I sucked in a ragged and pain-filled breath.
They had to find her.
Lallielle’s eyes never wavered from my face; we stared at each other for an endless period of time.
“Aribella?” Her voice shook. Tears filled her eyes but she stayed frozen across the room.
Brace re-entered the room, his presence drawing our attention.
I stood and moved toward him.
“Lucy?” I questioned.
He shook his head, sympathy obvious in his velvet eyes.
“I’m sorry. We’re still searching, but so far it’s just like Sam. She’s disappeared into nothing. Not one energy trace or clue left behind.”
“Did your men question the gate?” I knew how ridiculous that sounded.
Brace nodded. “Of course. That’s the first thing we did. No one has entered or left. We were the last ones.”
“Could the front gate be tricked?” I was panicking now.
He shook his head. “Technically, no. But we’re dealing with magic way beyond our comprehension, so I don’t know.”
The pain was a dull throb now, a consistent flow. I welcomed it. This I could use. The pain and anger would keep me going.
Brace finally noticed Lallielle.
“Lalli – I didn’t see you there. Have you met Abby? It’s her best friend who went missing. The men are searching.”
“Sister,” I said quietly.
Brace turned back to face me.
“Lucy’s my sister, my only family.” My voice was emotionless, robotic.
Brace nodded once, an acknowledgment that he understood.
A soft sob had him spinning around. He was at her side so fast it was almost instant.
“Lalli, what’s wrong?” He draped one of his strong arms around her shoulders as he comforted her.
“Where did you find them?” She didn’t take her eyes off my face, but her words were strong and steady.
Brace had a slight wariness in the depths of his eyes, but answered without hesitation.
“They were captured by my father in the royal forest; he was about to hand them over to the guards. You know how I feel about the Guardians.” He shrugged, looking closely between us. “Do you know each other?” He looked again, for longer this time. “I see a definite resemblance.”
I shook my head; I didn’t actually see much similarity. Although, if I dissected us a little, the heart shape of our faces was the same. And also our lips – slightly tilted up at the corners and unusually plump. Although Lallielle’s were minus my red tone.
And I didn’t care. Well, not about anything other than finding Lucy.
Lallielle spoke again, to me this time.
“I lost the trail of your essence on Earth; I thought the worst had happened.” She smiled. “But here you are ... perfect ... beautiful. More amazing than your father and I could have dreamed.”
The rush of deep anger took me by surprise. Part of it was for Lucy, but another part – this woman had dumped me on a war-torn planet, abandoning me, forcing me to drag myself to adulthood. She was rich, beautiful and privileged. The only thing her actions had ever given me was Lucy – and now this planet had stolen her too.
I stood across from them, staring daggers.
“You’re Aribella?” Brace queried, looking lost.
I found this odd; it didn’t fit with the general confidence he exuded.
I shook my head. “No. I told you before: I’m Abby. I don’t know who Aribella is.” And I really didn’t.
His moved from Lallielle’s side to sit on the couch. He patted the spot next to him. Ignoring this, I sat in the single-seater.
A slight smile tilted the corner of his lips. “Sammy told me the story of his sister Aribella. She’s First World’s chosen Empress.” His eyes scanned my face. “Her death announcement sounded when she was one, the night the royal stones disappeared.” He muttered to himself. “Also looks just like Josian.”
He turned to Lallielle and he didn’t look impressed. A lesser woman would have recoiled, but she met his glare.
“You knew she was alive, Lalli?”
The look hadn’t done anything but the hard tone of his voice had her flinching as if he’d struck her.
“Everyone had to think she was dead. In her short time here there were numerous attempts on her life.”
She sucked in a ragged breath, before continuing, her voice low.
“Don’t look at me like that, Brace. Sending Aribella away was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I gave up my baby to save her life. My ...”
She paused, her expressive light-green eyes shadowed with pain.
“A soothsayer warned me to not keep my daughter by my side, or she would not reach her fifth birthday. I was desperate; I had no choice. All that’s important is Aribella and the survival of our worlds.”