Amy's Advantage (34 page)

There had been times before where she might go a month or
more without being able to connect to one of her primary contacts, but recently
her telepathic abilities seemed to be fluctuating wildly. Even on her better
days, the connections were erratic.

Forcing his mind to clear, he gestured to the soldier who
had reported the sighting. “You come with us. The rest of you return to your
posts until further notice.”

He turned his attention to the CO. “Notify your superiors of
the situation. We are investigating a threat made against the mother and child.
Both are Mystics. Any information about their whereabouts is to be relayed
directly to me.”

After the man’s acknowledgement, Jordyn turned and headed
toward Syn Vystral Park, Cirryc and the young soldier close behind. Silent
prayers ascended from all three as they rushed to the nearest intra-city
portal. Prayers that they’d reach Amy and Chloe on time. Prayers that the
mother and child should be saved from harm. Prayers that today, the gods were
listening.

As they approached the main gates to Syn Vystral Park,
Tychon, a soldier whom Jordyn had known for years and who was now a commander
in his own right, stepped forward to report.

“The gates have all been locked and are guarded. Units are
presently going through the grounds in a comprehensive grid search. By the time
we started, the renovation projects had been closed down for the day and most
workers had left. We’ve gathered the few stragglers we’ve come across and they
are being held at the Small Gate.”

Jordyn glanced at the massive wood and iron gates and the
high stone wall they connected. It didn’t reassure him. The second largest in
the city, the park was vast, with grounds extending well past the limits of the
outer city. But it was the fact that it butted up against the beginning of the
Wilds Territory of the First House that concerned him.

With a quick glance at the number of soldiers that
surrounded them, Tychon said, “I need to speak with you privately.”

After they’d moved away from the group, Tychon said, “When I
got here, the personal guards assigned to the Mystic and her child were waiting
just inside the Second Gate, the only gate open at the moment for workers to
enter and leave by. They said they were ordered by a Council Guard to wait for
them there.”

He gestured to four men standing apart from the other
soldiers. “They challenged the orders, but Elder Aemylen commanded them
directly, stating that she didn’t want the child’s outing to be hampered by too
many soldiers. Apparently, she was pleasant, but firm about it.”

Tychon’s shrewd gaze cut back to Jordyn. “We’ve been given
the impression that we are following up on a general threat against the Elder
as well as the Mystic and her child. But I have a feeling that there’s more to
this than just that.”

Jordyn met the man’s eyes. “There’s always more to
everything.”

When Jordyn didn’t elaborate, Tychon nodded once. “So be it.
What else do you need from me?”

“Your hunting skills. Do you have any telepaths in your
First Unit?”

“Two.”

Jordyn nodded. “I want them with us. Do they have any
distance to their abilities?”

“Not really, though they both can sense unshielded
individuals at a greater distance than any of my other soldiers. Occasionally,
Vyn can even sense a shielded individual.”

Jordyn nodded. “Have any new portals been opened in this
park?”

“No. I had all the old portals shut down when we arrived, as
well as any in the immediate area outside the park not guarded by my own men.
If the people you seek are inside the park, they’ll have to make their way out
on foot.”

“Good. We don’t know exactly who or what we’re dealing with,
so deadly force is only to be used as a last resort. If an Elder truly is
involved, I personally don’t want to deal with politicians any more than we
have to if something gets fucked up.” A look of horror passed over Tychon’s
face and Jordyn knew his point had been made. “Finish briefing your men and
we’ll head in.”

As soon as Tychon returned to his men, Jordyn motioned
Cirryc over. Keeping his voice low, he asked, “What do you know about Elder
Aemylen?”

Cirryc frowned. “Not much. She took over her father’s place
on the Council when he died several years ago. She has a daughter who likes to
bend the rules.”

“What kind of rules?”

“Typical teenager stuff, I guess. Before I joined the
mission, we hooked up once after a Gathering, but she refused to have sex until
after curfew. She was older than me by a couple of years, and at the time, I
thought it was exciting and hot. It was as if she was daring someone to catch
us.” Cirryc’s broad shoulders lifted and then settled. “Haven’t really seen her
since then, but rumors are she hasn’t changed much, though her parents keep it
quiet. Why?”

“Information is power. Anything else you remember?”

“Not really. The whole political scene is really more Siriyn
and Kayn’s thing. Though I think there was a lot of debate over her
appointment, which is unusual, because her family has held that particular
Elder seat for generations.”

“Do you know what the debate was about?”

“No. Sorry.”

Tychon finished up and headed back toward Jordyn and Cirryc.
Jordyn lowered his voice so it wouldn’t be heard past Cirryc’s ears. “When we
get inside the park, I want you to hang back, bring up the rear. I might need
you to disappear.”

