Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
She had no idea of how much time was passing…
or whether it was even passing at all. This dark room with the soft chaise lounge beneath her might as well have been in an entirely different dimension, one placed far outside the world she knew.
And even though it felt as if she had been here for a hundred years, she still wasn’t hungry or thirsty, had no need to go to the bathroom.
A blessing, maybe. However, even though she wasn’t experiencing actual thirst, she thought she could really use a drink right about now.
A very strong one.
And as much as she racked her brains and tried to dredge up even the smallest, most insignificant detail, she couldn’t seem to remember a single thing about her abduction.
She’d been walking back to her car — had even gotten close enough to spy the little white Kona waiting for her as she wound her way down the path that led to the parking lot — and then everything had gone black.
As far as she could tell, no one had been anywhere near her.
She hadn’t seen anyone, hadn’t heard anything.
Yet here she was.
Obviously, trying to retrace her steps wasn’t going to help her any, which meant she needed to come up with some other way to get out of here.
Earlier, she’d sent a tendril of a thought beaming outward, imploring Caleb to find her.
However, she hadn’t meant anything much by it, had only wanted to feel as if she was doing something, even if it proved to be a futile gesture.
All the same, she couldn’t help wondering if these strange powers that had begun to awaken might help her in ways she hadn’t yet imagined.
So far, she’d been more of a receptor, hearing Aaron’s thoughts in her mind. Why he’d been able to make such a connection with her, she wasn’t sure, but maybe the circuit worked both ways.
Of course, she had no intention of reaching out to Aaron, even though his mind — so far, at any rate — seemed to have been the most transparent to her. He might have been able to help, but she knew that Caleb was the one person who would have both the motivation and the means to come to her rescue.
She had no idea how to go about doing such a thing, though. It wasn’t as if she’d gone through some sort of apprenticeship with a Jedi master to help her gain control of her abilities.
No, this would have to be trial and error.
Well, if time didn’t exist here, then it wouldn’t matter how long all this might take.
Even though it was just as dark with her eyes open as it was with them shut, she went ahead and closed them anyway. No need to focus on anything at all except her breathing and the soft sound of her breath moving in and out, gentle and yet as sonorous as waves spilling across some secret shore.
Something about water….
She couldn’t say why, but for some reason, her mind filled with an image of the Colorado River as she’d seen it from one of the overlooks at Heritage Park, moving slowly but purposefully through the dry, golden landscape.
It had a rhythm of its own, one that spoke to her with the strong sureness of its current and the way it rippled in the sunlight.
The river. Yes.
Delia had no idea where the thought had come from, but it surfaced nonetheless.
They need you to connect them to the river.
Who were “they”?
Well, whoever had kidnapped her and put her in this strange prison, one that definitely wasn’t your ordinary basement oubliette.
Why they thought she had any particular abilities when it came to the Colorado River, she had absolutely no clue.
Sure, she’d always enjoyed the outings her parents had taken her on when she was a kid and they’d gotten a houseboat on Lake Havasu or had come here to Laughlin for a quickie weekend on the water…
or the one memorable time when she’d gone to Southern California and got to see the ocean…
but it wasn’t as if she’d ever had any particular affinity for bodies of water.
Pru was the Pisces, not her.
Still, the conviction remained that whoever was behind all this, they needed her for a particular reason that involved the river.
Something connected to these weird powers of hers?
Maybe. Delia couldn’t think of a single other reason to kidnap her. She was just an ordinary real estate agent with a fairly humdrum life…as long as you left out the part where one of her closest friends happened to be part demon.
Was there some connection to Alba Sanchez’s house?
The ghost had tried to communicate something about guarding the place, although, because the communication had consisted of only a word or two at a time and nothing about the context of those words, Delia believed she’d missed out on the actual meaning of that exchange.
Still, there had to be a reason for the strange symbols she’d found scratched into the kitchen cupboard and the master bedroom closet…not to mention the huge, glowing one that had appeared to her briefly as she stood there and stared at it in astonishment.
