Vital Found (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  The pure power within me hummed faintly, and I tightened my grip on Dot’s hands, putting all my focus on sending the Light to where we touched. With any one of my Variants, it didn’t need to be directed. As soon as we had skin contact, it poured out of me and into them. I’d spent months learning how to stop the Light.

  I’d never had to push it into someone. It was easy enough to get it to come to my hands, ready to release, but once it realized it wasn’t one of my guys on the other side of the contact, it slammed the brakes on. It felt as if I were trying to push a toddler through the door to the dentist’s office, and it had a death grip on the doorframe.

  I focused on my breathing and reminded myself that I was in control here. Yes, the Light was pure, unadulterated power, but it was at my mercy. I got to choose when it flowed into me, and I got to choose when and how much of it flowed out. Most importantly, I got to choose whom it went to.

  I was choosing Dot.

  Slowly, reluctantly, the Light bent to my will.

  Dot gasped, and her hold on my hands tightened, but she didn’t say anything. She was controlling herself like a champ so I could focus. I smiled a little and put my full concentration back into what I was doing.

  Thankfully, though, it didn’t require much more hard work from me. The Light flowed just fine now that I’d established the connection. With my guys, it would gush out of me like a dam breaking anytime I let it; with Dot it was more like the flow of a shower in a cheap motel room with really bad water pressure—underwhelming but dribbling through steadily.

  After a few minutes, we released each other’s hands, and I opened my eyes. Dot was beaming. It was so good to see a genuine smile on her face that I couldn’t have stopped returning it if I’d wanted to.

  She launched herself at me, almost knocking me flat on my back, and squeezed with all the might her delicate arms could muster.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she fired off, then shot up and ran to the window. Throwing it open with more than a little dramatic flair, she leaned out and shouted, “I’m back, baby!”

  I laughed and lifted myself onto the bed next to Squiggles. The little ferret was bobbing up and down on her hind legs in excitement. Dot rushed back to the bed and leaned down.

  “I’m back,” she whispered before planting a kiss on Squiggles’ head. The furry noodle did a weird excited turn on the spot, and Dot laughed. “I know, right?” she replied to whatever it was Squiggles had communicated to her.

  Before I could jokingly ask if they were talking about me, Dot rushed back to the window and held her arms straight out. What followed was like a scene from a Disney movie.

  All manner of woodland creatures—squirrels, mice, a racoon, and various brightly colored little birds—streamed in through the window. The birds perched on Dot’s arms, and the furry friends crowded around her feet.

  I sat on the bed, frozen, my mouth hanging open. Apparently Squiggles wasn’t as impressed as me though, because she didn’t rush forward to join the fun. When an actual bald eagle landed with a big flap of its impressive wings, Squiggles rushed up my arm and perched on my shoulder, giving me a very humanlike “are you going to do anything about this?” look.

  “Let her enjoy it,” I stage-whispered to the ferret. “I’ll protect you from the . . . eagle.”

  When I looked back to the window, however, a snake was slithering its way in. I shot up and scrambled backward until my back hit the wall. One hand held on to Squiggles—who was trying to hide her face in my hair now that there were two potential predators at the window.

  “Dot!” I said as firmly as I could, but my voice still wavered as I kept my eyes glued to the snake that was now halfway into the room.

  She ignored me.

  “Dorothy, cut it out!” I knew the use of her full name would annoy her enough to get her attention, and she looked at me over her shoulder, amusement written all over her face. “Squiggles is scared,” I finished lamely, putting my attention back on the snake.

  With a roll of her eyes, Dot turned back to the window and dropped her arms. Almost immediately the eagle flew off, the snake began to slither back out, and all the other creatures scurried off.

  I took a breath, letting the tension in my shoulders release, and gave Squiggles a soothing stroke down her back.

  “I don’t know what the big deal is. We were just catching up.” Dot waved casually in my direction as she wandered over to sit on the bed, enthusiastically biting into the cold pizza.