Cirryc nodded as further discussion was brought to a stop
with Tychon’s reappearance. “This way,” he instructed, taking the lead to the
Second Gate. Once inside the park, Jordyn directed them due south, toward the
Garden of Singing Trees. Tychon raised his eyebrows. “Something you’re not
telling me?”

Jordyn shook his head. “A hunch.”

Tychon exchanged a look with Cirryc. “That’s all I need.”

Cirryc inclined his head in agreement. “Yep.”

The closer their group got to the garden, the hunch twisted
into a certainty. Jordyn had hoped he was wrong and that the Elder had simply
stopped by to welcome Amy and her daughter home. But too many pieces were
fitting together with too many odd coincidences.

As they neared the garden he thought Amy and Chloe had been
taken to, he could actually
feel
Amy’s presence.

Not just
a
presence, which every soldier was trained
to do, as well as how to purposefully and continually keep oneself blocked from
such sense searches even at much higher levels, but Amy. He was even picking up
her emotions—fear, anger and determination were rolling off her in waves.

Jordyn brought their group to a halt before the entrance to
the Garden of Singing Trees. “Anyone else pick up on a presence?”

All shook their heads except Vyn. “I’m picking up on several.
Two for sure near the center of the garden. One female, who is probably the
mother, because her presence isn’t shielded at all and has all sorts of heavy
emotions rolling off her and the other is definitely male.” He closed his eyes
and concentrated. “I’m picking up shadow senses of maybe two others, but I
can’t give you more than that on them.” He opened his eyes again. “From the
placement of the ones I can sense, I think there’s at least one that I can’t
make out at all.”

“What about the child?” Tychon asked.

Vyn shook his head. “No sir. Everyone I can sense are
adults.”

Everything inside Jordyn locked down cold at his words.
Nothing in the sensations he was receiving from Amy implied the level of grief
that would come from the death of her child. There was still time.

“What else?” he asked. “Thoughts? Emotions? Anything that
will help us?”

Again, Vyn shook his head. “No sir. Nothing more than their
life presence except for the one I think is the mother.”

“Can you distinguish specific words or thoughts?”

“No sir. Nothing that makes sense. I’m sensing spikes of
pain and a very strong will to fight, but other than that, I just keep getting
snatches of a chant. I think. Something about not turning back and lying. Does
that mean anything?”

Jordyn shook his head. At least the kid had confirmed what
he was sensing.

Even as he gave directions for fanning out and moving in,
Jordyn kept his mind focused on the feelings he had coming from Amy.

With telepaths a fact in their world, instruction in mental
defense and blocking techniques began before Ilyrians learned to walk. By the
time most were celebrating a decade, an Ilyrian youth could track an unshielded
life force and easily shield their own from most people. However, to do both at
once required a much higher level talent, rarely manifested in the common
population.

Learning the different mental techniques and defenses were
generally for just-in-case scenarios than a must-have-and-use-daily element of
normal life, similar to learning Morse code in Amy’s world, where everyone
carried around a cell phone. The common citizen in Ilyria rarely needed the
ability to avoid a life presence scan, and telepaths, though a reality, were
most often unable to connect to another beyond a simple scan without that
person’s express permission and cooperation. Among the telepathically
less-endowed, links between mates and familial ties were the only connections
that held.

Even knowing all of this, it still caught him by surprise to
be able to sense Amy’s feelings so clearly. In all the time he’d known Scythra,
he’d never been able to do more than sense her simple living presence.

The abilities varied more within Royals, since the level of
Mystic ancestry had been purposefully sought and mixed with their bloodlines
for generations, but even so, the level Amdyn worked at was exceedingly rare
and powerful and so accorded some of the harshest penalties for misuse in their
world. The type of telepathy Amdyn wielded was greatly feared by most of the
population, as was the level of powers by most of the Royal Heirs. A very good
reason the Royals kept their powers as secret as possible.

Suddenly a blinding cry of pain cut through all of Amy’s
other feelings, searing across Jordyn’s own thoughts. Even secondhand, the
agony cut the breath out of his lungs and severed the connection with Amy.
Immediately he reached forward with his senses, leaning in toward the clear
path previously set by Amy, but he found only darkness. Pulling back on that
option, he focused on a lower level life force scan to focus his direction.

Locking down the fear that had snaked out at the flash of
Amy’s pain through his mind, he glanced at the surrounding forest the men had
melted into. They were fully inside the garden and were quickly coming up on
the group they sought.

