Hidden Sanctuary, page 16
Carefully, we circled what we could of the house, but there seemed to be a solid fence of light. There was no way through short of burrowing under the ground or growing wings.
“I don’t have the equipment to get past this,” Griffin said. “At least not with me. We have two choices. We announce ourselves or leave.”
I frowned at the options. I wasn’t ready to announce myself to the Marians until I knew their agenda, and I wasn’t leaving. “There has to be a way past. If we could just listen…”
He shook his head.
Efra’s charge for me to get the tiles back weighed on me.
There was a third option. Something I’d never tried before. Never considered until I met these women. Never thought about until I touched Ana’s baby.
When I had, I had felt its innocence. Sensed its purity.
Could I do the same with these women? Find out their intentions? It would be harder, since they were adults and inherently closed off, but it was worth a try.
I’d have to go deeper than ever, and at the same time, not so deep that I vaulted into vision land.
I sat down in the snow.
“What are you doing?” Griffin asked. “Staging a sit-in?”
I gazed up at him, knowing that after all was said and done, I’d have to explain myself sooner rather than later. I shuddered at the thought, but couldn’t let that stop me. “Just watch over me and, no matter what, please don’t panic. Just wait for me to wake up.”
“What do you mean, wake up?”
Unzipping my coat, I pulled my crystal free and gripped it between my fingers.
“What are you doing?” His voice rose.
I took a deep breath. “This.” Shutting my eyes, I cracked my mind open.
Even that was too much, I realized. The women were too many and the tiles too close. And combined, they were exponentially stronger.
Raw energy surged forward and widened the gap in my mind before I could close it, and blackness overwhelmed me.
Chapter 14
Aleta stood in front of the mosaic. Behind her, the cavern was silent with the depth of quiet that could only come from being housed in the heart of the earth.
She breathed deep of the cool air. She loved this place. To many, it might seem odd and somewhat sacrilegious to create such a beautiful work of art in the depths of a cave.
Mosaics belong in basilicas, they’d argue. Libraries. Public buildings. In the villas of the great patricians.
And they would be right—except this once.
Aleta ran a wrinkled hand over the cream-colored tiles that made up the face of the Madonna. This mosaic was different. Even uncompleted, it gave off an energy. An aura of power that increased with each additional tile.
It was exactly where it needed to be.
She sighed, wondering if she’d be alive to see it finished and feel the energy gain full strength. She’d been working on it for over twenty years, and there were still many bare patches. Regions that would remain unfilled until the couriers returned.
“Mistress?”
Aleta jumped. She had been so wrapped up in the mosaic, she had not heard her daughter-of-the-heart enter. “Yes, Maya.”
“She is ready.”
Doba. The girl had arrived yesterday from a faroff land, bringing tiles. They had not received a courier in over a year, so had greeted her arrival with great celebration.
“Bring her in,” Aleta said. The mosaic pulled her attention again.
Minutes later, there was a shuffling. A cough. Aleta turned.
Doba knelt before her. Smiling, Aleta pulled the girl to her feet. “Daughter. Do not kneel before me. We are equals. Bound by the purpose and design.”
Doba gave a nod, her shiny black hair falling to hide her face. Aleta pushed it back behind her ear. While Doba did not understand all her words, surely she understood the meaning behind them.
Doba gave her a shy smile and held out her hands. In them were seven tiles. Made of rainbow obsidian, they reflected the lantern light.
Aleta held out her hand, and carefully, Doba lay them in her open palm.
“Magnificent,” Aleta murmured, awed by their beauty. Carefully, she put bonding material on the back of the tiles and fitted them, one at a time, intoplace, filling the last blank spot that was the hilt of the Madonna’s sword. A wash of energy flowed through the room, almost knocking Aleta to her knees.
“Mistress?” Maya steadied her. “Are you all right?”
Aleta patted her protégée’s hand. “I am fine,” she said, but once again, she could only wonder what kind of power the mosaic would wield when completed.
And whether she would be alive to finish her life’s work.
I woke slowly. The vision of Aleta and the growing energy that came from the Madonna mosaic was the most powerful I’d felt to date. And that energy…I shivered at the intensity. It was stronger than I’d imagined, which made it even more imperative that I retrieve the tiles and return them to Efra.
But just my tiles. Not the rest that were in this house. And there were piles of them. Their energy tweaked the edges of my psyche.
I realized that my talent was growing. Amplifying and becoming more sensitive to nuance with each vision.
I wasn’t a dowser anymore. I was more. Much more.
Who would have thought?
“Medevac…” The word caught my attention as the vision faded. I realized I was not outside. Quite the contrary. I was warm, and I lay on something that was, most certainly, not snow.
“She knew this was going to happen.” Griffin’s voice broke through the final dregs of the vision. I was back. “How could she know?”
I opened my eyes, both annoyed that he’d not done as I asked, and a little flattered at the worry. “Because it’s not the first time,” I replied.
All heads in the room swiveled in my direction.
“I thought I lost you,” Griffin said, dropping to his knees beside me, taking my hand in his and capturing my attention.
