Amy's Advantage (4 page)

Ellen felt his feathersoft touch against her mind, a gentle,
but definite probing as he sifted through thoughts she could no longer hide
from him. “Apparently, it does,” he said.

Chapter Three

Exhaustion had teased Amy to the edge of sleep for hours,
but fear kept her mind racing, her body tense. A single, soft knock on the thin
budget hotel room door had her eyes flying wide open and staring up at the
ceiling. Dread started her heart slamming in a wild, frightened beat and a
sudden chill sank through to her bones as if she had just been thrown into an
ice cold lake.

Instinctively, she twisted her head on her pillow and stared
through the gloom, trying to reassure herself that she’d put the chain in place
as well as the deadbolt. Unblinking, she held her breath and waited in the
shadows that seemed to shift and prowl around her.

The soft knock came again, this time followed by a
whispered, “Amy? Are you in there? It’s me, Ellen.”

Amy’s breath eased out on a giddy sigh of relief. Carefully,
she extricated herself from underneath the worn blanket that was tangled around
her legs and wrapped around Chloe. The bed creaked as she pushed off the edge
of it to stand up. She waited, making sure the noise hadn’t woken Chloe.

Caution overtook her halfway to the door. According to the
clock on the bedside table, it was just past three in the morning. What was
Ellen doing outside the door of a cheap hotel off Interstate 10 in the
panhandle of Florida? Even more disturbing, how the hell had she found her? Amy
had even gotten rid of her cell phone on the off chance she might be tracked
through that. Uncertain, she pulled the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her
hands and wrapped her arms around her waist as she silently moved to the door
in her socked feet.

Up on her tippy-toes, she peered through the peephole. All
she could see was a hunched figure in a down-filled winter coat with the hood
pulled up. A gloved hand came up to knock again, this time a little harder. The
person leaned in and whispered against the door, “Amy?”

The figure straightened and Ellen’s face was clearly seen
now, frowning at the peephole on the other side of the door. Ellen looked over
her shoulder and said, “Are you sure this is the place?” Amy couldn’t hear a
response or see the person she was speaking to.

Ellen turned back to the door. “Amy, if you’re in there, I
really need you to open the door. It’s important.”

Amy unlocked the door, but left the chain in place when she
cracked it open. “Ellen, what are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

“Who’s with you?”

“Amdyn and a couple of others. Can I talk to you? Just me?
They’ll stay outside.”

Amy hesitated for only a moment before nodding. Closing the
door, she unhooked the chain and stepped back as she pulled the door open to
let Ellen in. A burst of icy air followed Ellen in and Amy shut the door
quickly behind her. She flipped on the bathroom light so they could see as
Ellen pulled off her gloves and unzipped her coat.

“Is Chloe sleeping?” Ellen asked, keeping her voice low.

Gesturing to the bed, Amy said, “Yes. She’s burrowed under
that pile of blankets.” She pushed a clump of curls out of her eyes. “What are
you doing here? How did you find me? I thought you’d be in Ilyria by now.”

Ellen shook her head. “Jordyn knew where you were.”

“Jordyn? How did he know?”

“Apparently he was tracking you.”

“What?” Amy’s voice rose in shock and she had to make an
effort to bring it back down to a whisper. “Why?”

Ellen’s lips thinned with undisguised tension. “I don’t know
what he was thinking.” She paused and glanced around. In the dingy yellow light
from the bathroom, Ellen looked weary and drawn. “I’ve tried to call you since
the River Walk, but you haven’t answered.”

“I tossed my phone. I’ve been followed since I left San
Antonio and I thought someone might have been using it to find me.”

“Followed? By whom?”

Until she heard the alarm in Ellen’s voice, she’d been able
to push aside her fears as irrational. Wrapping her arms around her waist
again, she shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just seeing things. I haven’t
slept well for awhile and am a little stressed out over this whole
being-from-another-planet thing.”

She tried to force a smile, but it felt too fake to hold on
to. “Or maybe it’s paranoia after having the Predators show up at the River
Walk.”

Ellen placed her hand on Amy’s arm and leaned down until she
was eye to eye with her. “Amy, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Have you heard from Aurora? Is she
okay? I’m really sorry I got her mixed up in all this.”

“Aurora is fine. She’s in Ilyria with Connyn.”

