Wrath by Kristie Cook Page A

talked to Sheree and Vanessa?”
    “I was sort of interrupted,” he said with a pointed look.
    Guilt tightened my shoulder muscles. “Fine. I’ll call them.”
    A minute later, Sheree and Vanessa entered the suite, and through mind-talk, I told them about our plan. All of it. They both volunteered immediately. Problem solved.
    “Charlotte’s working on securing the safe house and the colony,” I told them. “As soon as it’s ready, we’re leaving. So be prepared.”
    They nodded and took off to help.
    “Now we can go.” I flashed to our home, more determined than ever to try anything that would lead us to my son.
    Going into his bedroom proved to be a lot harder than I expected, though. As soon as I crossed the threshold, my lungs seized up. Tears filled my eyes as they took in the mess—his typical mess showing that he’d been here recently, having fun, being himself. His natural scent of oranges and grass, mixed with a hint of Sasha’s baby-powder fragrance, lingered on the air. I strode over to his bed, sat down at the head of it, and pulled his pillow to my chest. I buried my face in it and inhaled. We’re coming, baby. Mom and Dad are coming for you.
    A weight settled on the bed with me, and I opened my eyes to find Blossom crossing her legs and fisting her hands into Dorian’s blankets.
    “His presence is so strong here,” she said. “Open your mind with me, and let’s search.”
    She closed her eyes and began chanting something under her breath. I closed my eyes, too, and opened my mind to her as well as to the area around us, scanning the mind signatures. I broadened the area in my mind, going east to the mainland, as I’d already done before, and still no Dorian signature. Blossom’s chant became more urgent, and I pushed harder, reaching out as far as I could go.
    Something suddenly nudged my mind north. Pushed it farther than I’d been able to go on my own. I continued scanning the tens of thousands of mind signatures, looking for the only one that mattered right now, until my head felt as though it were imploding. Another nudge north, but my mind couldn’t follow. Ignoring the pressure, I tried with all of my ability anyway, pushing, pushing, pushing—
    But I was jerked out of it.
    Panting, I opened my eyes to find Blossom staring at me with a frown.
    “North,” I mumbled. I tried to stand up, to get moving, but my head pounded a strong protest, keeping me seated. “We need to go north, right?”
    Blossom nodded, but her frown remained. “Are you going to answer that?”
    Her eyes glanced at my hip. I didn’t realize my phone had been buzzing in my pocket. The annoying sound stopped before I could answer it, but my screen showed Mom had called. Apparently a couple of times. Blossom and I must have been too out of it to notice.
    “We might have been able to go farther, if you want to try again,” Blossom said.
    I lay back on Dorian’s pillow and rubbed my temple. “I don’t think I can. I guess I’m the one not strong enough.”
    “Rest a moment and maybe—”
    My phone rang again. Mom wasn’t letting up. But I wasn’t in a good state of mind to talk to her, so my fingers fumbled until they found the ignore button.
    “I’ve never been able to go so far before,” I said. “Not even close. I can work on it, but I don’t want to sit here forever trying. At least we have a direction to head.”
    I sat up when Tristan entered the room with an obvious purpose to his stride, but when he looked around, he stopped in his tracks. His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath. He picked up a picture of the three of us on Dorian’s dresser, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he worked to swallow. He put it down and looked at me, and his hazel eyes focused, as though he finally remembered why he came in.
    “North’s going to be a problem,” he said, his voice thick. He cleared his throat. “Charlotte won’t buy into it.”
    “Why not? We’re about as far south as we can be, so