As dusk approached, the breeze began to gently swirl through
the branches of the trees and tease the leaves awake with its whisper soft
invitation. The leaves on the trees planted in this particular garden grew
rather large and curled in on the outer branches and outward on the inner
branches, causing a whistling effect when picked up by the wind. Due to the
unique placement of the trees in the rise and dip of the landscape of this
garden, and depending on the force of the wind blowing through, the trees would
“sing” a variety of mystical music that fueled any number of popular legends.

In front and to his left, two Council Guards stepped into
sight, looking behind each tree as they passed. The light breeze that typically
ushered in the evening lifted the foliage in the upper canopy of the trees just
enough to orchestrate a quiet hum similar to the sweet sighs of young girls.

The two guards stopped and looked up at the noise, one
making the comment that the sound of the leaves reminded him of a virgin he’d recently
seduced. The next minute, they disappeared as they were grabbed from behind by
Tychon’s men and taken out of commission. Two down, two—or more—to go.

Jordyn moved forward, sensing rather than seeing Tychon’s
men moving in with him. A few moments later, Jordyn had eyes on two more
Council Guards and Elder Aemylen. They were in the small center clearing, free
from the protecting trees that hid Jordyn and the other soldiers.

The Elder stepped toward the closest guard, her cloak
fanning out around her knees. As it settled back over her feet he saw a heap of
clothing behind her. A heap of unmoving clothing with curly auburn hair that
spilled out behind the heap. It took a moment for his mind to process and
accept that the crumpled mound on the ground was Amy.

Chapter Twenty

Jordyn blinked, clearing his vision, and reminded himself
that he could still feel Amy’s life force. Slowly, he sucked in a long, silent
breath as he realized Chloe was nowhere in sight. Pure violence staked its
vicious claim on Jordyn’s soul at the possible reason for Chloe’s absence. The
wild call of bloodlust roared so loudly inside his skull, he missed the first
part of the Elder’s comment to one of her guards.

Excising the savage demand of vengeance, Jordyn forced
himself to focus on the scene at hand. He would not allow past mistakes to be
repeated and emotion would not rule his actions ever again. Assessing the
situation, he knew that thanks to the clearing, as soon as one of them stepped
out, they’d be easily seen and unable to reach Amy before either the Elder or
one of the Council Guards could.

He knew Tychon would have come to the same conclusions. If
there was an opening to grab Amy, he knew it would be taken by whomever was
closest, but until then, Tychon would wait for Jordyn unless Amy was in
imminent danger.

“She’ll break next time.” Elder Aemylen sneered in disgust
at the body on the ground. “Go check on your men. Maybe they’ve found the
child.”

Found the child.
The words echoed inside Jordyn’s
head as loudly as an explosion in a canyon. Once again, he drew himself back
from the brink of possible reasons behind the words and focused his entire
being on the woman in front of him.

Elder Aemylen glanced at the other guard still in the
clearing. “Why isn’t he out looking as well?” The Guard spoke to Elder Aemylen,
but his words were too low to make out. Whatever they were, they served to
deepen the sneer on Elder Aemylen’s face, which unattractively emphasized the
sharpness of her nose and chin.

“Oh please,” the Elder said. “Does it look like I need
protection?”

Amy groaned and rolled her head from one side to the other,
drawing the Elder’s attention back to her. “Look at her. That’s supposed to be
our world’s
salvation?
” She tossed her long blonde hair over her
shoulder in a gesture of dismissal. “Go. I will deal with this,” she said,
flicking a hand in Amy’s general direction.

The Council Guard dipped his head in acknowledgment,
signaled the other guard to follow and exited the small clearing. Jordyn knew
that as soon as they were out of sight, they’d be handled by the waiting
soldiers.

The Elder didn’t bother to watch them leave, but stepped
close to Amy, shoving at her shoulder with the toe of her boot. “Keeping your
eyes closed doesn’t fool me. Not when I can feel your mind working. Sit up.
You’re wasting my time.”

Amy didn’t move and Jordyn did a quick scan, listening for
any indication of a threat during a momentary lull in the breeze. Before he
moved in on the Elder, he wanted to make sure that Cirryc was in place. When his
eyes passed over one of the larger trees on the opposite side of the clearing,
he saw a momentary image of Cirryc shimmer into ghostlike form before vanishing
again.

Like all Royal heirs, Cirryc had been granted certain powers
by the gods and his was the ability to cloak himself in invisibility.
Motionless, he could hold it for hours, but he’d yet to perfect the ability
while moving. In a few moments, Cirryc would be in place.