  Squiggles untangled herself from my hair, scampered down my leg, and went to stand in front of Dot, making a sound that was something between the squeak of a mouse and the purr of a cat.

  “You’re being dramatic.” Dot rolled her eyes as she answered whatever Squiggles had said.

  Squiggles ran to the adjoining bathroom, let herself in through the crack in the door, and somehow managed to slam it.

  I chuckled and, after checking that the snake really had slithered back out, pushed away from the safety of the wall. “How you feeling?”

  Dot was stuffing pizza into her mouth so fast she was on her last slice already. “Arrazing!” she said around a giant mouthful, then paused, her eyes suddenly going sad. She swallowed slowly, staring very hard at the floor in front of her.

  “Hey?” My brows furrowed. “What’s going on?”

  “I feel amazing,” she repeated, but her tone suggested the complete opposite. “It feels so good to have my full ability again after all this time, but . . . Charlie.”

  She looked up at me, her eyes wide.

  “Oh, Dot.” I sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Charlie wouldn’t begrudge you this. You know he wouldn’t. He might give you shit all the time, but really, all he wants is for you to be safe and happy. Wherever he is, he knows we’re doing all we can to find him.”

  “I know. I just feel bad that for a moment there, I forgot about him. I felt so good and full of Light that it was all I could think about. I’m a shit sister.”

  “No, you’re not!”

  “Yes, I am!” She was on the verge of tears again.

  Arguing with her wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Dot was a proactive, energetic kind of person. She was a doer. So I would give her something to do. “You know what? No. I’m not going to let you wallow.”

  “But . . .”

  “No!” I cut her off sharply. “We just had a win. I mastered a new part of my Vital powers, and you’re fully juiced up for the first time in months. You might be feeling guilty, but I’m not going to let you dwell on it. Now, the boys are all gathered around the dining table downstairs discussing strategy again. So if you want to do something about Charlie, let’s go down there and help.”

  By the time I finished my tirade, her tears had stopped, and she was sitting up a little straighter, so I threw in a joke to lighten the mood. “Help or get in the way and annoy them. Whatever.”

  She giggled softly, nodding, then stood up and took off, finishing the rest of her pizza as she walked.

  Five

  The guys were sitting where I’d left them, empty plates and napkins the only remaining evidence of the several pizzas. Lucian leaned back in his seat at the head of the table, arms lightly folded over his chest, his intelligent eyes observing the heated conversation Alec and Tyler were locked into.

  They were on opposite sides of the table, both leaning on their forearms. They weren’t yelling, but their shoulders were tense as they fired arguments at each other. As I walked past Tyler’s chair, my fingers actually twitched—that’s how strong the urge was to rub some of that tension out. But I held myself back. We didn’t have that kind of relationship.

  Why didn’t we have that kind of relationship again? Why was it that one of my Bond members didn’t want to touch me unless it was completely necessary? I shook my head, trying to sweep those thoughts away—now wasn’t the time.

  I plonked myself down next to Josh, and his hand immediately landed on my knee, giving it a
gentle squeeze. He met my eyes with one of his knowing half smiles, and I wondered how obvious my thoughts were.

  I returned his smile and, making sure my Light was locked down, placed my hand over his, reveling in the moment of intimacy.

  “Alec, we’ve tried everything else.” I’d so rarely heard frustration in Tyler’s voice that he immediately had may attention.

  “No, we haven’t,” Alec was quick to reply. “We’re still waiting on intel to come in. Uncle Luce is pressing some of his other high-up contacts, and we’re working on setting up an exchange of intel with some of the European governments. This shit takes time. We need to give it more time.”

  “It’s been months.” Now Tyler just sounded defeated. Again, I ached to soothe him in some way, but I threaded my fingers through Josh’s instead.

  “I can’t believe you’re even suggesting this, Gabe. Aren’t you supposed to be the logical one?”

  “We’ve explored all other avenues. And I appreciate that new info may come in anytime but . . .”

  “But Charlie may not have time,” Dot finished for him, making our presence known to everyone who’d been too absorbed in the argument to notice.