I kissed his knuckles. “You really don’t listen, do you? I told you not to panic.”
“Not panic? How can I not panic when someone has a seizure on command?”
“It wasn’t a seizure.”
“What was it?” someone asked.
I looked up to see Eve-from-the-funeral standing over us, and realized I was inside the farmhouse. Though sparsely furnished and in need of some repairs, it was as I’d imagined. Warm. Lived in. One day, given time and money, it would be spectacular. A place to host the holidays with friends and family.
“No lies,” Griffin said. His gaze bored into me, and I realized how worried he must have been to bring me here and ask for help from the people we were spying on. People who might be helping Pauline.
“Okay,” I agreed. He deserved the truth, and a part of me knew that if I lied, he’d know it and I’d lose him. And losing him was scarier than the thought of losing the tiles.
My gazed shifted around the room, spotting the tall man from the funeral, Rhys. “This would be easier without an audience.”
No one moved. Instead, they waited. Expectant.
I shrugged. So be it. I tuned out the rest of the room. The rest of the world. They didn’t matter. Only Griffin, and my need for him to believe me, were important. I knew I’d have to start at the beginning. “Griffin, I haven’t been exactly straight with you.”
His right brow rose. “Oh really?”
“Yes, really,” I replied, ignoring his sarcasm. “There are things about me you don’t know. Abilities I’ve hidden.” I wondered how to put the long story into a few simple sentences. “Do you know what a dowser is?”
“No.”
“It’s someone who uses a stick to search for water,” Eve offered.
“Exactly.” I nodded gratefully. “Like in the movies. Someone uses a forked stick, and it points to the ground when there’s water there. People used to hire them to tell them where to dig wells.”
“Okay,” Griffin said, looking even more convinced I needed to go to the hospital. “Are you saying you’re a dowser, and that’s what causes these blackouts?”
“Yes and no. I am a dowser of a sort. But I don’t dowse just for water. I dowse for oil.”
His other brow shot up. I continued. “I also dowse for gold. Copper. Hell, diamonds if I wanted.”
“Really?” Griffin asked.
“Really.”
For a heartbeat, four sets of eyes stared at me in curiosity, combined with either awe or sheer disbelief.
But only Griffin’s opinion mattered. I gripped his hand, waiting. Would he believe me or would he abandon me? Please, be the man I need you to be.
As if hearing my silent plea, he cupped my cheek. “I’m going to need proof.”
My heart dropped.
“But it’s not the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard.” His acceptance was in the smile he gave me.
I grinned back, overwhelmed. He believed. Kind of. “Women,” he muttered. Shaking his head, he wiped a thumb under my eye. When he pulled it away, it was wet.
I hadn’t realized I was crying.
“A dowser,” Eve said, killing the tender moment. “While that’s all very interesting, it doesn’t explain the blackouts.”
“They’re caused by the mosaic tiles you have here.”
Eyes widened. It was probably a mistake to show my hand, but seeing the shocked expressions made it worth it.
“What do you mean, mosaic tiles?” Rhys replied.
He was a horrible liar.
I ran a hand through my hair. This was more complicated that I’d thought. “Everything has an energy. As trite as it sounds, everything is connected by that energy. The tiles give off a significant feeling. Hot. Bright.” I searched for words, but found few to describe how the tiles felt inside my head.
I continued, “Anyway, the blackouts normally happen just once, when I touch a new substance for the first time, but the tiles are unique. Different from anything I’ve ever encountered. Their energy overwhelms me if I’m not careful, and I black out.”
I glanced around the room and delivered the coup de grâce to my audience. “And that horde in the basement about did me in.”
Jaws dropped.
“Horde of what?” a familiar French-accented voice asked.
I turned to see Catrina standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“Tiles,” I replied. “From the enormous amount, I assume you’re planning to reconstruct the mosaic?”
She blinked in surprise.
“Pauline—how is she?” I asked before the woman could catch a mental breath and gain control of the situation. She seemed like the kind who demanded control when she could.
Her glance skated from me to Rhys and then back. “What—”
“Don’t bother,” Eve interrupted, looking resigned. “She knows…everything worth knowing.”
Catrina’s eyes narrowed. “Pauline is recovering,” she replied. Arms crossed over her chest like a shield, she managed to look even more unfriendly than she had at the funeral.
“Griffin and I need to talk to her,” I said.
“That is not a good idea,” Catrina replied. “She needs rest. Not a chitchat with you.”
I held my tongue before I said something that got Griffin and me tossed out the door. “She has something of ours,” I explained as politely as I could. “We want it back.”
“What?” Catrina asked.
“Our tiles,” Griffin said.
I looked at him in surprise. It wasn’t like him to lay his cards out on the table so abruptly. My revelation must have disturbed him more than I thought. As to whether his admission would help or hinder us, I prayed it was the former.
Not that I could complain. After all, I’d tipped our hand, too.
The mood in the room grew decidedly chilly. Whatever this group’s agenda was, it didn’t involve giving the tiles back to me.
“Your tiles?” Catrina snapped.
