Page 37 of The Gathering Storm

Her cellphone rang, interrupting the steady flow she’d entered. She set down her pen, checked the caller, and relaxed into her chair. “Hello, Dani. How are you?”

“Great. Fine.” Dani sucked in a breath and let it out in a huff. “Ok, I’m lying. We’ve got a problem here.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, see. Remember when Drew dragged Bobby and Dave and Hiro to New York and beat the ever loving hell out of that rat bastard Marco?”

Did she ever. Their actions had cost Rebecca a few nights of sleep, worrying over possible retaliations. Regardless of what Marco had done to her youngest daughter, Retribution could not be taken lightly. “What of it?”

“Well, here’s the thing. Lukas is here with Stephen.” Music squawked in the background, a horn honked, and Dani’s voice lowered to a hiss. “Marco cornered Lukas a couple of days ago, had a squad of goons with him. Don’t know how he got them to turn on his brother, but they beat Lukas pretty badly. He’s lucky to be alive.”

Rebecca sat straight up in her chair, already fumbling for her keys and purse. If Lukas died, they lost more than a stable leader at the head of their enemy, or stable enough. They also lost their only key to gaining the Oracle’s trust. “Where are you?”

“On our way to Tellowee.”

“Get him to the hospital in Clayton. Have Dr. Phillips look after him. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Rebecca hung up and hurried out of her office as fast as her heels could carry her, snagging her overcoat on the way. Her secretary merely waved as Rebecca flew past, and once again, Rebecca thanked her lucky stars the People reared their children to smoothly handle whatever situation was thrown at them.

Half an hour later, she marched into the Emergency Room in the nearby town’s only hospital. Dani and Dave were sitting in the waiting room on either side of Lukas Alexiou, who was barely recognizable beneath the bruises swelling his face. His young nephew sat on Dani’s lap, holding tight to Rebecca’s adopted daughter, his eyes closed.

Dani glanced at Rebecca, then down at the boy sleeping soundly in her lap. When she spoke, her voice was calm and even, hiding any emotion she may have felt. “He’s a little out of it right now.”

“Nonetheless.” Rebecca knelt in front of him and placed a gentle hand on Lukas’s jaw. “Can you hear me, Mr. Alexiou?”

His face turned toward her, though his eyes remained swollen shut. “Nala.”

“She’s safe. We’re getting help for you.”

“Nala,” he repeated, and struggled against the restraining hand Dave placed on his arm. “Stephen.”

“We have him. He will receive the best care, I assure you.”

Lukas sagged against Dave. Rebecca withdrew her hand and perched on the chair next to Dani. “Why did he come here?”

Dani shrugged. “Nowhere else to go, I guess. He trusts Dave.”

And wanted to secure his position with Nala, as he called the Oracle. “Still, I question his arrival now of all times. How certain can we be of his claims?”

“Certain,” Dave said in that low, gruff voice of his. “Marco’s a dick.”

“You should’ve taken care of that when you had the chance,” Rebecca snapped, then hissed in a breath, reining in her frustration.

“Thought we had.” Dave’s massive shoulders rolled under his thin jacket and he scowled at Rebecca. “Pinico’s probably backing him.”

The uncle, brother to Lukas and Marco’s father. Rebecca rubbed cold fingertips into the headache forming behind her brow. Just what she needed, a rift in the Shadow Enemy. What else could possibly go wrong now?

“Sanctuary,” a rough voice croaked.

It took Rebecca a moment to understand that Lukas had uttered it. She glanced at Dani, one eyebrow arched, and Dani shook her head and shrugged.

“Please,” Lukas said. “Stephen.”

Rebecca sighed. If Lukas had really come here asking for Sanctuary from his family, how could she possibly turn him down, particularly with a young innocent in tow? The People needed Lukas’s connection with the Oracle, needed him to help them reach the woman they’d revered through the centuries, if only to learn who she really was. She had so much to teach them, did his Nala, but without him, they would be utterly lost, for Nala refused to speak to any save him.

Ethan strode in just then carrying a duffel and wearing street clothes. He jerked his chin at Rebecca. “Give me ten. I’ll go ahead and have him moved to a bed.”

“Thank you, dear.” Rebecca retrieved her cellphone from her purse and stood. To Dani, she said, “I’ll be outside in my car. Come get me if there’s any change.”

Dani nodded and tucked Stephen closer to her, and Rebecca left, her mind whirling through all the things she needed to do to prepare Tellowee for providing Sanctuary to the leader of their enemy, should such a possibility come to fruition.

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