The Elder sighed and said, “You’re only making this harder
on yourself. Sit up!” Her command was harsh and focused and Jordyn could feel a
surge of energy coming from her. Suddenly Amy’s body contracted in pain as she
cried out, grabbing the sides of her head.

Immediately, the wave of energy retracted. Amy gasped and
pushed herself up to a sitting position. When she lifted her head to look at
the Elder, her features were tight with agony, but her eyes were fierce with
determination. She was whispering something that made Elder Aemylen’s hands
clench into fists at her sides.

“Stop saying that and tell me what you did with your
daughter.”

Amy’s words got louder and more insistent and Jordyn
realized she was singing. The words made no sense to him, but he only caught a
few clear ones about lying.

“Stop spouting that nonsense!” the Elder commanded.

Amy ignored her and sang louder.

“Stop it!” Elder Aemylen shouted. The air fairly cracked
around them as another burst of energy pulsed out of the Elder. Amy cried out
again, slapping her hands over her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. But she didn’t
stop singing. She got louder.

The Elder stepped forward and slapped Amy hard enough across
the face to knock her over. Amy didn’t open her eyes, but her voice started
breaking over some of the words.

“Your stubbornness will not help you or your daughter. I
will find her and if you insist on continuing with this childish game, you will
force me to break your mind.” She bent down closer to Amy. “I can, you know.”

Even though the mental energy wasn’t directed toward him,
Jordyn could feel the rising power Elder Aemylen was stirring up and sense the
force with which she focused it on Amy, sending it in waves to pulse against
Amy’s mind, each one stronger than the last.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

Another wave crashed against Amy, who had begun to chant the
words rather than sing them. She drew in a ragged breath that released on a sob
as yet another wave of agony pummeled her.

Jordyn stepped out of the cover of the trees. “That’s
enough.”

Elder Aemylen spun around to face him, the wave of energy
dissipating as her concentration broke. In the second it took for her to focus
on him, Jordyn raised his mental defenses to their highest level. Nonetheless,
he felt the power of the blast and a slicing pain slashed across his senses. It
was strong enough that it pushed against him with the impact of a gale-force
wind until Cirryc materialized behind her and caught her about her throat in a
stranglehold. A few moments later, she blacked out and dropped to the ground.

As Tychon and two other soldiers rushed into the clearing,
Jordyn went to Amy and helped her as she struggled to sit up. Her eyes were
round in disbelief and still wet from tears. Dazed, she couldn’t hold her head
steady as she tried to focus on him. She was losing the battle to stay
conscious, her mind needing to shut down from the attack she’d just suffered.

Cupping her head in his hand, he stabilized her bobbing
head. “Where’s Chloe, honey?” he whispered. “Is she safe?”

Amy blinked, her eyelids stretching wide as she fought to
stay awake. “She’s playing hide-and-seek. Find her,” she whispered.

“Where?” he asked, but Amy’s eyelids had already closed. Her
body went limp and sagged against his.

Another soldier walked into the clearing and conferred with
Tychon quietly. Tychon nodded in dismissal and joined Jordyn. “Reinforcements
are coming. We’ll take care of Elder Aemylen and get Amy to a healer.” He
glanced at the unconscious woman cradled in Jordyn’s arms. “Unless you want to
take her?”

Jordyn shook his head no. “Have her taken back to the Third
House and bring a healer there. Her daughter is still here and it’s getting
dark. Let the men searching know that the child was playing hide-and-seek, so
she’ll probably have crawled into a small space. She won’t come out until she’s
found and might have fallen asleep. They need to check any and every place a
small child can hide.”

Tychon dipped his head before stepping away to issue orders
to the surrounding soldiers. Carefully, one of the largest bent to scoop Amy up
and out of Jordyn’s arms to carry her out of the clearing. Elder Aemylen, still
unconscious, was restrained and removed as well. The rest fanned out to renew
their search.

Jordyn looked at Cirryc, who was looking a little ill. “Are
you okay?” he asked.

Cirryc gave him a bullshit smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Sure. I just attacked one of the leading citizens of our world and dropped her
to the ground as if she were nothing more than a bag of rocks. What’s to worry
about that?” He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“Though Amdyn’s going to be pissed.”

“It couldn’t be helped,” Jordyn said. “Let’s go find Chloe.”

* * * * *

Dear god, her head hurt. Dear fucking god, it hurt. Her
entire body felt bruised and battered. Her skin hurt. Her toenails hurt. The
roots of her hair hurt. It hurt to breathe. It hurt not to breathe. Hell, it
hurt to think about how much she hurt. She’d cry if she wasn’t so damn sure
that would hurt too. God, she just wanted to fall back into oblivion.

“Amy?”