And although she didn’t have any idea where she was, at the very least, she could try to communicate that she was still alive, although trapped someplace very strange.
Caleb had always made it sound as if he didn’t know as much about the supernatural and the world of demons as he probably should, considering his heritage, but still, he might very well have a better idea of what this strange void was than she did.
Also, she had to believe he must have come in search of her.
She’d agreed to regularly check in, and although she had no idea how much time had passed since she was abducted from the parking lot at Heritage Park, she still knew Caleb wouldn’t have waited too long before he set out to discover what had happened to her.
What she needed to do now was visualize him and send all her thoughts to the person she saw in her mind.
While she’d never been very good at meditating, she knew she excelled at creating pictures in her head, something that came in very handy when walking into a space in a house and seeing how it might be updated or renovated.
So…Caleb Lockwood. Dark blond hair that was always a little bit messy and overgrown, although she guessed he paid a lot for cuts that would allow it to look like that.
Dark, strong brows and equally dark eyes, with lashes to match.
Those cola-brown eyes were usually dancing with mischief, just as his mouth was almost always curved in one corner, as though a smile was just waiting to break out.
Well, maybe she shouldn’t be thinking about his mouth. She needed to focus now, and not be distracted by what it might feel like to have those lips pressed against hers.
Now, though, she had a clear image in her mind, and she held it there as best she could, even as she focused every ounce of purpose and need and strength into a single thought.
Caleb, I need you to hear me.
He was just in the middle of trying on a pair of Levi’s — more for form’s sake than anything else, since he’d worn the same size of 501s for years — when he heard Delia’s voice.
Caleb.
Bewildered, he paused with one leg in the 501s as he looked all around him.
Crazy, right? Like Delia Dunne would be hanging out in the men’s dressing room of a Kohl’s in Bullhead City.
That voice had been so clear, however, that he couldn’t quite shake the feeling she was somewhere close.
“Delia?” he ventured.
“Did you say something?” came Ty’s voice from a couple of dressing room stalls down.
“No,” Caleb said quickly.
Maybe Ty believed him, and maybe he didn’t. The important thing was that he didn’t say anything else, and apparently returned to trying on his own set of clothes.
Time to go at this in a different way.
Delia? he thought. Doing so felt foolish, even though he knew she was psychic and that reaching out mentally was just as valid a way of communicating with her as any other.
Also, he so very badly needed to believe she was okay.
I’m here.
That mental voice sounded exactly like her, the pitch just a little low, smooth and friendly, the sort of voice he could see some early morning radio shock jock having as his female sidekick.
Where is “here”?
I don’t know. It’s dark. I’m sitting on something that feels like a bed, but I can’t see anything, and I can’t move.
Can’t move? he thought back, his mental voice sharpening. Are you tied up?
No, no. Just that I can’t leave this bed or chaise or whatever it is. And I’m not hungry or thirsty, even though I should be.
He had to admit that sounded weird. However, at least she wasn’t bound, although her description of her current prison didn’t exactly reassure him.
Do you know what happened?
Although he couldn’t see her, he got the impression that she shook her head.
I can’t remember anything, Caleb. One moment I was in the park, and the next I was here.
It was probably too much to expect that she might be able to provide at least a single clue about who her kidnappers were.
However, her description of her current prison made him think August Sellers or some other demon must be involved, since it certainly didn’t sound like a place that was bound by the usual rules of physics.
Don’t worry, he told her. I’m in Laughlin with Ty and Pru, and I know the three of us will be able to figure this out.
That’s good. Whatever’s going on, I think it has something to do with the river. I —
And just like that, the mental contact was gone. It almost felt as if he’d been holding hands with Delia, and then something or someone had pulled her away.
He wanted to cry out to her, but he knew that wouldn’t do any good. No, she was hidden from him again, but at least he knew she was alive.
“Ty?” he called out.
“Yes?”
“I hope you’re done trying on clothes,” Caleb said. “Because we need to talk.”