When I arrive home, I’m tired but overall happy with my purchases. Dane will definitely be pleased; the hay, food and tools I’ve brought home are of very high value, and they will be useful to the farm. It’ll definitely go a long way to soothing his ruffled feathers because I made him spend the entire day with Luciana.
At the reminder of this, I feel a little bit of anxiety in my stomach. I knew I shouldn’t have pushed them together, but it’s important to me that my brother accepts Luciana. If things keep going the way they are, she’s going to be in my life for quite a long time. Dane needs to get used to seeing her. I trust her. He doesn’t have to trust her completely, but he does need to stop glaring every time her name comes up in conversation.
I hope their day went well. Knowing my usual luck, Luciana and Dane are not forever estranged, which won’t make things easy.
“I’m home?” I call out as I kick my front door closed. “Are you here Dane?”
There’s no answer. I frown. That’s odd, I definitely would have expected him to be home by now.
“Dane?” I call again.
That’s when there’s a frantic, hard knock at my door. I know that isn’t Dane, but the sound of it makes my heart drop, because it means that something bad has definitely happened.
I open the door and almost get a fist to the face before Luciana, the one desperately knocking, realizes it. I would have laughed if it wasn’t for the extreme distress on her face.
“Warwick!” she says feverishly. “You’re home, finally!”
“Yeah,” I say. “Is everything okay? Where’s Dane?”
Had he gotten himself killed again? I don’t like the thought of him going through that again. Then a truly horrific thought occurs to. I made Dane stay and help Luciana with the poison. What if he accidentally touched it?
“…then it just went speeding away,” Luciana says, stressed, and I yank my thoughts back on track. “I didn’t see any number plates or anything. By the time I got down the driveway, they were already gone! I don’t even have any idea which way they went.”
Wait… a car?
“What does a car have to do with Dane?” I ask.
“For heaven’s sake, Warwick!” Luciana says, loud and frustrated, and there’s true fear on her face. “Now isn’t the time for you to only half listen! Dane has been kidnapped!”
It feels like the rug has been pulled from beneath my feet.
“Kidnapped?” I ask incredulously. “Tell me again; what happened?”
“Dane left my place around mid-afternoon,” Luciana says, her shoulders slumping. “It was around four hours ago, now. He got all the way to the end of the driveway when this black car appears out of nowhere. They pulled him in and sped away. I got in my car and was prepared to go after them, but they were long gone by the time I left my property.”
This isn’t good. I run a hand through my hair.
“Did you see anyone in the car?” I ask sharply.
“The windows were tinted,” Luciana says, shaking her head. “And I was too far away. But I did see the arm that pulled Dane in. Whoever it was, he was wearing a black coat and had some sort of odd wrist band.”
My blood runs cold.
“Could you see any inscriptions on it?” I ask hoarsely.
“I’m sorry,” she sighs with a grimace. “No, I didn’t. The band was thick and the only reason I saw it was because the sun caught on it.”
It’s not much to go on. But it’s far too much of a coincidence not to be true.
Due to the fact that they deal with all manner of supernatural creatures, many of whom could and would tear them to shreds, Hunters and Supernaturals had learned to carry with them an array of protective materials. Of these, was a silver wrist band that was quite large and was covered by their coats. The band had tiny crosses etched into it, and it was supposed to be a last line of defence if they were caught by a vampire or a werewolf; all they would have to do is swing their arm up and they would have the beast either in their power or writhing in pain. Now if that Supernatural is a vampire or werewolf, well then that complicates things of course.
That means one of those two groups has my brother. If the Hunters have him, Dane is already dead. But if the Supernaturals have him…
I’m selfish enough to hope that he might be with them, if only because it means there’s a chance to save him. On the other hand, however, he wouldn’t be suffering if he was with a Hunter.
“Either Hunters or the Supernaturals have him,” I say tired.
I can’t believe this has happened. We’ve been so careful!
Then I pause. No… we haven’t. Or, rather, I haven’t. I dragged Dane into that fight with the poachers and got him killed, which forced him to rejuvenate. I took Luciana to the hill and showed her my wings in the open. I took her flying.
If either of them has found us, it’s likely my fault.
“What do we do now?” Luciana asks. “Do you know where they could be?”