“What?” Amy’s mouth dropped open in shock. “How
¼
what
¼
oh
my god! He kidnapped her?”

“No. She’s there of her own free will.”

“She can’t be! She’d never leave me and Chloe.”

“Aurora thinks you’re on your way to Ilyria like we had
planned in the first place. Look, I’ll explain all that later, but I don’t know
how long Amdyn is going to stay out there. Who’s been following you?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve just felt followed, I guess. I’ll think
I’ve seen something, but then the next moment it’s gone.”

“Predators?”

“I
¼
I don’t know.
I’ve been too scared to believe it’s really true.”

Ellen looked around the small room. “Where are you going
now?”

Stepping away from Ellen, Amy looked toward Chloe. “I don’t
know. I don’t really have any plan but to keep going.”

Without warning, the weeks of running, hiding and trying to
protect Chloe caught up with her. Since the first Predator attack—before she’d
even known
what
it was that had attacked her or heard of Ilyria—she’d
been frightened to the bottom of her soul for Chloe’s safety and for her own.

Most nights, sleep simply eluded her, and when she finally
did slip into oblivion, nightmares woke her soon after. Shaking and covered in
a cold sweat, she’d jerk awake, smothering a scream, with the Predator’s face
still leering at her from her dreams. Leaden fatigue settled between her
shoulder blades, pressing down until taking a breath seemed to require more
effort than she could marshal.

She shook her head. “I just don’t know.”

“Are you all right? You look like you’re about to fall
over.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Ellen put her arm around Amy’s shoulders
and gave her a quick squeeze. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here to someplace
safe. At least with the Royals, there are enough people to stand guard while we
figure this out.”

Amy’s chin jutted up. “I can’t go to Ilyria.”

“I’m not asking you to and no one can make you. What I didn’t
know before was you can’t go through a portal except of your own free will.
They can storm around, bully and threaten us all day, but the only way we leave
this planet is by our own choice.”

“Are you sure?”

A sarcastic smile twisted the corners of Ellen’s lips.
“Positive. If it had been up to Amdyn, I’d have been in Ilyria a long time ago.
And you were never matched to a Royal in the first place, so they have even
less claim on you than they have on me.”

Amy took a deep breath and nodded. “It won’t take me a
minute to pack. We’re traveling light since my bag was in Aurora’s car.” She
scooped her shoes up and sat on the end of the bed to put them on.

“Amy?” Ellen’s soft voice wavered slightly in the quiet
room. Amy stopped in the middle of tying her shoelace and looked up when Ellen
didn’t continue.

“Yes?”

“I am sorry I wasn’t able to do a better job of keeping you
and Chloe safe, but I promise no one will make you return to Ilyria if you
don’t want to.” The words were stilted with strain, but the promise was firm.

The woman stood unmoving in front of her, more of a stranger
than a sister, but her sister nonetheless. “Ellen, none of this is your fault.”

Ellen didn’t respond and Amy tried to distinguish her
expression, but the backlighting from the bathroom made it impossible to see
more than the stiff outline of her body. After a moment, Ellen’s shoulders
relaxed, though when she spoke, her voice revealed that heart-deep ache Amy had
heard in her words before.

“Anyway, there’s no going back now. I’ll let them know
you’re coming and have them warm up the car for Chloe.”

Jordyn stood by the front bumper
of the Hummer, feet planted solidly shoulder width apart, arms crossed over his
chest. Cirryc was sitting behind the wheel of the vehicle, tapping out a rhythm
on the dash. The boy missed his quick glare since he leaned over to change the
radio station for the third time in the last five minutes. Cirryc was the
youngest of all the Royals with them and Amdyn had assigned Jordyn to finalize
Cirryc’s training during what they all hoped would be their last mission on
this planet.

Weeks ago, they thought they had
recovered the last of Magdalyne’s daughters, only to find out they’d been
wrong. He’d known deep in his gut it didn’t feel right—felt unfinished—but even
as head of the special military unit created for the Mystic daughter’s
retrieval, the final authority rested with the heirs to the Five Houses, and
more specifically, with Amdyn Kilth.

Once Amdyn had gotten his hands
on his mate, Ellyna, he hadn’t been thinking about much other than getting her
back to the safety of their homeworld. He hadn’t been willing to hear anything
that might contradict his belief that all the daughters had finally been found
and would soon be back in Ilyria.

