Page 52 of Love Lives
"We'll find a way." I squeezed her shoulder.
"We're just sitting here hiding! We should be out there with Caspar. We should--"
"We wouldn't be helping anyone," I reminded her, though I understood the sentiment. What good did it do us to learn that we had paranormal heritage when we couldn't utilize those powers? When we couldn't protect those we cared about? Elle didn't want anything to happen to Caspar and I...
I had to find a way to stop my vision from becoming reality. Aldrich had said our fates weren't written in stone. If that was true--and I hoped to hell it was--that meant there was still a way to save him.
I just had to drive him away.
For real this time.
* * *
Caspar didn't come home that night, and not the next day either. My sister put up a brave front, but I knew this had to be tearing her up on the inside. She wasn't someone who sat and waited, never had been. Even back when we were children, she'd always been the leader of her own little pack, getting into all sorts of adventures that dear old Dad would never have approved of.
I sat with her and used her as my reason not to spend much time with my vampire.
Until Puck dropped by toward the end of the day. He wanted to speak to me in private, so we moved out to the porch again.
"Did you hear anything about Caspar and the others?" was the first thing I asked. Elle had asked too, but the witch hadn't given her a real answer.
"There's a possibility that he's been captured," Puck said, turning to look at the house behind us. I realized what he wasn't saying. If Caspar had been taken prisoner, the location of this house might no longer be a secret.
"He wouldn't tell anyone." That was what I wanted to believe, at least.
"It might not be his choice," Puck reminded me. "Vampires possess all sort of magic too... and where you can't succeed with magic... they're not squeamish about less savory methods of interrogation."
I swallowed thickly, my throat almost too tight to breathe. "I hope you're wrong."
"We can't count on hope."
There was no way to deny that. My lips drew into a thin line. "What do you suggest we do?"
"Try to find out more about what's happening." He drew something out of his pocket. A bundle of herbs, or at least, that was what it looked like. I'd never seen these particular plants in my life, though. "Astral flowers," he explained. "They're commonly used by prophets and those who believe they have the gift of true sight."
"What exactly is it that you want to do with that?" I asked, glad that I hadn't taken a seat on the bench because this conversation was making me antsy and eager to move. I wasn't going to pace up and down in front of Puck, but at least I didn't have to be sitting.
He wanted to use those stupid plants on me, didn't he?
"You might be able to see more than just the future," he said. "The future is foggy and uncertain, the present, though? That could be useful indeed."
"Anyone can see the present."
"Certainly, but can they see what is happening in places they're not? Without the aid of cameras? No, very few people can achieve that, but you might be one of the lucky ones."
One of the lucky ones. Right. Not exactly the words I would use.
I eyed the bundle of herbs in his hand critically. Didn't Puck know that I wanted to havefewervisions, not more of them? Especially after the one I'd had about Aldrich… every time I thought of that one, my stomach seemed to want to eat itself.
But didn't I owe it to my sister to do anything I could to help?
Didn't I owe it to every other dhampir on this planet?
"How do I know those flowers aren’t toxic?" I asked.
"Oh, don't worry, they're perfectly safe." Puck waved the bundle around. "Not easy to acquire, either. You should be a little more grateful, really."
"You're not trying to make a deal, are you?"