  “Dot.” Alec turned to his little cousin, the hard expression on his face softening considerably. “I know this is hard for you to listen to. Maybe you should—”

  “We’re not leaving,” I interrupted. “We need to feel like we’re helping too. Dot needs this.”

  Alec didn’t look in my direction, but a muscle in his cheek twitched. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt that he’d been soft and caring toward Dot but the mere sound of my voice had him looking as if he wanted to hit something. There was only so much rejection a girl could handle, especially when it came from people who were literally made for me, supernaturally tethered to me.

  “Do we even know where to find a Lighthunter?” Ethan’s booming voice cut in, preventing an argument before it started. “I thought they were, like, a fairytale or something.”

  “Is this what it’s come to?” Dot dropped her head into her hands. “Gabe, the most logical person I know, suggesting we use a Lighthunter. Fuck . . .” She started muttering to herself about Charlie being doomed and everyone losing their minds.

  “There is some historical evidence suggesting they weren’t just myth and legend,” Josh explained. “I’ve been doing a little research since Gabe first floated the idea the other day, but there isn’t much available from reliable sources and not much that’s recent. The historical texts all point to them being real though.”

  “But even if they were, Josh,” Alec argued, “you’re talking in the past tense. There’s nothing to suggest they’re legit in this day and age.”

  Tyler crossed his arms. “That’s not entirely true.”

  “Hold up!” I had to raise my voice to get everyone’s attention. “What’s a Lighthunter? I was raised as a Dime, remember?”

  “Evelyn, please don’t use that word,” Lucian objected.

  “Sorry,” I whispered, appropriately chastised. Still, it made me smile a little. It had been so long since I’d had a parental figure in my life.

  Lucian cocked his head at me, and his lips twitched too. Apparently he had some of Josh’s talents for deciphering my feelings.

  “The concept of the Lighthunter has been part of Variant culture and lore for thousands of years.” Tyler stepped into his tutor role seamlessly, explaining everything in the same patient, calm voice he used during our study sessions. “In the last hundred years or so, it has fallen into the realm of myth.”

  “OK . . .” I nodded for him to keep going.

  “According to legend, Lighthunters are Variants who have a special connection to the Light.”

  “Isn’t that just what a Vital is?”

  “Not like a Vital. Vitals have access to the Light and can channel it, passing it to Variants. Lighthunters don’t do that. Their connection is less direct in some ways and more . . . informative in others.”

  I was fine with complex mathematical concepts and scientific theories. Those things were based in logic. This sounded more like fantasy.

  At the confused look on my face, Tyler quickly continued. “Think of it like this: You, a Vital, can feel the Light as it flows through you. A Lighthunter can see it and sense it. They can take one look at a Variant and be able to tell who their Vital is and vice versa. Some of the texts suggest that with a deeper understanding of a particular Variant or Vital and their ability or Light access, respectively, they can locate members of the person’s Bond.”

  As the implications began to sink in, I looked at Dot. She still had her head in her hands.

  “For centuries Lighthunters were a revered part of Variant society,” Josh jumped in. “They were instrumental in helping Variants and Vitals find each other. In a time when travel was limited to horse and cart, it was much more difficult for people to leave their village and ‘network’ in an effort to find their Bond. Having someone to point you in the right direction was incredibly useful, and Lighthunters were paid handsomely for their services.”

  “How exactly did they do that? Were some of them better at it than others? Was there a limit on the distance?” I fired off, my curiosity piqued. Tyler gave me an indulgent smile; I often did this in our sessions when something interested me.

  “The historic texts aren’t too clear on the specifics,” Josh said, “and I’ve yet to find a text dedicated to the subject. So far it’s been just obscure mentions here and there. Around the turn of the century, any mention of Lighthunters seems to just vanish. Until the forties. Some World War II books mention them being used to identify Variants in Germany. And we all know what the Nazis did to known Variants in the thirties and forties.” Josh’s beautiful green eyes turned sad, and I gave his hand a squeeze.

