There was a murmur of voices beyond the door and soon someone was going to be breaking down the door if they didn’t unlock it. Louise rushed across the room, turned the lock and flung open the door.
Louise had expected Anna. It was Celine, gazing down at Louise with dark suspicion. Behind her was a small herd of the male drivers who doubled as bodyguards. Louise managed surprise on her face even as she realized that the fact that Anna wasn’t there meant real danger for the twins. There were too many adults for the children to put up a fight and have any hope of winning.
“Where’s our grandmother?” Louise hated that she couldn’t keep fear out of her voice. Jillian could have done it.
“Why did you lock the door?” Celine attempted to brush past her.
Louise held her ground the best she could since the female was nearly two feet taller than her. She wanted to keep the door between the secret elves and everything dear to her. “Where’s Anna?”
Celine put a hand on Louise’s shoulder and shoved her back. “She’s in the hospital.”
“What?” the twins and the babies all cried.
“She was fine yesterday!” Louise shouted to cover the babies’ slip. “What did you do to her?”
“Humans get old and die,” Celine snapped and then alarm flashed across her face as she realized that she had all but admitted that she wasn’t human. “She collapsed yesterday afternoon while she was at a business meeting. Someone there called an ambulance instead of her drivers.”
And what did Celine think the drivers would have done? Brought Anna back to the house to die instead of to the hospital?
Louise clung to her anger despite the fact she knew that Ming needed Anna. If she let her rage slip away, all Louise would be left with was the knowledge that they were alone in the house, surrounded by powerful enemies.
“Come with me.” Celine reached for Louise seconds after the girl slid backwards, leaving the female snatching at air.
“Where to?” Louise asked in as steady a voice as she could muster.
“We don’t have to listen to you.” Jillian thumped her baseball into her ball glove.
“No!” Louise cried out as everything unraveled. She jumped forward and took the slap that Celine aimed at Jillian, turning with the force so it looked more real, just like Mr. Howe taught them in the fighting classes. Even then, the hit was hard enough to make everything go black for a moment.
When Louise could see again, Jillian was pulling her backwards, shouting, “Don’t hurt her! Don’t hurt her, you witch!”
Tesla was standing a foot closer than before, whimpering softly.
“Shhhh.” Louise tried to calm all her siblings, making a “sit” motion in one hand at the babies while holding the other up to keep Celine’s attention. She could feel blood trickling warmly down from her nose and taste it her mouth. “I’m okay. Don’t cry.”
Celine watched them closely with a slight pleased smile. “Hurt one, hurt them both. Good to know.”
“We’ll go with you,” Louise stated as calmly as she could. She pressed the back of her left hand to her nose to hide the blood from her siblings. Her hand was shaking and she couldn’t stop it. When she sniffed, the hot metal taste of blood filled her mouth. Every word, every motion, seemed tied to infinite possible outcomes. To cry. To fight. They all tumbled into dark destruction. She had to stay calm. She had to do what Celine wanted. It was the only path that led toward escape for all of them. “Please. We’ll do what you want us to do. Just don’t hurt us.”
Celine nodded smugly. “Good. Come with me.” She headed toward the open door. She pointed at two of the bodyguards and indicated that they were to follow. The others she pointed toward the walk-in closet. “Start in there.”
Jillian whimpered and clutched Louise in a death grip.
“It’s okay,” Louise said even though she wasn’t sure. She had to keep the babies from doing anything to draw attention to themselves. “Don’t be scared. We’ll be fine. Just wait and see.”
Tesla sat down; trusting that they’d return. Louise could only hope that she could keep her promise that she and Jillian would figure a way out to save them all before the secret elves realized what the robot held inside it.
* * *
Yves and a dozen of the male bodyguard drivers were in the foyer. Two of the guards stood on ladders, carefully lowering a large painting they had just taken down off the wall. The males worked in near-reverent silence. Yves’s rich voice filled the echoing foyer like an actor on a stage.
“Make sure they understand I want a cashier’s check, not money wired to an account. If you need to, tell them the truth: I don’t trust electronic transactions. I never understood how the Knights Templar sold the idea of banking.”