The voice was low and gentle. Worried. Jordyn’s.

She opened her eyes to thin slits at first and then wider
when she realized the room was darkened and that the bed she was in had her
propped up, not quite to sitting. The only thing she could see clearly at first
was Jordyn as he was standing right beside her, his rugged face lined with
concern as he stared down at her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Where’s Chloe?” she asked. “Can I see her?”

A small smile eased the worry from his expression. “She’s
safe. She’s with Aurora and Connyn. I can get her for you, but it’s in the
middle of the night and she’s sleeping.”

Her body sank deeper into the mattress as that weight was
lifted. “I knew you’d find her.”

Jordyn tenderly brushed a stray curl back off her forehead.
“I wouldn’t have stopped looking until I did.” His expression turned serious.
“How are you feeling?” he asked again.

“It hurts.”

“What does?”

She closed her eyes. “Everything.”

A soft touch skimmed down her cheek. “How did you get Chloe
away from Elder Aemylen?”

Amy rubbed a spot over her left eye that was throbbing worse
than other places at the moment before opening her eyes. “By the time we got to
the park, I was starting to think something wasn’t right. It didn’t get better
when she told the guards that Connyn assigned to us to stay at the gate. The
further we got from the entrance, the stranger Elder Aemylen seemed. She kept
looking at Chloe with this weird…” Amy groped for the right word to explain the
unsettling expression on the Elder’s face, “
glee
almost. And when I told
her I thought we should be getting back, she ignored me.”

Jordyn’s expression had turned quite scary as she related
recent events to him. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “I could tell she
was trying not to frighten Chloe, but her guards had closed ranks around us at
that point. When Chloe had to go to the bathroom, I thought that might be the
best time to try to get away.”

“The park’s facilities were closed.”

“I know. I just took Chloe over a little hill, but was told
to stay in sight of one of the guards.”

“If they were watching you, why didn’t they see Chloe run
off?”

“I stayed in sight, but sent Chloe behind a stand of trees.
I could see her, but the guard couldn’t. I told her that after she finished, we
were going to play hide-and-seek in the park and that she had to blanket her
mind so we couldn’t follow her thoughts to her hiding place.”

Jordyn nodded at the term used to explain a basic mental
shielding to children when they practiced by imagining wrapping their minds
tightly in a blanket to keep out others’ thoughts the way they’d snuggle under
a cover to keep out the cold.

Closing her eyes for a minute, Amy turned her head on the
pillow, trying to find a more comfortable position. “I told her to hide really
well, hoping she’d curl up and go to sleep like she’s done before, especially
since we’d skipped her nap because of the Elder’s visit.” She opened her eyes
halfway. “I needed time to find help or for someone to notice we were gone.”

Amy noticed a pitcher and cup on a small table next to the
bed. Suddenly her mouth felt as if it were lined with cotton. “Is that for me?
Can I have a drink?”

After filling the cup, Jordyn helped her to a semi-sitting
position. The water tasted sweet and she would have asked for more, but
swallowing took too much effort. She handed the cup back to Jordyn and eased
back down on the bed.

“I stood there for a long time, giving Chloe time to hide,
but finally the guard came to check on us. When I saw him coming, I ran in the
opposite direction Chloe had gone.” Absently, she rubbed at the bruises on her
arms. “But he caught me and brought me back to the Elder. I think you showed up
pretty soon after that.”

Though the tunic she wore was made of a light, thin
material, it settled on her chest as a lead vest when she sighed. “I must have
sounded like a crazy person when you found me.”

“A little.”

Amy swallowed at the memory and looked at the ceiling. It
was too dark in the room to see more than shadow where she assumed the limits
of the room must be. “Well, she cut through my
blanket
immediately and
the only other thing I’ve been taught to do so far is to concentrate totally on
one thing.”

Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. “The only thing I
could think of was the lyrics to
Lying from You.
It’san old
Linkin Park song I used to love, so I just kept repeating it over and over.”

Gently, Jordyn combed his fingers through the hair at her
temple. “Whatever it was, it worked.”

Exhaustion spread through her aching body until her limbs
felt as heavy as bags of wet sand. Wearily, Amy nodded. “At least long enough.”

“I thought I heard voices in here.” A tall, dark-skinned
woman stood just inside the door, her light brown hair shimmering as spun honey
in the soft light of the glow bowl in the corner. In one hand, she held a clear
glass with an amber-colored liquid in it and with the other, she reached out to
skim a finger around the rim of the bowl holding the globe. The light
brightened enough for Amy to see that she was in a small room made entirely of
a dark-gray rock before closing her eyes against the pain brought on by the
heightened light.