After the years spent searching
for the women, Jordyn could understand the Royals’ readiness to declare the
search finished, but their desire to get their mates home had overridden their
normal caution and thoroughness. Thus the reason they were standing in the
parking lot of a cheap hotel at nearly four in the morning.

Jordyn glanced over at the other truck being driven by Kayn,
Amdyn’s other younger brother. Impatient by nature, Kayn had never been at
peace in Amdyn’s shadow and lately he’d been distracted and more contentious
than normal, which made him a true pain in everyone’s ass. A good man and a
strong soldier, he’d never shirked his duty to either the First House or his
brother, but neither did he ever miss a chance to be antagonistic.

Unlike Cirryc, Kayn was focused on the situation at hand,
leaning over the steering wheel of the idling Dodge truck, watching the parking
lot and area around the door Esraina would be coming out of. Ellyna sat ramrod
straight beside him, leaving the space on the bench seat nearest the door empty
for Amdyn, who was waiting by the hotel door. Esraina would ride in the Hummer
with Cirryc and him. Ellyna wasn’t happy about riding in a separate vehicle
from her sister, but it was basic safety protocol.

Rolling his shoulders, Jordyn looked down the length of the
parking lot. There was a lot of movement for so late at night and that didn’t
set well with him.

He caught Kayn’s gaze. Kayn’s expression had set into a deep
frown, but he shook his head. Jordyn turned and motioned for Cirryc to pull the
Hummer up behind the row of parked vehicles in front of the first floor doors.
They ran the risk of attracting attention by blocking the aisle if another car
came along, but Esraina wouldn’t be exposed for as long in the parking lot.

A shift in the shadows caught Jordyn’s attention as the door
to room 114 opened and a curly-haired redhead stepped out, her arms wrapped
around a blanket-covered bundle the size of a small child. A diaper bag was
slung over her right shoulder, a stuffed-full white plastic grocery bag hung
off one wrist, and she had a death grip on a stuffed chocolate-brown rabbit.

Amdyn turned toward Esraina as she exited the room and
missed the shadowed movement at the end of the building. With a single, short
sharp whistle, Jordyn had the entire team on alert and moving. As he sprinted
across the parking lot, Cirryc slammed the Hummer into drive, gravel shooting
out from under the tires as it swerved into place. Kayn brought the other truck
around behind the Hummer and Esraina came to a sudden stop, her eyes widening
in fear at the sudden action in the parking lot. Jordyn was already running
toward her when she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Get in the truck,” he ordered, signaling to Amdyn at the
same time that the danger was coming from behind him. True to his training,
Amdyn didn’t waste time questioning Jordyn or turning around to see for
himself, but immediately positioned himself between the threat and Esraina.

Jordyn yanked open the back door and between Amdyn and
himself, lifted and shoved Esraina and Chloe into the truck. The bags and bunny
tumbled to the floor as Esraina instinctively covered Chloe with her body and
Jordyn jumped in to shield Esraina. Cirryc had the truck moving before Amdyn
had slammed the door.

Once the door was shut, Jordyn pushed himself up on the seat
and looked out the front windshield. Esraina tried to sit up as well, but he
was still leaning over her.

“What is it?” she asked.

With a gentle pressure that belied the tension twisting
through his bones, he laid his hand on her back. “Stay put.”

Esraina turned to glare up at him, but she didn’t move.
Quick as lightning, admiration for her shot through him. Though it was obvious
that she wasn’t happy with his manhandling, she didn’t struggle against him or
defy his order.

Cirryc watched them pile in. “What’s going on?”

Before Jordyn could answer, a black beast burst from the
darkness, slamming into the side of the Hummer hard enough to rock the truck.

“Holy shit!” Cirryc’s exclamation was paired with immediate
action. He stomped on the gas pedal hard enough to press all of them back
against the seats.

“Watch your mouth,” Jordyn commanded, his voice low enough
to be heard, but not sharp enough to disturb Chloe. “There’s a child in the
car.”

Cirryc glanced back at Jordyn in the rearview mirror as he
tore through the parking lot. Surprise lit his eyes at Jordyn’s reprimand.
Cirryc was used to being on the receiving end of constant rebuke for any number
of neophyte mistakes and a youthful recklessness he hadn’t yet outgrown, but
even Jordyn heard the extra bite in his own voice.