Page 54 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
He placed a kiss on her temple, then slipped out of the room. Downstairs, Chelsey and Michael were awake and appeared to be in the middle of an argument. They fell silentupon seeing Rafael. Chelsey waved an angry finger in Michael’s face.
“You woke him up.”
“Good, because he needed to be woken up,” Michael answered grumpily.
Rafael frowned. “Have there been more demon sightings?”
Michael shook his head. “The special ops team lost the demon at the territory boundary with the other pack. I ordered them to return to town and thought you should know. Joshua also reported that the plumbing in the town hall has clogged. He’s got someone working on it.”
“All of which could have waited until tomorrow,” Chelsey grumbled. She pointed at Rafael. “I hope you’re letting Gwen sleep.”
“I am. I—” he started.
Gwen burst into the room. Her head swiveled as she took in her surroundings. “Where’s Lianne?”
“She was upstairs with you,” Rafael answered.
“She’s not there! She wasn’t in her room or the bathroom.” Gwen’s face lost all color. “She’s gone!”
Chapter 23 - Gwen
“Search the basement,” Rafael ordered Michael and Chesley. “Gwen and I will go outside.”
Gwen’s heart pounded in her throat as she shoved her bare feet into her shoes and tripped on her way out the door. “Lianne?” she cried into the dark night.
Was it always this dark? The street lamps were still glowing, but their pools of amber-colored light seemed to be so far away. The yard was deep in shadow, so that even the light spilling from the doorway was as muffled as her voice was. It was as though someone had wrapped a cloth over her eyes. The sky was overcast, no moon to be seen. Goosebumps rose over Gwen’s arms as she hurried down the driveway, checking behind the hedges while Rafael went around the house. Both of their calls rose in the air, but they seemed muted somehow, as though the night itself was muffling the noise.
The secondary barrier around the house wasn’t that big. How could she have disappeared so quickly? A prickling sensation swept between her temples, over her eyes. Gwen tasted bitterness at the back of her throat. She raced back down the driveway and rounded the house to the left, her gaze scanning the yard.
“Lianne!” she shouted. “Where are you?”
She paused, listening hard.
Nothing.
As she went to the other side of the house, the one with more bushes and flowers, it struck her that they were going about this all wrong. She could still hear Rafael’s voice calling toLianne. But he should take his wolf form. Use his nose to track her down—
Movement caught her eye. Gwen turned to see Lianne’s pale hair glowing in the night. She was back on the driveway, walking steadily forward in a strange, mincing way as though she wasn’t quite sure where she was going.
“Lianne!” Gwen shouted, going after her. “You turn around this instant and—”
The air left her lungs as she saw what Lianne was walking toward. The demon. It was silhouetted by the faint glow from the sky, illuminated by the light from the house. Its hands stretched out, splayed against the air. The barrier. Lianne was only a few yards away, walking steadily toward it.
“No! Lianne, come back!” Gwen screamed.
Lianne didn’t even twitch, and as Gwen raced toward her, a spike of pain shot through her temples. No, no, no! Not now! Her vision darkened, and suddenly she was back in the bedroom. She, Rafael, and Lianne were sleeping until Rafael woke. He left, and two tiny bits of shadow crept up the bedpost. One pressed into Gwen’s eyes, making her fall faster asleep. The other crawled into Lianne’s ear, and she sat up, eyes still shut, head and arms limp as she slipped from the bed.
She was still asleep.
The demon was puppeting her. Bringing her to it so it could kill her. The vision from the town hall welled in Gwen again, blinding her once again. Dammit! She tried to shove the vision aside, but the image seared itself over her eyes—Lianne lying on the ground, blood seeping into the mud, Rafael’s pained howl, and a deadness in Gwen’s chest—
“No!” Gwen screamed. She felt her magic burst to life inside of her, hot and bright, burning away the shade of a demon that was still pressed over her eyes. That was why she hadn’t seen Lianne, why—she snarled, shoving herself back to her feet. Two bright dots glowed somewhere in the demon’s face, and they moved ever so slightly, as though flicking from Lianne to Gwen.
Lianne had stopped walking. She shook her head slowly back and forth, but when Gwen called out for her again, there was no answer.
Rafael burst from around the house. He was in his wolf form as he loped down the driveway. Lianne jerked and started running for the demon. Gwen could barely breathe, was barely aware of her own feet slapping the pavement as she chased after them. Her hands shot forward as she called on the burning inside of her, some mother’s instinct. Light singed through the air. It passed harmlessly over Rafael and Lianne and struck with a blow into the demon’s chest. It released a pained howl.
The light lingered, zipping through and around the demon. Pieces of darkness broke from the main bulk of it, chasing the light. The demon clawed at the barrier, its terrible voice making Gwen’s ears bleed.