“Yes,” I said, all semblance of courteousness gone in an instant. “Our tiles.”
“Why should we give them to you?” she asked. She was abrupt, but I admired her frankness.
No one said a word, and I sensed that they wouldn’t until I offered more in the way of an explanation. “They weren’t hers to give,” I explained. “I plan to return them to their rightful place.”
“This is their rightful place,” Eve stated. Her eyes took me in. “You are a Marian, as well, aren’t you?”
I nodded. So they could sense other Marians. Or, Eve could.
“Marian?” Griffin whispered.
“I’ll tell you later,” I replied.
Eve continued, “As a Marian, you know the tiles belong here. With the others.”
“Perhaps,” I conceded, “but that wasn’t her decision to make, and it isn’t yours.”
Once again, silence took over. I refused to give in to the pressure. This time, it was their turn.
“What would you have us do?” Eve asked.
“Honestly? Give them back.”
“That is not an option,” Catrina declared.
Rhys drew a breath, as if to comment, and Catrina sliced a glance in his direction. His eyes narrowed, and I suspected that he might be willing to compromise if it ever came to that.
Catrina focused her attention back to me. Everything about her, from her stance to the set of her jaw, told me she was ready for a fight.
And I felt ready to give her one. They had the tiles. That wasn’t in question. If I could figure out where they were, maybe I could take them with Griffin’s help.
Toying with my crystal, I concentrated on the cellar. Tile energy filled my head. Stone. Ceramic. Ivory and bone.
All with the Marian energy but different.
None carried the familiar signature that was indicative of Efra’s tiles. Not even a shadow remained to show that they might have been present.
I scanned the entire house to be sure, but the tiles I’d come so far to find were nowhere to be found.
Disappointment crashed through me. We’d come all this way, and now, nothing.
I faced the women, hating to be the bearer of bad news, but hoping this knowledge might convince them to let me talk to Pauline.
“I don’t think my tiles are going to be an issue anymore,” I said.
“Why is that?” Catrina asked, her brow arched in displeasure.
“I don’t know what you think you have or what Pauline gave you, but I can tell you this much. They aren’t my tiles. They’re fakes.”
Chapter 15
“What do you mean, they’re fakes?” Catrina asked.
I met her angry stare with a steady gaze. I could understand her rage. No one liked to think they’d been made a fool, but that didn’t change my answer. “Just that. Whatever Pauline gave you, they were not my tiles. They were either counterfeit or a different set.”
“Then you can go away now,” she said, her mouth pressed thin. She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Adieu.”
It was Eve who focused on the bigger picture. “Can you prove what you say?”
“Probably not, since it’s my word against hers,” I answered, wishing I had a better reply. “But give me a handful of tiles, both the ones she brought and the real ones, and I can tell you which is which.”
Catrina looked to Eve, her expression questioning.
“Let her try,” Eve said.
Catrina turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen. She emerged a few minutes later. I felt nothing emanating from her other than her personal energy, and already knew the answer to their question.
Still, I figured I might as well give them a bit of a show.
I held out my hands, and Catrina dropped the tiles into my cupped palms. They looked like my tiles. Same blue coloring that reminded me of the desert sky. Same shape.
And fakes. All of them.
“Well?” she asked, green eyes questioning. “Which are real?”
I dropped them to the wooden floor and brought my foot down on them, crushing as many as I could in one motion.
With a cry, Catrina dropped to her knees, her mouth open in horror. “What have you done?”
“Nothing. They’re all fakes. Cheap imitations.”
She looked up at me, broken tiles in her hands, her face a mask of anguish. Rhys stepped forward to put a hand on her shoulder—perhaps as much to restrain her as to comfort her. “Are you so sure?”
“Yes,” I said, feeling horrible for putting her through this but knowing it was the best way. Besides, I was past subtleties. “Are you so sure they were real?”
Catrina looked at the pieces in her hands, and her eyes glittered.
“Well?”
She shook her head, but there was a hesitation. A glance. She knew. I didn’t know how, but she did. “Catrina, quit being a pain in my ass,” I said.
She dropped the bits to the floor. “I believe her,” she muttered, obviously not pleased with the revelation.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m more surprised that none of you knew.” I looked at Eve. Despite her heavy mental shielding, I sensed she was as gifted as I was in many ways. “Especially you.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Pauline just arrived. None of us really had time to verify her story. And besides, why would we think she brought us fake tiles? What’s the point?”
“I think I know why,” Catrina said. We all turned to her. “To convince us to bring her to this farmhouse, and more important, to what’s in it.”
The rest of the tiles.
Catrina’s eyes raged. “I cannot believe we fell for her lies.”
“We wanted to believe,” Rhys added. “She was hurt. Beaten. We did not want to accuse her of lying.”
I nodded in understanding. “You erred on the side of good. I get that. But she’s a liar and a thief and you would do well to keep an eye on her.”
“She told us Joshua hit her,” Rhys offered. “Some women—” he glanced at Catrina as if to assure her he did not think she was one of them “—can do foolish things out of love and fear. Maybe he’s the one we should speak with. Find out the truth.”
