There was a half unrolled carpet on the ground. Oh gods—she recognized the very truck who’d almost drowned her with dirty water and violent energy. She cursed herself for not recognizing the danger when it was right in front of her, and getting lost in her own lusts. In the hour she’d been up on the roof, June had been beaten, tied to a chair and both she and Hester had been smuggled out of the building without either Daron or her feeling a goddamn thing from the haze they’d been in. Guilt flared hot in her belly.