I’m fiercely ripping wood from the floor when I hear Curry. “Chansey …” He’s wearing a blank stare.
I walk to him and snap my fingers in front of his face. “What is it?”
“She’s safe because she’s channeling me.” I don’t know what that means. “She’s letting me know she’s okay.”
I’m immediately alarmed because my agápe isn’t channeling me also–not that I would know what it felt like if she did. “I can’t feel Avery doing anything. Does that mean something’s wrong?”
“No. You and Avery haven’t figured out how to control your bond yet. It’ll come with time.”
I hope I get the chance to learn more about our bond. “I swear he won’t come out of this alive. I won’t stop until he’s dead.”
“You can’t fixate on him if you want to reach her,” he says. “Close your eyes. Try to revisit that place where only you and Avery reside when your bond is at its strongest. Remember the feel of your connection and feed it with your love. ”
I do as Curry instructs and I get nothing. Not a single thing. And I feel like an epic fail for my agápe.
“Keep yourself receptive. Think of her while we work to tear this place apart. I’m sure my wife is instructing her on how to do it and if she’s anything like Chansey, she won’t stop until she’s able to connect with you.”
I return to ripping up the floor. “There’s no way I’d be thinking of anything but her.”
We work for hours tearing the house apart, leaving nothing unturned. The once grand home now resembles a demolition site and it’s a shame. It was so beautiful. “We’ve shredded every piece of furniture, every floor, every wall covering. I know there’s a clue here somewhere. There has to be. All of this can’t be for naught.”
I’m studying the only untouched piece remaining in the room when I hear Avery’s voice behind me. “Your clue to finding her is in the mantle.”
I spin around at the startle of her voice and she’s standing across the room. Her face is oddly void of emotion. “Thank the gods you escaped from Vincent. Where is Chansey?”
Curry comes into the parlor where Avery and I are. “Who are you talking to?”
Is he blind? She’s standing right there in plain sight. “Avery.” I get up to go to her and she disappears. I reach out and pass my hand through the space she just occupied. “Where did she go?”
I turn to look at Curry for help with an explanation. “You saw Avery’s fylgia. It’s weird, right?”
Weird doesn’t begin to cover it. “Yeah. It was bizarre. And disappointing. I thought she had safely escaped and was here.”
“I’m guessing Avery had a twin that died at birth?” he asks.
I have no idea. It’s in this moment that I realize I know far too little about my agápe. “I don’t know. We never discussed it.”
“You will. There’ll be plenty of time for learning everything about her.” He’s nonchalant as he digs through the piles of plaster and wood tossed around the room. “What did the fylgia say?”
“She told me my clue to finding Avery is in the mantle.” I walk over to the only intact piece still in the room and begin studying it. “Look.” I point to an inconsistency in the design of the painted wood.
Curry leaves the heap of debris he’s ciphering through for a better look at the woodwork around the fireplace. “This is an old house. What do you want to bet there’s a trip for a hidden compartment? Those were pretty common in houses like this. I incorporated one into the mantle at the house I built in Pascagoula.”
I peck on the mantle hoping to hear a hollow sound but everything seems solid.
“Maybe you should try pulling instead of pushing.”
I slide my finger along the underside of the dentil molding until I feel a slight give. I push upward as I pull and a narrow drawer no wider than two inches slides out. I look at Curry as I remove it from the mantle and then I turn it upside down over my palm.
A heavy brass key lands in my hand and I immediately know it’s not for this house. The Sigil identifies it as belonging to another residence–the place where Vincent is holding our agápes captive.
Chapter Twelve
Curry and I reluctantly accept that we won’t be finding Avery and Chansey today so we go back to the compound to begin researching the Sigil. We’re defeated for now but we have the first clue we need in steering us toward their direction. And that’s a hell of a lot more than we had when we started last night.
The babies are crying when we enter the house and Curry immediately runs for the nursery with me behind him. The curtains are pulled closed to block the sunlight but I easily see Gia and Lairah sitting on the couch in the nearly black room. Each is holding a baby and rocking fiercely. “Thank the gods you are here. These two have not been happy since they woke and found both of their parents gone.”
Gia and Lairah’s faces fall when they see we are alone. “You didn’t get them back?” Gia asks as she rises from the couch with James Grady so she may walk the floor and bounce him in an attempt to make him happy.
Curry takes his daughter from Lairah and sits in the glider before he motions for Gia to bring his son to him. “It appeared as though we had just missed them.”
Both babies are immediately soothed by their father. It’s absolutely amazing what his voice, smell, and touch does to calm them. Avery has that same effect on me.
“Did Dr. Knight come?” Curry asks.
“Yeah. She had us mix one part infant formula to one part blood. They didn’t like it but they finally gave in and took it because they were hungry. That was only about an hour ago so they had to have gone at least ten hours without eating.” That can’t be good for them.
“Poor little things. They had to be starving because Chansey nurses them every four hours.” Curry kisses Anna Grace on the forehead and then James Grady. “They may not be very old but they already have an ironclad bond with her. I’m sure they’re confused because she isn’t here to feed them.”
“All the more reason to get her and Avery back as soon as possible,” Gia says. “It sounds like they’re still close if they hadn’t been gone long when you got there. They couldn’t have gotten far since the sun was coming up so they must still be in Savannah or the surrounding vicinity.”