“They wouldn’t have gone far,” I say. “It’s dangerous to transport a phoenix for any length of time. If Dane builds up enough heat, which we can do if we have around two hours of uninterrupted time, he could burn them all to a crisp in an inferno. But both the Hunters and the Supernaturals know this. The Hunters would have shot him the moment he was forced into the car, and they would just be transporting his body by now.”
Luciana pales at this.
“And the Supernaturals?” she asks, not sounding like she really wanted to know the answer.
I grimace.
“They would have travelled as far away as they could get and started the process to bring him under their control as soon as possible,” I say. I shake my head when she opens her mouth, anticipating her next question. “Don’t ask… I honestly don’t know what they do.”
I look out the window. The fact that there hasn’t been a massive fire nearby is an indication, to me, that Dane has not been able to fight back.
There’s a chance that I’ve already lost my brother.
The thought horrifies and infuriates me in equal measure. If I had just listened to Dane and been a little less reckless…
“I’m sorry,” Luciana says.
I pause.
“What for?” I ask, puzzled.
“If it wasn’t for me, the two of you would probably be safe,” Luciana says with a sigh. “But, because the two of you tried to help me, and because you and I became close, now the two of you are in danger.”
A different sort of horror overtakes me. I reach out and put my hands on her shoulders in a firm grip.
“This is not your fault,” I say firmly. “Not at all. Our actions were our own. I was the one who wasn’t careful enough. I knew the risks and I ignored them. Don’t blame yourself for this.”
Luciana grimaces, evidently not fully agreeing with me, but she nods.
“What’s the plan, then?” she asks, straightening. “Did you guys ever speak about what to do if you were found?”
“Honestly, most of our plans revolved around running as quickly as we could,” I confess. “The last thing either of us wanted to do was stick around.”
“But did you ever talk about what to do if one of you was captured?” Luciana asks persistently.
I close my eyes. I don’t want to say that we did, once, if only because I didn’t want to voice the conclusion we came to. But Luciana is looking at me expectantly, full of faith that there would be something we could do. She isn’t like us. She’s never had to live with the ongoing terror of being hunted down like animals just because she wasn’t human. She’s never had to make the hard decisions we have had to, or speak about what we would do in the terrible possibility that the Supernaturals or Hunters found us.
She’s never had to leave someone behind out of fear of being next, and being powerless to stop it.
“We did… once,” I finally say reluctantly. “We only had one solid plan.” I look her in the eyes. “Run.”
Her eyes widen. I see the moment that she understands. If one of us was ever captured, there’s no sense in them getting both of us. If the Hunters have Dane, he’s already dead, and searching for him now is pointless. If the Supernaturals have him, then it’s even more dangerous to stick around, because Dane would become a weapon that would be used to either kill me or capture me as well.
By the terms of our agreement, on that dark night so many years ago, I should already be gone. I shouldn’t be hesitating. By now, my car should be packed with essentials and I should already be on my way, heading somewhere that I can’t be found.
But I can’t make my feet move to do what we agreed on.
Dane is all I’ve had in this world. It’s just been him and me since that night the rest of our family was taken. We’ve done everything together. The idea of actually abandoning him in order to save myself makes me feel sick.
Before Luciana, I probably wouldn’t have thought anything of going after Dane straight away; even if I was killed or captured, at least I would be with him and I wouldn’t be left alone. But now I do have Luciana.
“I don’t know what to do,” I confess into the silence.
“What do you want to do?” Luciana asks immediately.
There’s really only one thing I want right now.
“I want to get Dane back,” I say, my voice cracking slightly.
She smiles.
“Then let’s do it,” she says.
Surprised, I look at her. There’s no judgement on her face. Her expression is open and understanding. And there’s determination to help me however she can.
In that moment, I know that I love her.
“Thanks,” I say, and my roiling emotions finally start to calm; I’m not alone in this.
Luciana nods. “First, we need to figure out where they would have stopped. You know this area better than I would. Are there any old, empty houses around, or areas that no one goes to?”
“A few,” I say, my mind spinning with possibilities. “They would have wanted to get out of Mundaring, at least, but there are a few places that I can think of on the outskirts that they might have gone to.”
“We’ll go to them one at a time,” Luciana says, nodding to herself. “Can we stop at my place first? I want to grab my medical kit, just in case.”
We both know that she won’t have much that would be of any use if Dane is either dead or under control, but I appreciate the thought all the same. I nod with a smile. I feel good about this, I decided as I stride decisively toward the front door. I’m going to get my brother back. I fling the door open.
And come face to face with Dane.