39. Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Ben headed to the dining room even though the last thing he needed was a cup of coffee. He was jumpy and it had nothing to do with caffeine. Last night was still on a never-ending loop in his brain. When he saw Tessa in that dilapidated building standing in that open window, and then she fell, his heart had plummeted along with her.
What if he hadn’t gotten to her in time?
When she’d landed in his arms, he could breathe again. She could have died. He couldn’t…wouldn’t let her put herself in harm’s way again for him or for this clan.
He found Megan, Eric, Sienna, and Marcus sitting in the dining room eating some elaborate dessert.
“Marilyn bakes when she’s stressed,” Megan said. “Plus she heard that part of Ian’s prescription for Tessa was sweets, so she made three desserts. Do you want some?”
Ben shook his head.
“Where’s Tessa?” Sienna asked.
“She ate the late breakfast Marilyn sent up and then lay back down again. I had to practically tie her to the bed to rest. But she fell asleep within a couple minutes.”
“You’re good for her,” Megan said.
If he was so good for her, she wouldn’t be traumatized to begin with. Before he could respond, Evelyn rushed into the room, out of breath.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked.
“I can’t find Lily. Have you seen her?”
Ben’s stomach twisted as everyone jumped to their feet. Did the Templars get to her like they had Tessa?
“Where was she last?” Marcus asked.
“In her room. I went downstairs to have some tea with Marilyn, and when I came back, she was gone. I peeked into Bella’s room and Tessa’s to see if she might be there, but I didn’t find her. I’ve been going through the rooms and nothing.”
“Okay. Everyone split up. Megan, Sienna, and Evelyn take the upstairs. We’ll take downstairs,” Ben said. “Meet in the foyer in ten minutes if you don’t find anything.”
“I’m going to have the guards start searching the grounds,” Marcus said before he headed out the door.
Ben’s brain was fighting with his heart and telling him to calm the hell down. She was a little girl who could be playing a game of hide-and-seek. He would hold on to that until they had searched every inch of the house.
Ten minutes later they reconvened in the foyer with no Lily. Megan ran down the stairs and held up Lily’s sketch pad. “I found this under Lily’s pillow.”
The drawing was of Lily crying as a man held her. Ben was lying on his side with his stick arms holding his head like he was hurt or unconscious.
“Did the Templars take her?” Eric said. “How the hell would they have gotten into the house?”
“Or maybe she ran away,” Megan said. “If she saw Ben being hurt because he was trying to protect her, maybe she ran.”
Ben bent over. Jesus, was she out there somewhere alone trying to protect him? Hadn’t he and Tessa told her they would protect her, not the other way around?
Tessa walked down the stairs. “I can’t get any sleep if you all are running around the house. What’s going on?”
Ben took a step toward her. “Lily’s missing. We’ve checked the house, and we can’t find her.”
Color drained from Tessa’s face. “Where’s my phone?”
Megan rushed over to the table in the foyer and brought it back to her. “Here.”
“Let’s see if I can find her.”
“With what?” Ben said.
“A tracker app.”
“You put a tracker on her?” Eric asked.
“Yes, I put a tracker in her necklace and her stuffed dragon too. I did it when I first gave them to her. What if the Templars have her?” She clicked on her phone. “I see two pings on the app.”
They crowded around her phone.
“She’s in the valley,” Marcus said.
They rushed outside to the back deck. How were they going to do this?
“I’ll gather some of the guards, and we’ll follow you shortly.” Marcus jogged off.
Tessa held out her phone to Ben, her hand shaking. “Take it. I want to come, but I would just slow you down.”
Ben took the phone from her. Megan stepped up and wrapped her arm around Tessa’s shoulders.
“We’ll find her and bring her home,” Ben said.
Ben and Eric launched themselves into the sky, Ben’s heart thumping like it would burst, finally overriding the voice of reason in his brain. First Tessa and now Lily. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.
They flew for at least ten minutes, and Ben frowned at the dots on the phone. He called out, “Eric, the two dots are no longer together. We should almost be on top of one of them.”
They flew lower and landed in a small opening between the trees. Ben used his dragon sight until he saw a flash of purple. “There!”
Eric ran over to it and held up the dragon. “She must have dropped it.”
Ben studied the other blip on the phone. “The other should be close.” Except all he saw in front of them was a cliff face.
They flew up above the trees and looked on the top of the cliffs. “I don’t understand, where is she? How can she be below us?” Had she dropped the necklace too?
They landed on the cliffs, and Eric took the phone and his eyes widened. “I think she’s in the cave.”
Ben’s stomach dropped. “The one where I was attacked?”
Eric nodded. He leaned over the side. “The opening is behind the brush there.”
“I’m going in,” Ben said.
“It could be a trap,” Eric said as he texted someone.
“I need to get to her.”
“I’ll be right behind you. I texted Marcus and they should be here soon.”
Ben nodded and they flew over the cliff face to the brush. It had been moved slightly. He yanked it the rest of the way, furled his wings, and hunkered down to crawl into the cave. Damp air and dirt greeted him as he moved farther into the cave. He could hear Eric coming in behind him.
After a few feet, the cave widened and he was able to stand. He opened his dragon eyes to see in the darkened cave. It smelled and looked familiar in the inky recesses of his mind. “Lily? Are you here?”
Sniffling came from the far corner of the cave, and he spun toward the sound, his eyes focusing on the little girl crouched behind a large rock. He rushed over to her with his arms out in front of him. “Little bit, are you okay?”
Lily’s eyes widened when she saw Ben, and she reached for him as well. He swooped her up and hugged her to him, taking what felt like his first breath since Evelyn had told them she was missing.
He checked her over quickly for injuries and didn’t find any. “Did someone bring you here, sweetie?”
She shook her head.
“You came here all by yourself.” He could see where the back of her shirt was torn from her wings. “Did you see this place in one of your pictures?”
She nodded.
“You don’t have to hide, Lily. We won’t let anybody take you away, okay?”
Lily tucked her head under his chin.
Eric blew out a hard breath. “Let’s get her home.”
Ben took a few steps, but the cave walls started to spin and he stumbled. “Eric, take her!”
He handed Lily to his brother and grabbed his head as images flooded his brain, starting with the attack, and then more images bombarded him as they started moving, becoming reels of scenes that he recognized. His life coming back to him.
Way.
Too.
Fast.
They became a blur. He closed his eyes and prayed for the spikes of pain to stop in his brain.
He could hear Eric yelling and then other voices, but they couldn’t stop the pain.