Authors: M C Moore
When they reached Bowen and Ardan’s room where the video equipment was set up, there was only one special ops fairy there. He was scanning all the cameras looking for the intruder. He was running the
dvr
back to when the alarm went off.
“Where’s Johan?” Bowen asked him.
“I’m not sure; he stepped outside the front door and out of the range of the camera there. He never came back. I have been here the whole time trying to figure out who was in the house. I haven’t seen anything that would indicate anyone came in the front door.”
“Well, we have another problem that is more important now, Kellan is missing. Did you see her leave the front door at any point?” Bowen took control of the situation. He moved a chair up beside special ops fairy and started directing him to which times and cameras to watch.
The main screen suddenly filled with the image of the study door with Bowen standing outside of it. A few seconds later Kellan came out. She was crying and ran towards the stairs. The camera then switched to the third floor as she ran by and continued up the stairs. On the fourth floor camera you could see Kellan exiting towards her bedroom. The view switched to a view of the sitting area between Kellan and Meckenzie’s rooms.
“How many cameras are in this house now?” Meckenzie realized there were a lot more than she initially thought.
“About 40.”
Taggart responded. “We had to cover all the exits, the stairs, the common areas, and the elevator.”
As soon as he said it, Meckenzie realized what Kellan had done.
“The elevator.”
Meckenzie shouted. “She took the elevator to the fifth floor and exited the roof. There is a service ladder that goes to the building next door.”
Sure enough Kellan was seen coming out of her room with her bags. Tears still stained her face. Her hair was pulled back and she had changed into street clothes. She hit the elevator button, the doors opened and to everyone’s surprise, there on the elevator was Ty. He whispered something and Kellan fell to the ground.
Ty had not honored their agreement and he had come back and taken Kellan. He had been in the house, and the alarm was not triggered, not even when he cast the spell. Ty pulled Kellan’s body onto the elevator along with her bags, and they rode up to the fifth floor. Meckenzie watched as Ty’s brother, who had apparently been waiting for him on the roof entered the house. As soon as he stepped in the house, you could see the reaction of the Fae to the magical alarm sounding, on one of the monitors, you could even see Bowen run into the study to protect the Queen. Meckenzie realized that Ty had not triggered the alarm. It remained silent until his brother had entered the house.
“Why didn’t Ty trigger the alarm?” Meckenzie asked.
“I don’t’ know, he must have used a shielding spell, or an amulet, or he could have a shielding power.” Isabel answered.
On the monitor Ty and his brother stood there having a conversation in the elevator. It was obvious that his brother was not entirely happy with the situation. In a bit of rage, Ty struck his brother across the face. The brother, though obviously larger and stronger than Ty,
slumped
his shoulders and reached down to carry Kellan out onto the roof.
The roof camera showed
,
a third guy came up the service ladder. They talked for several
minutes,
it looked like Ty was trying to convince the guy to do something. Then the guy stepped away from them. Kellan’s lifeless body was lying on the roof. She wasn’t moving
,
it was hard to tell if she was even breathing.
“Is she alive?” Meckenzie wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that question.
“I think so.” Isabel put her arm around Meckenzie. “I don’t think they would be taking her if they killed her, they would have just left her for us to find. I am sure they plan on using her for leverage.”
The third guy was waving his hands about and speaking. A fog was surrounding him; the air seemed to be swirling all around him. A small light appeared in the midst of it all, it began to grow in size as his movements became more frantic. Within a moment the light was the size of a door. Ty indicated to his brother to grab Kellan.
Everyone in the room had stopped breathing. They watched raptly as Ty stepped into the light and disappeared. His brother followed, hauling Kellan over his shoulder. The third guy stepped through and as soon as he disappeared, so did the light. It was all over in a matter of minutes. They had kidnapped Kellan.
“They have a rifter.” Bowen turned and addressed the Queen. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “We’ll need to notify the Air and Earth kingdoms. With a rifter they can go anywhere.”
“What’s a rifter?” Taggart asked.
“We haven’t seen one obviously in over eight hundred years, but what we have learned from history books is that a rifter is someone who can tear a rift between the planes. They allow travel without the use of a portal. They basically create their own portal. So they can go anywhere at any time. We have to travel through the portals that only work between two specific points in the worlds and only at dusk and dawn.”
“So we can’t even go after Kellan till tomorrow?” Meckenzie was dismayed to realize that Kellan was on her own for the night with Ty and his cohorts.
“We can’t go after her at all right now.” Their mother said. “We will go back to Aquanis in the morning and wait for them to contact us. Then we will devise a plan. There is no way that I’m jeopardizing you two right now. So you will have to be ready to go in the morning. We can guard you better at the castle.”
“Castle?”
Taggart asked.
“Yes you’ll live with me at the castle.” She responded.
“What about dad?” Meckenzie had to know what was going to happen to their father.
“He will hide here in the human world. We have already discussed it. He knows that it is what is best for you. If we finish this, we will send for him. Someone should tell him what has happened, I’ll do it. You two need to go get ready to leave in the morning. Don’t bring too much stuff. Travel light. Anything you need will be provided for you.” Their mother turned and headed to find their father leaving Taggart and Meckenzie standing there staring at the empty roof on the TV screen.
So that was it. They were going to Aquanis. Kellan had been kidnapped. They were moving to a castle. And they were going to war. Meckenzie was pretty sure this was the worst eighteenth birthday ever. She only wished that she and her siblings would m
ake it to their nineteenth.