  Now that I had a basic understanding of what we were talking about, I tried to bring the conversation back to the present. “So, how can this help us with finding Charlie?”

  At the mention of her brother’s name, Dot sat up straighter. She looked very skeptical but at least a little curious too.

  “There are people who claim to be Lighthunters still,” Josh went on. “They’re hard to—”

  “Yeah, but they’re all nutcases! Carnies and fraudsters,” Ethan interrupted. His deep voice sounded serious, rare for him, and I was reminded once again how much Charlie’s disappearance was affecting everyone.

  “Exactly!” Alec sounded as if he’d been bursting to interrupt the history lesson. “The scum who call themselves Lighthunters these days are no different from their human equivalent—psychics, clairvoyants, and mediums. They dress like hippies and prey on desperate young Variants, giving them some vague bullshit that’s enough to give them hope while taking all their money. I don’t even know why we’re still talking about this!” He threw his hands up and leaned back in his seat.

  Lucian gave him a weird look. “Calm down, Alec. We’re only having a hypothetical discussion.” He looked baffled by his nephew’s behavior, although I was under the impression this was just Alec’s default setting. I did my best to ignore him and focus on what Tyler was saying.

  “We’re talking about it because it’s time to think outside the box, and I believe there’s enough historical evidence to suggest Lighthunters were real. We don’t know why they disappeared some hundred years ago, but I do think it’s possible a few remain who are authentic. Also, I’ve already reached out to some contacts who can put me onto an individual who I believe could be the real thing.” He delivered the last part in a slight rush, as if trying to get the words out before someone interrupted him, but his voice was still confident and sure.

  There was a moment of silence.

  Lucian’s brows rose in surprise. Alec stood from his chair slowly, the muscles in his neck bunching, his jaw tight. Something in me was pulled to him in the same way I’d been pulled to soothe Tyler, and I squeezed Josh’s hand again.

  “You didn’t. Please tell me you did
n’t.” His intense blue-eyed stare was fixed on Tyler, who remained in his seat.

  “I did. I think it’s worth a try.” I was impressed by Tyler’s calm reply; I’d been on the other end of Alec’s icy stare.

  “You’re a fool.”

  “Alec.” Lucian winced as Dot sucked in a breath on the other side of the table, her hands flying to her head.

  Alec looked between them, his eyes widening momentarily before he swore profusely and walked out of the room. Apparently he took the pain with him, because the only two people in the room affected by it visibly relaxed.

  “Tyler, I think you’d better explain.” Lucian had his serious, director-of-an-international-security-firm face on.

  “Some years ago, through some contacts at The Hole”—he sighed and Lucian frowned, apparently not liking where this was going—“Alec and I made contact with a person claiming to be a Lighthunter. It was through underground channels, and it was not easy. This was not some hack at a carnival with a table you could just walk up to. That, combined with the fact that she couldn’t help us—and said so instead of taking our money—makes me believe she may be the real deal.”

  Everyone at the table was quiet, their expressions thoughtful and a little sad. No one was looking at me except Tyler, who seemed expectant—as if he knew I would ask a question. Of course I had many, but one was at the forefront of my mind.

  “Why were you two even looking for a Lighthunter?”

  “He was trying to find you,” Tyler said in a quiet voice.

  I frowned and looked at the table. It didn’t make sense. Why had Alec been looking for me? He hated having me around, hated the fact that I amplified his ability. So much hate . . .

  “He never told me about this,” Lucian said quietly.

  “Probably because it was a bust. Like I said, she couldn’t help us. She took one look at him and said no. He was convinced it was because of his ability—that she was keeping him away from his Vital so his ‘curse’ wouldn’t be allowed to grow.” He did air quotes around the word curse. “She explained it was because the Bond wasn’t fully formed yet. She could indicate a general direction but couldn’t pinpoint a specific location. The signal was just too weak. You know what he was like—he stormed out of there before we could even have a proper conversation, and that was the end of it.”